he said the silverback gorilla, harambe, was dangerous. the family thanked the zoo's staff for taking quick action. we get more from cnn's jessica schneider. >> reporter: john and christine, the zoo director put it bluntly. he said we stand by our decision and we would make the same choice today. he said the monday morning quarterbacks don't understand how dangerous a silverback gorilla can be. >> naturally, we did not take the shooting of harambe's life lightly, but the life of that child was in danger. people who question that are monday morning quarterbacks or second guessers don't understand that you can't take a risk with a silverback gorilla. they are very big. three times bigger than a man. six times stronger than that. >> reporter: harambe was 450 pounds and a 17-year-old male. they say they once seen him crush a coconut with his hands. during the ten tense minutes when the 3-year-old boy was being dragged around and violently yanked, they said harambe was growing agitated and aggressive. the dangerous animal response team tried to

the reason was that it was a life-threatening situation and a silverback gorilla is a very dangerousnimal. it would be a var dangerous animal to us but particularly very dangerous animal to a little kid. >> any word when the exhibit will be open? >> hopefully by next weekend. >> you said the boy went over the barrier. >> that's what i understand. >> earlier, you said he went und under. >> my understanding from talking to folks since that time that he went over. >> can you walk us through how he was able to get in? >> do you know any 4 year-olds? they can climb over anything. >> okay. >> it doesn't sound like anybody is taking responsibility for what happened, the zoo, the mother, we're all just chalking this up as an accident and we can go home, does that sit okay with you? >> the cincinnati zoo is taking responsibility. >> you said there was nothing wrong with the barrier. >> we're the ones that took the loss on this. it's very important to us. a lot of people express concerns, a lot of people disagree perhaps with it but it doesn't affect anybody as much as the people here at the z

he said the monday morning quarterbacks don't understand how dangerous a silverback gorilla can be. >at child's life was in danger and people who question that or are monday morning quarterbacks or second guessers don't understand that you can't take a risk with a silverback gorilla. they are three times bigger than a man. >> reporter: harambe was a 17-year-old male and 450 pounds. they have seen him crush a coconut with his hands. during the ten tense minutes when the boy was thrown around. they say harambe was growing agitated and aggressive. the dangerous animal response team tried to lure him out of the exhibit. they said using tranquillizer would be too dangerous. they had to take the action to shoot and kill him. the anger around the situation just continues to grow. in fact, people are calling for the parents to be prosecuted. there's an online petition garnering more than 100,000 signatures at this point. people want prosecutors and police to criminally charge the parents for negligence and also a lot of people giving support and their sadness for harambe. the zoo director say

horrified witnesses watched as the endangered silverback gorilla grabbed the little boy around the enclosurelisten as the boy's mother is pleading with her child to stay calm. >> mommy's right here. >> oh my! oh my god! >> just calm down. >> isaiah. >> back up. okay. mommy loves you. i'm right here. >> my son. >> no. he's playing. he's sitting there. no, no. >> please protect him. >> isaiah, be calm, be calm. be calm. be calm. >> oh my god. >> you know, it is terrifying to watch. i can tell you that the zoo is set to hold a news conference next hour. we'll hear more what the zoo saying. let's go to jessica schneider. it's horrifying to listen to this mother telling her child to be calm as you're watching this whole thing play out. watching this gorilla. what is the zoo saying? >> reporter: yeah. the zoo is saying, brooke, they had no choice in this matter. they say that the danger was eminent to the 3-year-old child and had to act. they had the dangerous animal response team that moved in and initially tried to lure the gorilla aside out of the exhibit and didn't work. after tenter if iing i

>> the gorilla was very alarmed, upset. a silverback. that happened 20 years ago. the child picked up by female gorilla and happened to be raised at the columbus zoo here. we don't do that. picked up because raised by humans. a silverback is upset. you have a stick of dynamite. you don't have a lot of time. with people screaming upstairs, you understand, that gorilla is totally confused. what would happen if we tranquilized him, why wouldn't that work? simple. it's like you standing there talking to me, all of a sudden get poped by a tranquilizer with the gorilla, and i've lived in rwanda 20-some years, worked in the clumpic zim columbus zoo, ih sides. that gorilla was beyond upset. the minute shot with a tranquilizer, you have a child. i don't want to go into it. you wouldn't want to know. >> alternative for the witnesses to have seen what could have happened would have been so much worse. interesting you say the gorilla was like a stick of dynamite because the witnesses on-site, part of why there's a pushback that the grill worilla didn

