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CNN Live Event/Special

Somebody's Gotta Do It: Oyster Orgy

Aired October 22, 2014 - 21:00   ET

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

MIKE ROWE, HOST: Hi. I'm Mike Rowe. Last time I went home I got the crabs. I got them real bad. I got them all over my hands, all over my face. My parents were appalled. Well I'm going home again. This time for an orgy and my parents are not invited. Just me, a couple of close friends and thousands of five owls (ph). It's true oysters exchanging fluids in an attempt to save the Chesapeake Bay, not a dirty job but somebody's got to do it. New show, new mission, same time.

The year was 1969, I was seven. And I walked in on my parent's house day and says, "Mom, where's dad?" She said, "Michael, your father is downstairs in the basement having an orgy." So I descended the stairs to look for my father. And what did I see? This, this is what I saw. My father hunched over a bushel basket full of oysters eating and shocking and slurping and sucking. I've never seen anything like it. That was 45 years ago.

So when production called and said, "Mike, would you like to go back to Baltimore, your hometown? And to learn everything there is to learn about Crassostrea virginica?" I said, "Can we have an orgy?" So here we are.

So let me sum (ph) up. I've been invited to hometown of Baltimore from San Francisco by a guy named Mutt for the purposes of participating in an orgy. You're Mutt.

MUTT MERITT, DIRECTOR HORN POINT LABORATORY: I'm Mutt. Nice to meet you Mike.

ROWE: My pleasure. What's your last name?

MERITT: My last name is Meritt.

ROWE: You're Mutt Meritt.

MERITT: Mutt Meritt.

ROWE: And you have given me a new wardrobe as well. What's the back of my shirt says?

MERITT: It says Horn Point Laboratory Oyster Hatcher, restoring the bay one spat at a time.

ROWE: Now, what is a spat?

MERITT: Its precisely a baby oyster.

ROWE: Baby. And what's a grown oyster?

MERITT: Grown up oyster.

ROWE: How come a baby oyster has a special name and a grown oyster is simply grown up oyster?

MERITT: I have no idea.

ROWE: Listen, I appreciate your candor is this the kind of information we could expect? Is this the end of flow? In fact I look forward to over the course if we're probably - well at least to know he's telling the truth.

MERITT: But you got to understand something about that slogan on the back. It has double meaning. One spat at time means one baby oyster at a time. It also means, the other meaning for spat is a fight or argument.

ROWE: Of course, of course.

MERITT: And there's been lots of arguments about oysters over the years in Chesapeake Bay.

ROWE: Why are people arguing? What's the problem?

MERITT: We don't have enough and everybody wants more. We need to find a nice middle ground so that we can all work together to try to bring it back.

ROWE: Now what does your business card say, officially?

MERITT: I don't know. I really don't want to look at it. I could say.

ROWE: Do you actually have one?

MERITT: Yes, I have one.

ROWE: Really? You got it on you?

MERITT: Yes.

ROWE: Let's have a look.

MERITT: I don't -- I guess I don't have a business card on me.

ROWE: Let me see this.

MERITT: You going to really make fun of me.

ROWE: I'm just look -- you have absolutely no money. You have what appears to be maybe 150 cards of some kind.

MERITT: I don't have any of my cards. ROWE: Stephanie (ph), can you get him a business card?

STEPHANIE ALEXANDER: I could get him a business card.

ROWE: The man is dedicated to his life.

ALEXANDER: You don't have anything in there.

MERITT: I don't have any in there. I just gave them all away in Denver at the dam.

ROWE: He's been doing this since 1970. Get him a freaking card.

MERITT: Come on.

ROWE: All right.

MERITT: Let's put your ass to work.

ROWE: I'm going to sweat through your shirt. So what is an oyster orgy exactly? And why do we need them? Well by the 1970's the risk factors had caused the Chesapeake Bay to loose 99 percent of its native oyster population. That's bad. Oysters are known as the kidneys of the bay. They filter out impurities in the water. So saving the oysters means saving the bay and that begin with a whole lot of breading right here. This is the hatchery? ] MERITT: Let's go setup your orgy.

ROWE: And this is the -- what the significance of the star?

MERITT: We use to have pizza delivered and they never knew which door to come in. So we said we'll paint a black star on the door and that's where you bring the pizzas. This is not rocket science man.

We're going in here and we're going to get some oysters to spawn. You guys tell us which ones were going to spawn today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, we're going to spawn three trays today. We've got one over foray and we've got that lay.

