Transcripts For WMAR Nightline 20100612 : vimarsana.com

campground. we ll have the latest on mother nature s violent streak. announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, martin bashir and cynthia mcfadden in new york city, this is nightline, june 11th, 2010. good evening. we begin tonight with a matter of faith. there have been men, many of them, who claim to be a new messiah. and tonight, we re going to meet three of them, including one in the far away philippines, who has amassed a flock he says numbers in the millions. poor people who give what little they have to the man they believe is the second coming of jesus. bill weir journeyed there to meet him. reporter: throughout the bible, prophets, angels and jeep us himself all promised that the son of god would return to create heaven on earth. and throughout the ages, billions of christians have wondered, when? but what if the second coming is here? now? there are a number of would be messiahs that claim exactly that. and few are more physically convincing than a former russian traffic cop named sergei. in the woods of rural siberia, he s known as the teacher. around 5,000dy sipe ms live around him, growing their own food and feasting on his word. my whole body was trembling. it s a very emotional to me. reporter: in london, david shaler says he is the true lord of lormds, but no one believes him. that doesn t bother me, because i was chosen by god. reporter: the former intelligence agent says his body was filled with the spirit of jesus in 2007, which intensifies on a trip to jerusalem. this is supposed to be the tomb of christ. well, i m christ, i m not dead yet. reporter: but with no support, he lives in a scatter s camp outside london. i don t ask for money of people. you have should have faith that god will look after you. prove to me that you are the son of god. reporter: but that is not a sentiment shared by pastor apollo, the most successful of the world s self-labeled save yorps. the official coming of the son of god was april 13th, 2005. reporter: he was an obscure evangelist from the rural philippines until 2005 when hi announced that god appointed him christ on earth. his reward for a pure life. sinful thoughts, anger, lust, any of those things, you don t experience those on a daily basis? as a human being? reporter: yes. i have overcome all of those. reporter: there is no apocalyp apocalypse, no final judgment. he preaches he is the model of christianity, and as more people follow his example, god will turn the earth back into the garden of eden. do you perform miracles? the greatest miracle is the changing of the spirit within. reporter: but healing of the sick, you are able to do that? yeah, we have team ihealing miracles happen. reporter: after taking his place at the appointed son, his ministry has exploded. claims to reach 6 million followers with his satellite tv network, numerous publications, private jet and personal helicopter. all the better to avoid the bumpy road and impoverished villages that lead to his compound called the king dom of jesus christ. here is his home,. so this is your garden of eden. it s easy to see why this claim resonates in a country where 30 million endure crushing poverty with open hearts. this family lives just down the hill, just to the dump where the pastor s garbage is burn ed wha would you want to be? go to heaven. reporter: to them, heaven really could exist inside the gates, and why hundreds line up to carry his parasol. all the workers that toil in the grinding heat of the kingdom are volunteers. here, to glorify the father. do you get paid for this? juju tells me he gets $40 a week to feed his family. minimum wage. like the rest of the kingdom, he s expected to give 10% back to the pastor. this may be the most beautiful spot in the philippines. and it s paid for by people who live on $2 a day. so, how do you justify your l e lifestyle? your watch could probably feed 100 families for a month. it s not god s will for me to have the things i have. you can take it away. if it s god s will that we follow. if it is god s will for us to live like this, you know, you can have a broken heart looking at me, but what can you do? reporter: but they get their understanding of the will of god from you. this nice young man wouldn t be holding this umbrella if he didn t believe the things you say. reporter: for us here, we see everything as a ministry. my talent is to preach. my talent is to be a leader. not everyone can become a pre h preacher or have been given a talent like me to go and lead the 6 million people. reporter: when jesus walked the earth, according to the bible, lived among lepers and prostitutes. i live among them. reporter: you have a private jet. i live among them. before i had reporter: you re in a walled compound with mansions. before this i lived among these people. for example, that jet that you re talking about, do you know in 1983, i had a revelation of that jet? that the lord is going to give me that? reporter: yeah? it is him who gave me that. if it is not his will, how can i afford that? reporter: well the pastor has been accused of kidnapping and brainwashing by the parents of at least one of his followers, but he was never charged. he insists that anyone is free to leave his flock and seal their fate for eternity. will they go to hell? it s up to them. they know that. that is your will. if you want to go to hell, no one will stop you. if you want to go to heaven and follow this way reporter: come work with you. yeah. reporter: three possibilities here. you are either the son of god. or you re delusional. or you are a very successful conman. i respect your point of view. but your followers will say i m a conman with a speaking ability that i tried to con people. that is not who i am. i m not trying to con people. i am speaking the truth. reporter: skepticism is across all modern messiahs must bear. in siberia, this man has been accused of mind control, but there s not enough to try him. and david shaler? well, there are fewer legal headaches for profelts without followers, but still plenty of moments to bring a so-called son of god back to earth. do you think you re jesus? sorry. are you