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CNN TONIGHT

4-Year-Old New Jersey Boy Dies of Enterovirus; Teacher Charged with Sexual Abuse, Kidnapping, and Endangering the Welfare of a Child; 35,000 Walruses Take Over a Beach in Alaska

Aired October 6, 2014 - 23:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: It is 11:00 p.m. on the East Coast, and this is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon.

If you think Ebola is the biggest health crisis America faces, you'd better think again. A 4-year-old New Jersey boy seemed perfectly healthy when he went to bed, but he never woke up. Doctors say he died of enterovirus and it is spreading across the country. Our medical team tells you how to protect your family.

Plus, a shocking story of a predator in an elite Brooklyn school. A teacher charged with sexual abuse, kidnapping, and endangering the welfare of a child. How could this go on for years? And are your children safe? We're going to ask the experts.

Also, meet my newest CNN colleague, Mike Rowe, has done some pretty incredible jobs. Wait until he tells you what he's doing now.

We are going to begin with the two big health crisis in this country, Ebola and Enterovirus.

CNN's Ed Lavandera and Susan Candiotti have the latest for us.

Ed, we're going to start with you. By now or at least in the coming days we might expect to see some signs of Ebola and anyone who might have been exposed to this patient. What are officials saying tonight?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, as you start looking at the timeline from the moment that Thomas Eric Duncan was taken into the hospital here in Dallas and started showing symptoms of the Ebola virus, that this is really looking -- going ahead into this week, the week that doctors and health officials here in the state of Texas say will be very critical, that any of these nearly 50 people that were believed to have some sort of contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, that this could very well be the week that if they are infected would begin showing those symptoms.

There's that incubation period that could last up to 21 days. But it's anywhere around that 10-day period where in many of these cases so far you've started seeing those symptoms, and that's why health officials here in Texas are saying this is a critical week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOCTOR DAVID LAKEY, TEXAS STATE COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH: I think this is a very important week. We need to be prepared in Dallas for what could happen. So if one of the family members, God forbid, becomes ill, we need to be ready to do that. And so, there's been conversations with EMS.

I had a conversation earlier today with emergency managers across the state of Texas talking about what happens, you know, are we prepared? This is what's going on. Hospitals across the state are taking this very seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: So Don, nearly 50 people are being monitored. Their fever being taken twice a day. Ten of those people are considered to be high risk. So that's why they'll be paying very close attention to see if indeed the Ebola virus has been contained here in the city of Dallas -- Don.

LEMON: So Ed, last week Texas health Presbyterian hospital blamed a computer system for why Thomas Duncan was sent home on September 25th. They have since corrected that. What did they say today?

LAVANDERA: Well, last week they had put out a detailed statement, kind of walking people through what had happened when Thomas Eric Duncan showed up here at the hospital in Dallas, and one of the things that originally they had pointed out is there was some sort of mishap in the electronic health record that was -- including the data of Mr. Duncan's travel history and that somehow that wasn't communicated in that record between the nurse and the doctor.

Then the next day, this was Friday afternoon, the statement put out what it called a clarification of that saying that there was no problem with the electronic health record, that all of that worked properly. But really not offering any other explanation for then what might have gone wrong.

We've tried several times throughout the day today to reach out to the hospital officials here in Dallas, we didn't get any response. We were able to ask the head of the Texas department of health if he had been given any information or has gotten any new information about what went wrong in that initial diagnosis in the three days that Mr. Duncan was sent home before he came back with the full-blown symptoms of the Ebola virus. And he told us he hasn't been able to get any information or explanation as to what happened there and what the hospital is saying now either.

LEMON: All right, Ed, stand by. I want to go to Susan Candiotti now about this sad story in New Jersey, Susan, tonight. A little 4-year- old boy is dead as a result of the enterovirus. He was a triplet. How are his parents and his sisters doing tonight?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, the parents are simply grieving. And as you said, little Eli was the youngest in a set of triplets. And so he has two sisters who are surviving. And the family is grieving. They're trying to stay as positive as they can considering the circumstances. But how do you ever get over the death of a child? They have set up a foundation to try to raise money for education in

memory of their son, but it's extremely difficult for them.