ROWE: Sure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I want to do is shut the water off and then pull up the handles and take this.

ROWE: Yes. Where to?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then follow me. We're going to spawning table.

ROWE: Put it right here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put it right here and we're going to setup the spawn. And which you want to do is the longer part of the shell is going to be on the bottom. That's how you know if it's faced up, because if we put the other way you won't' be able to see the eggs -- their sperm come out.

ROWE: We want to see the sperm come out, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

ROWE: That's what I believe they call the money shot. And that's faced up there, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, other way.

ROWE: It's the other way?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. That's good, and that's great side up. All right, you got the hang of it.

ROWE: I got it, Bob (ph).

MERITT: We just hassled the hell of them. We jostle them around. We put them on this table. And we want them to settle down. We want them to relax. Get in the mood if you will.

ROWE: Well we light a candle maybe.

MERITT: Well we tried that. We've tried Barry White. We tried Jimmy Buffet. Why don't we get drunk and screw? We tried everything. If they want to go and Mother Nature is in a good mood this would be a wonderful event. And they don't, there is nothing I know to do that will get them to do it.

ROWE: Not with flowers.

MERITT: No. As if like human.

ROWE: Whispering -- But again, my question is at a glance I mean anybody can tell a male after the sperm starts flying through the air. Can you look at them and tell if they are male or female?

MERITT: No, you cant look at them now and tell they are male or female. You would see he would expel sperm in a steady stream out this side right around here. The female is going to open her shell and pulse a group of eggs and generally it comes out around here which is why we have them all oriented the same way because if you see sperm coming out here, you know, its not coming from this oyster. You know its coming from this oyster.

ROWE: So we're going to go on a boat three hours approximately elapse. You'll have us back here in three hour?

MERITT: I hope so.

ROWE: Because it's is why were here. We don't want to miss the big, you know, the opening of this shell and the explosion of the sperm.

MERITT: We'll do everything we can to get involved in this orgy.

ROWE: Bob, you've seen a few orgies? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have. Yes, quite a bit.

ROWE: Are you the orgy master for the most part?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the most part.

ROWE: Yeah, well another sense I didn't thing I'd hear today. Let's go on a boat. You cant rush an orgy. So to pass the time Mutt wants to show me what the oyster reached the bay would look like if he wasn't there to give Mother Nature a helping hand.

MERITT: This is what unrestored oyster reef looks like. Its got a few remnant oysters on it, a couple of live oysters in here. the natural sets have been plummeting downward over the last 20 or 30 years.

ROWE: This is what the bay basically looks like if you don't mess with it.

MERITT: Yes.

ROWE: All right, so how far was the next one?

MERITT: Put us on some good ones.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No problem.

ROWE: So now we're at the top of a restored bark. Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything you see like this clustered like that comes from the hatchery.

ROWE: Pretty amazing. This is all one though, right? This is all from one...

MERITT: They're all from one shell. (inaudible) one shell. That was one shell. That was like this 14 or 15 live oyster on that one shell. You can see that shell down there.

ROWE: And that's good?

MERITT: Yes, yes.

ROWE: Why is it good?

MERITT: Well we want the reef community to be built up here. This is a sanctuary. This is where we're trying to maximize the ecological benefit of oysters to the bay.

ROWE: We need to get back now to if we want to see the orgy I'm told.

MERITT: You want to an orgy?

ROWE: I'd like to go to an orgy. You guys been on an orgy lately?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. ROWE: Well you know what? I'll send you a picture. I really do want to get this orgy but like crow spotting something shinny, I can't just walk pass a bunch of bottles of colored liquid without asking a few questions. The orgy were about to see is really the result of well fed oysters.

MERITT: No.

ROWE: No.

MERITT: No, we're trying to get fertilized eggs in the orgy.

ROWE: I got it.

MERITT: They're going to hatch into larvae. The larvae need to be fed. This is what we feed them.

ROWE: OK.

MERITT: And we start with flasks.

ROWE: Everything in there is algae?

MERITT: Everything in there is algae.

ROWE: Is it all the same algae?

MERITT: No, each species has its own nutritional qualities just like broccoli doesn't have the same nutrition as potatoes or doesn't have the same mistake. So we're trying to give our larvae a balanced diet essentially.

ROWE: So the four types of algae currently in your refrigerator are?

MERITT: You're going to make me tell you?

ROWE: I want to hear it.

MERITT: Tetraselmis.

ROWE: Yeah.

MERITT: Isochrysis. Tigra and (Inaudible).

ROWE: You got (inaudible)?

