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The Soldier Accused of the Afghan Rampage is Identified; Financial Security
Aired March 17, 2012 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM where the news unfolds live this Saturday, March 17th, St. Patrick's Day. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
We now know the name of the soldier blamed for a deadly rampage in Afghanistan. The Pentagon identifies him as Robert Bales. He is an Army staff sergeant and now in solitary confinement at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. People who know Bales are also speaking out. We're going live to his home base in Washington State in just a moment.
Meantime, crowds of people in Afghanistan today are furious that Bales was returned to the United States. They want him to stand trial in Afghanistan under Islamic law.
And back in this country, the price of gas is on the rise again. It went up 0.4 percent overnight. It is the eighth straight day of price hikes. The national average for a gallon of gas is now $3.83. It's 31 cents higher than it was just one month ago.
With gas prices on the rise, what kind of car you drive can make a big difference. A San Diego judge has approved a class action lawsuit against Honda Motor Company. About 200,000 Civic hybrid owners will now receive up to $200. They claim they didn't get the gas mileage they were promised.
The GOP candidates are facing off in three races. Missouri holds caucuses today. This is Missouri's second time around. It held a primary last month, but that was just a beauty contest. No delegates were awarded.
Today's caucuses will determine who gets Missouri's 52 delegates. Tomorrow, Puerto Rico holds its primary, 23 delegates at stake there. Tuesday, it's primary day in Illinois, with 54 delegates up for grabs.
All right. A day of upsets in the NCAA basketball tournament. Number two seed Duke, 75-70 last night, and 15th seed Norfolk State at Powerhouse Missouri 86-84. The March Madness field of competitors is now down to 32 teams. At 5:00 Eastern today my colleague, Don Lemon, and I will have an NCAA bracket showdown, so to speak -- who saw any of this coming? -- 5 o'clock Eastern time today.
On a much more serious note, the Army makes it official. It has revealed the name of the sergeant accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in Kandahar last weekend. He is Staff Sergeant Robert Bales. He is married, father of two and 38 years old. Right now, Bales is in solitary confinement at the military's maximum security prison at Ft. Leavenworth in Kansas. Let's go live now to Casey Wian. He is in Washington State outside the base where Bales was stationed and where his family lives nearby. Casey, you met some of the people who know Sergeant Robert Bales personally. What have they been saying about him?
CASEY WIAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Fredricka, we did go to his neighborhood, where his house is. It's a very nice neighborhood. Picturesque, near a lake, not too far from here. Most of the neighbors who we spoke with actually did not know the family. But, of course, those who did know the Bales family expressed shock at what's happened.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was completely blown away. Yes, I was devastated, heartbroken. I mean -- completely shocked. I would describe him -- he was super fun to hang around with. Kind of the life of the party kind of guy. Super loving. Friendly to everybody he met. Great with his kids. I just -- I don't -- I don't see how this has happened.
WIAN: Now the Bales' residence is actually an older home that is surrounded by a lot of newer homes. One of the neighbors whose backyard backs up against the Bales' residence said that up until about four days ago she noticed lights were on in the house all the time.
But in the last several days, those lights have been off and that is, of course, because Bales' wife and children have been moved here to Joint Base Lewis-McCord for their own protection. One other note, Fredricka, that home was put on the market as a short sale on Monday, just one day after the shootings in Afghanistan -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And overall, even for those who don't necessarily know of Bales, what has been the feeling at that military base about his alleged involvement and the legal proceedings that are about to ensue?
WIAN: Well, in terms of the soldiers and the people around this military base, most people have not been willing to talk about it. Throughout the week, there has been a gag order, if you will, military personnel and their family members have been ordered not to speak about this case at all, and most of people have respected that.
Those military members that we have been able to speak with said that what was most shocking about this incident to them was that children were killed. One soldier we spoke with said, I can understand, perhaps, someone, you know, going on a shooting rampage against people they suspected might be terrorists.
But women and children, they could not understand that. Now in terms of the legal strategy, it's very clear that his attorney is going to concentrate on Sergeant Bales' three previous deployments to Iraq.
During two of the deployments, he was injured and one of those injuries was a traumatic brain injury. Here's what his attorney had to say when we spoke with him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN HENRY BROWNE, BALES' ATTORNEY: It's a tragedy all the way around. There's no question about that. I think it's of interest that we have a soldier who has an exemplary record, a decorated soldier who was injured in Iraq, to his brain and to his body.