LEMON: Why is his case so stunning? Is it because it happened so quickly? Why is it (INAUDIBLE)

CANDIOTTI: Well, yes. It's a mystery. You know, only four deaths have had contributing factors being the enterovirus. This is the only one of those four where that virus is being blamed directly for the death of someone, that's little Eli.

And in this case they have no idea how he contracted the virus. He had no underlying conditions and he was completely asymptomatic. He had no symptoms. His mom put him to bed one night, and Don, he simply didn't wake up. And they will never know how he got it.

LEMON: This is obviously way more widespread than Ebola. So what are officials saying after this? Are they telling parents anything, giving them any advice to protect their children?

CANDIOTTI: Just like anything else, when you're in the cold and flu season you have to be very careful to sanitize everything, to wash your hands repeatedly and a long enough period of time as well. And especially for children. And to sneeze into your arm. Remember, don't come into contact with others. And if your child is sick, in particular, keep them at home, as tough as that might be.

LEMON: All right, Susan Candiotti and Ed Lavandera, thanks to both of you this evening.

I want to bring in Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist with the university of Pittsburgh medical center. And there's Dr. James Sears, pediatrician and co-host of "the doctors."

Dr. Nuzzo, a nurse's assistant in Spain is the first person to contract Ebola outside of Africa after taking care of a priest who came home from Africa infected with Ebola. What's your concern level tonight about the spread of Ebola?

JENNIFER NUZZO, EPIDEMIOLOGIST, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH MEDICAL CENTER: Well, it's certainly an upsetting development. Unfortunately, with this virus what we're seeing is health care workers are particularly at risk. And certainly someone who is caring for someone who was so sick as the priest was, we would be quite concerned. I guess what we need to understand better about this case is whether or not health and safety precautions were being followed, you know, completely to the letter or whether there were any sort of lapses. But on the face, you know, we do expect that there may be periodic cases here and there, particularly as aid workers and such are returning from West Africa.

LEMON: And Dr. Sears, you know, the worry is a similar thing could happen in Dallas. We know that as of tonight no one who came in contact with Thomas Duncan, is showing symptoms of Ebola. We've spoken to doctors and family members. Yet. Right? Yet. As we move closer to the ten-day mark, how encouraged are you by this? DR. JAMES SEARS, CO-HOST, THE DOCTORS: Well, you know, every day that

goes by and people don't develop symptoms, that's better and better and better, you know. But nobody's going to really breathe a sigh of relief until you hit that 21-day mark. So, it's certainly a very tense time for those people.

LEMON: The governor of Texas, Rick Perry, thinks the federal government should start enhancing screening and quarantines at borders. So Dr. Nuzzo, do you think that will even make a difference?

NUZZO: Well, unfortunately, what we've learned in past outbreaks is that screening at airports really does not do much other than make people feel better. What does work, and we have pretty good evidence of this, is that when you educate travelers about what symptoms they should look for and know exactly that should they develop those symptoms once they arrive somewhere, who they should call and how they should isolate themselves so they don't make other people sick.

LEMON: Even the temperature screenings? When I went into West Africa I got a temperature screening. I did not get one coming back to the U.S. But you say that doesn't really matter.

NUZZO: Yes. I mean, you know, doing it at point of exit in West Africa, I think it would be a different story than doing it here in the United States. I mean, one thing we have to keep in mind about, since this outbreak started probably in December tens of thousands of travelers from West Africa have come to the United States and this is the first case that has occurred in the U.S. So we have to keep these things in perspective.

LEMON: Dr. Sears, I'm sure you were listening to Susan Candiotti's report of the little 4-year-old boy in New Jersey who died from the enterovirus. Is this an unusual case?

SEARS: It's heartbreaking and it is unusual. I mean, we know there's been hundreds of confirmed cases. Yet, you know, millions of people have probably been exposed and experiencing an enterovirus infection. But the vast majority of them are only getting mild cold symptoms. And up until now we've seen the sickest, especially in kids, kids with asthma are the ones who have gotten hit hard with this. But had little Eli who did not have any underlying problems other than being a triplet, probably a bit premature, getting hit this hard with no symptoms, it's got a lot of parents very worried.

LEMON: So Ebola, the enterovirus and the flu, the beginning symptoms are very similar. Do you think the American health care system is prepared for this cold and flu season?

I'll start with Dr. Sears first, and then Dr. Nuzzo.