ALEXANDER: Yes.

ROWE: You know how unusual that is?

MERITT: They have both filters, all right? What we can do is we can determine how many alluvial cells we want in each larvae tank. And what ratio of those four species we want in there. And we want to feed it 4 times a day, 6 times a day, 12 times a day. And it will through phorometry (ph) which is a way understand how many cells there's are. ROWE: Phorometry.

MERITT: Look you're in the science lab now. Damn it, back up. We pass a beam of light through an aliquot of water.

ROWE: A what?

MERITT: Aliquot, a little sample of water.

ROWE: OK.

MERITT: these algae all contain chlorophyll. You know what chlorophyll is?

ROWE: Yes, that has to with the sun.

MERITT: Yes.

ROWE: Yes.

MERITT: Chlorophyll fluoresces at a certain wavelength.

ROWE: Yes:

MERITT: Phorometer (ph) will measure how much of that wavelength is in the sample.

ROWE: Frankin stop.

MERITT: If a phorometer reading 100...

ROWE: And then just when I thought I heard so much information that my head was about to explode. Yes, (inaudible)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Their spawning next door and the go pros are set and rolling.

ROWE: OK. All right. Let's go. Bob, I just heard there's an orgy happening.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Good evening. I'm Anderson Cooper reporting live from Ottawa, Canada. I want to get you up to date on the latest in shootings here that left one Canadian soldier dead. First according to authorities the safety perimeter in the central city has just been lifted. Police have determined there no longer exist a threat to public safety in that area. However police operations do continue or Parliament Hill, a lock down there is only partially lifted. Some people have been allowed to leave while the area continuous to be off limits to the general public.

Meantime, we are learning more about the man police say open fired there and before that at Canada's War Memorial. According to authorities he's a recent convert to Islam, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau. U.S. official original name was Michael Joseph Hall. And right now they're trying to determine if he had any ties at all to global extremism. He was shot and killed by Parliament's Sergeant at arms. Now back to Mike Rowe in Somebody's Gotta Do It, another update in 30 minutes.

ROWE: Bob, I understand there's an orgy happening? Is it happening? The excitement is palpable. The air is thick with anticipation, so sensual and erotic and well naughty. If you have small children you may want to send them to their rooms. If you have a delicate sensibility now might be a good time to get a refill on your beverage because these oysters are about to get it on. This is your first orgy?

ALEXANDER: No, no I've been here since 2007.

ROWE: How many orgies would you say you participated in?

ALEXANDER: A lot.

ROWE: Yes? What have we got?

ALEXANDER: So this is a boy.

ROWE: That's a boy right there?

ALEXANDER: And he'll start spawning out of his side.

ROWE: You could tell because the bubbles are beginning?

ALEXANDER: Yes, this (inaudible).

MERITT: This is a female. This better...

ROWE: So the four goes as (inaudible) opens up.

ALEXANDER: Yes, (inaudible).

MERITT: He's going to open up and right at you.

ROWE: What do you mean right at me?

ALEXANDER: So she'll spat right at you.

MERITT: Just watch it, watch it.

ROWE: I'm watching but she -- what is it.

MERITT: Just watch it.

ROWE: I'm watching.

ALEXANDER: So you see her isn't enough.

ROWE: Yes.

MERITT: Watch it. Don't not move, you're going to miss.

ROWE: I'm not going to miss.

ALEXANDER: Yes, there you go.

ROWE: Look at that.

MERITT: See those eggs?

ROWE: Those are eggs?

ALEXANDER: So those are eggs. So it looks like sugar water.

MERITT: See them?

ALEXANDER: So usually when the females go we'll have a bunch of boys go. And the males always to seem to spawn first.

ROWE: Isn't that always the way?

ALEXANDER: Always the way.

ROWE: Well they're excited man.

Once the ladies put out the call the guys are quick to answer clouding up the water with seeds of love. Now would you ever like more like take this guy and put him over there?

MERITT: Yes, so you got stimulation here. So we spread the wealth. Once you move that one over here to give these guys...

ROWE: This guy over here?

MERITT: Yeah.

ROWE: All right. Man I hate to pick him up right in toward...

ALEXANDER: Go ahead.

ROWE: ... Volante Delecto (ph), you know, it seems -- well whatever.

So why did you just take the female out?

STEVEN WESCHLER: To (inaudible) the container out as the eggs, basically we keep them a bucket and collect all the females and try to get as much eggs that we can. And then we'll go ahead and fertilize them with a small, small amount of sperm.