And then despite that, was sent back. I think that's an issue. I think it's a concern. I think the message for the public in general is that he's one of our boys. We need to treat him fairly.
WIAN: Now the attorney has spoken to Staff Sergeant Bales briefly. And he described his demeanor during that brief phone conversation as something like a deer in a headlight, deer in the headlights, and perhaps not completely understanding all the events that have happened over the last week or so, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Casey Wian, thanks so much for that update.
Revealing the power of a tornado, we have some pretty amazing video coming up next.
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WHITFIELD: All right. Even the President of the United States getting involved in the St. Patrick's Day celebration today. He's at a pub there off Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., after coming off a day in Atlanta of campaigning and raising money for his re-election campaign. This time he decided to throw one back with the folks at the Dubliner on North Capitol there in Washington, D.C.
And, boy, to the folks' surprise there, they're like, hey, we knew we were going to have a good day at the Dubliner for St. Paddy's Day, but little did we know we would be throwing back a brewsky with the President of the United States.
All right. Those images just now coming in. I want to share that with you. And folks having a good time there on Capitol Hill. Getting a few pictures in for memory's sake (ph).
All right. . Meantime, speaking of memories, it's one that a lot of people do not want to forget there in Indiana. And now there is surveillance video to kind of help them remember the power of the tornado.
These surveillance cameras are from Henryville Junior High School where, on March 2nd, those tornadoes or that tornado swept into the area, destroying a number of homes and businesses as well, students were already on the school buses so they weren't actually in that school.
And it is just frightening for a lot of people to see these images and get a better understanding of the power of a tornado. Let's check in with our Jacqui Jeras now. You really kind of can't get enough of some of these images. We've been seeing a lot of new images over the past couple weeks after that tornado swept through the area. A lot of surveillance cameras are kind of finally revealing just how powerful and damaging it was.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it really was. It was an EF-4 tornado. So winds were estimated around a 170 miles per hour. And all this happened, it all unfolded in about 20 seconds. You might remember that this is the school that received a lot of damage.
Remember that school bus that ended up in the restaurant? There were kids on the school bus. They were on their way home. They decided it was unsafe. They turned them back around and brought them inside of that school and amazingly, nobody was injured. So they were in those interior office areas in those interior hallways. So amazingly everybody got out of there.
Also gives you an idea of what they all had to jump over and get through to get back outside of that building. And we show you that, you know, not to sensationalize what happened there in Henryville, but to really show you the immense power of a tornado like this, and hopefully get you to react when severe weather is threatening you.
And that's something we're going to have to deal with in the next couple of days. We do have an area here, a severe weather outlook, a slight risk. And today is really not going to be a huge tornado day like that. Today is going to be more damaging winds or large hail. But those are threats that you really need to deal and also isolated tornadoes can't be ruled out.
Places like St. Louis, places like Evansville, Indiana, are under that threat for later on today. Now tomorrow, we have what we call an upper level system. And as the atmosphere changes tomorrow, we're going to start to see turning winds with height (ph). And we have a better chance of seeing tornadoes tomorrow than we do today.
It's a much larger area here in the Plains. This is a very slow moving system. We're going to see day after day after day a strong to severe thunderstorm in the Plains. So we just want to give you a heads up. This really begins tomorrow.
And this will continue at least into the early part of the week. So a system way back in the west today. It's wet and it's very windy and very wintry in the west today. We'll talk a little bit more about that next time I see you.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: All right, we'll look forward to. Thanks so much, Jacqui, appreciate that.
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WHITFIELD: All right. Doctors say it's a natural part of aging, a slowing metabolism. You know what that means. It can be easier than ever to pack on the pounds, but there are things can you do. Elizabeth Cohen has more in today's "Health for Her."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Rene Esler was 42, she began to notice some unwelcome changes.
RENE ESLER: I can't wear tight shirts at all. I mean, I have bulges that I swear to you I would never, ever have.
COHEN (voice-over): Esler realized her metabolism was not the same as in her younger years. The process of metabolism converts food and drink into energy to fuel the body. Dietician Marisa Moore says, as we age, both men and women tend to see a slowdown in their metabolism.
MARISA MOORE, REGISTERED DIETITIAN: The primary cause for the slowdown of metabolism is the fact that the body tends to start to replace lean body mass with fat mass. And muscle burns more calories than fat does.