. >> a community in morning offering -- honoring the silverback gorilla was killed following the scare. a four-year-old boy trapped inside the cincinnati zoo in the clutches of that 400 pound gorilla. the boys mother reassuring him from above. the railing. >> i'm not sure she could have reacted and done anything at that point. he was there and that he was gone. the mother later posted this on facebook. >> accidents happen, but i'm thankful the right people were in the right place. the post has since been delete it. democratic candidate bernie sanders campaigned last night in fresno ahead of next week's california primary. california senator dianne feinstein says it is time for bernie sanders to drop out. donald trump plans to announce the recipient of $6 million he helped raise for veterans after skipping a gop debate. just about a year ago, this man was shot to death. he was a deputy counsel to new cuomo's development. he was caught in the crossfire between two rival groups. has arrested a man charged with second-degree murder and other offenses. an explosive package sent to a correct

dramatic video of the boy in the clutches of a 400-pound silverback gorilla. zoo workers forced to shoot the gorilla. marci gonzalez on the zoo defending its actions. >> reporter: tonight, a young boy recovering after coming face to face with a 400-pound gorilla. >> i'm right here. >> reporter: for more than ten minutes, onlookers, including the boy's mother, watch in horror after authorities say the boy crawled through a barrier, plunging ten feet into the moat below. you can see the gorilla's left arm make contact. lifts him up, sweeps him across the water. >> the gorilla rushed the boy, but didn't hit him. he was almost guarding, protecting him. >> reporter: holding the boy between his legs, a zoo working takes aim, shooting and killing the silverback. rescuers rushing in, pulling the boy to safety. while the zoo gorilla exhibit is closed. protesters outside questioning why the worker didn't use a tranquilizer. >> in an agitated situation, it may take quite a while for the tranquilizer to take effect. >> reporter: the family also saying the boy is home from

surveillance set up outside their home. >>> the public jut cry is growing over the death of a silverback gorilla. the well-known animal expert weighing in after the zoo staff chose to shoot and kill the gorilla so they could retrieve a child who had fallen into the enclosure. >>> today people came to gather in sacramento to honor fallen heroes on this memorial day. the gathering was held at sierra hills memorial park at the veterans monument. many of those who attended had served. members of one family whose grandfather is buried there say they visit on this day every year for reflection and education. >> we come out so that the kids can have a chance to know what the holiday is really about, and come out to my grandfather's gravesite, and we clean it up and put flowers out so that the kids have an idea of what people have sacrificed for us. about 100 people attended today's ceremony at sierra hills memorial park. >>> one of the biggest memorial day events is held every year at the presidio. veterans, family, and the community were there for the annual grand march and ceremony. ktvu photojournal

shooting and killing the endangered 17-year-old silverback gorilla, harambe. >> a loud bang. >> reporter rescuers rushing in, pulling the boy to safety. while the zoo is open, the gorilla exhibit is closed. people have been people have been coming by here all day, leaving flowers in honor of the gorilla. protesters outside of the zoo questioning why the worker didn't use a tranquilizer. >> in an agitated situation, it may take quite a while for a tranquilizer to take effect. >>> one more note on that n a now-deleted facebook and a few scrapes. she also said, quote, society is quick to judge. she keeps a eye on her kids and accidents happen. >>> the women claim they saw a man dropping something into a woman's drink while she was in a restroom. one of the good samaritans went to the restroom to let her know. >> i got up and went to the restroompy found if her in there and i just said, this is weird, but we saw that guy you're with put something in your drink. >> they said surveillance video also saw the same thing. the man was arrested. >> to sports now and this weekend's champions league