ROWE: Why so small?

WESCHLER: (inaudible) sperm and you don't want to put too much in and have eggs not be able to develop into larvae. So the quicker we can get the oyster into a bucket that we know are females we containerize the eggs and make sure they are not getting over fertilized.

ROWE: Now this containerized just mean put them in a container?

WESCHLER: Pretty much, pretty much. ROWE: Containerized. All right. The male and female oysters are making oyster magic from which if I remember my biology class, baby oysters will be produced. So what do they do with all the babies now?

MERITT: So what she's doing now is pouring larvae from one of these tanks through a series of sibs, smaller, smaller. And she's fractionating them out by size.

ROWE: Fractionating? I'm not sure that's a word.

MERITT: What do you mean? I don't give a (inaudible) use your word or not.

ROWE: It's my job to assume that someone is skeptical posture.

ALEXANDER: So the cold water forces the larvae to close up...

ROWE: Yes.

ALEXANDER: ... and then gravity pulls them through the sibs.

MERITT: Remember these already have shells.

ROWE: They have shells?

MERITT: They have shells 24 hours after the eggs hatch.

ROWE: I didn't know that. That's a very fine, fine...

ALEXANDER: Yes.

MERITT: 224 microns.

ROWE: And a micron is what?

MERITT: A thousandth of a millimeter.

ROWE: Of a millimeter. So that's super, super thin.

ALEXANDER: Yes.

ROWE: So essentially that's as fine (inaudible) that you could get.

MERITT: No, they can get a lot smaller than that.

ALEXANDER: No.

ROWE: Really?

ALEXANDER: We've got 20 microns.

ROWE: Where do you keep that?

MERITT: In the spawning layer.

ROWE: All right. OK, where are we going to go? MERITT: We're going to go look at these under a microscope.

ROWE: Let's do that. Stephanie, thank you.

ALEXANDER: You're very welcome.

MERITT: There's you baby oysters. And can see they're swimming around.

ROWE: So they -- all you can even see - it seems looks like an oyster.

MERITT: Yeah, it looks a little clam to me.

ROWE: Yeah.

MERITT: Yeah. They have a black dot which you call eye spot. It's not an eyeball, they don't see with it. Nobody really knows what they do with it.

ROWE: What's happening there?

MERITT: That's called phylum.

ROWE: What is it what's happening?

MERITT: It's an organ it's, got (inaudible) on it and it's moving those (inaudible) to swim.

ROWE: Why -- This is really cool.

MERITT: See the foot that's coming out now?

ROWE: Yeah.

MERITT: Looks like a little snail. So that's setting behavior. These guys need to settle down and craw around and find a place to glue themselves.

ROWE: Right.

MERITT: And then they turn into a spot. In the hatchery we remove the predators, we give them the proper diet we keep the temperature and salinity correct. We tamper the hell of out them until their ready to set. And they set under controlled condition and then we throw over deck of the Robert Lee (ph) and their own for a while, you know. So, but, you know, we've taken a way most of that early mortality.

ROWE: Right.

MERITT: By doing inside in a hatcher.

ROWE: I got it.

MERITT: There's the guy crawling looks like a little snail. ROWE: I find this really amazing. I mean I'm sure a lot of people watching it never seen it in microscopic oyster that still looks like an oyster.

MERITT: That swimming.

ROWE: Swimming.

MERITT: This is fascinating for most people.

ROWE: Yeah, I can't look away. That's a life.

MERITT: I mean, it's a handful of life.

ROWE: OK, its official baby oysters are adorable. But what we need our spats. And spats need to attach themselves to old oyster shells. Where going to find those?

Oh there some.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROWE: Dr. Mutt Meritt has dedicated his life to growing baby oysters. Not because he loves to eat them. But because he want to save the Chesapeake Bay in his hatchery at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Mutt has millions oysters that are ready to get out into the wild.

MERITT: This tank has been filled with water from the river it's got the clean cages of the shell and it's gently being innervated.

Rowe: Yes, and now we're going to take 4.86 million harvested larvae. And we're going to dump into the appropriate tank.

ALEXANDER: Correct.

ROWE: How come I have to wear a hard hat and neither you do.

ALEXANDER: You look better on it than I would?

ROWE: These are the actual larvae here in this little piece of used Kleenex.

ALEXANDER: Yes.

ROWE: At a glance one could confuse it with some mud

MERRIT: Yes.

ROWE: ... or maybe some dirt.

ALEXANDER: Yeah.

ROWE: Can I smell it?

