bankruptcy. good morning to our viewers in the west. it's tuesday, august 14, 2012. welcome to studio 57 at the cbs broadcast center. the campaign kicks into gear as president obama goes after republican vice presidential pick paul ryan, and chris christie gets a high profile role at the upcoming gop convention. new crash tests reveal some cars may not be as safe as you thought they were plus, controversy at costco as americans tell canadians to get out of their stores. but we begin this morning with a look at today's "eye opener," your world in 90 seconds. >> he is a very articulate spokesperson for governor romney's vision. the problem is, it's the wrong vision for america. >> president obama takes on the new gop ticket.

>> paul ryan being heckled at the iowa state fair. >> these ladies must not be from iowa or wisconsin. >> was that a surprise? >> we welcome him to the campaign. >> three people are dead after a shooting near texas a&m university. >> there's a shooter. >> the gunman, thomas caffall, shot to death was being served an eviction notice. >> a county constable was also killed. >> he was one of those guys that everybody liked and he bent over backwards to help people out. >> more homes are being threatened by a growing wildfires that has burned at least 40 buildings in central washington state. >> people are pulling together and trying to help each other. >> helen gurley brown, the lodgetilodge longtime editor of "cosmo" cosmag magz has died. >> they were air lifted to the hospital and were treated and released.

>> a monster python that was captured in the florida everglades. >> 17 feet, seven inches long. >> all that -- >> oh! >> he's going to keep the ball but change his pants. >> we were talking about what a tough campaign it's going to be. >> and all ma that matters. >> a swing set with no swing. >> sometimes in the hood, you don't get a swing. >> on "cbs this morning." >> robert pattinson's first tv appearance since his first break-up with kristen stewart. but he didn't have much to say about it. >> boy, you are better off. kick her to the curb. captioning funded by cbs welcome to "cbs this morning." charlie rose and gayle king are off. this will be another busy day in the race for the white house. president obama and vice president joe biden, governor romney, and paul ryan will be campaigning in key states. >> this morning the president is

wasting no time in criticizing his rival's vice presidential pick. nancy cortes is covering the campaign from oskaloosa, iowa. good morning to you. >> reporter: the president will be speaking here in oskaloosa in a couple of hours. he mentioned ryan at both of his campaign rallies in iowa yesterday, calling him the intellectual leader of the republicans in congress, and arguing that romney now owns all of ryan's congressional policies. >> hi. how are you? >> reporter: the president arrived at the iowa state fair just five hours after paul ryan departed. mr. obama took pictures with supporters and tried the pork chops. >> hey, anybody got a knife and fork for me? >> reporter: it was the end of day one of his three-day bus tour of iowa, the battleground state that launched his presidential aspirations four years ago with a win in the presidential caucuses. yesterday, he visited a family

farm in drought stricken missouri valley, iowa, and announced the government's plan to buy $170 million worth of agricultural product from struggling farmers and ranchers. >> i understand this won't solve the problem. we can't make it rain. but this will help families like the mackintoshes in states across the country, including here in iowa. >> reporter: but his campaign's primary focus right now is on defining mitt romney's new running mate, who is still unknown to many voters. >> my opponent chose as his running mate the ideological leader of the republicans in congress. and i've gotten to know congressman ryan. he is a good man. he's a family man. he say very articulate spokesperson for governor romney's vision. the problem is, it's the wrong vision for america. >> reporter: both the president and vice president are painting ryan as an inspiration for the tea party, an idealogue whose proposals for a radically small government would hurt the poor and give tax cuts to the rich. >> gutsy. i'm serious.

what's gutsy about giving millionaires another tax break? >> first lady michelle obama visiting los angeles was asked about ryan by t"the tonight show's" jay leno. >> what do you think of his choice of paul ryan as mitt's running mate? were you surprised by that? >> i haven't spent much time thinking about that, and don't know ryan that well. but we welcome them to the campaign. >> reporter: obama campaign officials concede that ryan has an engaging personality and is a tough debater who won't back down. but it's interesting, rebecca and anthony, even as they attack him, they continue to argue that he's nowhere near as important as the man at the top of the ticket, mitt romney. >> nancy cortes, thanks. romney will bring his own bus tour to ohio today as he finishes a four-day trip to swing states. on monday, he told voters in florida that he and ryan will do everything they can to make

america stronger. jan crawford is in florida for us this morning. >> reporter: good morning to everyone in the west. here in florida, romney really tried to keep the focus on the struggles economy, an issue that he generally has stayed away from is medicare as he tries to figure out how he's going to explain how his plan is different from his running mate's. campaigning in the key state of florida, aside from a brief assurance, mitt romney barely mentioned what would affect people here more than any other place in the country. >> we want to make sure that we preserve and protect medicare. >> reporter: two days after announcing his new running mate, and a campaign theme of making tough choices to save america's future, it's proving to be a tricky line for romney to walk. paul ryan so far isn't trying the same balancing act. in his very first speech as the vp nominee he said this. >> it is our duty to save the american dream for our children and theirs. >> reporter: ryan backs that up with a serious plan to

dramatically cut the budget, rein in spending, and reform entitlement programs like medicare. but romney perhaps cautious of polls that show people like the current system struck a more cautious and vague note on change. romney's website says ryan's plan almost precisely mirrors mitt's ideas. but on monday, romney wouldn't even say that. the items that we agree on, i think, outweigh any differences there may be. we haven't gone through piece-by-piece and said, here's a place where there's a difference. with romney in florida, ryan made his first solo appearance as the gop vice presidential candidate at the iowa state fair. he got a warm welcome, but his speech was interrupted by hecklers. >> iowans and wisconsinites, we like to be respectful and responsible and listen to one another. these ladies must not be from wisconsin. >> a new poll shows americans are split over romney's choice of ryan.