COHEN (voice-over): And that means it's easier to gain weight. Moore offers these tips to maintaining a healthy metabolism.
MOORE: Make sure that you are physically active, as much as can you every day. Make sure that you do maintain a healthy and balanced diet. Stay away from fad diets and products that promise to help rev up the metabolism because they generally don't work.
COHEN (voice-over): Esler says she is accepting this fact of life.
ESLER: I just want to be healthy. But at the end of the day, if my definition of healthy and my feeling my best isn't me in my 20s, that's OK. It's just OK.
COHEN (voice-over): This is "Health for Her," I'm Elizabeth Cohen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And are you part of the so-called sandwich generation? If you are caring for your aging parents as well as your teenagers, then you are. Some tips on how to get the most care for your money next in our "Financial Fix."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. It's the number one issue in American homes, getting your financial house in order. Today in our weekly "Financial Fix," being able to afford to care for your aging parents. Karen Lee is the author of "It's Just Money, So Why Does It Cause So Many Problems?"
Well, Karen, it's called the sandwich generation when adults are taking care of their aging parents and, at the same time, they're taking care of other members in their family. It's tough. KAREN LEE, AUTHOR: And we cause some of this, because our generation is having children later in life. So that's why we're sandwiched together. This did just happen in my family. My mother, who has been living independently since my dad passed a year ago, had a pretty significant stroke and it caused cognitive impairment.
And she went from a woman who was driving 45 minutes to the airport in her SUV to come get us when we would come in to visit to needing 24/7 care.
WHITFIELD: And you found out how costly it is and how (inaudible) it is.
(CROSSTALK)
LEE: Well, we were shocked, wait until I share with you, the cost of these things. But also, there are three children. But all of us are still working. We're not ready to retire. And I still have two teenagers at home.
WHITFIELD: And so a lot of folks may say, OK, well, there is Medicare for my aging parents and there's going to be that kind of health care. How much can you lean on that?
LEE: That's what I wanted to start with was the Medicaid system, which is a subset of Medicare. and it is run at the state level, but it's really for impoverished people. So there are income and asset limitations you must qualify for in order for Medicaid to cover this.
Now it varies state to state. So just as an example, I wanted to show you here in the state of Georgia, you cannot earn more than $2,094 a month, and if you're an individual, you can't have more than $2,000; as a couple, $3,000. Now my concern there is a married couple that does have some savings.
WHITFIELD: Which is so fascinating, because a lot of folks will think, OK, well, my parents, they have their home or it's paid for or, et cetera, they've had careers, they have all of these other things in place. But that, ultimately, ends up working against them as it pertains to care.
(CROSSTALK)
LEE: Well, you would have -- you would have to spend that down in order to qualify for Medicaid. And then, again, if you're part of a couple, you're leaving that other person without much.
WHITFIELD: Right. And the reason why we're talking about that is even if you handled those other assets, trying to afford the care per month is still -- I mean it's crippling. It's so expensive.
LEE: Let's talk about the actual cost of care. I looked at a national average study that was done by Genworth (ph). And in home care, hourly rate is 19 bucks an hour. So let's say do you have a child that can move in and be the nighttime care. But they want to go to work 10 hours a day. That 10 hours of care a day is going to run $69,000 a year.
WHITFIELD: Out of pocket in most cases.
LEE: Out of pocket. Now in my mother's case, we wanted someone to live in the home so there is the daily rate that we found was $216 a day. Almost $80,000 a year, Fred. Who can afford that? It is incredible.
WHITFIELD: Most people can't. So then how do you plan for that?
LEE: Well, and let's quickly touch on nursing homes, which I always thought were less expensive than live-in help. Nursing homes are running, for a semiprivate room, $70,000 a year for a private room, almost $78,000 a year. Assisted living is more reasonable at $39,000 a year. But this is when your parents still can do some care for themselves. So what do you? How do you plan?
WHITFIELD: (Inaudible).
LEE: How do you plan? So the first thing, of course, is long- term care insurance. It is a very good option. But, understand, it's expensive. And you've got to be healthy to qualify for it. So start with this. Ask your parents, do you own a long-term care policy? Hopefully they do. Look at the adult children in -- if there are any, and ask who is in a position to perhaps step in and provide some care for Mom or Dad? Maybe someone who is already retired, maybe someone who hasn't worked out of the home.
WHITFIELD: Maybe they have space in their home.