SEARS: Well, you know, we kind of think of the normal cold and flu season as maybe a big wave in the ocean. With enterovirus D68 this might be more of a tsunami that's hitting us. And we're just kind of getting into it now. We're kind of in the middle of the fall flu season and enterovirus season. So where this exactly goes we're not exactly sure. But prevention is always key. And we've harped on this every year.

And it's the same for enterovirus, it's the same thing you do for the cold and flu. Good hand washing. And the typical hand washing of just rinse your hands and put a little soap on them and rinse them off, that's not going to do it. You've got to scrub your hands with warm soapy water for 20 seconds and really get in there. And the scrubbing, whether you use an alcohol gel or the soapy water, the scrubbing is really what's most important. And then keeping your hands away from your eyes and your nose and your mouth, that's another big, big prevention tip.

LEMON: And Dr. Nuzzo, I'm sure you will agree prevention is key. You need to do all of those things. Unfortunately, that's all we have time for.

Thank you, Dr. Nuzzo, thank you, Dr. Sears. We appreciate it.

When we come right back, do you trust your child's teacher? One teacher at a top Brooklyn school is facing charges of sexually abusing students for years. How could it happen, and what should you do to protect your child?

Plus, Mike Rowe has done some crazy jobs over the years, but his latest just might be the best one yet. He's here to explain tonight.

And remember those thousands of all Walrus on an Alaska beach? We've got the latest on their story and millions of other animals in crisis.

The president of the Columbus Zoo is here and he's bringing some animals you have got to see.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We are just one month into the new school year, and here in New York there is a shocking scandal at one of the city's top high schools. A teacher is accused of sexually abusing students for as long as three years. And unfortunately, this case is not an isolated incident.

Here's CNN's Miguel Marquez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was the cool teacher. Students called him shay-shay. He had a flight simulator in the classroom, shared cigarettes and alcohol with students, even texting 15 and 16-year-olds late into the night, at times after midnight. Brooklyn district attorney Ken Thompson says it was all part of a plan to prey sexually on students.

KENNETH THOMPSON, BROOKLYN DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I've never seen a case like this. This is a wake-up call for parents and teachers around the country.

MARQUEZ: 44-year-old Sean Shaynak, an aeronautics teacher at Brooklyn's Elite Technical high school now facing at least 40 charges from sexual abuse to kidnapping to endangering the welfare of a child.

Shaynak's undoing began this summer when he sent a Snapchat photo of his penis to one of his alleged victims. Those Snapchat messages disappear after a few seconds. She was able to capture a screen shot of the snap chat, kicking off an investigation still ongoing.

Shaynak's attorney says no comment. Investigators say the case is shocking because it went on for so long, from 2011 to this year, and with so many young women. At least seven victims now identified. And all of this under the noses of parents and school officials.

THOMPSON: It's extraordinary. And that's what people around the country, parents and teachers, have to be vigilant and make sure that we stay in the lives of our children.

MARQUEZ: Even New York's mayor, whose teenage son attends Brooklyn Tech, is outraged by the allegations.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK: It's disgusting. I mean, this is someone who clearly should not have been a teacher, and I guarantee you he will never teach in a classroom again.

MARQUEZ: Just how Sean Shaynak came to teach in New York still a question. Living in Maryland, the 6'5", 225-pound Shaynak was charged but never convicted of beating an 11-year-old boy there.

New York City's department of education will only say Shaynak is being officially terminate but refuse to comment on the vetting process and how Shaynak was allowed to teach to begin with.

THOMPSON: We're working very close with education officials in Brooklyn and here in New York City regarding this case. And so we will have conversations with them.

MARQUEZ: A conversation other families and schools are having right now. In Louisiana two female teachers stand accused of having sex at the same time with a 16-year-old student. And in New Jersey a female teacher accused of sexually assaulting five 15-year-old boys.

In this case, a video taken by one of the boys of the teacher's act was discovered during these investigation. Technology playing a dual role. In some cases used to prey on children. In others it implicates alleged pedophiles.

With the school year just under way, new concerns for parents and students, defining the limits of trust in the very place where it's expected most.

Miguel Marquez, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Extraordinary report from our Miguel Marquez there. Thank you, Miguel. Our legal experts are standing by with more on predatory teachers and what you can do to protect your children. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Teachers who sexually abuse students violate not only the trust of students but the trust of parents and other educators as well. What can we do to stop them?