ultimately the decision was made to kill the big gorilla. >> you can't take a risk with a silverback gorilla. they are very big. three times bigger than a man, six times stronger than that. this is a dangerous animal. >> reporter: as activists and others gathered for a memorial, much of the anger is directed at the mother. to get into the enclosure the little boy had to take some time. he scaled the first barrier, made his way through some bushes and a final fence before dropping down into the moat. the family issued a brief statement thanking the staff at the cincinnati zoo and acknowledging the difficulty in their decision to kill the gorilla. the little boy did have injuries mostly from getting thrashed around. looks like he's going to be okay. >> mike, thanks. with the police in cincinnati investigating the possibility of criminal charges involving the child falling into that gorilla enclosure, we have the question should charges be brought? an attorney says no, no charges should be brought at all but another attorney says maybe we should have some charges. could you make that case, mist

. >> the second guessers don't understand that you can't take a risk with a silverback gorilla, theyre three times bigger than a man, six times stronger. not a gentle thing. >> wherever the debate ends, it is minding many people to keep their guard up. even as replacement for fun. >> the ape was banging on the wall a long time ago. >> what do you do to save safe- - a stay safe?>> i anywhere near the fence and i stay with my dad. >>> reporter: the director says there gorilla exhibit has a bear your 3 feet tall and exceeds the regulatory standards outlined by two government agencies. however that exhibit is now closed indefinitely. reporting live the national zoo, ellison barber , wusa9. >> the boy involved was taken to the hospital and released a few hours later, no charges filed against the parents but that has not stopped people from calling them out. first of all, the mother of that child is down, irresponsible, and should be held responsible for the death of harambe. >> when you have little kids you have to be on top of them at all times. >> other people step forward to the defens

tonight, we have the dramatic video that shows the boy in the clutches of a 400-pound silverback gorilla. zoo workers forced to shoot the gorilla to save the boy. at the zoo a growing memorial for the animal. while protesters are outraged over the use of lethal force over a tranquilizer. marci gonzalez on the zoo defending its actions. >> oh, my god! >> okay, everybody back up. >> reporter: tonight, a young boy recovering after coming face to face with a 400-pound gorilla. >> mommy loves you. i'm right here. >> reporter: for more than ten minutes, onlookers, including the boy's mother, watch in horror after authorities say the boy crawled through a barrier, making his way through the bushes and plunging ten feet into the moat below. >> a child has fallen into the gorilla cage. >> reporter: you can see the gorilla's left arm make contact. the boy scoots back. then the gorilla lifts him up, sweeps him across the water. >> the gorilla rushed the boy, but didn't hit him. he was almost guarding, protecting him. >> reporter: with the animal holding the boy between his legs, a zoo worker takes

stop talking about and cincinnati's zoo officials defend their decision to kill an endangered silverback gorilla. we also learn cincinnati police have no plans to file charges against the parents of that boy despite the outcry they be held responsible for the gorilla's death. nbc has the latest. >> reporter: outrage over an incident at the cincinnati zoo when a 3-year-old boy fell into the gorilla enclosure on saturday. for 10 agonizing minutes people watched, including the boy's mother who cried out to him. at one point, the 420-pound male silver back named harambe grabbed the boy's ankle and dragged him through the water. >> i'm here here. >> reporter: zoo officials opened fire, killing the gorilla and rescuing the boy. zookeepers defended their decision. >> naturally, we did not take the shooting of harambe lightly. but that child's life was in danger. >> reporter: on social media, a firestorm. people upset the gorilla killed. many blame the boy's mother who runs a daycare center. an online petition has 200,000 signatures urging she be charged with negligence. in a facebook post since deleted

monday morning quarterbacks or second guessers don't understand you can't take a risk with a silverback gorilla. >> reporter: the zoo says the exhibit barrier is adequate. the boy's family released a statement saying he is home and fine. jamie yuccas, cbs news. >>> this morning, the white house is back in business after being locked down yesterday afternoon. a woman threw a metal object over the fence along pennsylvania avenue. fire trucks and a hazardous material response team was called. the woman was arrested. president obama was not there at the time. the all clear was given and normal operations resumed. >>> former attorney general eric holder says edward snowden performed a public service when he leaked classified material back in 2013. holder said snowden broke the law and should face the kons questions but that he sparked a national debate about secret domestic surveillance programs. snowden mocked the evolution of thought about his actions. he tweeted this out. in 2013, it's treason. in 2014, maybe not, but it was reckless. 2015, still technically it was unlawful. 2016, it was a public