LEE: Perhaps. Move that parent to that location while they're still healthy, Fred. We did that about five, six years ago. Moved my mother out to where my sister lives, because she was our choice of the three kids that would be able to step in.
Now here's an idea for people our age. Let's say your parents don't have the insurance but are healthy enough to get it, but can't afford it. The adult kids could chip in together and pay those premiums on a long-term care policy for the parents. I highly encourage it because --
WHITFIELD: Hopefully all the siblings are in a position to be able to do that.
LEE: Because if your parents can't afford the care, it's going to come out of your pocket, right?
WHITFIELD: And you have to take care of your parents.
LEE: And last for not least, for those who are listening who are 40, 50 years old, don't wait until you're 60 or 70 to buy it for yourself. You probably won't be able to afford it either. So start looking at long term care while you're younger.
WHITFIELD: Great advice. All right. Thanks so much, Karen Lee, appreciate that and all the best for your mom.
LEE: Thank you so much. Thank you.
WHITFIELD: And get more information by reading Karen's book, "It's Just Money, So Why Does It Cause So Many Problems" or reach Karen at karenleeandassociates.com.
And every Sunday, Dr. Sanjay Gupta profiles innovators from all walks of life and all fields of endeavor. Watch "THE NEXT LIST" tomorrow as he talks to the men who created The Blue School.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're spending a lot of time in our workshops working on new material for the Vegas show when we move into the Monte Carlo in October. The Blue Men interacting with some robots on stage is a nice way for them to kind of take a look at how are we using technology and how is it using us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not really about this cold machinery. It's ultimately about, you know, how can we use the robots to show something about the human spirit?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. And tune in tomorrow at 2 o'clock for "THE NEXT LIST." And then, of course, you want to stay tuned for the CNN NEWSROOM that comes your way 2:30 Eastern time.
A former Goldman Sachs employee resigns and tells everybody in print and otherwise why in a "New York times" op-ed. But our career coach says that's not the way to leave a company, not always. How not to quit, tomorrow, 2:30 Eastern time.
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WHITFIELD: All right. The cruise line industry has taken some real hits recently, especially after the Costa Concordia disaster off the coast of Italy. Well, now cruise companies are adding new safety procedures and offering big incentives to get you onboard. Rob Marciano has more "On the Go."
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Cruise lines say their passenger numbers have dropped more than 10 percent, so the industry is responding, offering more than just good prices to get you back onboard. They're offering things like complimentary upgrades, prepaid gratuities and bigger onboard credits.
There are savings this time of year on repositioning cruises. This is cruise lines relocate their ships for their summer routes and they're more than happy to have you along for the ride. They don't want to have to take that ship, say, from Miami Beach to Barcelona, Spain, empty. So what we see are these drastically reduced cabin prices, 16- to 16-night cruises for, in some cases, $500 to $700 per person. But once you board, don't start celebrating just yet. If you're not at the new safety drill, you might not set sail. Now there is a streamlined worldwide acceptance of the presail safety drill. Expect to do that. A lot of these ships are getting aggressive about making sure you're present at these safety drills. So wait until you're under way to relax. On the go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And I'll be back at the top of the hour with the latest iPad craze. Millions of the new devices sold yesterday, 3 o'clock Eastern time. Our Josh Levs today at 3 o'clock Eastern time. Our Josh Levs will be talking about why some of us feel compelled to get the latest gadgets. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Stay tuned for CNN's special "South by Southwest."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BROOKE BALDWIN, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Three, two, one. Welcome to the CNN Grill and welcome to South by Southwest. We're in Austin, Texas, and this is really this whole entire festival. It's (inaudible), so you have interactive, you have film and you have music.
So it makes sense that, at the CNN Grill, check this out, because we're in the interactive part, you can actually order, if we (inaudible) pretty good, fried chicken sliders. You actually order it on the iPad. Who would have thought?
(MUSIC PLAYING)
LAURIE SEGALL, CNNMONEY.COM: South by Southwest is essentially spring break for nerds and it's also where a lot of nerds go to drink and party and network. It's where that all kind of combines.
MARIO ARMSTRONG, HLN DIGITAL LIFESTYLE REPORTER: I mean, we go to see a lot of different sites, sounds, smells. You smell the barbecue. You feel the vibe, the energy.
