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CNN Live Today

'The Boss' Kicks Off Tour With Free Concert

Aired July 30, 2002 - 11:18   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Boss is back. If you haven't noticed, Bruce Springsteen's first album of new material in seven years is being released today. Fans in his hometown were treated to a special performance this morning.

And our Jason Carroll with one of the tougher assignments of his career is live at the beach in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

Jason -- good morning.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's tough.

KAGAN: Yes, I know, I'm crying for you.

CARROLL: It's tough, Daryn. It's hot out here. It's tough.

KAGAN: I'm crying.

CARROLL: Well, let me tell you -- let me tell you about the concert. Let's start off by doing that.

It was fantastic, if you listen to some of Springsteen's fans, many of whom are gathered out here in front of The Stone Pony. It's a local bar here in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Springsteen played back here -- played here back in the day.

Thousands of people came out to hear him play today, this morning, as he gave a preconcert kicking off music from his new CD, "The Rising." He also played some classics as well.

Again, thousands of people coming out to hear Springsteen do what he does best.

I am joined with a few of Springsteen's fans right now. Let me tell you something. First of all, I know that you were saying that you are a big Springsteen fan. Tell me what did you think of the concert this morning?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was something for everyone. It was a very good concert. I loved it, and the new stuff is terrific.

CARROLL: All right, I'm going to move right over here. You've got a sign, I have been thinking about you all morning. It says here, "The Boss, Bruce Springsteen," down here it says, "As seen on 'Times,' 'Newsweek,' 'Playboy' and now CNN." Tell me what that's all about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was the magazines that he was written up about his car that he...

CARROLL: No, no, no, I got that. Tell me about the car. Tell me about the car.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, oh, well, this is his '57 Chevy that he used when he first started his singing career. He got famous, they would just follow him, take parts off of it, and then when they finally put the cherry pies in, he said this is it, and we bought it.

CARROLL: He certainly did. OK, very quickly, because they're wrapping me up here. I want to show this very quick. Check this out, look at this, Daryn. This T-shirt is from Israel. Turn around for me very quickly. Even in Hebrew, "Bruce Springsteen, the Boss." The man is popular all over the world.

Thank you very, very much.

He came out here to Asbury Park to do his concert, also to try to help this community, which is in desperate need of revitalization. So that's part of the reason why he came out here and gave his concert today, wanting to give something back to the community which has given so much to him.

"The Rising," this particular CD that he has right out now, also in very many ways, he was inspired by 9/11, and that's also part of the reason why some of you fans out here were telling me they especially enjoyed this music this particular go around.

He's about to kick off a national tour. It's set to begin on August 7, a 46-city tour. So in case you weren't here in Asbury Park, plenty of opportunities to get your fill of The Boss -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Absolutely. Jason Carroll in Asbury Park, New Jersey, thank you so much.

And as Jason was mentioning, part of the inspiration for this new album came from conversations that Springsteen had with families who had loved ones die at the World Trade Center.

Suzanne Berger's husband, Jim, died in the collapse of the South Tower. He was a huge fan of The Boss, and she is joining us from our New York bureau this morning.

Suzanne, good morning -- thanks for joining us.

SUZANNE BERGER, SEPTEMBER 11 WIDOW: Good morning -- thank you.

KAGAN: I know you have had a chance to visit with us before on CNN, but I would love the opportunity to learn about your husband, Jim, if you could tell us about him, please.

BERGER: Jim was truly an American hero. He actually escorted 156, we believe, of his employees out of the South Tower prior to the second plane hitting. He put all of those people ahead of himself, and then made it down, not in time, obviously.

KAGAN: And in addition to that, a loving father of your three boys.

BERGER: A loving father, a wonderful, genuine, gentle, inspirational man who is truly missed by his family and a lot of his friends.

KAGAN: Absolutely. When it came time to give information for his obituary in "The New York Times" you found it appropriate to mention his huge -- being a huge fan of Bruce Springsteen.

BERGER: Yes, he was -- he was definitely a huge fan of Bruce Springsteen, and when "The New York Times" had called me to profile him, it was one of the ways I felt I could capture something about him just to let more of a human element to the loss of this person. And we had talked about a night that we just played Bruce Springsteen music and celebrated the life of my husband, as we know he would want us to do. And then we realized that Bruce Springsteen had read "The New York Times"...

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: You've got to tell me about the first time the phone rings and it's Bruce Springsteen on the line.

BERGER: Just to add to the surrealness of September 11...

KAGAN: Yes.

BERGER: ... I was obviously taken back initially, and then just felt the warmth and the compassion from a celebrity. It was really an incredible experience for me. I felt like for the first time, I was thrown into the spotlight, as were most of the our -- most of the 9/11 families, and now here a celebrity is coming out and talking to you trying to respect your privacy, but letting you know that as a father and as a husband, he is grieving. He's grieving for the country, and he wanted to learn more about my husband and about my sons and about myself. And he took the time to do that.

KAGAN: Did he also tell you that he was trying to get information, that he was trying to put together this album and he was trying to learn the feeling and the experiences so that he could incorporate it into it?

BERGER: We -- yes, we never learned that. Actually he took us backstage in his Christmas concert, and my boys presented him with a picture of themselves.

KAGAN: Oh!

BERGER: And he was very moved by that. It was a picture on something we called "Hero Hill," the place I took the boys to tell them that their father was not coming home. And Bruce hugged them, and he said, "Boys, I'm going to put this up in my studio to help inspire me in my future CDs." And then he brought them -- he brought them on stage...

KAGAN: Wow!

BERGER: ... to do "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." And it was quite a moment for them and for me to watch that. And I just know how much that would have meant to my husband.

KAGAN: It sounds like you are really touched by all of these moves. What would you say to people who say, Bruce Springsteen didn't lose a single person on 9/11, and he's just exploiting that pain and what was lost on that day?

BERGER: No. it's not -- he did not exploit anything. He presented a human and side, like I said, he did not have to step down from his celebrity role and do what he did for me and for my boys and for the Berger family.

We are still grieving, and this is still a reminder 24/7, we do not forget September 11. And I think what he did now is bring it into the public eye again. We can't forget these heroes. All of them were heroes, anyone that was involved in September 11, and I credit him. I think he is, too, a hero for being the compassionate person that he is and for allowing America to come back in again and to grieve along with us, the families, and to be there as they've been there for us since September 11.

KAGAN: Well, we appreciate that. Suzanne Berger, thanks for stopping by and visiting with us today, and helping us appreciate from your perspective what this CD is going to mean to the thousands of people who are going to buy it and even more people who are going to listen to it.

BERGER: Thank you.

BERGER: Thank you for sharing your husband's story once again, too, and your boys' -- appreciate it. Suzanne Berger joining us from New York.

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