rms weekly. replace. change. test. because early warnings help to save lives. did you know that people born from 1945 through 1965 have the highest rates of hepatitis c, but most don't know they're infected? people can live for decades without symptoms, but over time hepatitis c can cause serious health problems. if you were born during these years, the cdc now recommends that you get a blood test for hepatitis c. so talk to your doctor and find out if you have hepatitis c. it could save your life. know more. this is "nightline." tonight, it starts with flowers and ends with funerals.

our journey into the heart of the mexican drug trade where killers are worshipped and violent cartels enforce their own kind of justice. >> just to be clear, your job involves killing people sometimes? >> america's opioids cooked in a cauldron, expertly smuggled, leaving a river of blood in their wake. >> right here on the street, you see there's a cooler and inside the cooler, we're told, there is a human head. plus, meet the $600 million team putting out nearly every gif on the internet, but critics calling it cultural appropriation. and mind-bending. you might have seen her walking upside down or eating a hamburger with her feet, with her brother behind the camera. how sophie dossi turned her torso twisting into a family business. and later, a searching star,

she's lived fast and furious. now, hollywood heroin michelle rodriguez on a quest for enlightenment in mexico. >> now, you're going to see who you really are. here now, dan harris. good evening. with america in the throes of an opioid crisis killing 115 people a day, tonight we'll take you to the source of the heroin supply chain, mexico. we travel into the territory of the sinaloa drug cartel and brings you closer than any american journalist before. >> fentanyl and opioid overdoses are making headlines. >> babies born hooked -- >> drug overdoses on the rise in our community. >> reporter: these beautiful flowers in a sunny field in northwest mexico are the source of an american catastrophe.

>> she injected the boy with heroin -- >> two mothers overdosed on heroin -- >> they found a second overdose victim, a man inside the car with the kid. >> reporter: poppy, the raw material for heroin. the workers use sawed-off deodorant gum deodorant from the boppy buds. >> you're getting the gum out of the poppy? >> yeah, yeah. >> reporter: here among the armed workers, we find a grandmother recently deported from los angeles. she's now petitioning to return. >> you miss your family? >> really. yeah, very much. very much. >> reporter: she says she's an uber driver and harvests poppies on the side. >> obviously you know this because you lived in the united states, but the heroin epidemic is a huge problem. do you have any concerns about being part of it?

>> i need the money only. doing this, i feel very bad. i feel like dirty, you know, but i need money. >> build that wall! build that wall! >> build that wall! >> reporter: in the age of trump, mexico has become a heated part of the national debate. >> they're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists. >> reporter: but often overlooked in the furor over mexico's role in illegal immigration and the influx of opioids -- is the fact that america's seemingly bottomless demand for drugs is fueling a crisis inside mexico. the country is on what one expert has described as a march towards hell, gripped by an unprecedented spike in drug and gang violence, even increasingly in places where americans go on vacation. we decided to see for ourselves, starting with an extraordinary

tour of the inner workings of the sinaloa drug cartel, the single largest exporter of heroin to the u.s. >> the next step after you harvest the poppies, you need to cook the gum into heroin, and that's what we're going to see now. we're driving out into the countryside to find a cook who's allowed us to document his process. >> two young cooks here, suiting up in a real life "breaking bad." >> reporter: this is the first time a cartel has allowed american journalists in to document the heroin supply chain. the cartel networks with freelance cooks to change up their work sites regularly to avoid authorities. today these men are in a poorly ventilated abandoned house. >> they don't use fancy equipment, metal pots, some stones, and a stick to stir it

all with. the smell is pretty serious. it's heavy chemical smell. >> reporter: the main cook says he's 25 years old and has been doing this work since he was 15. >> so there are a lot of chemicals in this. would you ever inject this into your body? >> reporter: no, not at all, he says. it's like a disease that can trap you until you die. >> reporter: you have a sense of how much harm this can do. do you have any misgivings any making this drug since you know how bad it is for people? the truth is, i do, he tells us. on the one hand, he wouldn't want his family members to use heroin. on the other, he says, if you decide to drug yourself, that's your problem. >> to be honest, i think i need to step away for a second because these fumes are hard. >> reporter: this process will yield a kilo of

the cooks say that will earn them $1,500. by the time it gets to the u.s., they say, it could sell for up to $45,000. and this is the final product, after a day-long process of cooking and chemicals, white heroin. >> he's an unusual variety of chef who takes pride in his work, but does not recommend you consume his product. if president trump builds a wall along the border with mexico, will it be much harder for this stuff to get into the united states? it's not hard for us, he says, because we have a tunnel to get it from tijuana to the u.s. or by car. any way we can. >> what would shut this business down? is there anything that can stop this industry? his answer, it's never going to