Joining me now is Mel Robbins, CNN commentator and legal analyst, Mark O'Mara, senior legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, and Janet Johnson, a criminal defense attorney.

I have so many questions about it, especially the New York guy. Like how could this go on for so long?

Mel, Sean Shaynak, or Shay-Shay as they call him, was the cool teacher, having lunch with students on campus and off campus, smoking with them. I mean, how could this chummy behavior with students have gone completely unnoticed for years?

MEL ROBBINS, CNN COMMENTATOR/LEGAL ANALYST: Well, you know, Don, there's a difference between the chummy behavior and the illegal behavior. And one of the reasons why it probably went on for years is he was grooming these students over time to see who he could commit crimes, you know, against.

And the other reason why is I think as parents -- and look, I've got a daughter in high school, a daughter in middle school, a son in elementary school. You want to think the best about teachers. So when you see a teacher hanging around with students, I mean, obviously the parents don't know he's buying them cigarettes and alcohol or anything else. You think, this is a teacher that's going the extra mile to help my kid in school. You don't automatically think this is a predator that's having sex with my kid.

So I think it went under the radar screen because both parents don't want to believe that this kind of thing can go on and also because students weren't forthcoming about it, Don.

LEMON: Yes. Go ahead, Janet.

JANET JOHNSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, yes. But we're missing the third part, which is the school. I mean, you know, we said in the setup here's a guy who's not charged but accused for beating up an 11-year-old but yet he gets hired as a teacher.

And you know, if the teacher is giving As to students that never take tests and don't turn in homework, is nobody looking at what he is doing. He has a nickname. I didn't call teachers Shay-Shay. I mean, this is school supervision. This isn't the parents' fault.

LEMON: And you are talking about he faced charges after beating an 11-year-old boy in 2005 when he lived in Maryland. That was expunged from his record. But there was a restraining order against him from that. And it is clearly in the hiring process, Mark, something was overlooked. So, you know, this teacher was caught because he sent an obscene picture of himself to one of the teens on Snapchat, which is a social media app that lets people send messages that then disappear in a few seconds. But the girl was really smart enough to take a screen shot of it. Is social media, in your estimate, putting our kids in greater danger?

MARK O'MARA, SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST/ CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, it's the good and bad. We talked about this on the bullying level. You know, social media and technology itself allows many more avenues to get to the victim whether it's a bully or in this case a sexual abuse victim. It allows the Snapchat, texting, emails, facebook. It allows all of that as avenues for an abuser to get to a person they want to abuse.

It has great benefits but I think it just requires both the teachers, the administrators, and parents particularly to be more vigilant about how their children who are not yet adults are dealing with social media p.

LEMON: And listen, I don't want to put words in your mouth, Mel, but I heard Janet saying it's not the parents' fault and Mel, you said, the parents didn't know. As Mark said --

ROBBINS: Wait a minute, Don. Don, hold on a second. There is one --

LEMON: Shouldn't the parents have known something about what their kids were doing with this person? Do they bear any responsibility here, Mel?

ROBBINS: Well, I think one of the parents bears responsibilities when she knows according to several news outlets that her daughter was on a beach with this guy as his private parts were in full view from the bathing suit he was wearing and he was having sexual talk in front of these girls. And the parent, if the red flags don't go up then as a guy is behaving like that in public in front of your teenage daughter and talking about sexual stuff and you don't start digging in then, yes, there's something wrong with you and your supervision as a parent.

And so here's the thing. I agree with Mark. I love Janet. Social media is both a wonderful thing, because unlike the Catholic Church cases, unlike the case with Sandusky at Penn State, we had no physical evidence. If you're busy reaching out to kids on social media, at least we've got some sort of physical trail.

But Mark's right. It creates more opportunity for a predator to reach out to your kid. Can every parent, Don, monitor everything that their kid's doing online? No way. However, if this is a -- if this is a teacher that's actually hanging out with your kid on a beach, there's something weird about that.

LEMON: Janet, you're wanting to get in.