morning quarterbacks or second-guessers don't understand that you can't take a risk with a silverback gorilla. they're very big. three times bigger than a man, six times stronger than that. >> the boy has since been released from the hospital. the zoo is now back open to the public. however, the gorilla exhibit will be closed until further notice. >>> world famous zookeeper jack hanna is speaking out indefense of the cincinnati zoo and the decision the kill the animal. hannah said they had no choice, that the child's life was in imminent danger. >> i mean this is something that's a no-brainer. this animal could have literally taken that boy, and i wasn't even want to describe it. so there was not a mill i will second to waste. there's animal life and human life involved, everyone. >> the little but he's family has released a brief statement thanking the staff for acting so quickly. in the meantime animal rights activists gathered outside the zoo to remember the life of the 17-year-old lowland gorilla. he was raised in the cincinnati zoo. lowland gorillas are an endangered species. critics of

>>> it is a story americans cannot stop talking about and cincinnati's zoo endae endangered silverback gorilla. they have no plans to file charges against the parents of that boy despite the outcry they be held responsible for the gorilla's death. >> reporter: outrage over an incident at the cincinnati zoo when a 3-year-old boy fell into the gorile riilla enclosure on . the boy's mothers cried out to him. at one point, the 420-pound male silver back named harambe grabbed the boy's ankle and dragged him through the water. zoo officials opened fire, killing the gorilla and rescuing the boy. zookeepers defended their decision. >> naturally, we did not take the shooting of harambe lightly. but that child's life was in danger. >> reporter: on social media, a fire storm. people they urge the mother be charged with negligence. the mother defended herself on simp saying the follow. >> it was just being a gorilla. unfortunately, it paid the ultimate price for something that was not its fault. >> reporter: zoo officials say a tranquilizer would have taken too long and agitated the gorilla more. they are

can you see the 400-pound silverback gorilla drags him away. after ten minutes with the boy inside that exhibit, zoo workers say they had no other choice but to kill the gorilla to save the boy. abc's alex pearl rrez is in cincinnati. >> reporter: tonight, cincinnati police confirmed they are investigating whether the 3-year-old boy's family properly supervised him in the moments before he fell into the gorilla exhibit. the boy's mother can be heard screaming as the horrifying ordeal unfolded. >> mommy loves me. >> reporter: the first call came in at 3:52 p.m. saturday. >> a child has fallen into the gorilla cage. >> reporter: authorities say the child climbed over the barrier, plunging 15 feet into the moat. the 450-pound gorilla cornering the boy and picking him up. at one point, the little boy moves away from the gorilla, but is pulled back towards him. he later props him up from behind and dragging him all the way to the other side of the cage. at 4:01, the zoo's emergency response team makes a decision to shoot and kill the gorilla. officia

heart-stopping moment when a four-year-old boy tumbles into a zoos gorilla enclosure and comes face to face with a 400-pound silverback. >> as hard as this is to watch, especially for parents, we to want emphasize this this boy survived. he is in the hospital this morning. he's in serious condition, the gorilla did not survive. the zoo keeper shot him. a controversial call they are defending this morning. we have to warn you, much of the imagery may be disturbing. having said that, here's marcie gonzalez at the zoo with more, good morning to you. >> reporter: guys, good morning, what a horrifying scene. people watching and screaming for help as that boy spent ten long minutes trapped in that enclosure. [ screaming ] this morning, new video obtained by abc news capturing a toddler's screams the moment he comes face to face with a giant gorilla. >> a child has fallen into the gorilla cage. >> reporter: zoo officials say the four-year-old, now recovering in a hospital, crawled into the gorilla world exhibit. onlookers terrified. the boy's mother calling for him as the gorilla crouches over the boy. >> mommy's right here.