stop. at night, the next step in the chain, smuggling the product up into america. we meet another masked young man. this one who learned a bit of english during a brief stint living in california. >> cocaine. a kilo. >> reporter: he's got a brief case filled with both heroin and cocaine, which he offers to us. >> you want to try? >> reporter: and freely admits to using himself. his associate loads the drugs into a hidden compartment in the door of this car. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: there's a total of 28 kilos, half heroin, half cocaine in the car, worth millions of dollars on the street. >> this is clearly fnot the firt time he's done this. >> reporter: they tell us they'll drive the cars into the border and put them in different cars to take them across. >> who drives it across,

americans or mexican citizens? >> american citizens. >> how do you find americans to do this? >> i don't know. my does boboss does that. >> your boss does that. interesting. >> reporter: the fact that they apparently have americans helping them may help explain why no one here seems too worried about president trump's proposed wall. we will keep getting things to the other side, he says. and if we don't, the truth is, americans will be the ones to knock over the wall to come to mexico then. this car's final destination -- los angeles. in 2016, the sinaloa cartel took a huge hit. the arrest of its leader, joaquin "el chapo" guzman, who goes on trial in new york in september. but here in this part of mexico, the cartel is still essentially

in control. we did see the army out on patrol, but this is hostile territory for the government. a place where people regularly worship the patron saint of narco traffickers, where the local cemetery is filled with garish monuments to dead drug lords, complete with wi-fi and air conditioning. on our final night in sinaloa, we met with the men who believe they are the true authorities here, the cartel's armed enforcers. >> so they are pretty eager to show off how well armed they are. see that's a grenade. >> reporter: with our cameras here, they're in full battle gear, showing off their weaponry, much of it american-made. off to the side, the commander give us some bracing incites into what his job actually entails. >> just to be clear, your job involves killing people

sometimes. yes, he says. does that take a toll on you psychologically? >> the first time it did. but not anymore. i'll never forget the first time. >> reporter: to our surprise, he admits that the arrest of el chapo did hurt the cartel for a while. it set off a violent power struggle. and now according to this mid-level enforcer, it is business as usual. indeed a desire to demonstrate that fact may explain why the cartel allowed us in to document their operations. it does, however, highlight a bloody catch 22 for the mexican government. they have broken up many of the cartels, but that has only fueled skyrocketing violence with smaller gangs competing to fill the vacuum. next, we witness a grotesque example of this when we head to the legendary tourist destination of acapulco. a bloody war being fought in what used to be a paradise. >> three bodies in a day, it's business as usual. >> reporter: stay with us.

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>> president trump not backing down. >> we always will stand for the national anthem. >> but neither are the super bowl champs. could the anthem fall-out rip

the nfl in two? some of the biggest names in the game speak out on abc's "nightline." a bizarre development in the stabbing deaths of two young boys. officials have now charged their mother with the murders. >> she was sent to death row for a crime that i believe she did not commit. >> i didn't murder my children. >> one event with a hundred different perspectives. >> there are enough holes in this case to drive a truck through. >> she's either innocent or she's the devil. >> the last defense, new series tuesday, 10:00/9:00 central on abc. "nightline" continues. here now, dan harris. >> reporter: late night in the legendary mexican resort city of acapulco and we are arriving at a crime scene in the middle of a residential neighborhood. >> so right here on the street, you can see there's a cooler,

and inside the cooler, we're told, there is a human head. >> reporter: this kind of horror has become the norm here in this storied city, and indeed across mexico, which is witnessing the highest levels of violence ever recorded. [ speaking foreign language ] [ bleep ]. >> reporter: cops ambushed, political candidates assassinated. even popular vacation spots for americans, such as cancun, seeing a spike in murders. much of it driven by gangs. fighting for a slice of america's lucrative market for heroin. we set out on a four-day journey into acapulco's underworld, one that would get darker than anything we could have imagined. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: we just pulled into acapulco, that name used to be synonymous with luxury. ♪ come fly with me ♪ let's fly let's fly away

