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Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien
Facebook Trading Starts Today; Interview with James Lipton; New Letters from Anne Frank Discovered; Out of the Shadows; David Cassidy's Activist Role
Aired May 18, 2012 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: You got John Avlon here, senior political columnist at "Newsweek" and "The Daily Beast." His wife, Margaret Hoover, worked in the Bush White House and author of "American individualism."
Hi, guys.
MARGARET HOOVER, AUTHOR: Good morning. Good morning.
BALDWIN: And Will Cain columnist --
JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: And Will Cain --
BALDWIN: And Will Cain, columnist of TheBlaze.com.
Good to see you all.
And our STARTING POINT today -- today is the day we've been talking about for days. It's happening. The ticker symbol FB will appear on the NASDAQ this morning. Facebook will be a publicly traded company. The social network setting its IPO price at $38 a share which would value Facebook, look at the number on your screen, at $100 billion -- the most valuable company ever at the time of the IPO initial public offering. More valuable than Citi or McDonald's.
Christine Romans is so excited about this story, she couldn't even -- she was talking about it as we were getting made up this morning. So jazzed about Facebook.
But, first, we're going to go --
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: We didn't get made up this morning. We wake up like this.
BALDWIN: We wake up like this.
ROMANS: Don't tell our secrets.
BALDWIN: The secret is out.
First, Alison Kosik, who is gorgeous as well at the NASDAQ.
Alison, good morning.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Brooke.
This is sort of the Super Bowl of market events happening today as you said Facebook going public today here at the NASDAQ where I am today. So, if we can go back on the screen here, we'll push out a little bit. Facebook right now says it's going to start at $38.
It says unchanged. You see unchanged. That's going to change once Facebook shares actually start trading.
So, here's what's going to happen. But Facebook executives, they're not going to be there. They're actually be at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park ringing the bell there.
Facebook shares won't necessarily start trading at 9:30. What's really going to happen here is that there's going to be a delay, that these shares will actually most likely be delayed at least an hour and maybe more while it gives the underwriter, Morgan Stanley, some time to feel the demand for these shares and come up with an average price before Morgan Stanley hits the green button and shares hit the market for the average investor -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Alison, thank you very much.
Welcoming back Christine Romans here to this discussion as we've been talking. Obviously, a lot of this -- there's a financial part of this story. But the hack-a-thon.
ROMANS: The hack-a-thon.
BALDWIN: The hack-a-thon.
ROMANS: So, you think everyone is getting a good night sleep in Menlo Park? They are having their 31st hack-a-thon, where they are writing code, presumably eating pizza, Chinese food, maybe warm beer. And they're coming up with things like the like button was found, was invented at a hack-a-thon, also the time line.
It's pretty interesting, Mark Zuckerberg, hero status there with his hoodie on. A lot of other people on their hoodie on. But, you know, I wanted to show you kind of what the hoodie is and why he wears it. Listen to this exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK ZUCKERBERG, FACEBOOK FOUNDER AND CEO: It's a company hoodie. We print our mission on the inside.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What? Oh, my God. The inside of the hoodie, everybody. What is it? Making the --
ZUCKERBERG: Making the world more open and connected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: It's a company issued hoodie. Everybody gets them and inside is the mission statement.
BALDWIN: It's like the crest.
ROMANS: Right. At the hack-a-thon last night that is still going on, all these people wearing hoodies just like pounding away on the keyboard coming up with new stuff. You can see the pictures. Hacker Square is the middle of the Menlo facility.
BALDWIN: Hacker square.
ROMANS: In Hackers Square, he gave this rousing pep talk before the hack-a-thon and got a big round of applause and standing ovation. Many people you look at are about to become millionaires and megamillionaires, but in their hoodies and laptops last night. And right now.
BALDWIN: I'm speechless.
HOOVER: Is there a chance when Mark Zuckerberg is no longer 28 years old they don't do midnight late night crazed hack-a-thons.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: I'm comparing him to Thomas Edison, like Thomas Edison all night long in Menlo Park, New Jersey, by the way. The first wizard of Menlo Park. Like huge periods of productivity in your 20s in the middle of the night working around the clock. There's a whole campus of people doing that.
AVLON: I just love like giving inspirational speech, we're all about to get really, really rich. That's a pretty easy inspirational speech.
BALDWIN: And go.
ROMANS: And you're going to pay a lot of taxes too, so everyone hire an accountant.