jesus? yes, i am. no, you re not. reporter: i m bill weir for nightline in the philippines. can we have some quiet? no shortage of skeptics and believers. the second coming premieres next wednesday on the national geographic channel. when we come back, we ll turn to the grand dame of comedy. and at 88, this golden girl has never been hotter. nightline goes on the town with betty white. oss:hey, glad i caught you. i was on my way to present ideas about all the discounts were offering. i ve got some catchphrases that ll make these savings even more memorable. gecko: all right. gecko: good driver discounts. now hat s the stuff.? boss: how bout this? gecko: .they re the be s knees? boss: or this? gecko: sir, how bout just fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on cr insurance. boss: ha, yeah, good luck with that catching on! anncr: geico. fifteen minutes ould save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. announcer: if you could see how the ingredients in new nature made sleep help you fall asleep naturally. you d be glad you tried it. new nature made sleep is the only leading brand with the level of l-theanine, the relaxant found in green tea, clinically shown to effectively calm your mind. then its melatonin signals to your body that it s time to sleep. good night, world. find new nature made sleep in the sleep aisle. nature made. glad you took your vitamins. are the things we make. this has always been a nation of builders, craftsmen. men and women for whom straight stitches and clean welds were matters of personal pride. they made the skyscrapers and the cotton gins. colt revolvers, jeep 4 x 4 s. these things make us who we are. as a people, we do well when we make good things and not so well when we don t. the good new is, this can be put right. we just have to do it. and so we did. this, our newest son, was imagined, drawn, carved, stamped, hewn and forged here in america. it is well made and it is designed to work. this was once a country where people made things, beautiful things, and so it is again. the new jeep grand cherokee. and she said hair was growing back. i was like, yes, this works. 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[ male announcer ] stop losing. start gaining. puhh puhh puhh putt and that s it. or your help. and we turn now to hollywood, and one of this year s it girls. no matter that she s been in the business for nearly 60 years. betty white is experiencing her own personal renaissance, fueled by fans who could be her grandchildren. but comedy the timeless and she gets the joke, as vicki mabrey discovered when she went on the town with the last of the golden girls. betty white in life with elizabeth. reporter: she was the oshlg nall america s sweetheart. stop talking like an idiot, please. sometimes i have to talk like an idiot, darling, so you ll understand me. reporter: sharp and sultry why buy day old bread when he can have a beautiful cup cake, piping hot from the oven? thank you for being a friend reporter: and, of course, golden, and a little brassy, too. can you believe that backstabbing slut? reporter: with a career in entertainment that spans more than six decades, from game spokes to hit sitcoms. from a super bowl ad to hosting saturday night live. facebook is a great way to connect with old friends. well, at my age, if i want to connect with old friends, i need a ouija board. reporter: even the mtv movie awards. honey, don t ever wear that dress backyards. reporter: did betty white never really go anywhere? i ve been working steady for 63 years. i but everybody says, oh, it s such a renaissance. maybe i went away and didn t know it. reporter: so, at the tender age of 88 1/2, betty white has suddenly become hollywood s newest it girl. but it turns out, if you re on the town with betty white, the only wild life you ll be seeing is here at the los angeles zoo. tell limb s got his back to us but he looks like he has his front. reporter: she s worked with the l.a. zoo for four decades as a trustee, fund-raiser and all around booster. betty white, ambassador to the animals. she s loved animals all her life. do you feel like if you weren t an actress you would be working here at the zoo? oh, growing up first i wanted to be a forest ranger and girls couldn t do that back then. and then i said, oh, but i want to be a zoo keeper. well, back then, girls weren t zoo keepers either. but i wound up a zoo keeper. reporter: here, she knows not only the keepers, but most of the animals, too. there s our billy. come on, darling. come on, sweetheart. good, boy. good boy. well, thank you for coming up here. reporter: her latest project has been raising $42 million for a new habitat so billy the elephant can start a family. there s a certain breeding age that, it s a very, very serious situation. but we ll find her for you, billy, i promise. reporter: you re going to find him like a matchmaker. absolutely. reporter: the elephant matchmaker. reporter: and it s not just billy who is benefits. as we found out, her zeile sewing human rewards, too. pleasure to meet you. i was out of work for nine months and this kicked off and you put me back to work. well, i m delighted. hey, you re doing a beautiful job for us. so are you. are you pretty adorable but i bet you know it. reporter: she loves the cuddly kowal las. that s a kowal la going south. it s the other end of the kowal la. reporter: and the tapers, too. whatever those are. she s not supposed to eat in bed. she doesn t mind eating on camera. reporter: where are tapers from? south america, these guys. mountain area. reporter: and who do you mate with? another taper. reporter: off the set, she s got that devilish twinkle. baby. i m thinking of breeding them. hi! reporter: a twinkle americans have been in love with for a very long time. hi, betty white! reporter: so, what is it like when you re driving through here, you stop, and all these people want to take your picture, and they re all so nice. reporter: listen, they re young enough to be my grandchildren, almost. well, i m the oldest old broad on the face of the earth. i m 88 1/2. and a lot of these people, the kids have grown up with me and their parents have grown up with