. >> a decision to kill endangered silverback gorilla. >> did not take the shooting of harambe lightly but that child's life was in danger. >>> serious flash floods that swept away everything in the path of the rushing water. >>> rage in tampa, driver of the car ran right over the motorcycle. >> fire crews doused a spark when a tire blew on this united airlines. >> in sri lanka it took a village. rescuers had to open a drain. >> all that matters -- >>> president obama paid tribute to armed service members that lost their lives. >> a nation reveals it's self not only by the people it produces but those it remembers. >> on "cbs this morning." >> fired. >> not going home. >> here is your champions western conference 2016, golden state warriors. >> this morning's eye-opener is presented by toyota, let's go places. >>> welcome to "cbs this morning." rising floodwaters, more flooding. dozens of people after drinching missing. >> rain forecast today, overflowing rivers will rise more. in richmond, texas, outside houston with the outlook. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the home owner

once again under fire following the decision to put down harambe, the 17-year-old endangered silverback gorilla. >> a child has fallen into the gorilla cage. alison: after authorities say a 3-year-old boy climbed over a three-foot barrier and plunged some 15 feet in the moat. >> mommy is right here! alison: with his mother watching in horror from above. >> this child is being dragged around. his head was banging on concrete. this is not agenteddal thing. alison: an animal rights group is calling for feds to investigate. saying this rail that separates the crowd from the exhibit is up not to par. >> this is very simple. if there was an adequate public barrier on the gorilla facility we would not be standing here. >> barriers are safe. they exceed any required protocols. alison: the zoo naining it was not neg -- maintaining he was not relationship to harambe going back to his grandparents finds the situation tragic for everyone. >> he was in a situation where there is a strange thing here that i don't know what -- what do i do? alison: the boy's parents are changing heat online. change.org petiti

. >> you can't take the risk with a silverback gorilla. >> reporter: anger grows towards the child mother, an online petition demanding she be charged with child neglect has more than a quarter million signatures. the mother responded, "as a so the we're quick to judge how a parent could take their eyes off their child. if anybody knows me, i keep a sharp eye on my kid." this file video shows the enclosure, a metal railing with wires underneath, 4 feet of bushes, then a 15-foot drop into the moat. that's where the boy fell in. >> the exhibit is safe and the barrier is safe. that said, any of us in this room could climb over barriers if we choose. >> reporter: this morning we're hearing from the zookeeper who raised harambe, the gorilla. >> how intelligent he was, how inquisitive he was, how playful. he was a big boy. he grew up to be something else. and he was very special. >> reporter: harambe was one of 11 western low land gorilla the at the cincinnati zoo, one of two silver backs the zoo planned to use in their successful breeding program. jones refuses to second-guess the people who d

this video shows the silverback gorilla dragging the boy by the ankle through water right there.o leader are standing by the actions of workers even though the outrage continues to grow. >> naturally, we did not take the shooting lightly. that child's life was in danger. >> an online position for the mother to be charged with negligence has grown past 200,000. >>> verizon workers are returning back to work today. they reached an agreement happening over the memorial day weekend. verizon will hire more u.s. workers and give raises to current union employees. 40,000 workers have been on strike since mid april. >> verizon is on the new york stock exchange this morning. >> along with the young man from auburn. >> alexander rossi who made a name for himself. rossi is the 24-year-old young man who came out of where to win the indianapolis 500 on his very first try sunday. as for the markets, very quiet. nasdaq barely moving. it is the last trading day of the month. economists say house prices roared ahead. the latest data shows an overall gain of 5.4% in march. looking at san francisco

zookeepers say they were left with no choice but to shoot a rare silverback gorilla after a child sneakedcell phone video of this happening. you can see clearly the gorilla grabbed the small child and dragged him down the mode. witnesses say they heard the child ask is mom to get into the exhibit, even though he said -- she said no he found his way and. look how violently the gorilla is dragging the child. the gorilla, after this video, takes a child up a letter and out of sight. the episode lasted about 10 minutes. the zookeepers feared the worst and made the quick decision to kill the 400 pound gorilla. >> the reason the tranquilizing was not chosen is in an agitated situation, which he was, it may take quite a while for a tranquilizers to work. but certainly when being hit he would have a dramatic response. all sorts of things could happen in a situation like that. he certainly was at risk. >> the 4-year-old child is out of the hospital. some people think his parents should face charges relating to lack of supervision and neglect. in fact, nearly 60,000 people have signed an online pet