SEGALL: It's fun. I mean, you know, you see people kind of doing a little bit of walk of shame home sometimes. And everyone loses their voices. But it's part of the South by Southwest culture. I mean, that's South by Southwest. You get these -- you get nerds drinking and like great things happen. I'm sure they --- you know, they'll probably go home and like code the next Facebook or something. That's South by Southwest.
BALDWIN: What does this do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a wearable body monitor. It can track how many calories you burn, steps you take, (inaudible) activity, both moderate and vigorous.
SEGALL: So we're sitting here with Tom, he is a CEO of a very cool company called Voxer (ph) and Voxer (ph) essentially turns your iPhone into a walkie-talkie, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. iPhone and Android devices.
SEGALL: Prepared to be interviewed.
ALI VELSHI, CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK, so here's one of the first things somebody gave me yesterday when I got off the CNN Express. It is called Swivel (ph), OK? And here's what you have to know. It's -- you put an iPhone into it. And this is what you do. So I have got Laurie Segall here from money.com. You have probably seen Laurie before. Laurie's got something around her neck which is connected to this iPod through radio frequency and through Bluetooth. Now watch what happens here as Laurie moves. Now let's say she's chatting with somebody by video. She can move around the room and this will follow her around the room. It's called Swivel (ph). You can put it on a tripod. You can put it on a table. So let's say you're having a face-time chat with somebody. It's a little creepy. It follows you everywhere you go. So you can see it moving, right?
BALDWIN: So here we are, just outside the Austin Convention Center. This is basically the epicenter of South by Southwest. Inside there are hundreds of vendors, start-up companies trying to create buzz about their new product, maybe their new app. It is a rainy day in Austin. You need one of these. You got your phone. Definitely no high heels here. Let's go inside.
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BALDWIN: Well, sorry, this is how everyone here at the circus that is South by Southwest walks. Everybody is staring at their phones, and I tell you, we want to show you one thing, and we get turned off into something else. It's like information interactive overload on all these different hallways, there are different vendors trying to get the buzz out about the big next thing.
It was 2007 when Twitter really took off. They started Foursquare here at South By, and so we're just kind of checking it out with everyone else from all around the world to see what the next top thing is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Zboard. (Inaudible) something like a skateboard. You lean forward to go and you lean back to stop. Rotate on the pad and lean forward.
BALDWIN: Sweet Jesus!
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: And this is just one thing that jumped out at us. You know, it just shows that this may be the interactive portion of this festival, but take a look at this. There are all these different sort of columns all around the Austin Convention Center talking about politics.
This is probably one of the, maybe, films. Music to go to tonight. Check it out. You know, the anonymous here or there are the little codes where you can use your phone to find out what this is. Where you can go.
And so finally, since I had a little something, Sanjay Gupta, that's for you.
Back here outside, take a look at this rain. This is basically the forecast for the next couple of days. But you know what? Who cares, because we're back here at the CNN Grill. This is actually the inside of the CNN South by Southwest Beer Garden. Yep. This is a beer garden. Take a look over here, you can see they have some hot apple cider.
Next you have the CNN Ale. It's actually -- thank you very much. I will take that, yes, Oliver Channing (ph), thank you. I will trade that out for my apple cider in just a minute. And this is basically the end of one day, the beginning of the night, and a memo to CNN bosses, add Brooke, please, CNN. I'd like to come back next year.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: This is the secret to startups. The secret to success. It's the head.
Bald. Bald.
ARMSTRONG: South By is where a lot of innovation is taking place, it's where companies are pushing their products. They're trying to get them into our hands.
VELSHI: There's a range of reasons why they come. Mostly they think they have got this brilliant idea. They have got a way to change the world. They looked at a problem and developed a solution and now they want to go big.
SEGALL: You want to come here and you want to be the breakout technology. You want to be what everybody is going to go home, take back to their friends and family and say this is the next big thing.
JOSHUA BAER, CAPITAL FACTORY: Hi. My name's Josh Baer. And I'm here in Austin. And Austin is the center of the world right now with South by Southwest, and we got a ton of start-ups here in this building and then about 50 of them total all around Austin. They're all (inaudible) one simultaneous party.
VELSHI: Are you in the business of vetting these people to know whether they have viable ideas? Or is this just a public marketplace?
BAER: It's a little bit of both.
VELSHI: You can see when somebody sort of comes in and wants to be here. You have some sense that this one is going to make it big versus you've got to be kidding me?