JOHNSON: Well, no. And I'm not saying parents don't have any responsibility. But in these conversations I always feel like we're saying if parents had done this, this wouldn't happen. You know, have to trust your kid at some point. And these kids were being groomed, as Mel said, by these teachers. So they were kind of sitting ducks. You know, these teachers prey on -- and I've defended teachers in this position. So, you know, I don't want to be hypocritical. But they can prey on, you know, girls who are vulnerable, girls who

need counseling. And instead of sending kids to therapists the teacher's saying, you know, I'll spend more time with your child. You know, parents are doing the best they can.

LEMON: But Janet, you know what, that's a good point because there is a grooming process if you listen to -- as Mark has said, as Mel has said, there's a grooming process. Predators look for certain things in children. And I would imagine not having a regular monitoring by their parents is one of them, Mark.

O'MARA: Well, the grooming starts very slowly as well because what they do is they start with the trust, their friendship, the connection, their favors, the gifts, the better grade than they may otherwise get. That's all part of the grooming process at the very low level to build up that trust level. So then as the adult moves the child further down the path where they want, toward the sexual abuse, it gets more and more natural and almost you've now trained the child to almost feel bad not giving in to what you're asking. So that grooming process could take six months or a year with a sexual predator who has this plan in place.

LEMON: Mel, do you talk to your kids about this stuff?

ROBBINS: You know, what I talk to my kids about is sexuality. What I talk to them about is sexual content. I talk to them about Snapchat and social media and kind of what they're putting out there.

You know, what was interesting, Don, is I thought to myself, what teacher has access to my kids the way that this guy did? And there's only person that I could think of in the case of my sophomore and it's a coach. And yet there are parents around all the time. And this particular coach the kids call this guy a nickname, but he's never with the kids in an unsupervised place. And, you know, I haven't had the kind of conversation with them, Don, honestly --

LEMON: Should you be and all parents?

ROBBINS: You know, I think what you have to have is a conversation with your kids about their body space and about what's appropriate.

LEMON: OK.

ROBBINS: And whether or not it's kids having those conversations or adults having those conversations.

LEMON: I get your paint. I get your point.

Many schools have social media policies where teachers are barred really from communicating. You're saying I thought about my kids and what teacher or faculty member has that type of access. It may not be physical action but they may be doing it through social media.

So do you think, that you know, Janet, it should be a policy -- a round policy everywhere that teachers shouldn't be able to communicate with students via social media? I know some teachers give out homework on social media.

JOHNSON: Yes. Well, it's interesting you said that because I actually represented a teacher and she was young, to be dealing with kids who were not much younger than she was. And she was actually encouraged to facebook friend these kids. The school actually said we want you to get on their level because they'll open up to you more. She was a guidance counselor. And so she was actually almost in a therapeutic setting. And the school encouraged her to talk to these kids on social media because that's the language kids talk these days. That I think is a recipe for disaster.

LEMON: Texting and social media really as you said probably makes it easier for access. What trouble might prosecutors have in prosecuting these cases if there isn't a paper trail? Is that electronic paper trail more important than anything else, Mark?

O'MARA: Yes, the electronic paper trail is what's going to sink this guy. First, they are going to have the witness testimony. They are going to have the children, but they'll also have the 10,000 text messages with one. They're going to have a lot of the Snapchats and other things that were captured. We now know in the last few years how easy it is to get a forensic digital trail of somebody. So he's going to have that.

There is going to be a little bit of a problem trying to get in some of the prior acts that he's done. Because New York doesn't seem to have what we call a similar fact evidence rule which would allow other things that he did against him in this case. We'll work through that as the case progresses.

LEMON: Mark O'Mara, Janet Johnson, Mel Robbins, great conversation. Thank you, guys.

ROBBINS: Thanks, guys.

LEMON: Up next we're going to talk to Mike Rowe, who has a brand new show right here on CNN. And it's called "SOMEBODY'S GOT TO DO IT." We'll see what it's about coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: He's all excited. On Wednesday Mike Rowe officially joins CNN with his new show "SOMEBODY'S GOT TO DO IT." Rowe's going to travel coast to coast, introduce us to some hard-working people with some very interesting jobs.

Joining us is my newest CNN colleague, Mr. Mike Rowe.

MIKE ROWE, CNN HOST, SOMEBODY'S GOT TO DO IT: Mr. Lemon. Pleasure to be with you.

LEMON: I'm going to call your show "SOMEBODY'S GOT DO IT." Fine by me. Can we do that?