zoo security kills the 400-pound endangered silverback gorilla. >> there must have been a better way,ut there wasn't. >> reporter: this father said he would have taken action. >> i would have jumped in there. yeah. there's no way. i would have got a stick, something, and tried. let it crush me and >> reporter: this mother hadn't seen the video until we showed her. >> where were the parents? where was she when this happened? that's what it comes down to. that's dangerous. >> reporter: as for the decision to kill the gorilla, people were torn. >> there could be a different way, but i don't blame their authority because they did what was good during that moment. >> reporter: there's also the question of how the child was able to get into the gorilla pen. in 2015, a man was able to climb over the fence at the lion den here at the national zoo, but was stopped by security before he was able to cross the moat. at the cincinnati zoo, the small boy was apparently able to climb through the fence and then fell into the moat. >> unacceptable. you figure they should have had some kind of forethou

director saying the monday morning quarterbacks out there don't understand how dangerous a silverbacked gorillatoday, there's been a lot of it, and now hundreds of thousands of people online are calling for the parents in this case to be prosecuted. a tense and terrifying 10 minutes inside the gorilla world exhibit. a 3-year-old boy dragged and toss bid a 450 pound gorilla named harambe. >> the young boy ducking under a railing, climbing through protective wiring, and dropping more than 10 feet into this mote, according to zoo officials. >> this is a dangerous animal. now i know you see photos and videos say it doesn't seem dangerous. we're talking about an an animal one hand, i've seen, take a conut and crunch it. >> reporter: the dangerous response team tried to lure harambe from the exhibit but he didn't respond. the team forced to shoot and kill the gorilla. >> naturally we didn't take the shooting of harambe lightly but that child's life was in danger. people who question that, who are our monday morning quarterbacks are second guessers don't understand you can't take a risk with a silver

you can't take a risk with silverback gorilla. they are having big. three times bigger thank a man. times stronger than that. this is a dangerous animal. scott: the zoo says contrary to what you may think you see in the surveillance video the 4-year-old is being draggedded through the water and hitting head on the rocks. the zoo emphasizes what was happening was safe and that the barriers around it exceed the required protocols. reaction to the decision to shoot the gorilla is pouring in from all over the world. we have more on that in 15 minutes. for now at the "live desk," i'm scott thuman, abc7 news. michelle: thank you. coming up at "abc7 news at 5:00" -- avoiding an electrifying experience. the hidden danger that could be lurking below the surface if you go boating on a lake this summer. jonathan: plus -- >> that gave me chills. jonathan: it ain't chills. six months in the job what gave general manager the chills and why he says he may not be the best person for the job. >> a security guard finds a third grader lying unconscious beside the dumpster. how she got here. that is up

monday morning quarterbacks, second guesser, don't understand that you don't take a risk with a silverback gorilla. >> reporter: a 4-year-old boy fell into the brookville zoo in chicago. a female gorilla carried him to a door where zookeepers could rescue the boy. 30 years ago levin merritt fell into the jersey zoo. a silverback seemed to care for and protect him until rescuers could pull him out. however, merrick told the british newspaper given the way harambe was thrashing the boy and getting worked up, zookeepers made the right choice. jack hanna of the columbus zoo agrees. >> this is a no-brainer. this gorilla could have taken the boy in what i don't want to say it. there's not a minute to wait. >> reporter: donald trump agreed that the zoo needed to protect the boy. >> i agree they had no choice. >> reporter: the family has attempted to remain anonymous. a brief statement from the family thanked the staff at the cincinnati zoo and acknowledged the difficulty in the decision to kill harambe. >> mike tobin in chicago, thank you. everyone else weighed in, what about you? should they have killed