BAER: Well, you know, everybody likes to think that they've got some sense of that. You know, historically, nobody's that good at it. Some people are better than others. But that's part of what makes it fun, too, right? VELSHI: So you're the other side of this equation. We're seeing a whole bunch of people selling their wares, and, in theory, you're a buyer?
SCOTT KYLE: Yes. I look for companies to put seed money into.
VELSHI: Tell me how that works. What do you look for?
KYLE: Well, we look for disruptive technologies. We look for entrepreneurs who bring something to the table that we think could have a great liquidity event sometime in the future.
BAER: You know, I work with a lot of technology companies. And they're entrepreneurs but they're engineers, they're geeks. And they get really excited about the technology, the solution and their idea. They're like wow, look at this great idea. Isn't that amazing? They think that's the hard part. As I look at a lot of the young technology startups, I try to encourage them to think about it as that they have to have something just as unique, just as innovative, just as amazing about how they're going to market it and take it to market, how they're going to (inaudible) customers as the technology part that they think is so great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: America is really built by entrepreneurs. They started companies and entire industries. And that's how we became the leading economy in the world.
ARMSTRONG: What I feel here at South By is step into a conversation because everyone wants to join in and talk. It's like TED and these things like at night where you have the little short bursts of content that generate a lot of ideas, all grouped into one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is how we create the future. The world is changing at a faster and faster pace. And so being able to adapt and innovate is critical.
STEVE CASE, FOUNDER, AOL: We have a lot of things going for us. The reason to really be optimistic about American entrepreneurship, like at this -- this week here at this festival. But other nations are getting -- recognizing the secret sauce that has driven America's economy and its innovation engine has been entrepreneurship and they're putting policies in place to make it friendlier for entrepreneurs and for capital. And we need to respond.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So if you think the world is changing, globalization, increasing competition and industries are being disrupted, you (inaudible) yourself as the finished product. You're always like how do I invest myself and how do I play part of the next curve?
VELSHI: The man you're about to meet, you have seen him before. His name is Peter Diamandis. Remember this, because you will know his name for decades to come. I have tweeted out that I think he's one of the smartest men in the world.
He just wrote a book called "Abundance" which last I checked was number two on "The New York Times" best sellers' list. Peter is trained as an engineer, as a medical doctor. He is the founder of the X prize, you know the X prize because they award prizes for solving some of the world's biggest problems.
He is a co-founder of Singularity University. In recent weeks he has been at TED. He's been a speaker there. Then we were at Singularity University last weekend in Los Angeles. And now he's here. I have to ask you, Peter. While I'm walking around seeing people develop applications and programs and trying to find venture capitalists to fund them, you know, I sometimes think, boy, it's all a variation on some kind of location, location-based thing that lets you meet other people.
For a guy like you who's involved in some of the biggest problems that the world solves, why you are here?
PETER DIAMANDIS, CO-FOUNDER, SINGULARITY UNIVERSITY: Yes, I'm here because these entrepreneurs that are, if you would, the tinkers and working on all these, have the potential to attack some of the world's biggest problems. They're now empowered with exponential technologies, artificial intelligence, robotics, 3-D printing, the synthetic biology to actually do what only governments and large corporations could do before.
And I'm here to incentivize and to say, listen, go out and use these technologies to solve these huge problems, because they can take the risks that large companies and governments don't take anymore.
VELSHI: Why is that?
DIAMANDIS: Well, you know, to do a real breakthrough means that you may fail. In fact, I speak about the fact that the day before something is truly a breakthrough, it's a crazy idea. And so a real breakthrough requires taking big risks that's could fail, and large companies are worried about the stock prices plummeting.
VELSHI: Their reputation. They don't want to take that risk and not have it work.
DIAMANDIS: Entrepreneurs are willing to risk everything for their vision. And a lot of them fail. But when they succeed, it's a real breakthrough.
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AJ HAMMER, HLN HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": So any excuse to get to this town, to me, I'm there. Ask me, I'm in.
MATT CHASEN, FOUNDER AND CEO, USHIP: You know, Austin has a great entrepreneurial culture. Right? It has a lot of smart, young, talented people.
SEGALL: They're not Silicon Valley. They're not even -- you're not New York or Silicon Alley, but they have got this really laid-back awesome way about themselves and they seem like they are really trying to solve real-world problems. VELSHI: Austin is this remarkably economically progressive environment that is doing very, very well. There are people who want to live here. There are people who come and live here from other places because the cost of living is lower than those other places.
