They got to this temporary rescue Center Thanks to the unrelenting efforts of jan creamer and tim phillips. Creamer and phillips told us that all 24 lions here had been repeatedly beaten in traveling circuses. The lions sounded like they wanted to tell us themselves. roaring this was the first time we had an interview interrupted by roaring. Something unusual happened on the way to the Grammy Awards last year. An album was nominated from malawi. The artists werent polished pop stars, but prisoners and guards, in a place called zomba. A maximum security prison, so decrepit and overcrowded, its been called the waiting room of hell. How could such beautiful music come from such misery . We went to malawi to find out. Im steve kroft. Im leslie stahl. Im bill whitaker. Im anderson cooper. Im scott pelley. Those stories, tonight on 60 minutes. Theyre back and, at outback our sweet, tender snow crab legs come with a big bold outback steak and, speaking of big. Why not go full aussie, and go for a full pound steak crab starts at just 15. 99. But, hurry in. When theyre gone, theyre gone pain is sometimes in my hands, be a distraction. Right before a performance especially. Only aleve has the strength to stop minor arthritis pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. This is my pain. But i am stronger. Aleve. All day strong. So she only earns double miles on purchasesit card. She makes from that airline. Whatd you earn double miles on, please . Ugh. Thats unfortunate. Theres a better option. The capital one venture card. With venture, you earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, everywhere, every day. Not just airline purchases. Seems like a nobrainer. Whats in your wallet . Pelley about 260 americans have joined, or tried to join, terrorists overseas. And many of us wonder, how in gods name does that happen . How is an american drawn into a group that seeks to destroy everything that america stands for . Abdirizak warsame has an exotic name, but he was an american teenager living with his mom in minneapolis, who became the leader of an isis cell sending other young men from minneapolis to their deaths. As we first reported last october, warsame was released from jail for one day to talk to us. A judge would soon sentence him to what could be up to 15 years in prison. Warsame wanted to explain to us and, through us, to the judge how he fell for isis in gods name. Abdirizak warsame the reason i wanted to go to syria was, i felt like it was my duty. I felt like it was something that i had to do. And if i didnt do it, i would be, basically a disgrace to god. I would be a disgrace to the world. I would be a disgrace to my family. Pelley did you see the videos of the isis atrocities . Warsame yes, i have seen them. Pelley of them shooting people and throwing them into the river, one after another . The jordanian pilot that they burned to death . Did you think you were going to be doing that kind of thing . Warsame yeah. I was going to be participating in those activities. Pelley because those people werent true muslims. Warsame right. Pelley and therefore they deserved to die . Warsame correct. Pelley Abdirizak Warsame learned the theology of murder in minneapolis, minnesota. He was an american kid rising in a tough neighborhood but never in trouble with the police. He found his way through high school chasing a basketball, pursuing poetry, and music. Warsame when i say cedar, you say riders cedar pelley cedar, as in cedar riverside, was his neighborhood where 20,000 refugees from somalia began to settle in the 1990s. They set their hearts on the american dream, but like most immigrant communities, the first generation kids grew up between two worlds. Too foreign for many americans, too american for their parents. Warsame i went to school with a lot of kids that were not somali. And so i kind of got into that culture, you know, music. Going to prom, dancing, its hard to kind of explain that stuff to your parents, when they kind of really dont understand what it is. Pelley his mother didnt understand why he was hanging out with tough boys in cedar, so she prodded him to go to the mosque. Warsame learning about the religion and reciting the quran, i started to become more religious. I felt like there was something that was missing in me. Pelley the mosque was not extremist, but the lessons were in somali, and warsame looked for an englishspeaking imam online. Anwar alawlaki we are fighting for a noble cause. We are fighting for god. Pelley he found, anwar al awlaki, born in new mexico, and a leading spiritual advisor for al qaeda. Awlaki produced hours of lectures glorifying war on nonbelievers. Warsame one of the lectures was titled, battle of the hearts and minds. And what they do is try to get your heart and your mind and try to get you to join their cause. And so, whether youre doing something good for your community, whether youre going to school, whether you have a nice job, all of that, theyre going to make it seem like its worthless. And that there is something greater that you can be doing. Pelley awlaki was killed by a u. S. Drone five years ago. But online, life is everlasting. Warsame he explained how islam was, you know, like, my calling. It was almost like he was talking to you. And like it made you feel like you were special, you know . And like youre the chosen one. And the more i listened to it, the more it was appealing to me and the more interesting it became. Pelley how much time did you spend watching these videos . Warsame i would just continuously watch them when i wasnt doing anything. When i wasnt at school or doing my homework or, you know, out with my family. I was watching those videos. Awalki we are facing you with men who love death just like you love life. Pelley around the videos grew a congregation, eleven of warsames friends. Warsame i thought i was the only one. But when i met these group of men that i was friends with, it was kind of shocking to see that they also knew about these videos too. We would listen and listen and