ROWE: Why not? It's you will colloquial. LEMON: You've done everything. And we talked about this. You've

done QVC. You've sung opera. You've done everything. How does it feel to be part of CNN?

ROWE: Well, you know, everybody's got to be somewhere and I'm glad to be here. And honestly it's a little weird. And I mean that in the nicest way because had you asked me over the course of my fake career if I'd wind up here, I would say it's not possible.

LEMON: You said your fake career. OK, here's what I was wondering. It seems like there are a couple of people in television who are doing exactly what they should be doing. You and Bourdain, Lisa. You know what I mean? That's what you guys should be doing. Seems like you just all of a sudden, you're like, another great job. Is that true?

ROWE: No. Well, yes. But look, it's really tempting when you -- when you've had a decent run and people say, well, explain that. It's really tempting to try to. But the truth is -- and I can't speak for Lisa or Tony or anybody else. But I Forrest Gumped my way through most of this. Well, most of the interesting people I know would say the same thing. You do your best with the cards you have and way leads on to way, and the next thing you know you could be in a sewer, you could be at CNN. You could be somewhere in between.

LEMON: Luck, timing. And a little bit of talent. Correct?

ROWE: Look, honestly, you show up, you do your part, you know, you don't take credit for stuff you didn't do. And you stay a little later than --

LEMON: Amen, brother. Could we talk some serious stuff now?

ROWE: I don't think so.

LEMON: I saw you. I watched "Dirty Jobs." You were in hazmat suits. You were doing medical cleanup. You see what's happening with Ebola. That's not easy. Were you frightened to do that? When you look at this, does it kind of take you back, seeing some of this?

ROWE: Anytime I see rubber gloves and plastic suits, there are a whole list of sort of optical associations that come back to me. We did a lot of cleanup over the years. But the thing that stands out most of all, look, and of course it's serious. The stakes couldn't be higher. But again and again day after day from what I've seen there is an amazing sense of humor among first responders and people who deal with the worst of the worst. I know it's almost a trope to talk about it. But where you expect to find drudgery and where you expect to see the worst of the worst consistently what I saw was people of good cheer rolling up their sleeves and doing the work.

LEMON: You can relate to that? To what they're going through?

ROWE: I'm a fan of it. I mean, I'm a fan of what we're doing in terms of trying to head this thing off at the pass. But the specifics are so far beyond my pay grade, Don, I can't even speak to it. When I said hello, I told you all I knew about what was going on in Dallas and this whole issue.

LEMON: The president talked about the unemployment rate last week, saying that it had fallen. It didn't get, you know, big coverage. A lot of news. Because I think people -- do you think people are now just, even though the unemployment rate is low, do you think people are really feeling that the economy is getting better? I'm surprised that people weren't like --.

ROWE: Well, look, I mean, every time I hear about unemployment dropping, I hear another report that talks about labor participation.

LEMON: People dropping out of the workforce.

ROWE: Right. So I see a lot of numbers and a lot of decimal points, and I see a lot of spin, depending on who you're partial to. In the end I don't know. The employers that I'm in touch with, the people, even at the height of the recession I can tell you in 2009 I guess it was. When the headlines screamed about 9.2 percent unemployment. The signs I saw most often were "help wanted."

LEMON: Yes. Two very different narratives. Why don't people want these -- some particular jobs that you're talking about?

ROWE: I think by and large the single biggest impediment into successful recruiting, into the technical trades right now are stigmas, stereotypes, and misperceptions that have been with us for about 40 or 50 years. We've been promoting one very specific path of education at the expense of the others for a long time. It's a four- year degree, and I've got nothing bad to say about it. Except for the fact that when you promote one form of education at the expense of, say, apprenticeships or training then you ultimately create a list of alternatives, the word itself is a bit of a pejorative, and pretty soon a whole generation of kids comes along and says why do I want to be a welder or a plumber or a steam fitter or a pipe fitter? I know a lot of those that are doing over 100 grand a year, by the way.

LEMON: Well, this is past. This is a fashion for you getting people to get jobs, manufacturing jobs and jobs using that are needed for our economy, for a healthy economy. Let's talk about your new show. Let's look at it and then we'll talk about the clip.

ROWE: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

ROWE: Here's Chris. Will.

Chris has just told me that my wetsuit is on backwards. And I might care when I go down to depth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything squeezes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You may want to go change.

