this is "nightline." >> tonight, right on the money. >> spent $20,000 on a car and you're broke? >> yeah. yes. >> tell me you know that was stupid. >> this tough-talking financial guru isn't your friend. but he could be your hero. >> i'm not worried about your feelings. let me tell you what feels good, having a pile of money in the bank. that feels good. >> borrowing from his own bankruptcy, he's built a get out of debt empire. what he told these people to make them feel like this. >> we're debt-free! plus, manatee 911. meet the team on call for urgent manatee rescues. saving these gentle giants from boat strikes and starvation. nursing orphans to adulthood. and releasing them back into the wild.

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good evening and thank you for joining us. i'm rebecca jarvis. he famously battled his way back from financial ruin and used the lessons he picked up along the way to build a multimillion-dollar empire. radio host dave ramsey, the money mentor, has made it his mission to help the millions of americans drowning in debt and stop the rest of us from getting into it. here's "nightline" coanchor byron pitts. >> reporter: this man is on a mission. >> half of her debt is for a history degree. somebody please smack me. >> reporter: to get you out of debt by any means necessary. >> you don't need to buy a house, you have $300,000 in student loan debt you need to>>o financial gurus, dave ramsey holds a unique position. the wildly popular radio host known for his pull no punches, pop you in the mouth, take on finances. >> you went into debt so you could live in a one-bedroom apartment with a jacuzzi and a skylight? somebody ought to smack you into next week.

>> reporter: the daily dose of tough love has made him one of the most listened to radio hosts in america. with over 13 million listeners a week, trailing only rush limbaugh and sean hannity, broadcasting to over 600 radio stations across the country, racking up over 100 million views on his youtube channel. >> how much student loan debt does he have? >> 480. >> good lord! >> reporter: where he doles out his brand of financial discipline to people desperately in need. >> why is it that americans seem to have such a problem with debt? >> debt's not the problem, it's the symptom. debt is the result of being disorganized, immature, buying things they can't afford to impress people they don't really like. >> reporter: the average american has over $6,000 in credit card. collegegrs, nearly $30,000 in student loan debt. in a year that has seen historic levels of household debt in the u.s., ramsay is an anti-debt crusader using his platform to help americans become debt free. >> you do not need to be going

on vacation, you do not need to be eating out. you need to be on beans and rice, rice and beans. >> where do you think america is right now when it comes to finances? >> i don't think there's an overarching theme. there's pockets that are doing worse. there's pockets that are having the berls years of their lives. there's lots of good things happening. i think all of us, particularly those of us in media, we're experiencing and watching and walking in this toxicity that's out there too. i'm tired, i work hard, i'll call the wah-mblance. we all work hard. >> reporter: in today's climate ramsey isn't known for coddling his lesners. >> everybody's worried about everybody's feelings these days. i make a living hurting your feelings. >> there's part of you that comes across as certainly financial guru, preacher, drill instructor. >> if you call me up and say, i need to do this dumb thing, i need this do this dumb thing.

no, do this instead. no i need to do this dumb thing. i'm going to increase the heat but it's not for entertainment value, it's for the good of that person. if i don't get through to them, they're going to do that dumb thing. i had a lady call me, her husband passed away. i'm not drill instructor with her. >> reporter: he doesn't hold back, doling out thoughts on our government's finances. >> because your government is stupid. we have agreed to guarantee loans for 18-year-olds who have no job history and no assets. >> politico has called you the financial whisperer for trump's america. what does that mean? >> it means politico trying to politicize what i'm doing. i'm a financial whisperer to anybody who needs help. >> do you support president trump? >> i support his policies, some of them. but as a person of faith, i can't support his behaviors. or sometimes his attitudes. but it's -- some of the policies, the tax law that passed, if you can just back away from all the trump part of it and just say, look at what

has occurred, as a small businessperson, i'm able to hire a lot more people. >> in this nation that seems to divided now, how would you bridge this gap? >> i think it would be a good idea for folk to start treating other people like they want to be treated. if you did that, i think you'd probably change a lot of stuff. >> reporter: that change first came after he and his wife hit rock bottom in the '80s. forced to declare bankruptcy after losing most of their money in real estate. >> i borrowed money out my ears, man. out my eyeballs and everything else. so far in debt we couldn't breathe. >> reporter: after lecturing about financial responsibility at his church, he tried his hand at a local radio station, giving financial advice. >> grandma said, have money for a rainy day because sometimes it rains. >> when you go through something like that, you have some -- no matter what moments. you say, you know, i used to do that, but no matter what, i'm never doing that again, it hurts. >> reporter: his best-selling book "the total money makeover" breaks down his philosophy into easy to learn baby steps, like