ALEXANDER: Sure. MERITT: Yeah.

ROWE: I don't smelling anything.

ALEXANDER: That's a good sign.

ROWE: All right, good.

ALEXANDER: If it smells fishy, that means we left them in the fridge too long.

ROWE: And insert the larvae into the bucket?

ALEXANDER: Yes, please.

ROWE: Doctor, now what?

ALEXANDER: Now we wait until they start swimming.

ROWE: Once the larvae get acclimated into water and start to swim it's time to set them free or at least as free as you can if you're a baby oyster. Kind of shake them up a bit. Is it a larvae or larva?

MERITT: Larvae.

ROWE: Neither.

MERITT: You guys done unloading? Finally right?

There's a spat.

ROWE: All right, that his spat right there.

MERITT: Yup. And there's one right there.

ROWE: I can't -- I don't see any spat on here in.

MERITT: Yeah, well. That's why I'm doing the hatchery and your doing in TV.

ROWE: Fair enough.

Now it's time to get this guys loaded up on the boat so they can get to work, cleaning the bay.

(Inaudible). How many oysters in each tank?

MERITT: Like 1.6, 1.7 million spat per tank.

ROWE: How many tanks?

MERITT: We're going to put 10 tanks worth on this boat today.

ROWE: So 1.7.

MERITT: 16 or 17 million... ROWE: Right.

MERITT: ... baby oyster are going overboard today.

ALEXANDER: Their going up all the way.

ROWE: All right.

MERITT: OK, we're going to over to the boat so you can see what happens to them now. You've deliver them half way there.

ROWE: Right.

MERITT: Let go see the rest of the journey.

ROWE: When it comes to Chesapeake Bay, when you look at a map your like, "That's a little bit of water." But you're talking hundreds and hundreds of creeks of many, many dozen of rivers.

MERITT: Right.

ROWE: All of which is essentially are like a little artery right into, you know, many hundreds of separate communities.

MERITT: Right.

ROWE: I mean this whole think, what you're doing here essentially is kind of, I mean, I don't want to overstate it but, you know, you're saving the world.

MERITT: Now were trying to save the oysters anyhow and Chesapeake Bay.

ROWE: Why are doing it. I mean I know why it has to done, but why you?

MERITT: We got resources in crisis. And we've been working with our hatchery programs trying to bring oysters back, having grown up here on the eastern shore, work on the water. It fit with something that I have a passion for. I don't want it to be about me. I wanted to be about what we have done. The facts that I know were doing something positive to help this bay.

If we had this conversation 20 years ago I would had not thought that we could taken the program that was doing maybe 10 million oyster spat a year and grow it into something it's growing billion of oysters spat a year. And I would never though we could have done the positive things that it lead this program grow. And I want somebody to share that vision and keep moving forward with it.

ROWE: Well I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is people are listening and I know there going to share the vision. The bad news is that it has been about you. This is it what the show is called it's going to be about somebody.

MERITT: The hatchery has my stamp on it. ROWE: Yes.

MERITT: I would agree. But it's bigger than me. Well I might not see the end of it but I have seen the beginning of it.

ROWE: Yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROWE: Mutt is going to take me over to boat we loaded up earlier so I can see the final step in the bay saving process.

Howdy, you're Captain West (ph).

WEST (PH): Thank you for coming out.

ROWE: I wouldn't miss it. Mike.

WEST (PH): Great.

ROWE: Permission to enter?

WEST (PH): Sure. So as soon as we get on here then I'm going to go up and start to pump and then I'll back here and then we'll start with plumbing.

ROWE: And the plumbing involves a host and a bunch of pressure and the blowing of the...

WEST (PH): Right. Yes.

ROWE: It goes of the...

He's now priming the pump to make sure the water is able to be pulled in like a siphon, I guess. Except rather than sucking on the pipe, he using a much more sensible approach. Right there you can see the results of that approach. So unless I'm mistaken, I believe this bloom will ultimately be raised and the pressure will allow us to direct the water onto the shells, start by distributing the shells.

WEST (PH): All right. These three levers, you just pull up on them slowly. We then see the shells start to grow up.

ROWE: I'm opening doors here, right.

WEST (PH): Yes.

ROWE: I don't have four million kids but I imagine if I did this is what it would feel like to see them finally live home or maybe not. Regardless it is satisfying to see the culmination of this entire process and know that those tiny little spats are going to be of hard at work for the next few years, making this bay healthy.