listen until we became, you know, wrapped in this ideology. All those lectures would talk about how it wasnt a time for just, you know, talking, but it was a time for action. Pelley the route to action was a link away, in the recruitment videos of isis. Music videos, a language the boys could understand. Youtube became more real to you than your neighborhood in minnesota . Warsame yes. Pelley how could that be . Warsame it kind of takes control of you. And you think youre doing something for a greater cause. And you think youre doing it for good. Pelley and what was that . Warsame most of the videos would talk about how if you would engage in jihad, you would be doing your family a favor. And that you would be saving their lives from eternal hellfire. Pelley that if you died as a martyr, you would not only go to paradise your whole family would go with you. Warsame whole family would go to paradise. Pelley and you were trying to be the best muslim you could be . Warsame correct. You want to be the hero. You want to save everyone. And you want to do good. Pelley in 2014, at the age of 19, warsame helped organize a plot to join isis in syria. He helped his friends get passports and made connections with people who could smuggle them through turkey. The first two reached syria, yusuf jama, and abdi nur. Nur sent back facebook pictures. Warsame i remember him telling me, you know, im having the time of my life, and he was fulfilling his dream or on his way to heaven. Pelley what happened to him . Warsame i believe hes dead. Pelley how did that happen . Warsame he was fighting, and he was killed. Pelley yusuf jama was also killed. Are you responsible for their deaths . Warsame yeah, i believe i am responsible for their deaths, and i think about that every day. Pelley and if you had been able to get to syria, what do you think would have happened to you by now . Warsame i probably would be dead right now. Pelley after your friend, abdi nur, left minneapolis, his mother was trying to find him. She was desperate. Warsame she was desperate. She needed answers. And, i knew where he was going. And i did the unthinkable and i lied to her, and i told her that i didnt know where her son was. Pelley she was trying to save his life. Warsame yeah. That was very evil of me to do. Pelley as more of warsames group applied for passports, one of them was evasive about where he was going, and a passport official passed along his suspicions. The f. B. I. Got involved and convinced one of the conspirators to cooperate. Andrew luger he ended up wearing a recording device for two months, and thats one of the ways that we have such good insight into the thinking of these coconspirators. Pelley u. S. Attorney andrew luger ran the prosecution. Luger theres a pull and a push. And the pull is this ideology that says were building the perfect world. You belong with us. Come join it. And the push is theyre not going to treat you like we will. Youre always going to be an outsider. Pelley it sounds like a gang recruiting a kid in chicago . Luger there are a lot of similarities. It goes a little deeper, though, because this message of, you dont belong in the west, is so dangerous. Pelley luger meets with the community often in hopes of warning parents and turning young men around. Luger our job is not only to catch and prosecute criminals, but to prevent criminal activity in the first place. Mohamed amin if theres violence in society, everyone loses pelley mohamed amin is among those fighting the isis message with one of his own. Amin were comparing their system, al qaeda, Islamic State. Why is our system better . Because its fairer. Its just, its more open and more importantly, it works pelley amin works in a gas station and spends his money producing antiisis cartoons under the name average mohamed. What do you think your Job Description is when you join the Islamic State . Behead unarmed innocent people. Destroy World Heritage sites, empower unelected, bloodthirsty individuals as leaders. Amin given resources and opportunity, we can win this fight. Pelley why do you think so . Amin because i have hope. Peace supersedes violence. Freedom supersedes hate. And my Community Wants to be part of the american dream. We love our country. Its a great country. Its given us a lot. A lot. Luger we have to work with all minnesotans to combat islamophobia, because racial bigotry and religious bigotry helps the isil narrative, and weve got to stop it. Pelley how does it help . Luger you listen to these young men, and theyre hearing a message that says, youre not wanted in the west. So when a mother is beaten in a restaurant, which happened last year here, simply because she was somali, had a beer mug smashed across her face and told, go home in front of little kids, that helps that isil narrative. Pelley was she an american citizen . Luger yes. Pelley and her kids were too . Luger yes. Pelley and so when the person said, go home . Luger the kids said, what do they mean . We just want to eat at applebees. Pelley andrew luger prosecuted nine of warsames group. Four had been intercepted at j. F. K. Airport in new york on their way to syria. Warsame and five others pled guilty to supporting a terrorist organization. Warsame i pled guilty because i knew i was guilty. And i knew what i did was wrong. Pelley another who pled guilty was zacharia abdurahman. His father, yusuf, told us that his son had been working nights to go to college by day. He told us he never saw trouble. Yusuf abdurahman in our culture, where i come from, we are very harsh. Nomadic society, very harsh. We dont do compliments, we dont praise the kids, we dont hug them. We dont just tell them, we love you. I never tell my kid, i love you, until he get caught and hes behind bars. We are out of touch with our children. Im not computer savvy. These children, these computers and this internet this is their toys. Pelley their toys. Abdurahman yeah. Pelley and you didnt know what was happening. Abdurahman we didnt know wh hme. You know, im a parent that his kid is