HOOVER: Why don't you move to Singapore?
BALDWIN: Still, though, this is all in the age -- you know, CEO, 28, let's all remember happy birthday this past Monday, Mark Zuckerberg, richest in America and this morning he stands to gain -- I can't even wrap my head around this -- $20 billion. Not too bad when you consider Facebook's reach.
By this summer, the company is projected to sign up a billion people. So, that means just to put in perspective for you, one out of every seven people on the planet, one out of every seven on the planet is on Facebook. How about that?
David Kirkpatrick, he's the author of "The Facebook Effect."
I was reading something like, what is it, 900 million for now?
DAVID KIRKPATRICK, AUTHOR, "THE FACEBOOK EFFECT": That's what they said most recently. It's probably quite a bit higher. A few million a week added at least.
BALDWIN: Third most populous country in the entire world.
So, talking about the hoodie. Let's just begin there. Do you think because of this IPO that he'll ever sort of ditch the hoodie and be dressed up in a suit and be more professional? He's caught a lot of flak this past week.
KIRKPATRICK: I know, it's ridiculous. You know, no, he won't.
BALDWIN: He'll stay true to the hoodie.
KIRKPATRICK: If he does that, he'll want to leave the company. The hoodie is not -- it wasn't even a deliberate decision on his part. I think he was saying in effect, I am not going to change. I've done a pretty good job so far, you know, 900 million in eight years, $100 billion valuation. Not bad. And if I change -- I think he believes -- I will not continue to succeed.
BALDWIN: Also, it apparently speaks to the culture in Silicon Valley. Fascinating article in "The New York Times" this morning that it's not cool to flaunt your wealth there.
So, let me quote, quote, "Peer pressure dictates that consumption be kept on the down low. It is understood say Facebook employees and their friends that Mr. Zuckerberg would find it uncool for one of his underlings to drive a Lamborghini to the office." Uncool.
KIRKPATRICK: You see that Eduardo Saverin has a Bentley. He said that on an interview. He started doing interviews yesterday. So, you know, he is very far from the culture of Facebook, that's why he doesn't work there anymore.
(CROSSTALK)
KIRKPATRICK: He's not taking cash out of the IPO, except to pay taxes, (INAUDIBLE) he's going to get later in the year. He's not really a money orientated guy. I'm sure he'll be one of the world's great philanthropists at some point, and maybe might buy a jet --
BALDWIN: Like Bill Gates.
KIRKPATRICK: He was not a money orientated guy either.
CAIN: But now that you're CEO of publicly held company, don't you have to become a guy who's about money a little bit. At some point, he has to have earnings for what would be investors. And the question is -- what changes? Does Mark Zuckerberg change Wall Street or does Wall Street now change Mark Zuckerberg?
BALDWIN: Good question.
KIRKPATRICK: He hopes that they change. I don't know what really happens, it's incognito really. But I will say that he really does believe that he cannot, not do what he's been doing all along.
The thing is he's a man of his generation and era. He looks at business differently than the baby boomers who are basically still in charge of CNN and everything else, right?
He doesn't think money is the main thing. He thinks change making the world better matters more. He thinks the world needs change. He's trying to change the world.
I think there are a lot of people who are sympathetic to that attitude.
HOOVER: Classic, classic characteristics of the millennial generation that Mark Zuckerberg actually amplified. Quick question for you, I think I might be stealing my husband's question. All you know about Facebook especially since you first went there and you did your article for "Forbes" and then Mark Zuckerberg invites you --
KIRKPATRICK: "Fortune."
HOOVER: "Fortune," I'm sorry, "Fortune." So, you know, knowing everything that you know about Facebook, would you buy Facebook stock?
KIRKPATRICK: Would I buy it at the opening? I'm not doing it because I'm a journalist. But, yes, I mean, believe me, it's going to go way up today, it's going to go up over time. I'm convinced.
Is it justified financially at this valuation? Probably not. That doesn't mean it won't go up.
BALDWIN: Do you think it will be like Google where it's a steady sort of climb or like Amazon like a roller coaster?
KIRKPATRICK: I think today it will probably pop quite a lot. I think you'll see when it opens, it will be surprisingly high. Now, it might go down by the end of the day. There are a lot of people who think it could double today. I'm telling you, even at this valuation.
When "The New York Times" reported the other day that it is 25 x over subscribed in Asia, right, there's a lot of rich people in Asia. Think of that, 25 x. How many of those people would buy it at any price? Some.