you can't take a risk with a silverback gorilla. >> reporter: a small vigil was held outside the zoo monday as anger grows towards the child's mother. an online petition demanding she now be charged with child neglect has more than a quarter million ignatures. the mother responding in a facebook post that has since been deleted, as a society we're quick to judge how a parent could take their eyes off their child. and if anyone knows me, i keep a tight watch on my kids. accidents happen. a subsequent statement thanked the zoo for its actions. this file video shows the enclosure, a metal railing with some wires underneath, four feet of sh into the mote separating people from the habitat. that's where the boy fell in. >> the kid is safe and the barrier's safe, that said any of us in this room could climb over barriers if we choose. >> reporter: this morning we're hearing from the zookeeper who raised harambe the gorilla. >> how intelligent he was, how inquisitive he was, how playful. he was a big boy. he grew up to be something else. and he was very special. >> reporter: harmbe was one

danger, people who are criticizing that don't understand that you can't take a risk with a silverback gorillae barrier is adequate and we all need to make sure that our families and kids are safe, whether you are visiting a zoo or a shopping mall. looking back, we will make the same decision. >> not many animal activists are up in arms. a lot of others are blaming the child's mother from not preventing the child from entering the exhibit. the family issued this statement. we are thankful to the lord that our child is safe. he is home and doing just fine. we extend our heart felt thanks for the quick action by the cincinnati zoo staff. we know this was a very difficult decision for them and that they are grieving the loss of their gorilla. we hope that you will respect our privacy at this time. two well-known animal experts have mixed reactions to the zoo incident. >> i agree 1,000%, they make the correct decision. it's a milli second decision. they cannot tranquilize it. a human being is alive because of the quick decisions made by the cincinnati zoo. >> be responsible for your children. i do

you can't take a risk with a silverback gorilla. the barrier is safe.could climb over barriers if we choose. >> they made the call. they had to. >> the correct call. it's easy for everybody to attack this mom. but nothing had happened like this before. mea culpa, my kids have gotten away from me. you turn away. it happens. you try to be an attentive parent. sometimes things happen. for people to turn on this woman we don't read the comment sections, it's just not healthy for many reasons. half the time people write things they don't mean. but there was a viciousness i saw in some of the headlines directed at this monthly. and we have yet to hear what happened. you guys know, you know, i always say the fastest thing in the world is a 3-year-old boy or a gazelle. you've got boys as well. >> they have a way of being able to sneak around and hide and play hide and seek. they think they're playing and things happen. >> as parents, we know it doesn't take much, you turn around to one kid for 15 seconds, you turn around and the other one is gone. we're happy t

face on this animal, you know about gorillas, that is something you don't want to see in a silverback gorillaconut, it takes a hatchet to open it up, they can squish it like a marshmallow. everybody is asking why didn't they tranquilize the animal. i have done research on gorillas when they had to tranquilize them. they don't know the dart is coming. you wouldn't know the dart hits you in the bottom, what would you do? here he has a child in his hands. he feels this thing goes off in his bottom. what do you think would happen? obviously the decision the cincinnati zoo made was the only decision. you have human life and animal life, everyone. you know, no one loves animals more than me, and this is one -- it's a very tragic day, a hard day for the cincinnati zoo. as well as all the workers. >> let me ask you this, jack, because i had a person from peta on earlier this morning, and she said there have been examples of gorillas who were very protective of children and maybe that's what this gorilla was trying to do. >> okay. that's -- she has a very good point. guess what? if you look at your re

monday morning quarterbacks or second-guessers don't understand you can't take a risk with a silverback gorilla're talking about an animal with one hand that i've seen, take a coconut and crunch it. >> joining me now from miami is zoo miami communications director, ron mcgill, the zoo that loaned harambe to the cincinnati zoo. ron, cincinnati zoo officials are defending the difficult decision to put down harambe. do you think this zoo had any other options in rescuing the child? >> no. absolutely not. we 100% support the cincinnati zoo's decision. it was an animal we loaned to them. you can't take chances with an animal like that. at the end of the day, there is no single animal life more important than that of a human life, especially a child. >> when we think about the gorilla world exhibit at cincinnati zoo been there more than 40 years, barriers never breached before. now, we have this being the second incident in recent weeks an animal is killed after a human entered the enclosure. what do you think zoos could do better in the future to prevent the circumstances of incidents like this occu