ROWE: Zip me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How does that fit now?

ROWE: It feels like a dream. It feels like a --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nicely done.

ROWE: Yes, thanks. How are you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very good. How are you doing?

ROWE: I feel great.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You'll feel even better in the deep pool.

ROWE: I bet.

But getting in the water here, that's complicated.

Just building the suspense, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.

ROWE: Awesome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. So, you were showing off your guns among other things, squeezing into that --

ROWE: Those weren't guns.

LEMON: So what are you doing here? What can we expect from this upcoming episode?

ROWE: So in your intro you talked about people doing jobs that are dangerous and difficult. And yes, we'll touch on it. But honestly, "Somebody's Got To Do It' is not a continuation of "Dirty Jobs." It's a continuation of a segment I used to do called "SOMEBODY'S GOT TO DO IT" for CBS back in 2001.

That particular segment featured I believe the most interesting stage- hand I've ever met, who oversees backstage at the Wynn casino for a production called La Reve (ph), which is the most dangerous show I've ever seen. Boneless people dropping from great heights and scuba divers and all kinds -- in the dark and flaming water. It's the most complicated show I've ever seen.

I wanted to meet the guy who was in charge of keeping everybody alive. So that's a guy who's got to do it. He's got the heart of a stage- hand, the mind of an artist, and how it all smashes together is a really interesting mix of blue collar, white collar, and Vegas.

LEMON: So out of everything that I've ever done on CNN, you know what gives my mom the most pleasure? When the little thing comes on and says "I'm Don Lemon. This is CNN." Can you do that? ROWE: I'm Don Lemon and this is CNN. Something like that?

LEMON: Yes, like that.

ROWE: Too weird?

LEMON: Could you say Mike Rowe?

ROWE: It's true. I'm Mike Rowe. And this is CNN? Is the question mark too weird?

LEMON: And this is -- who put a question mark in the prompter? Anchorman. Ron Burgundy. "SOMEBODY'S GOT TO DO IT" premieres this Wednesday October 8th, 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN. I am looking forward to it.

ROWE: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Mike Rowe.

ROWE: Mr. Lemon.

LEMON: Thank you. Pleasure.

And when we come right back, these are a few of our next guests. But as cute as they are, they could be in danger. We're going to tell you why. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This is a picture that has everybody talking four days, 35,000 walrus taking over a beach in Alaska. It's called hauling out. And this is the largest one on record. It happens when the walrus are forced onto land as sea ice disappears. Experts say it's an example of the impact of climate change and it could get even worse.

So joining us now is Tom Stalf. He is the president and CEO of the Columbus Zoo.

Good to see you, Tom. I understand you have some friends there. So let's talking about the images we just showed. We have blown up some images of the walrus on that beach in Alaska. So why? Tell us what's going on here.

TOM STALF, PRESIDENT/CEO, COLUMBUS ZOO: Yes. Unfortunately, when we talk about a haul out, you know, we see in the last eight years it has been getting worse and worse. And the experts are saying it's due to the fact that we're losing that sea ice. A Walrus wants to forage in shallow waters. And so, when it's in an area where they're normally seeing that sea ice, they'll be able to get up and rest. As a matter of fact, the females will come and have their young there and without the sea ice then they're going to go into land. And because they are an animal that will stay in a large group then they're forming these massive, massive haul outs.

The problem with this, Don, is the fact that then they'll get startled and then they'll stampede. And unfortunately, the pups cannot survive. So, this is all due to the lack of sea ice.

LEMON: You say the fact it's happening to walrus that it's a massive red flag. How so?

STALF: Well, it is definitely a red flag. Just last year, I was in Manitoba, Canada near Churchill as we were studying polar bears. And as we talked with a climatologist and we talked to the experts from polar bear international, they're seeing unusual behaviors from polar bears. And it's the same thing that's happening with the walrus as well.

The bottom line is we are losing our sea ice. We need to make sure we study this and we support conservationists so we can learn more. Because what's happening with the walrus and what's happening with the polar bear is they're changing their behaviors. What is normal to them years ago is not normal anymore.

LEMON: I understand that you brought a few friends with you. So tell us who you have there and why.