CHUCK GORDON, FOUNDER AND CEO, SPAREFOOT: I've lived in D.C. I've lived in L.A. I love Austin by far the most. I basically pay for my apartment the same amount that I paid in L.A. for sharing a room in a piece-of-crap apartment with, you know, four people in the college ghetto of UCLA.
BAER: It's hard to say whether South By could be anywhere else. Certainly there are lots of great cities. And South By, by itself is a powerful brand and a powerful message. But it's married so perfectly with Austin. In particular, South By is not just about interactive. It's not just about technology. It's about music and film and gaming, all things that are Austin's strengths.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For a community that wants to keep it weird or keep Austin weird, South by Southwest certainly fits the bill. And it has also grown from just music to films and multimedia. So it has kind of become this rolling event almost like a Cocelo (ph) or a Sundance or even a Cannes Film Festival. But it's different than all those three because it's kind of so next generation. It's about the future more so than like the moment. So I don't know. It has an incredible reputation that it built up over the last five years outside Texas. A lot of people, hipsters, have known South by Southwest. But people outside the mainstream, like I remember when my mother learned about the Sundance Film Festival. That was like in '94 or something like that. Now my mother starts asking questions about like you are going to this South by Southwest or something like that? So it's become culturally relevant beyond the hipsters as well. It's built itself nicely, man. And that's by not limiting it to one thing. Yes, it started with music. But then they branched out into film. Now if you're involved in web design or if you're involved in multimedia of any sort, there is a place for you here as well. It's kind of like the San Diego Comicon of film, music and online community.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are going to be a million bands descending upon Austin in a very short period of time. And they are going to be playing in the streets. They're going to be playing at venues. They're going to be playing anywhere where they can get somebody to listen.
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BALDWIN: The interactive festival is all about your tech company, pitching your company, learning about other companies, very business driven. Once you get to film and music, it really becomes about art, about fashion, about 17-year-olds trying to start a pop career. Austin equals music. And I think that so many of these people want to be on the precipice of the next big thing.
VELSHI: If I started a band, like I would describe our music as kind of authentic synthesized honesty. Honesty. BALDWIN: This is where you get the artsy crew. You've got the people trying to sell their movies instead of their tech companies. They're trying to sell their band, their deejay gear. The jeans get a lot skinnier here.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BALDWIN: So I think you have some really huge, huge groups coming through Austin who want to see who is hot, sort of like how tech, you want to see which apps are hot. If you're an up-and-coming musician, singer-songwriter, you come through Austin. If you've done South by Southwest, you're kind of the beginning of the making.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Walk Off the Earth is a indie band out of Canada that had a very respectable following, a grassroots following. They decided that they had great concept for a song. It is called "Somebody I Used to Know." They loved the song. They covered the song. And they shot this video. Once one person likes something and catches wind of it, it can go anywhere.
Somebody like Russell Crowe saw it -- Russell Crowe. So he, of course, tweeted it out to everybody. All it takes is one person, saying, oh, I really dig what they're doing. And with this band Walk Off the Earth, I defy anybody to watch this video and not want to share it with a friend. It's that cool.
KC ESTENSON, CNN DIGITAL: OK, everybody. Welcome. I am KC Estenson. I run CNN Digital. I would like to personally welcome you to the second annual CNN Grill.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How has it impacted governing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See, politics is fun (inaudible). But if you're interested in actually governing and getting things done, a lot of the things that happen in politics are really, really bad. They're really bad for this country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden.
PETER BALE, CNN DIGITAL: One of the stories that mattered most last year was not reported by a journalist initially. It was reported by someone who we would describe as the accidental reporter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The helicopter was just in the air and not going anywhere. So forget about that. Forget about the slaughter (ph). Then it went away and then there was this loud bang.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But sometimes it happens accidentally or without you wanting it to happen. I mean, we see that all the time. We see (inaudible) -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you please tell me who it happens to accidentally? Who is on top of the celebrity chart that happens to accidentally?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gillian (ph)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is the person that, oh, I can't believe this is happening to me? I have 12 million followers?
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I agree with you. It's not an accident.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's so -- it's calculated.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Kardashian family -- the Kardashian family, I have never seen a family collectively or people who work harder. They work hard.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why is that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks again, you guys. Really great of you to come out. I hope this was interesting. Thanks again. Have fun at the grill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