Therefore, they're going to put market orders in.
CAIN: We're trying to guess the collective decision of thousands and maybe millions of people buying stock which is an impossible task to do. The real question is, what is Facebook really worth? What does Facebook really make?
KIRKPATRICK: There is no really worth for anything.
CAIN: No objective worth.
KIRKPATRICK: There is none. No, everything is worth what people are willing to pay for it.
CAIN: I disagree with you at the most fundamental level possible.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: With all due respect.
KIRKPATRICK: Wall Street has its conventions of valuation. When you estimate future earnings, it's a really guessing game. Some people pay more and some people pay less.
BALDWIN: Quickly, final question.
AVLON: As a financial journalist, the question is earnings. Does Facebook, should it be valued more than a McDonald's?
KIRKPATRICK: Well, I think Facebook's long-term prognosis is probably as good as any company I can think of in terms of its impact. But then you have this odd question. Even if it grows to many billions and has huge impact, how does that convert to earning power?
But everyone, including certainly Mark Zuckerberg who is believing in this high price, assumes there will be many ways to monetize. I think there will be.
BALDWIN: Two key words: long-term.
KIRKPATRICK: If you don't look at it long-term, don't buy the stock. That would be my feeling.
BALDWIN: David Kirkpatrick, that's what they say, you should believe in it. If you believe, you should buy.
KIRKPATRICK: Well, there are a lot of believers. There really are.
BALDWIN: "The Facebook Effect" is your book -- good to see you.
KIRKPATRICK: Thank you for having me.
BALDWIN: Thank you very much. Have a good rest of your weekend.
KIRKPATRICK: Good conversation.
BALDWIN: We try to be fun when we can.
Christine Romans got a look at the other day's top stories.
Hey, Christine.
ROMANS: Good morning again, Brooke.
World leaders will arrive at Camp David for start of the G-8 summit. Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, the European financial crisis, al on the table. There will be a few new face this is time around, including the newly elected French President Hollande, Italian Prime Minister Monte, and Japanese Prime Minister Noda.
Parts of Chicago are being shut down this morning and security will be very tight when President Obama and 50 heads of state arrive in the Windy City Sunday for a NATO summit. Today, F-16 warplanes and other military aircraft will buzz the city as part of a defense exercise ahead of the weekend. Police estimate large anti-NATO protests.
New evidence made public by the state of Florida in the Trayvon Martin case, including police photos of shooter George Zimmerman with an injury to his nose and lacerations on the back of his head. This in the hours after his deadly confrontation with the Florida teen.
There is surveillance video of Martin in moments before he died buying Skittles and a drink at a nearby 7-Eleven. Autopsy reports revealed he had THC in his system. That's an ingredient in marijuanan.
Asphyxiation due to hanging, the official cause of death for Mary Kennedy. The estranged wife of Robert Kennedy Jr. was found dead in her home in Bedford, New York, on Wednesday. The struggles over the past two years were very public. She was arrested for DUI twice in 2010 after her husband announced he was filing for divorce.
Remembering the one and only Donna Summer who died at 63 after her battle with cancer. The queen of disco had a string of number one hits in the '70s and '80s and she helped define a generation. Friends and fellow artists say she will be missed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN LEGEND, SINGER: We lost someone who is great and such an important artist of her time and of a particular type of music that was so important to America's pop cultural history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right. There's no buzzing in baseball, right? Tell that to the swarm of bees that invaded Coors Field in Denver yesterday bringing the game to a halt. They took over a camera bay next to the Rockies dugout. Eventually the home team had to call in its closer -- a beekeeper actually -- to vacuum up the bees into a bag. There you go.
BALDWIN: What's going on with bees lately? There's a whole article of meat packing district this week, all these people taking pictures.
AVLON: What's going on with Denver and UFOs and bees?
HOOVER: It's spring, baby. Springtime.
BALDWIN: I don't know.
STARTING POINT continues. We bet you wouldn't want to miss this one. How good could a $35,000 shower be? Thirty-five bucks. Horizontal, power shower. I don't know what's going on. That's our get real this morning.
Also, teaching Mitt Romney to act like a human inside the actor studio zone. James Lipton coaching the candidate. He's here on set next in honor of Donna Summer, want to leave you with "Hot Stuff." You're watching STARTING POINT.