STALF: We're very proud of our conservation projects that we have and so today I'm highlighting our cheetah. You know, this is a young cheetah here. Misi is only about five months old. But the thing that I love about the Columbus Zoo and aquarium is not only do we care about all of our guests coming in to see these amazing animals, but we give back to conservation.

And cheetahs, you know, many years ago there were hundreds of thousands. Now there's less than 10,000. So this animal here is an animal ambassador. She's very interested in the fish behind me right now. But it's amazing to be able to see the animals out in the wild. And making sure that we can protect them. We do that by supporting conservation projects.

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium alone supports over 70 different projects in 30 different countries. But the thing I love about the fact that zoos and aquariums all around the United States are working together and raising millions of dollars so we can give back to support conservation.

LEMON: Conservation. Show us who else you have. It is important. And you say that we should all be concerned about these animals' population.

STALF: Absolutely. Let me show you another favorite friend of mine. This is a young bird. It's an African penguin. The African penguin is found, you know, a lot of people when they see a penguin they think snow and ice. But out of the 18 species only five live in the Antarctic. None live in the Arctic.

This animal is actually originating in South Africa and right in Cape Town. Unfortunately, they're also a highly protected animal because of the fact they're having that human wildlife conflict where they lay their eggs as nests about the size of this table, but unfortunately folks are taking that nesting material away for agricultural purposes, because it's great fertilizer. These birds are amazing. Can't fly unless they're in the water.

Forty five miles an hour looking for fish and different squid to eat. Watching out for any type of predator. A beautiful bird here we absolutely love.

LEMON: As you bring in your other friends here. A staggering statistic was released by the world wildlife fund saying the earth has lost half of its wild animals in the past 40 years. What is the culprit, do you think?

STALF: Well, I think it all comes down to the human-wildlife conflict. You know, there's no question about it. Our climate is changing. And what we say here at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is folks, we have one planet, it's time for us to protect it.

These animals here have a perfect story. We have some mountain lions that came from Montana. A horrible fire and a firefighter was able to find a pair of these mountain lions and we were able to find them, save them and we were able to give them a great home.

You know, we have a lot of here and it's all about touch the heart to teach the mind. And it's so important that we have that opportunity to talk about wildlife and wild places. There's ways for people to support the conservative plans and programs that we have. And it's just an opportunity that I want to make sure that everyone see.

You know, plants and animals are very, very important to us.

LEMON: What can we do to make sure -- I have about 10 seconds, 10, 15 seconds. What can we do to slow down this change?

STALF: Well, you support your conservation projects. It starts out with your zoo and aquarium right in your hometown. The bottom line is people care about plants and animals and it's great that we're seeing a change in conservation efforts.

LEMON: Tom Stalf, great stuff. Thank you very much. Beautiful animals. Appreciate it.

We'll be right back.

STALF: Thanks for your time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: CNN is proud to announce the top ten CNN heroes of 2014. Each of them will receive $25,000 and a shot at the top honor of CNN Hero of the year, which will earn one of them an additional $100,000 for their cause. And you get to help decide who that person will be.

Here's Anderson Cooper to help show you how.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, AC360: Now, that we have announced the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2014, I want to show you how you can choose who should be CNN hero of the year and receive $100,000 for their cause.

Take a look. This is the main page of CNNheroes.com where you can see all the top ten and you could learn more about each one of them. Here's how you can vote for your favorite. Once you've decided who's inspired you the most click down here on vote, and a new page comes up. It shows you all the top ten heroes. Now, choose a person to vote for. I'm going to randomly select say Ned Norton over here. That's just an example. His photo will show up down here under your selection. Then just enter your email address, type in your security code and click on the vote button right down there.

It is even use to vote on facebook. Just make your selection and click over here. You can vote once a day, every day through Sunday, November 16, with your email address and through facebook. Go to CNNheroes.com. Then rally your friends by sharing your choice on facebook or on or twitter. We will reveal your 2014 Hero of the year when CNN heroes, an all-stared previewed. CNN's tradition has promises with respond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Meet all of this year's top ten heroes and vote once day everyday at CNNHeroes.com. And all ten will be honored at CNN heroes, all-star tribute hosted by Anderson Cooper and airing on December 7th with only one will be named CNN hero of the year.

That's is it for me tonight. Thank you so much for watching. I will be back here tomorrow night. Our live coverage continues now with John Vause and Rosemary Church at the CNN center in Atlanta.