in jail now. You know, im sorry what hes going through. But, you know, im very glad that hes here. Im very glad that he was caught, that he was stopped. Pelley youre glad that he was caught . Abdurahman yes. Yes, hes alive. Pelley of the twelve, two were killed, the one who cooperated with the f. B. I. Has not been charged, six pled guilty, and three were convicted at trial. Warsame testified for the prosecution. And these selfies were part of the evidence. Did you write those words . Warsame yeah. It says till the death of me, baby. Pelley and what did that mean . Warsame that meant, this is what i stood for. Pelley and you were willing to die for it . Warsame for this cause. Pelley hoping to die for it . Warsame yeah. Pelley youre looking at potentially 15 years in prison. Who do you blame for that . Warsame myself. At the end of the day, i was the one who made those decisions. Im trying to do the best that i can, to make up for all of the things that ive done. Pelley do you really believe that, or are you saying it so the judge will go easy on you . Warsame i really believe that. What ive done is something that nobody can be proud of. Its very shameful. I might be very remorseful, but i havent done any actions to correct those wrongs. Pelley and thats what this interview is . Warsame its the only reason im doing this interview, is to make up for the wrong that ive done. Pelley and to those young men who are watching those same videos right now, today . You say, what . Warsame i say its not worth it. Its not worth your family going through all the pain and suffering just because you believe in something that is total nonsense. That doesnt make sense. Its not worth your life. Pelley you watched those videos to change your life. And they have. Warsame correct. Pelley Abdirizak Warsames life changed again two weeks later in federal court. Judge Michael Davis told warsame, im not convinced youre still not a jihadist, as he sentenced him to two and a half years. The judge referred to warsames cautionary tale on 60 minutes, calling it another chess move, although the federal prosecutor called it contrition. 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Ask a Financial Advisor how lincoln can help protect your savings from the impact of longterm care expenses. Whitaker for 25 years, jan creamer and tim phillips have made it their mission to stop animal abuse, in circuses. This relentless british couple sends teams to infiltrate circuses around the world, to document the mistreatment of animals. Their work helped lead to local laws banning most wild animals from circuses in more than 15 u. S. States; and to national bans in more than 20 countries. As we first reported in march, their latest successes have been across south america, where they spent years recording animal cruelty on hidden cameras. We caught up with jan and tim in peru, along with two dozen lucky lions theyd recently rescued from travelling circuses. A warning some of the pictures later in this report are disturbing. These caged lions have never had it so good. They got to this temporary rescue Center Thanks to the unrelenting efforts of jan creamer and tim phillips and members of the organization they founded, animal defenders international. Creamer and phillips told us all 24 lions here had been repeatedly beaten in travelling circuses. The lions sounded like they wanted to tell us themselves. Hold on just a second. This was the first time we had an interview interrupted by roaring. Creamer this is their morning song. Whitaker morning song . Phillips if it was you or i, itd be, wheres the hell my coffee . Whitaker laughs i do sound like that when i havent had my coffee. Jan and tim rescue more than lions; they launched their south America Campaign after seeing a chimpanzee named toto chained outside a circus in chile. Creamer theyd smashed his teeth to punish him. They were stubbing cigarettes out on him. Phillips jan shot that picture, and he just gazed across at the andes. It almost looked like he was looking mournfully at what hed lost. We determined to rescue him, and we took him all the way home to africa. Whitaker a judge, appalled by totos treatment, had given custody to jan and tim. Creamer our role is to take them from where they are, where theyre suffering, and put them where they. They need to be. monkey screeches whitaker in south america, their team recorded this hidden camera footage of abuse, which is hard to watch. Phillips what we did was, we put a Team Undercover inside the south american circuses, and they stayed there for almost two years just gathering evidence, filming, photographing. And so, youre living in the heart of the circus, but thats how you get the really amazing evidence. Whitaker many of their pictures were taken by undercover cameraman alexis diaz. When circus workers discovered what he was doing, they beat him up and broke his leg. Still, he kept working to collect evidence. Creamer lots of our evidence has been used by prosecutors for cruelty convictions. Just one beating of an animal isnt going to secure a conviction; you have to show a pattern of behavior. Whitaker some circuses claim they train wild animals without abuse, using food and positive reinforcement, but creamer and phillips insist beatings are routine, because performing tricks is unnatural for wild animals. They only comply out of fear. Phillips if youve got a dangerous animal, that means subjugation and so. Whitaker subjugation means beating . Creamer absolutely. Its all about control, and how they are going to make it do what they want it to do. So, its a kick, its a punch, its a beating. Phillips and really, weve seen that everywhere weve gone. This is. Whitaker everywhere . Phillips yeah. In europe, in america, in south america. There are certain consistencies in the way that these circus animals are looked after. Creamer using violence is the way that these animals are made to do things that they dont want to do. They dont want to get up and perform, so they have to force them to do it. Whitaker s