BALDWIN: So nice to meet you.
JAMES LIPTON, HOST, "INSIDE THE ACTORS' STUDIO": Nice to meet you. Good morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Presidential campaigns involve a lot of stage craft even a bit of performance art from the candidates themselves. And now Mitt Romney's campaign getting a little advice on exactly how to do that from the master of stage craft himself, Mr. James Lipton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIPTON: Let's start with your laugh.
MITT ROMNEY (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I live for laughter.
LIPTON: It isn't working. It's inert. It just doesn't come across as genuine. Worst of all, it's mirthless, which means while you expect us to be amused, you're not the least bit amused yourself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: James Lipton is the host and executive producer of an amazing show, Bravo's "Inside the Actors' Studio." Truly a pleasure to have you sitting at the table this morning. Not genuine. Talk to me about this laugh.
LIPTON: Look, the humor is based on shared perception. What you say when you hear a joke? I get it. I understand it. So there has to be shared perception. There's very little sharing going on. He's too busy working. He's working the crowd. And I remember once a director said to an actor on the stage and the actor was working hard and director said, hey, relax. You got the job. And now that he's almost got the nomination sealed, signed and delivered, I would advise him, relax. Relax.
BALDWIN: You don't like his wardrobe.
LIPTON: Well, it's bowling alley and country club. He's got --
CAIN: So is this. Is that the same thing? Jeans and --
LIPTON: We'll speak after the show.
BALDWIN: You haven't seen his teal boots yet.
LIPTON: Blue jeans are carefully creased. On top is a jacket that cost him a fortune. It doesn't match. It doesn't match. It isn't just that it's not Mitt Romney, it's not anybody. And he's clearly been instructed and told to give a performance which he's doing. Leaving politics aside whether one loves him or does not, that's not working. It's like for me watching a bad acting performance is like a fingernail on a black board.
BALDWIN: Does every actor that you worked with have the ability to connect with people or is it learned? The question comes to Americans as well, what's most important, the personality of the guy you're electing or can really good acting and connecting with people the way you're describing be learned?
LIPTON: Our show in its 18th and going into 19th year is nothing more than a master class in that school. Of course we believe that acting can be learned.
BALDWIN: Connectability factor.
LIPTON: You know what you have to connect with when you're acting? Want to guess? Yourself. We teach our actors to be in touch with the marrow of their bones and inner souls and when you see a great actor doing it well, what's happening is they really are in touch -- they are living in the moment.
CAIN: You point to things like his laughter and his wardrobe. You also point to something about his arms which you said Sarah Palin was the master of this.
LIPTON: Other people are guilty of it. Generations of especially political commentators and 11:00 anchors and so forth have been taught this is the way you talk. Watch them. Up and down and right and left.
CAIN: Elbows in.
LIPTON: I think they are telling the director I'm going to go next. Maybe that's the signal. They're doing this. It doesn't look good. Sarah Palin is comfortable unless she's being asked a question. She's comfortable in front of the public and it's beautiful to watch.
BALDWIN: I have to ask you about "Inside the Actors' Studio." I see these infamous blue cards. May i? Will you share? James Lipton. I am holding the blue cards. Here's my question. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates, James Lipton?
LIPTON: You see, Jim, you were wrong. I exist. But, but, you may come in any way.
BALDWIN: Let's watch. This is so funny. Will Ferrell does a nice version of you with you as well. Roll it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILL FERRELL, ACTOR, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": You played Gerty, the precocious child who when she screamed at the E.T. sent a message out to the world I am, I am here, I am now. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Your interviewing is so distinctive that you are parodied on "Saturday Night Live."
LIPTON: That's not the only place.
BALDWIN: Do you love it?
LIPTON: I love it. It's very flattering. Besides he came on my show and did it. He interviewed me as me. I was in one of his movies, "Bewitched." We're good friends. I think he's got me cold.
BALDWIN: People don't realize that you work -- I read about this, I do my homework as well, I learned from you. 12 hours a day, seven days a week, you mentioned 18th season.
LIPTON: That's correct of our show.
BALDWIN: You must love what you do.
LIPTON: We hold a lot of records. You know what it is? the thing that impresses me about it -- not me obviously, but I'm not impressive but the fact is impressive. It is nothing more or less and never has been and never will be anything more nor less than a master class of the Actor Studio drama school of Pace University. Those are masters degree candidates out there learning the craft of acting, writing and directing. That's what it's all about.