>> reporter: this is the city that frank sinatra sang about. it was the playground of elizabeth taylor and the kennedys. now it's one of the most violent cities in all of mexico and in fact, all the world. there has long been drug crime in acapulco, but for years, it was controlled by one powerful cartel. when the government killed or captured the cartel's top leaders, however, smaller gangs started fighting for control. we're a little over 24 hours into our stay and already our first murder. you can see them working through here. the body was found in the woods on the outskirts of acapulco, a convenient place to dump casualties of the drug war. a sight that will become all too common for us over the next couple days, collecting the dead. yvonne has been working for the

morg for five years. >> this the first body you've collected today? >> no. >> reporter: he's already collected another body. do you think at a certain point you become numb to the violence? no one is immune, he says. i'm ate risk as much as everyone else. hours later, another crime scene, a man who was evidently tortured and dumped on the street as a message to rivals. >> i've covered wars all over the planet and this kind of savagery right out in the open is, even to me, shocking. looks like he was thrown from an open car. then a familiar face, ivan, the mor morgue worker. this to me is just incredibly grotesque. is this shocking to you? yes, he says, because it's a human life. is this a busy day or a slow day? this, he says, is a normal day.

three bodies in a day is like business as usual. not surprising. okay, ivan, gracias. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: just looking at this view, this place is beyond beautiful. how is it that it's become so incredibly violent? vice attorney general jose bonnila, the second highest ranking law enforcement in the state says the tourist areas of acapulco is safe. >> the violence is not in the tourist cities. >> reporter: a lot of people advised us, be careful, don't take a taxi. you're saying they're being overly cautious? >> yes, of course. >> reporter: just a few hours after he told us there's very little crime in the tourist

areas, there's been a murder on one of the main avenues in the city, which is not far from the beach. the victim, a 54-year-old family man who owned a small food stand in this mall. >> there's a family member. so sad. >> reporter: apparently he was being extorted and refused to pay. so he was shot six times in the face. the responding officers don't seem nearly as gung ho about crime prevention as the vice attorney general. do you think they'll ever catch him? >> it's really difficult because he just boom boom and run. >> reporter: people run all the time. the next day -- we've come to a funeral and we found not only a whole group of mourners, but a whole group of police officers. it's not uncommon for the gangs to come and shoot up the funeral. the victim's son agreed to be

interviewed as long as we did not disclose his identity for fear of being the next target. do you have any hope they'll catch the people who did this to your father? we know how this works, he says. the police, when they return the body, they close the case. there's no investigation. in this city where in the end we witnessed six homicide scenes in four days, and that doesn't include the ones we were told were too dangerous to film, it was a trip to the morgue that gave us the clearest sense of how much local authorities are struggling to keep up. we saw unclaimed, unidentified bodies, stacked like cord wood and badly decomposing in poorly functioning freezers. >> so this is an unknown male who came in here almost two years ago, august of 2016. so what's been happening for two years with this body? [ speaking foreign language ]

>> reporter: the morgue director's team said his team has been scrambling to clear out the backlog. at morgues across mexico, they're experiencing a relentless tide of blood that nobody expects to abate as long as americans continue to consume the products they provide. the morgue director is now shipping the unclaimed bodies to a facility in the state capital to relieve the burden. >> this is just an incredible thing to look at. these were people. you know, with lives as vivid as our own. now they just have to stack them on top of each other and put them in a truck and take them away. and so, on a hilltop outside of acapulco, 30 nameless people are given a temporary resting place in these large concrete slabs. in an ominous sign, they are planning to build a dozen more

of these structures. monuments to a cycle of drug consumption and drug violence on both sides of the border. a war with no end in sight. next, cultural appropriation in three seconds or less? why some critics say gifs are encouraging people to stereotype.

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"nightline" continues. once again, dan harris. harris.. gifs are rapidly changing the way we communicate. they're short video clips used to convey emotions on texts and social media. some experts worry they could lead to the stereotyping of african americans. they're used in almost everything we do, gifs are a cultural obsession. >> there are thousands of ways to express yourself in three frames or less. most of us have seen the more famous one, white guy blinking, or crying michael jordan. but critics are concerned that communicating in short form leads us to stereotype and generalize entire swaths of the population. it's seen by some people as a form of cultural appropriation. this "new york times" video examined how gifs and memes can become a digital black face. >> women of color in particular

are called on really frequently to express emotions for us. >> reporter: lauren michelle jackson say that people outsource their emotion to gifs, to women of color. >> you're sassy, you're a delight. the internet likes things that are exaggerated. so when you already have a group of people that are stereotyped for being over the top, you know, you meet that with the internet and it just goes viral all the time. >> reporter: she wrote about this in an article for teen vogue, urging users to be cognizant of what we share and how we share. >> when you start to represent people in cookie cutter ways and they're not afforded the full range of humanity, that is ra racism. the largest purveyor of them is givey, more than 300 million people use its platforms every day to send and share giffins a