save $1,000 cash for emergencies, or at step four, invest 15% of your income in retirement. a philosophy rooted in rudimentary mathematics but an ethos pulled straight from the word of god. >> i believe in god. and i believe he says, don't borrow money. he wouldn't say that if borrowing money worked. >> reporter: in the suburbs of nashville, his anti-debt empire is expanding. this is your home office, you're building a new one? >> yeah, we're scattered over about five buildings in a two-mile radius, inefficient. >> you're expanding? >> we're growing up to 750 people, 800 by the end of the year. >> business is good. >> very good. >> one of the habits i've gotten into that saves me money is meal planning. >> reporter: the heir apparent to the vast empire, rachel cruz, maiden name rachel ramsey. this really is a family

business. you're involved, your husband's involved. >> it is. it's a family business, but thankfully we're all loving it. >> describe your style in comparison to your father's. >> i would say my style is more of, i'm your friend, i'll walk beside you. my dad, i see everyone's like fun-loving uncle but will get you the truth. >> reporter: while the walls are littered with success stories, some of the financial sphere have criticized ramsey for setting unrealistic expectations. >> there are critics who argue lots of snake oil salesmen, right, who promise this shortcut. how do you live in that space? >> well, i am one of those guys, if you ask my critics. so -- that i've ripped off poor people selling books. those poor people who got out of debt don't think i remembered them off. >> we paid off $260,000 in debt. >> reporter: after finishing college, graduate school, then buying their first home, robby

and julia found themselves swimming in over a quarter million dollars in debt. that was until julia stumbled across a book with dave ramsey's face. >> found it at a yard sale for $1. we read it very quickly. and then we paid off all of the student loan and the car within the first couple of years. >> reporter: motivated to do more for their growing family, the couple went after their home mortgage, paying it off within five years. thanks, they say, to dave ramsey. >> that was probably the best dollar i've ever spent. >> reporter: today robby and julia are at ramsey headquarters to do something called a debt-free zone. >> we're debt-free! >> reporter: a tradition here, it's exactly what it sounds like. >> three, two, one -- >> we're debt-free! >> wow. that never gets old. if you help enough people, you

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tonight we take you inside a manatee rescue operation responding to distress calls and saving these majestic creatures from life-threatening injuries and starvation. here's abc's victor oquendo. >> ready? one, two, three, pull, pull! >> reporter: you're watching the rescue mission of ten wayward

manatees in charleston, south carolina. >> we get a call, i can have crews ready to go 45 minutes out the door. >> less than an hour, like manatee 911. >> pretty much is. >> reporter: is rescuers in a race against time as the water temperatures drop to dangerously low levels. the manatees on the verge of hypothermia. hauled into boats, lifted by crane, placed onto trucks, driven 400 miles to the warmer waters of florida. the three-day operation is a success, but for manatees acrosr is far from over. manatees, distant relatives of elephants, play a vital role in maintaining our ocean's ecosystem. >> they've got no predator. the only predator to a manatee is us. >> reporter: although they're no longer on the endangered species list, up from a few hundreds in the 1970s to 6,500 today, 2018 is on track to be one of the deadliest years on record for

the florida manatee. in the u.s. manatees inhabit shallow rivers and coastal areas from the gulf of mexico up along the atlantic ocean. but they live under constant threat by man and nature. >> they can get struck by boats, they can be impacted by the cold weather or red tide. >> reporter: red tide, a toxic and deadly bloom of algae, currently choking part of s, killing fish and manatees. but the manatee rehabilitation partnership, coordinated by u.s. fish and wildlife service, is doing what it can to stem the tide, rescuing and rehabilitating more than 1,500 manatees. eventually returning them to the wild. over half of all the rescues this year have been performed by seaworld orlando. some of the smallest and most critical cases are treated here. >> they've come right over. >> reporter: these orphans must be bottle fed several times a day. >> this is dex? >> roll him upside down, he's going to take that bottle in. >> there goes the formula.