And to imagine that we would have come to this, 14 Emmy nominations which is also a record.
BALDWIN: Congratulations. Truly.
LIPTON: Thank you. But the thing is that we -- it's a class. And that is supposed to be an athema in television. And here we are.
BALDWIN: And how inspirational for students - I understand Bradley Cooper a graduate of the school.
LIPTON: Of course he's a graduate of our school.
(CROSSTALK)
LIPTON: He walked out, we looked at each other and we burst into tears. I auditioned him for that school.
BALDWIN: Amazing. Would you do the honor and take us to break and read the tease? Take a look at that camera.
LIPTON: This?
BALDWIN: Yes.
LIPTON: Ahead on STARTING POINT, a decadent delight. A marvel of technical -- technology destined to alter the very course of human history. The horizontal shower for the scant sum of $35,000/ The bathing experience of your dreams can now be yours. You're watching STARTING POINT.
BALDWIN: Yes!
(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BALDWIN: I know you want to sing. Lady Liberty this morning. Beautiful picture outside. John Avalon's playlist this morning. Stevie Wonder. "Signed, Sealed, Delivered."
Are you singing this to one another? Aww, the married couple on set. By the way, I know you love our music picks. We hope you do. Check them out at CNN.com/starting point.
And now to the "Get Real" moment of the morning. The most tricked-out shower ever. Take a look. This is the world's first digital horizontal shower. It's the best of both worlds. You can lie down, relax. See all the fancy faucets? One, two, three, four, five, six of them.
CAIN: A little risque on STARTING POINT here.
BALDWIN: A little risque! I can't even tell -
HOOVER: It's Friday morning!
BALDWIN: We're having a little fun. Whatever. What else? Let's see, you can also preset apparently how much water flows along with the speed that comes out. But it's going to cost you, again, this thing, $35,000.
HOOVER: I wonder how many square feet it takes up.
BALDWIN: Well, you can see how long she is.
HOOVER: You can't do that in a Manhattan apartment. But you can certainly do it out --
BALDWIN: I mean, I'm a girl who loves a good shower. I do my best thinking in there. Maybe I'll sing a little bit.
(CROSSTALK)
HOOVER: If we're lucky, we get some Brooke Baldwin singing in the morning.
BALDWIN: But $35,000? You've got to be kidding me.
CAIN: Show us that singing you're talking about.
BALDWIN: Oh, I already did it this morning. You missed it. CAIN: We're listening right now.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: Would you do this? $35,000 shower.
AVLON: No, no, no, no. $35,000 shower? No. There are some things you're just like, it becomes insulting.
BALDWIN: What if it was free?
AVLON: Sure!
HOOVER: Absolutely!
BALDWIN: Lay down.
HOOVER: Horizontal shower? Why not. What do you think?
AVLON: Hells yeah!
BALDWIN: Hey now! It's Friday morning!
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWI: Keep it clean, you two.
Still ahead this morning on STARTING POINT, newly discovered documents from Anne Frank and her family. This treasure trove. 6,000 letters and postcards locked away in this attic. Coming up next, this conversation with her cousins. And -
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CASSIDY, SINGER (singing): When I close my eyes, and I'll trade -
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: You remember him from the Partridge Family. David Cassidy here live this morning in studio. You're watching STARTING POINT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Half past the hour on this Friday. Christine Romans with the headlines. Christine, good morning.
ROMANS: Good morning, again, Brooke. We're following breaking news for you out of Mississippi. Police arrested 28-year-old James Willie in connection with those two highway shootings last week. They plan to charge him with two counts of murder. They say Willie's gun matched the one used in both shootings which occurred 55 miles apart. He has been taken into custody authorities suggested he was a shooter and posing as a police officer, but that appears not to be the case. In the next hour, jurors could begin deliberating the fate of former North Carolina Senator John Edwards. They'll have to decide if he's guilty of six counts of campaign fraud and conspiracy. Prosecutors say he used nearly a million dollars in illegal campaign contributions to cover up an extramarital affair. Edwards' lawyers asking jurors to find him not guilty yesterday, urging them to separate sin from criminal behavior.
Watching you money this morning, expect to see fewer postal offices this summer. The postal service announced it's moving forward with cost cutting plan as 48 plants will be closed in July and August and 5,000 employees will lose their jobs. Even with these cuts, the postal service says you should get 80 percent of first class mail delivered on time this year.