memes. they say they too have had to confront this idea of digital black face. >> any time there's a culture put out, other cultures will appropriate the culture and at some point it becomes part of mass culture. there's a responsibility for media companies to look at what they're doing and how they are a citizen in this kind of community. >> reporter: these guys, who may look better suited to making chocolate or home brew, are the co-founders of a burgeoning tech giant worth an estimated $600 million. you can't tell people what gifs they use? >> no, but we can make sure we have the best gifs across all types of interest. >> reporter: after this racist meme found its way onto the platform, the company had to make chances. >> how did that happen? >> once we were alerted to that content, we took it down within minutes, and then we did an entire review of our moteration system. >> people can't get into your

system if they're putting out racially charged? >> no. >> the first gif to go viral was the dancing baby. now there are millions of them. part of the reason experts say, for the explosion in popularity is human impatience. scientists say the average human attention fan for any one thing is 12 seconds. i mean, i never use them, does that mean that i'm helplessly, cultural illiterate. >> 65-year-old moms -- it's pretty much universal now. i think being 46 is an excuse. >> what's the role? what's the purpose of gifs? >> it really is turning into entertainment. you can send a huge novel of text, but you can also send this compact moment, this atomic unit of entertainment in like a second. >> are you sure, though, that the move toward shorter and shorter and shorter is an unalloyed positive? >> i think there's lots of concerns on the internet. if you think about the average

time anyone's watching video on the internet, it's really small. is it good or bad? i don't know yet. >> it's' a massive science experiment we're conducting in realtime. >> reporter: this psychologist studies people's relationships with technology. she thinks gifs are leading us to forget the art of real conversation. >> so gifs are a great language for some things and a terrible language for others. the trouble is, you start to get attached to your gifs and you can forget how much you're not communicating. >> this is a fake news broadcast we did. >> reporter: they say they're not trying to kill conversation, just add to it. >> there are subtle, complex decisions you face all the time that i don't know that a gif is going to help you with. >> certainly like discussing some delicate nuance is going to go out the window and get solved with a gif. maybe it will. it's totally possible. but we're not trying to replace things that are really useful.

we're trying to add to the new ways that people are using technology. >> gify's success has led to thousands of successful partnerships, they all have their own giphy >> so what's the business model here? how do you make money off what you're talking about? >> at our core, we're a search company. paid search is the way we run our business. >> reporter: in their studios, they have celebrities come by and create original content. they even let me give it a try. >> do you have mantras or things like that? >> peace. >> reporter: somewhat lamely. >> where would i hold this? is this vegan leather? if i don't like the gif, there's going to be hell to pay. i'm texting my wife. where would i see it? but the guys still had to teach me how to text gifs to my wife?

>> i can't believe i'm letting you take this over. >> i'm sorry to dan's wife, we think you're great, and you are now part of a live television -- >> reporter: i'm so gif illiterate, she thought someone stole my phone. what is happening, she wrote. she's calling you. >> i'm doing a story at a company that makes gifs. >> reporter: hopefully gifs will not replace books or television or human interaction, but they are an important part of our digital landscape, and everyone, including middle-aged news anchors, should know about them. for "nightline," this is dan harris in new york. next here, the young star bending the rules of the human body, performing an unbelievable feat with her feet at a basketball half-time show.

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"nightline" continues from new york. >> she can stand on her hands and feed you a hamburger with her feet. sofie dossi is a 16-year-old contortionist and viral video sensation. and now her entire family is getting in on the act. here's abc's diane macedo. >> reporter: if you ever come across a girl running like a spider, twisting her body like a human pretzel, or eating a hamburger with her feet, there's a good chance it's sofie dossi. a 16-year-old contortionist and youtube sensation, with more than 1.6 million subscribers. she has the unique ability to fold her body like a jack knife,

spin from a hoop suspended in the air and shoot an arrow with her toes. sofie is completely self-taught, draining in gymnastics and dance, but realizing she had a different calling. >> the world can't get enough of you. what do you think attracted this to you? >> i always loved gymnastics and dance. it was combining those two things together. >> when you realize you were more flexible than the average person? >> i realized i was unique when i saw the contortionists from circumstance due so hque du sol. >> reporter: she hit it big on america's got talent, quickly winning over the judges, even simon cowell. >> you're like something out of-gaof game of thrones, aren't you? >> reporter: the performance earned sofie the coveted golden buzzer. and catapulted her into tween