So on the one hand, we're blowing some oyster shells off in the deck of a work boat with the big giant host but on the other hand we're saying a river. That means they're spending millions of dollars on billions of oysters covering 377 acres and right in the middle of all it, a man named Mutt.

Somebody got to do it, right? To be perfectly honest, I have seen this process before but I haven't seen it shot in slow motion.

It will be quick, you know, some in Kansas City, Missouri. Are we on the Southside? I guess we're on the Southside town, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yup.

ROWE: We're in Kansas City, Missouri not the most memorable building. Not the most glamorous part of town.

But what goes on the side is pretty special. It start with a guy named Don. It involves a whole bunch of kids, a whole lot of drums, a whole lot of noise, am I right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.

ROWE: I don't mind the sirens. Hey, hey there. Permission to enter?

DON DAUGHTRY, DRILL MASTER: Come on.

ROWE: I'm going in.

DAUGHTRY: Have a seat.

ROWE: Who is Don?

DAUGHTRY: Hey, how you're doing?

ROWE: Let me take you our guess.

DAUGHTRY: Hey.

ROWE: How are you? Mike.

DAUGHTRY: Don Daughtry. How you're doing?

ROWE: I'm great man. How are you?

DAUGHTRY: All right.

ROWE: This is the gang?

DAUGHTRY: This is the gang.

ROWE: Hey gang, how is it going?

These are the marching Cobras. It's kind of across between a marching band and a military color guard. Don is the drill master.

So I got like a million questions for you. Maybe we can take a walk.

DAUGHTRY: OK.

ROWE: We can chat a bit. These kids are cool? DAUGHTRY: Yes, they'll be cool.

ROWE: Yes.

DAUGHTRY: They'll be call.

ROWE: Do you want to give them any last instructions before we walk out?

Kind of made me stand up straight there Don. So, you can show me the neighborhood and we can talk a little bit about how all this got started.

DAUGHTRY: So are we.

What I know at this point is that the Cobras have been doing their distinctive combination of marching and drumming since 1969, but taking a walk with Don through the neighborhood let you know in a hurry. It's a whole lot more than that.

DAUGHTRY: Once a Cobra always a Cobra, that's our motto. Once you've been a Cobra for so long and you get out you're alumni, which means you can come back anytime when you feel like coming back.

ROWE: And march with the band

DAUGHTRY: And march with the (inaudible). Because once you have it inside here and you and - the commitment that you have, it's like fraternity. So like when they come back they automatically know what to do when they come back.

ROWE: Well, how do you get it inside there? How did that happened for you?

DAUGHTRY: Well it started from me when I was nine years old.

ROWE: How old are you?

DAUGHTRY: I'm 42. So it just this thing, 34 years I've been with this group. That's a long time.

ROWE: What kind of kid were you at nine.

DAUGHTRY: Stubborn, out here in streets. You know, just running around with the wrong crowd. My dad died and not (ph) actually -- that's what really made me be in Cobra because I needed their structure and their discipline.

ROWE: Yes.

DAUGHTRY: It's been my family ever since. Everybody in here is a part of me.

ROWE: So here we are at 6:00, I got you back more or less on time, right?

DAUGHTRY: This is Bishop Tolbert.

ROWE: This is the big cheese.

(CROSSTALK)

ROWE: I'm great I'm Mike Rowe.

BISHOP MARK C. TOLBERT: Yes, Bishop Tolbert.

ROWE: What kind of affect does the Cobra's have on this neighborhood as far as you've seen?

TOLBERT: You know, Cobras are such a positive role model for teens who don't have a lot of support at home. They've been that entity that lifted them up, gave them something to look forward to, made them feel like they were successful with something.

ROWE: Yes.

TOLBERT: You know and of course I'm sure they told you they been into several inaugurations.

ROWE: No, I didn't know, they play for the White House.

TOLBERT: I think...

DAUGHTRY: All three different President, Clinton, Bush and went for Obama but he was getting and off the country.

ROWE: Yeah, that's good information. You realize these cameras are rolling.

DAUGHTRY: Yes.

ROWE: This is an excellent time to brag a little bit.

DAUGHTRY: Well, OK. We'll we been to the inauguration three times. We've been in France three times overseas.

ROWE: Been to Paris.

TOLBERT: Yes.

DAUGHTRY: In Paris three times. (inaudible) the Mediterranean Sea, you know, we had things the kids reading books, what they can see in person so we meet the king and the queen with Michael (ph). So somehow there's never been (inaudible).

ROWE: I want to talk to your mentor too.