Forget high gas prices, people buying up SUVs more than ever before. One in three vehicles sold today is an SUV. That's up from one in five in the '90s and early 2000s. Gas prices down to $3.71 for national average right now, but still high. Expect them to keep dropping over the next few weeks because oil has been dropping. Oil prices down more than 10 percent this month alone.
So who had June in the betting pool? Coming as a shock to no one, Van Halen postponed its reunion tour. A rep wouldn't say why, but a source tells "Rolling Stone" these guys hate each other and the band is arguing like mad. The band's last attempt to reunite with David Lee Roth was also called off.
BALDWIN: There's nothing worse than going to a show and seeing people on stage sniping back and forth at one another.
ROMANS: According to "Rolling Stone" they are sniping so much they're not even getting to stage.
BALDWIN: Wow. OK. Game off for them for now. Christine, thank you.
Anne Frank, you know who she is. She wrote one of the most poignant memoirs of the holocaust. She died in a concentration camp, but portrayed a strong-willed young girl who still believed in the good of people despite all of the evil that surrounded her. And now thousands of newly discovered letters and poems and postcards and photographs found by her closest living relative, her cousin. It's all documented in this new book called "Anne frank's Family," and Buddy joins me along with his wife who helped organize and edit all of the papers. Good morning to both of you.
GERTI ELIAS, WIFE OF BUDDY ELIAS: Good morning.
BALDWIN: Just for transparency stake, I know Buddy is hard of hearing we may have to repeat questions. My first question to you, buddy, what do you remember of Anne Frank when you two were just young, young kids running around together?
BUDDY ELIAS, ANNE FRANK'S COUSIN: Well, Anne was a normal girl like any other girl as long as we were together in freedom. Of course in the secret annex she developed to be a fantastic author. It's incredible. It just happened. As long as we were together, as long as we were kids, we were playing games like all of the other kids. We played hide-and-seek. And she loved the theater, and we wanted to get dressed up all the time and play acting.
BALDWIN: You called her "the rascal." Let me quote what you describe in the book. When Anne gets something into her head, she doesn't let go of the idea very easily. The fact is he did lose the bet. She dared to clamor up the tree and get a bird's eggs from a nest and come down with the egg in the pocket of her skirt without breaking it. When we talk about the thousands of postcards found in buddy's mother's attic, you are the one that found them and climbed up there. What possessed you to go up there, and how did you find them?
GERTI ELIAS: I had the idea to clean up a little bit upstairs to clean. That's I went up. And then I was interested to know what is in the closet and I opened it and there was a box and I opened it and in this box there were a lot of letters and I took one and started to read it. It was written in old German, but I could read it. I learned it once in school. And then I realized that all of these letters were from the family, from his family, children's letters from the father of Anne Frank and his brothers and sister, his mother, and so on. It was amazing.
BALDWIN: So in that moment you realized the significance and value of what you were staring at.
GERTI ELIAS: Yes.
CAIN: Go ahead. I want to ask buddy a question. I'm a father. I read something you said here that really resonated with me. You said shortly after Otto, Anne's father came home from concentration camps, he found her diary and read them and said I didn't know my daughter until I read the diary. You felt similarly. What did you learn about your cousin that you didn't know?
BUDDY ELIAS: She wrote so many humanistic passages. When I knew when she was a kid, playful kid. And then I'm reading about why is there always enough money for arms and never enough for the arts and for the poor? Why is there always a talk about the strength of man and never about the power of women? I read these humanistic passages, and that was not the Anne I knew. That was a complete new Anne.
HOOVER: I wonder if you could tell the audience what's going to happen now with all of the documents you have discovered? My understanding is they are going to Frankfurt. Anne frank's hometown. Will they be available to the public to be able to review the materials? How are they going to be displayed and preserved?
BUDDY ELIAS: They're going to construct a new building for this archive. It's a tremendous amount of furniture and objects of art and letters and documents. It's kind of returning to the roots.
BALDWIN: Imagine a young Anne Frank include this letter January '41. She writes, "Dear everyone, I'm at the rink every spare minute. Up until now I always had the old skates. She loved to ice skate, old skates that Margo had. You had to screw them on with key. But all my friends on the rink had realized skates attached to the shoe with nails so they don't come off." It was soon after with the Nazis that no Jews were involved in public entertainment areas and wouldn't be allowed to skate on those rinks, speaking to how human she was as a young girl. From this treasure-trove, was there one item that really surprised you, struck you the most?