stardom. she's performed on ellen. >> do you ever have back issues? >> not at all. >> reporter: and has billboards and gigs around the world. >> look at this lighting, though. >> reporter: she's become a family business for the dossis. her older brother is her youtube co-star. >> what's up, everybody? >> thanks. >> reporter: she also shoots, edits and co-produces her video. >> does it make it easier for you that your brother is on the other side of the camera? >> yes, it does. we'll play off each other sometimes, and it helps because my brother and i get along really well. >> reporter: mom home schools her to accommodate her travel schedule and her dad is not only her road crew, but her dad builds it. >> your dad makes all of your props? >> yeah. >> how do you come up with them? >> i'm come up with a cool design and i'll go to my dad and

be like, wouldn't that be cool if there was these things that spun, or something like that. and we'll go to home depot and build it. >> reporter: we're with her in new york city where sofie is the half-time show for a game at madison square garden. how do you get warmed up for a show like this? >> one thing i do is jump up and down together. >> we can do that together. am i doing it right? >> it gets you super excited. from her to the performance, warm up, imagine my routine, go out there, just perform my heart to the audience. >> and kick some butt? >> kick some butt. >> after hair, makeup, stretching, more stretching, and set set-up by dad, it's show time. >> reporter: sofie's about to go on, and i asked her and she was nervous, and she said just excited. but i'm nervous. ♪ ♪

>> reporter: and with dad as her stage hand, sofie wows the crowd with her signature move. >> oh, jeez. >> reporter: not only did she hit the target, she hit the center of the target. >> the amazing sofie dossi! >> reporter: happy? >> super happy. >> this is actually really going now. >> what's up, everybody? welcome back. >> reporter: back at the dossi home in southern california, the kitchen is more like a youtube studio. >> it's a little stuffed animal. >> reporter: and the living room, a training facility. >> so we're at my house and this is my front room. as you can see, we don't have a couch here anymore. we have mats and my equipment.

yeah, this house isn't a normal house. >> reporter: and the dossis' backyard, it's not just for barbecuing. >> we have a giant aerial rig where i hang on my hoops and silks. yeah, i've kinda taken over the house. >> reporter: when people watch you perform, you make it look so easy like it's no big deal, but it takes a lot of work to get there. >> it's a lot of trial and error. like i'll be at home and i'll be trying these tricks and i'll fall a lot. but it doesn't matter how many times you fall. it matters how many times you get back up. >> this became the move on the finale of "america's got talent." >> reporter: but sofie doesn't just practice moves. she invents them. >> nobody else has done this. i haven't seen anybody else do this. >> reporter: what's it like to walk around a city like this and get recognized by so many people? >> it's just so incredible, you know, the fact that you can

inspire that many people. sometimes, like, you almost don't expect to be recognized, but then you are and it's then again, you go, wow, i'm reaching so many people. >> reporter: when i was younger, i told myself i had written down on a dream board, when i grow up, i want to travel the world and do what i love. and it's happening. check that off my dream board. >> reporter: but she still makes time to have a little fun. >> can you chase those guys? [ laughter ] next here, we follow the movie star michelle rodriguez into an ancient mexican cave of the unconscious. don't clean as often as you'd like. for a quick and convenient clean, try swiffer wetjet. there's no heavy bucket, or mop to wring out, because the absorb and lock technology traps dirt and liquid inside the pad.

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"nightline" continues. ♪ ♪

she's the renegade of the fast and furious franchise, michelle rodriguez says the anger that oozes off of her on the big screen is real. and a big reason for her success. but now she wants to pull it back a notch. abc's linsey davis joins her on a quest for enlightenment. >> the side of me that you're probably about to see will be new for a lot of people. >> reporter: we're on a spiritual quest with blockbuster actress michelle rodriguez. >> nobody's ever been interested, so i've never shown it to somebody. >> reporter: here among the ancient ruins in mexico, she's on a five-day boot camp. her personal guide is renowned teacher sergio magana. >> my goals for this trip are to find some techniques, tapping into the subconscious and be able to identify patterns that are disruptive in my life. >> reporter: quite a departure from michelle's hollywood image