me and their grandparents have grown up with me. i m a fixture, as far as they re concerned, so, that s why they kind of feel that they re, you know, close. reporter: and she shows no signs of slowing down. starting next week, she s back on tv, playing a flip and fiery landlady in tv land s first scripted comedy. we went on the set with her this week during rehearsal. victoria s having a senior moment. reporter: betty white is having anything but a senior moment. that s not a phone, dear. reporter: yesterday, you were just zinging them off. the stuff just comes to you. and it s a little bit risque. i have a sense of humor. sometimes my mental editor dozes off. reporter: anything in showbiz that you want to do that you haven t? i always have one answer for that question. that s robert redford. reporter: you meet you want to star opposite not necessarily what i meant, but that works for you, fine. reporter: earlier this month, she became the sole surviving golden girl, when rue mcclan than died at the age of 76. rue was very special, and she and i had she was our butterfly. the last time a friend made a pass at me. but we lost her. so, i m the last i m the survivor, and it s so ironic, because i was the oldest of all four of them. isn t that silly? reporter: she s not retiring, she says. not until the offers stop coming. after all, she has a lot of dependents, all those animals at the l.a. zoo. i introduced you to a taper yesterday. you didn t think you were going to like tapers. i m in love with tapers. and betty white. oh, thank you so much. appreciate it. thank you, darling. reporter: you keep going. i will. you can t get rid of me. reporter: we can t get rid of you. nor do we want to. why do you always make betty stand and we sit down? it s an age thing. it s terrible. reporter: this is vicki mabrey for nightline in los angeles. what a woman. age is but a number. may the latches keep on coming. and speaking of numbers, when we come back, we ll turn our attention to the gulf, and try to measure the scope of this environmental crisis. the gulf spill is a tragedy that never should have happened. i m tony hayward. bp has taken full responsibility for cleaning up the spill in the gulf. we ve helped organize the largest environmental response in this country s history. more than 2 million feet of boom, 30 planes, and over 1,300 boats are working to protect the shoreline. where oil reaches the shore, thousands of people are ready to clean it up. we will honor all legitimate claims, and our clean-up efforts will not come at any cost to taxpayers. to those affected and your families, i m deeply sorry. the gulf is home for thousands of bp employees and we all feel the impact. to all the volunteers and for the strong support of the government, thank you. we know it is our responsibility to keep you informed and do everything we can so this never happens again. we will get this done. we will make this right. sir? finding everything okay? i work for a differen. my auto policy s just getting a little too expensive. with progressive, you get the name your price option, so we build a policy to fit your budget. wow! the price gun. ah! wish we had this. we d just tell people what to pay. yeah, we re the only ones that do. i love your insurance! bill? tom? hey! it s office party! the freedom to name your price. only from progressive. call or click today. announcer: nightline continues from new york city with cynthia mcfadden. we turn now to the ongoing oil leak in the gulf, and the environment al catastrophe thats brought. it s a story told in images of once pristine waters polluted by a massive oil slick. animals coated in toxic sludge. but tonight, we take another approach. tonight, we look at the oil spill by the numbers. it started 53 days ago. well rig exploded. that oil rig has now sunk. reporter: with a rig explosion that killed 11 plattform workers and injured 17 others. it has become the largest oil spill in u.s. history. and the oil continues to gush from bp s damaged well 5 0 mile offshore. the numbers are astounding and in many cases, rising. 1,000 barrels per day were thought to be leaking into the gulf. the estimate quickly multiplied to 5,000 barms daily. then again, to 12,000 to 19,000 barrels per day. just yesterday, the latest figures. now, as many as 40,000 barrels are estimated to be spewing into the gulf of mexico every single day. 89 million gallons. that s the amount of oil potentially spilled so far. more than eight times the size of the exxon valdez spill. 120 miles, the length of coastline the slick has fouled. 14 million people and 400 species of fish and wildlife living along the gulf of mexico could be affected. 300, the number of sea turtles found dead or injured along the gulf coast in the last eight weeks. two weeks after the spill, 3% of the gulf was closed to fishing. two weeks ago, 25% was closed. and today, it s 32%. fishing banned in a third of the gulf of mexico. eight, that s the number of times bp has said they were about to contain the leak. operation top kill. reporter: but nothing has stopped the gushing. 15,000, the number of volunteers helping the cleanup. 1.$1.43 billion, the bill so fa for the cleanup operation. with much more to come. bp has taken full responsibility for cleaning up the spill in the gulf. reporter: $50 million, the cost of bp s pr ad campaign. one number that is shrinking, bp s stock price. $60. $60.48, the price per share before the spill. it closed today at $33.97. of course, the moubting frustration and anger are impossible to quantify. we ll be right back. but first, here s jimmy kimmel with what s coming up next on abc. jimmy: tonight, colin farrell is here with us. from get him to the greek, rose byrne is with us. and we have music from miike snow. jimmy kimmel live is next. some people say i m obsessed with my chickens. but i like to think i m just going beyond the call of duty. cock-a-doodle-dooooo! i do 22 more inspections than the government requires. and my fresh, all-natural chickens are never given any hormones or steroids. they re fed a nutritious diet including corn, soybeans and marigolds. and no candy, gladys. 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