BUDDY ELIAS: Yes. Well, I skated with Margo, her sister. Who was Anne who always dreamed of going skating with me, because I was a good skater when I was young. I was even professional. I was 14 years with Holiday on Ice. I toured the whole world with them, quite a few American tours. I started to love this country. And, yes, it never happened with Anne. And that made me so sad.
BALDWIN: The letters, the photos, Anne Frank's family, the extraordinary story of where she came from. Thank you. It's so nice to meet you.
BUDDY ELIAS: Thank you very much for your invitation.
BALDWIN: Still ahead this morning on STARTING POINT, this guy.
(MUSIC)
BALDWIN: Here he is from classic TV show "The Partridge Family." Teen idol David Cassidy is stopping by opening up for the first time about a personal struggle. It involves his mom. You're watching STARTING POINT.
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BALDWIN: Across the country and behind closed doors, 1.3 million children are caring for ill, disabled, or aging family members, and many are under the age of 12. This week's CNN hero bringing this hidden population "Out of the Shadows".
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you okay? Here let me help you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My mom has been sick for as long as I can remember. We need more methadone. Helping her out is a bigger priority than going to school because I don't know what I would do if something happened to her. I wouldn't be able to really live.
CONNIE SISKOWSKI, CNN HERO OF THE WEEK: In the United States there are at least 1.3 million children caring for someone who is ill or injured or elderly or disabled. They can become isolated. There are physical effects and the stresses of it and the worry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, baby. Thank you so much.
SISKOWSKI: But these children suffer silently. People don't know they exist.
SISKOWSKI: I'm Connie Siskowski. I am bringing this precious population into the light to transform their lives so that they can stay in school.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good to see you.
SISTOWSKI: We offer each child a home visit.
Has the ramp been helpful? We look at what we can provide to meet the need. We go into the schools with a peer support group and we offer out of school activities that give the child a break.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is so relaxing.
SISTOWSKI: So they know that they're not alone. We give them hope for their future.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now I'm getting A's and B's. And I feel more confident.
SISTOWSKI: But we have a long way to go. There are so many more children that really need this help and support.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Still ahead here on STARTING POINT, this guy.
Really, he needs no more introduction. Just the two words. David Cassidy is here.
DAVID CASSIDY, ACTOR, WRITER, PRODUCER: Hey. How are you?
BALDWIN: Good morning.
CASSIDY: Good to see you Brooke.
BALDWIN: We'll be right back. I'm Brooke it's so nice to see you.
CASSIDY: Brooke, good to see you too.
BALDWIN: Come on around.
CASSIDY: Awesome. How are you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good.
BALDWIN: Happy Friday.
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COSTELLO: How many times have you heard and sung this song?
CASSIDY: That's one of the best pop songs ever written, I think and I can say this --
BALDWIN: I mean, of course we think this. Because this is David Cassidy here on the set. Of course we know him and love him from "The Partridge Family" in the '70s. A pop culture icon, icon of the '70s. Joining us this morning. Welcome.
CASSIDY: Thank you Brooke.
BALDWIN: It's a pleasure.
CASSIDY: It's a pleasure to be here and talk to you all.
BALDWIN: Speaking of that song, though, if I may interject.
CASSIDY: Yes.
BALDWIN: I'm curious, "I think I love you so what am I so afraid of". Were you singing that to anyone at the time?
CASSIDY: No, I actually --
BALDWIN: Not a soul.
CASSIDY: Not a soul. I was 19 when I actually recorded it. It was -- it was recorded before I went on -- I was about a month before I was 20 years old.
BALDWIN: Wow.
CASSIDY: And the pilot had been picked up. It was the first recording I ever made. And I cut over 300 with "The Partridge Family." And I was having two separate recording careers. And what's really a problem for me now as in when I see bits and pieces of me, is I had shed (ph) a lot of hair, you know.
And -- and the one thing that does happen as we get older which I'm going to talk to you about, is you lose your hair. And it's really embarrassing to get compared to yourself 35 years later. I'm, like, you know, please don't -- oh yes. God I did have good hair, didn't I.
BALDWIN: How about you're hearing from all of those screaming girls?
CASSIDY: Well, they still scream. And it's a beautiful thing. I'm still touring.
BALDWIN: Screaming women.