as the tough as nails leading lady of the billion dollar "fast & furious" franchise. >> see ya! >> reporter: she's been on a two-year sabbatical from acting, hoping to find some balance in her life. >> everybody's poking me, like, michelle, when are you coming back? >> reporter: the quest, taking her to mongolia, and peru. >> i want to be able to see the beauty in everything. i can't do that by partying around the world and living extremes and having sex with hot people, or hanging out with powerful people, or this one's beautiful, and that one's this. i'm putting all of my value outside of myself by doing that. and i want my value to be inside. >> reporter: sergio, her teacher here in mexico is the leading expert on the tradition, so secretive that it's only been passed on verbally. his specialties lucid dreaming, and his books have caught on around the world. the belief is that if you're aware that you're dreaming, you can influence your dream, that it will plant an idea or even

redirect your subconsciousness and bring about real change to your waking life. >> what do you say to critics who say this is just nonsense? >> honestly, i haven't had a lot of critics. and actually, we see the father of psychology, freud, and -- they said the most important of everything were the dreams. >> reporter: her works starts here on a business street in mexico city, in this empty office turned classroom. >> so if you change this, then you will renew in a different way. you will create repetitive patterns that could be good relations. this is the most sacred of the ancient mexicans. >> reporter: among the lessons, the obsidian mirror. legend says it can reflect true self, guiding you to what your focus should be. with contemplation,templation,t,

images. >> i want you to breathe out, take out all the heavy energy. put the mirror in front of your face. open your eyes. now you are going to see who you really are. the one that is reflecting you. >> it's so hard. >> reporter: but with more practice -- [ laughter ] >> get the [ bleep ] out of here. holy [ bleep ]. that was wicked. i see some weird, one eyebrow people, it's like, what? these people did not shave back then. >> reporter: coming up, michelle continues her spiritual journey. >> i'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, just because i wasn't expecting a lot of the images that popped up to come up. >> reporter: and delves even deeper into the

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"nightline" continues. ♪ ♪

>> reporter: we're in mexico with actress michelle rodriguez as she takes part in a five-day boot camp. her personal guide is renowned teacher of the indigenous toll tech tradition sergio magana. >> now you are going to see who you really are, the one that is reflecting you. >> reporter: they've had a promising start with the obsidian mirror. [ laughter ] >> get the [ bleep ] out of here. holy [ bleep ]. >> reporter: but now they're about to go even deeper. we're at the holy site of sochi cattle. their work takes place in the shadow of a giant cross, a reminder this ancient novel was overwritten by spanish colonization. their work delves right into michelle's demons. >> i had some ancient, primal anger. i've been working on that anger for years.

>> and you felt you were able to leave some of it there. >> i was able to leave it a lot of it there. i was able to feel it coming t. >> you feel lighter? >> yeah, i do. >> reporter: her anger is what she credits with helping her become a star. her break-out role was in the movie "girl fight." what are you most angry about? >> it's a lot being a woman, it's a lot growing up in the ghetto. i had to pretend to be a guy just to have freedom, to do what i want, without having to mary someone or be somebody's girlfriend. and i realized it was obviously all in my mind. >> reporter: it's the final day of michelle's trip, working side by side with sergio, to unearth the source of bad patterns. >> i'm feeling a bit overwhelmed just because i wasn't expecting a lot of the imagings thes that up to come up. >> reporter: all of this leading to her final exercise. >> and now take all the energy --

>> reporter: in some cave representing her subconsciousness. it's meant to bring light to the darkness. [ speaking foreign language ] >> take it to the chest. here you heal your ancestors, destructive emotions. >> reporter: as she walks out, she graduates to a deeper understanding of the toll tech tradition. we check in with her a month later at her home in l.a. >> it was amazing. i got to learn all these great tools that i get to use for the rest of my life. as far as letting anger in, there's a door now, and that door cannot be opened very easily, as easily as it was before. >> reporter: even sergio says he sees a difference. >> she's decided to go back to work after this sabbatical, and she's decided to do her own projects. a huge change.

>> reporter: the two have become friends. sergio visiting michelle while in california. >> she is lovely, and i know that we will be friends forever. >> i agree with that. and i'm happy to have found a teacher. i was looking for you, boy. >> i planted you. >> that's what you think. >> i found you. >> i found you too. we want to thank you for watching "nightline" tonight. we're online 24/7nts led golden to a win. >> if someone told you that steph curry, klay thompson and draymond green would score a combined 31 points in game three, you would think cleveland blowout. >> absolutely. but kevin durant had other ideas. he said hold my beer. t.j. holmes in the land, what say you? >> reporter: kendis, diane?