>> yep, there goes the formula. as long as no one pushes his belly he'll be happy. i think dex was hungry. here goes jose. >> reporter: when the orphans have been weaned off bottles, some will be moved to other locations. even traveling by plane as far as ohio. >> to get the manatees in and out of this building we'll use the chain pulley system -- >> reporter: the cincinnati zoo is caring for four orphaned manatees. >> daf fphne is doing her own thing, pippen in the middle, miles on the right, matthew on the left. these are wild animals. we don't want them to develop affection for people. when they go back to florida, we want them to not be interested in people at all. >> reporter: weighing a few hundred to 1,200 pounds, they eat 10% to 15% of their body weight in lettuce a day. >> between the four of them they get 200 pounds of lettuce every day. good morning, babies.

the favorite right now really seems to be the endive and napa cabbage. >> reporter: eventually thole go home to florida. the bar for return? a clean bill of health, and they must weigh at least 600 pounds. you get attached to these animals. to put them back out into the wild, to release them into the wild, it's a scary thing in a way. because there are those same challenges and brussels thpress cause manatees to need human intervention, they still exist. >> reporter: back at seaworld -- >> the floor is being raised here. >> 100% dry here in a minute. >> reporter: they take us inside their specially designed manatee intensive care unit. >> come over the top. this is one of our three critical care pools. we're on call 24 hours a day, we have full-time veterinarians here, we have the expertise sxat bit and ability to care for anything that comes in the door with manatees. >> reporter: today treating five patients. >> this manatee came in because it was by itself and very

emaciated. it's put on good weight lately. we're doing a recheck. >> reporter: john j.p. peterson manages seaworld orlando's rescue program. >> she had a boat strike as you can see that went across and broke some ribs and actually they healed crossing each other. because of the infection that leslie's got, we actually have five injections that need to go in. we're going to inject right now. >> one, two, three -- >> no injection ever feels good. but if we don't give her the injections, she will die. we are done, so we're going to get off the floor so we can get them back in the water as quick as we can. go ahead. >> reporter: it's here where they first treated one of their most severe manatee keyses, laguna. in may of 2017, she arrived in critical condition after being struck by a boat propeller. >> she was circling convulsively to the left. she was not able to swim in a straight line. she would have died if she was not rescued. >> reporter: her condition so grave they thought she wasn't going to make it. >> you can see she has three really deep propeller wounds at

the base of her skull. this is her head. >> those look incredibly painful, very deep. >> yes. they go through her skin, they go through her blubber layer and into her muscles. >> reporter: the propeller had shattered a portion of her skull and severed several vertebrae. she underwent a ct scan to assess the damage. >> look at that there's actually bone fragments. she had pieces of bone pressing on her brain. >> reporter: she would undergo several surgeries. eventually making a stunning recovery. and today it's time for laguna to take that final step. she's going home. >> it's 5:30 a.m., we're loading up to head to hermosa springs state park to get laguna. >> reporter: it's a two-hour drive to the west coast where laguna has spent the last seven months. she's given a mild sedative, lifted by crane, loaded onto the back of a truck. >> you guys ready? >> reporter: over the course of 2 1/2 hours, the care team must watch her every move, spraying

her with water, monitoring her breathing and heart rate, her scars now permanent reminders of the dangers that lie ahead. halfway through, she starts to get restless, rolling her nearly 800-pound body onto her back. >> once she's capable, it's the best way. she might roll a little bit. she might go up against the wall, roll back. some manatees like to lay upside down. they actually enjoy being on their back. >> reporter: and then finally -- >> nice and easy. >> reporter: she's carried out, given a final exam, and microchipped. using sheer manpower, they bring her out to the water. describe that moment what it's like for you to see a manatee being released pack into the wild? >> it's one of the greatest days. i say it because i've seen plenty of animals come in i can't save. to be able to take that animal from a really bad situation, heal them all the way up, walk them out, it gives me chills. every time i see it, i get a big smile. >> and there she goes. nice job, guys.

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finally tonight, a wonder woman gets a moon man. here's abc's amy robach. ♪ >> reporter: she's had our love for years. the always real -- ♪ i'm real >> reporter: jenny from the block. superstar jenny lopez being honored with the michael jackson vanguard award as the mtv music awards. >> it has to feel surreal. you've worked your butt off. literally and figuratively but you've still got it. >> hasn't gone anywhere. sometimes i wish i could work it off a little more. >> reporter: 20 years, lopez has kept the hits coming. from "love don't cost a thing" to "on the floor."

"dinero." and so many more. you're in company with michael jackson, madonna, britney spears, david bowie, justin timberlake, beyonce. did you ever imagine when you first started out that you would be on that list? >> no. i never imagined. i was just happy to be at the party. i'm happy to be doing what i love to do. i love to keep evolving and growing and be recognized in that way. along with your idols. you know, it's awesome. >> she will always be jenny from the block.