meanwhile this morning cincinnati zoo director standing by his decision to kill the silverback gorilla after 3-year-old fell into its enclosure saying that there's no doubt that the boy's life was in danger. >> people who question that, monday morning quarterbackings or second-guessers don't understand that you can't take a risk with the silverback gorilla. three times bigger than a man and six times stronger than that. it's a dangerous animal. cheryl: to see if any other improvement should be made to protect the 1.6 million yearly visitors. usda plans to investigates the gorilla's death. latam to suspend because of venezuela's economic situation. it would suspend services to the country since it is owed $139 million in ticket revenue. withholding about $5.3 billion in funds belong to go 24 different global carriers, this country obviously in the middle of an economic and now humanitarian crisis. maria: thank you. still to come, concerns over the zika virus. an nba star says he's considering to skipping olympics after experts called to be relocated out of brazil. we've got the alarming

shooting and killing the endangered 17-year-old silverback gorilla harambe. ing in, pulling the boy to safety. while the rest of the zoo is opened, the gorilla exhibit is closed. people have been coming by here all day, leaving flowers in honor of harambe. protesters outside of the zoo questioning why the worker didn't instead use a tranquilizer. >> in an agitated situation which the male was, it may take quite awhile for the tranquilizer to take effect. >> reporter: the boy's family releasing a statement, saying we extend our heartfelt thanks to the cincinnati staff, we know it was a difficult decision for them. the family also saying the boy is now home from the hospital and in their words, doing just fine. marci gonzalez, abc news, cincinnati. >>> nasa is all pumped up about the newest addition to the international space station. the new module installed by inflating it. if it passes all the tests in coming week, one of the astronauts will move into the 13 by 10 1/2-foot room. deflated modules take up less room aboard the spaceship which could be important

that gorilla could have easily, i have seen him take a green coconut and squish it like that. that's a silverbackway, so, you're dealing with life, human life or animal life. what's the decision, very simple to figure that out. >> jack, what about the people online why not tranquilize the gorilla instead of shoot to kill? >> right, what i have seen with other animals, once that dart go into that big, beautiful silverback male, what is he going to do with a child? he's going to jump like this. they are an magnificent creature. now there's no doubt in my mind that child wouldn't be here today if they hadn't made that decision. >> why do you think it took so long, they were getting the female gorillas out of the enclosure as well that seemed a long time. >> they were trying their best to see what happened there. they had to do something very quickly. the dart takes too long. >> all right, jack hanna, we appreciate your insight, thank you so much. >> such a tough story. the gorilla didn't do anything wrong here. victims all of the way around here. >>> hidden dangers in lakes. there have been at least

. >> people who question that don't understand that you can't take a risk with a silverback gorilla. they're very big. three times bigger than a man, six times stronger. >> reporter: the woman who took this video said she heard the boy and his mother arguing shortly before the incident. >> i'm going to go in. >> no, you're not. >> harambe's death is under heavy scrutiny. signed a petition calling for the boy's parents to be held accountable. >> the zoo isn't a babysitter. >> reporter: wild life biologist jeff corwin isn't playing blame but said the public needs to be more attentive. >> a lot of times we get lost on our cell phone or texting and we're not keeping an eye on what's going on with our own children. also, these are wild animals. >> reporter: the boy made his way past a three-foot fence and through an additional four feet of plants and shrubs before dropping 15 feet into the moat below. although the cincinnati zoo is standing by its decision, they, too, are mourning the gorilla, along with jerry stones, who tyke care of harambe for the first 15 years of his life. >> he was

i have seen a silverback gorilla take a green coconut and crush it. >> so you believe the zoo made the? obviously the cincinnati zoo said a child's life was in danger and a quick decision had to be made. it sounds like you agree? >> yes, i have seen them for years. i have been with them, i have filmed them, what i have seen in my live, in the zoological situation and those in the wild, what happens in the wild it is tragic sometimes. we provide millions to them. we're all sorry. all of us in the zoo world we're heart felt, but thank goodness the human being is alive. we can't just build 15 foot walls around everything. we're at the very top of safety when you take the amount of tragedy or injuries, we're at the very top. >> jack, some people are being very critical of the family at this point. there is a petition online attacking the family. do you think there is more that needs to be done to keep people out of these type of enclosures? >> we can only do so much. what keeps someone from going across the median on the interstate. i have seen children do all kinds of things in shopping c