Anderson Cooper's favorite 60 Minutes stories | Full Episodes

Mike Rutson, known as 'the Shark Man,' dives without a cage to demonstrate that great white sharks are intelligent, curious, and not inherently aggressive towards humans. He observes their personalities and interaction patterns, noting they dislike scuba bubbles and metal, and use their mouths to 'feel' their environment.

Anderson Cooper's first scuba dive was with great whites, where Rutson instructed him not to breathe to avoid startling them. Rutson uses a camera as protection, as sharks dislike the feel of metal. He identifies 'player' sharks that are calm and curious.

Plumpy Nut, a ready-to-eat, vitamin-enriched peanut paste, has revolutionized the treatment of severe acute malnutrition, particularly in regions lacking infrastructure. It is cheap, requires no refrigeration, clean water, or cooking, making it accessible to mothers in remote villages.

In Niger, a country with high child mortality due to malnutrition, Plumpy Nut has led to empty hospital beds and a significant reduction in malnutrition rates. Dr. Milton Tectonidus of Doctors Without Borders calls it 'a revolution' and 'the equivalent of penicillin' for malnourished children, curing them in three weeks.

The critically endangered mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo face dual threats: the illegal charcoal trade and ongoing civil war. The charcoal mafia deliberately kills gorillas to intimidate park rangers who try to protect the forest, while armed conflict leaves gorilla populations unprotected.

A family of gorillas, including Safari and silverback Sinquay, was massacred and burned by the charcoal mafia. Rangers are outnumbered and outgunned by rebel groups, forcing them to abandon their posts, leaving nearly 200 gorillas vulnerable. In contrast, Rwanda's gorilla tourism funds conservation and community development.

Eastern Congo is experiencing a 'war against women' where rape is systematically and brutally used as a weapon to terrorize communities, assert power, and displace populations. This widespread violence has devastating physical and psychological consequences for survivors, who often face social ostracization and a collapsed justice system.

Hundreds of thousands of women have been raped, many gang-raped, with extreme brutality (machetes, objects inserted, forced family observation). Dr. Denis Mukwege's Pansy Hospital treats these victims, while Human Rights Watch confirms the systematic nature of the violence. The justice system is ineffective, with rapists rarely prosecuted.