DAUGHTRY: OK.

ROWE: Well, he's in there?

DAUGHTRY: Yeah, he's in there. ROWE: All right, now I got Bishop. I got Don. I got Willie waiting with 50 kids on a whole bunch of drums and that's what happening. This is the part where we walk away from the cameras like we had it plan the whole time. OK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: I'm Anderson Cooper live in Ottawa, Canada with the latest on the shooting that took place here earlier today. The police have now lifted the downtown safety from their -- here in Ottawa, they say there's no longer a threat to public safety in that area. However, the lockdown is only partially lifted on Parliament Hill, that's where the gunman opened fire this morning. His rampage stop when (inaudible) arm shot and killed him.

The gunman first stuck at Canada's War Memorial, killing a soldier there, the victim Corporal Nathan Cirillo. Canada's prime minister says he was murdered in cool blood. As for the suspected gunman, authority say, he is a recent convert to Islam. His name, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau. According U.S. officials his original name was Michael Joseph Hall.

Tonight they are trying to determine if he had ties to extremist groups overseas or here in Canada. We're live coverage from Ottawa at the top of the hour on CNN tonight and join me again live edition AC360 at 11 p.m. eastern and back to Mike Rowe in Somebody's Got to do it.

ROWE: I'm hanging out with Don. He is the drill master for the marching Cobras here in Kansas City. What exactly are the marching Cobras, you're about to find out.

All right. You guys are amazing but where's the sheet music.

DAUGHTRY: They don't need music.

ROWE: I guess you never write anything down that's why the rehearsal is kind of critical because that's -- how else would you learn.

DAUGHTRY: Exactly. It's like a football team. They must learn everything. I got -- I'm have any more fingers out. I guess the team is more you know, signals and they must learn new signals to know what to do so it's like a playbook. They must learn.

OK.

ROWE: They like statues.

DAUGHTRY: They're like statue, that's what they must learn. This is all about following direction.

ROWE: Can I see something with just the drums.

DAUGHTRY: Yes.

ROWE: All right. Yeah, I'm impressed. Now, I'm going to be to man who started at all. Mr. Willie Smith.

DAUGHTRY: This is Willie Arthur Smith.

ROWE: The man who started it.

WILLIE ARTHUR SMITH: You know, I fee so proud. I was active for 41 years until I have my stroke. Three years ago I had my stroke, he came right me and took all over and then do a job, ever since. Every time I see him I say - I call him Lil Williw (ph), because his doing exactly what he saw me doing, only he has a whole new group of children.

ROWE: Who taught you?

SMITH: I learn myself. This is a dream that I had come from college. I belong to (inaudible) fraternities, so we did those kinds of steps doing (inaudible). I'm a teacher at school at Lincoln Junior high school. After school, seven or eight grade, well they didn't have anything to do, they didn't have any basketball team, they don't have no football team. They had to wait till they get at ninth grade to have after school activities.

ROWE: Yes.

SMITH: So this was out of school activity, that I creative to keep those young men busy.

ROWE: So, you're teaching steps you learned in college.

SMITH: In college.

ROWE: To your social study students. Who came up with the Cobras?

SMITH: It used to be the Lincoln Junior boys drill team. The librarian was in classroom so I was practicing outside. So she called, she's hearing something, those guys move so fast and got so much energy, we should them the Cobras. That's how we got that name Cobras.

ROWE: The librarian did it.

SMITH: The librarian did it.

ROWE: We'll I couldn't talk all day and when I say Aye, I mean Willie. But the show must go on and that means rehearsal.

Right.

SMITH: Right, right (inaudible).

ROWE: I'd like to see that.

SMITH: Yes. It's a whole different style. Come on I'll show you.

ROWE: All right. We were just talking about some of the old school stuff some of your moves. DAUGHTRY: He always puts me on the spot like that...

ROWE: Well he was just saying, I mean, he just saying I should ask. So I'll take your good. I mean kind of curios. I mean as the kids all seeing you do you thing.

DAUGHTRY: Yes (inaudible).

SMITH: Yeah, come on Don, give them a good demonstration.

DAUGHTRY: OK.

ROWE: Well, these are the step you taught him?

SMITH: Yeah.

ROWE: 30 years ago.

SMITH: 30 years ago.

DAUGHTRY: Attention. Attention. Hey. Attention. Can (ph) you three rolls. Attention. Covers down, covers up, attention (inaudible). One, two, three, four. Attention.