CASSIDY: Screaming women now, their voices have dropped an octave.
BALDWIN: I was reading some crazy stalker stories. Like there was a woman who -- please tell me this isn't true -- crawled into your air conditioning duct at your home and was there for weeks to meet you.
CASSIDY: More than a month.
BALDWIN: Oh my goodness.
CAIN: She was in your air ducts for more than a month?
CASSIDY: Yes this is true.
CAIN: Come on.
CASSIDY: And it was right next to my bathroom. And I was married at the time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's all kinds of awkward right there.
BALDWIN: All kinds.
CASSIDY: All kinds of awkward.
And one of the reasons I'm here in New York is the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, as I have become someone who has experienced what now many, many millions of people are starting to experience as baby boomers get older.
What you're seeing is me from the '70s and Shirley Jones who played my mother on it.
BALDWIN: Your stepmother.
CASSIDY: Is actually my stepmother. And I do have brothers. And we are very close; there's Shaun, Patrick and Ryan. However, I am the sole son and living blood relative close enough -- there is one other cousin who is still alive -- but hasn't seen my mom in many, many decades. But I am the sole son of a woman who had a vibrant, fantastic career. She was on Broadway. She did over 20 shows. And was a very wonderful mom to me and felt -- always felt rejected because everybody assumed Shirley Jones was my mom and because she was married to my dad.
And when my mother had a companion who she married towards the end of her career or her life with him passed away I think in 2003, 2004, and they had been together for many, many, many years after my mom had kind of retired.
But the companionship they had was really important because his physical health was very poor but his mind was good. And I didn't realize this but my mother's mind began to disappear.
BALDWIN: How long ago?
CASSIDY: Well, it began about ten years ago. In three days my mom is going to be 89 years old. And what a lot of people don't realize is that it -- it is a very difficult thing for us as families and me particularly because I'm her only son and I had to make the choice of how to deal with my mother who became very obstinate which is part of the Alzheimer's and dementia.
My mom has severe dementia. And what happened is her husband died, therefore she didn't have somebody to protect her and a companion. Companionship is really wonderful, so the Alzheimer's Foundation of America today is celebrating and I'm going to speak on behalf for it's -- of free today lunch and everything else for caregivers and health care and I can tell you now how important it is.
But my mother has slowly in the beginning, passed -- and I defined, I think it's terribly important -- the largest percentage of our population are baby boomers. They started retiring at the retirement of age of 65 in 2011.
It's essential. We're about to face an epidemic of the greatest proportion. Now, I know it's very -- it's one of those dark, deadly little secrets. Your mom is losing her mind. To watch someone that raised you and was so vibrant start to lose their mind and disappear is arguably the most painful thing I've ever experienced. For almost six months, my mother wouldn't speak to me because I was trying to get her to move.
BALDWIN: She didn't want to move.
CASSIDY: My mother -- she didn't want to go. I asked her to come and live with me and my son and my wife in Florida. She wouldn't do so. She lived in L.A. since 1962.
BALDWIN: Does she have any present days today? Does she know who you are at all?
CASSIDY: Yes. She knows who I am.
BALDWIN: She does.
CASSIDY: And I had to -- and this is terribly important for anybody who is experiencing it with either your family member or friends, companionship is essential. Keeping them present and being -- my mother was alone and she was actually found -- and you can imagine how painful this is -- she was found in the middle of the night in her night gown about 100 yards from her apartment lost. And they called the police and they took her to an Alzheimer's -- basically an elderly Alzheimer's care hospital and they called me the next day. I haven't lived in the same town as my mother -- 2,000 -- 3,000 miles away.
BALDWIN: Thank goodness she has you. Forgive me for cutting us off. I could sit here and listen. I know so many people who are touched by this.
(CROSSTALK)
CASSIDY: The Alzheimer's Foundation of America, you need to find a way and go to the Web site today.
BALDWIN: We'll tweet out -- we'll tweet out a link for sure.
CASSIDY: Please do that.
BALDWIN: David Cassidy.
CASSIDY: It's about to become an epidemic. I want to make everyone aware of it. We need as much attention to it and God bless you. I hope your children don't go through and experience what I've gone through.
BALDWIN: "End Point" is next. Thank you, sir.
CASSIDY: Thank you. Thank you.
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BALDWIN: Thanks to the panel. Thanks for watching. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
Now to "CNN NEWSROOM", Carol Costello, good morning.