ROWE: Wow impressive. I really did want to try it out. Unfortunately I had an excuse. Well, I mean I would learn something but here's the problem. My ankle is twice it's normal size, so I can't do that.

SMITH: Take it easy (inaudible) make him work.

ROWE: Are you telling that is she never (inaudible).

SMITH: (inaudible).

ROWE: There we go.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DAUGHTRY: So I'm going to teach you the three basic moves that we want to get you started, which is attention, ready and hit it two, three, four, and I'm going to do it slow so you can learn it.

ROWE: Good.

DAUGHTRY: And then I'm going to speed it up.

ROWE: Great.

DAUGHTRY: OK?

ROWE: Great.

DAUGHTRY: So I'm going to demonstrate for you first and then you follow on what I did.

ROWE: OK.

DAUGHTRY: Attention one, two. It's straight one, two, your arms go straight out along with your feet so you one, two, so when you...

ROWE: One.

DAUGHTRY: There you go, two straight back down. All right, then do it one time.

ROWE: Please, please.

DAUGHTRY: OK.

ROWE: I've nailed it.

DAUGHTRY: We're going to do it slow. We're going to do it slow.

ROWE: Yeah, yeah, do it slow.

DAUGHTRY: Attention, one, two. OK, one more time. Attention one, two. All right, good so at ease, step.

ROWE: Where is it going? Left hand?

DAUGHTRY: The hand goes down. Your left hand behind your back, right hand down to your side.

ROWE: Right up.

DAUGHTRY: And bend the knees.

ROWE: Bend the knees.

DAUGHTRY: There you go.

ROWE: Got it.

DAUGHTRY: Now, when I say attention, you will come right back into the first formation. Attention one, two. Don't...

ROWE: OK.

DAUGHTRY: Let us do both arm. Attention. At ease. Attention.

ROWE: Wow, (inaudible).

DAUGHTRY: OK, OK, OK. We're not finish, we're not finish. You got more thing to learn which the hit it two, three, four, and I'm going to do that very slow. Hit it two, three, four, is heel, toe, out.

ROWE: What's this?

DAUGHTRY: And that's the snake, that's the Cobra.

ROWE: That's the cobra.

DAUGHTRY: That's the cobra snake right there. So it's up like this.

ROWE: Yeah.

DAUGHTRY: All right, so you'll come back in attention. Attention one, two. Now we finish, speeding up.

ROWE: No, no.

DAUGHTRY: All right, are you ready? Attention, at ease, attention.

ROWE: Oh crap.

DAUGHTRY: Attention. Hit it two, three, four.

ROWE: Wait a minute. Wait a minute.

It took some practice but I improved slightly.

Wait a moment.

DAUGHTRY: Are you ready? Attention, at ease, attention two, three, four. All right, I'm being simple. If want to be hard with you I could do something like this. One, two, three. See how.

ROWE: Yeah, that something...

DAUGHTRY: One, two, three, four.

ROWE: Camera man is laughing right in my face man.

DAUGHTRY: Yes, this will be.

ROWE: Yeah.

DAUGHTRY: (inaudible) to the side, throw with you left foot over. Hop two. There you go.

SMITH: Once you have done your demonstration this next one is this, comrades, listen . Number one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A winner never quite a quitter never win.

SMITH: Number two.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Together (inaudible).

SMITH: Number three.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (inaudible).

SMITH: Now you have past the first audition for the Cobras, as the first (inaudible) you're now a marching cobra.

ROWE: I'm a wounded mongoose but thanks.

Now that I had the shirt, there was only one other thing I wanted. A drum, any drum.

Who's the best person give a drum a lesson. So our going. It seems like this should be more complicated on that.

DAUGHTRY: Look, you just made him do up a whole another bit.

ROWE: You're welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Save it.

ROWE: Yeah, welcome.

This is Michael (ph), he's got some advice for people who want to play the drums, they really just exceed in life in general, Michael please.

MICHAEL (PH): Try harder and harder.

ROWE: Do that. Very nice, you're going to be famous one day kid.

I could have bang on the drum all day. But at the marching cobras the beats goes on. And that means more rehearsal.

So if you're going to do it or know somebody who does go to mikerowe.com and tell me all about it. I'd love to chat but I have important work to do over here. Mikerowe.com, if you were somebody who know has to do it. OK, Don.

DAUGHTRY: Attention.

ROWE: Well, I'm here at Kansas City, Missouri. On the south side of town, what's been going on inside of this building is pretty incredible. It involves lots of kids and many, many drums. A great deal of noise and a guy name Don. Now, you know, what I know.