39% call his selection excellent or pretty good, while 42% say it's only fair or poor. but the good news for ryan, 58% don't know who he is, and he has strong support from republicans who need to turn out in november. >> the decision was made somewhere that we're going to go head first up against it. we're not going to skirt it with a traditional campaign. we're going to take it straight to them. >> reporter: but not all republicans are exactly jumping up and down over this selection. some congressional democrats already are trying to link their republican opponents to ryan's controversial plan on medicare. one republican even felt the need to put out a statement yesterday saying that she will never agree to cuts in medicare. and then yesterday a little more damage control. the romney campaign had to do. romney held an event yesterday at a well-known restaurant in miami whose owner, get this, pleaded guilty to cocaine distribution in 1999 and was sentenced to three years in prison. for "cbs this morning," i'm jan crawford.

and cbs news political director john dickerson is with us this now. good morning, john. >> good morning, anthony. >> john, as jan just pointed out, the polls show that most americans don't know who paul ryan is. the democrats are already slapping the radical adjective on his name. the republicans say he is as a congressman had ideas and solutions. there's a race now to define this man, isn't there? >> there absolutely is. and this is both an opportunity and a danger for the romney campaign. opportunity because defining paul ryan in a sense redefines romney. this is important more so than perhaps other vice presidential picks because the romney campaign has put ryan kind of at the center of the complete campaign narrative saying this is a bold pick, a pick about ideas. so how they define ryan in this period sort of defines the campaign. for democrats, that large number of people who don't know who ryan is allows them a chance to define him first, tag him with these labels, and those are awfully hard to peel off once

they get stuck on. >> john, how much sway does the vp pick typically have over how people vote? >> it doesn't have much. and we are in the sort of hot time here for the vice presidential scrutiny. but it will quickly go back to the person at the top of the ticket. in this case, though, there might be a little bit more attention paid to it because again the romney campaign is making such a big deal about the ryan pick. and what it tells us about the person at the top of the ticket. >> john, last night, governor chris christie of new jersey was chosen to the be keynote speaker at the republican convention. what do you make of that choice? >> well, he is an exciting figure. he is a good attack dog. he has a long and powerful critique about the president. and so -- and he is a hero in the party. the convention will go nuts when he hits the stage. so this is typical thing. the party has put their superstars on stage. and this will certainly get the crowd going at the convention. >> john, when you think about

this campaign going forward, the president, president obama, is now framing it as romney owns all of ryan's policies. but we know from bob schieffer's interview that romney is not going to be going on ryan's budget. how long, though, can romney hold out on naming specifics with what he would do differently from what ryan has already mapped out? >> well, romney doesn't own ryan any more than senator obama owned everything senator biden said. typically the things senator biden said that weren't very nice about senator obama. however, what romney does have to do is explain where he differs from ryan, and that's tricky because in a lot of places he doesn't differ. and then in the places where they do differ, it's hard to say, well, we have disagreements but i picked him because of his ideas. and also ryan has a very detailed plan out there. and once you get into the specifics of these plans, there are a lot of hard choices that have to be made. politicians like to talk about them in general. but when you get into the very specifics about these hard choices, it can just sound

unpleasant to voters. and romney wants to stay away from that. he wants credit for picking an ideas guy, but then he wants to go back to beating up on the president. >> john, how concerned should the romney campaign be that just 39% of voters in polls ranked the choice of ryan as excellent or pretty good? i mean, that's pretty low compared to recent past vp picks. >> it's not great. part of the number is -- i mean, they can be happy that people don't know ryan. in other words, ok, maybe they aren't totally enthusiastic but they might learn to be. but this is a tough period here. to introduce somebody, define them, then get onto the convention. and the election is only 80 some odd-days away. so it's very tricky here for the romney campaign to define ryan properly and because the democrats are working hard to define him in this other way. so it's something that the romney campaign has to be worried about. >> john dickerson, thanks. and for continuing coverage of the race for the white house,

log in to cbsnews.com. it has news on whether ryan's lack of foreign policy experience will be a factor for voters. the serving of an eviction notice turned deadly near texas a&m. it was just after noon when police in college station, that's north of houston, responded to a report of gunfire. >> put your hands up where i can see them! hands where i can see them! >> the cell phone video you're watching shows police surrounding the home. the firefight lasted 30 minutes, and police say they don't know why tomas caffall opened fire and killed constable brian bachmann. a passer-by was also killed in the gunfight. three other officers and a woman were wounded. his stepfather tells cbs station khou that caffall hadn't worked in a year, and it was only a matter of time before he snapped.

some surprising and worrying information on car safety has just come out this morning. we may not be as secure in our vehicles as we thought. in part because safety tests did not simulate a common and deadly kind of car crash. seth doan is here with the results of a new test. >> good morning. roughly a quarter of people who die in car crashes are killed in a type of crash that is not part of the standard safety tests. of the 11 vehicles tested, only three earned either a good or acceptable rating. we've seen these crash tests countless times. but for the first time in 17 years, a new type of frontal crash test has been conducted by the insurance institute for highway safety. and it's exposed a dangerous vulnerability. adrian lund is the group's president. >> we still have 10,000 deaths in frontal crashes each year. and we estimate that about 20% to 25% of those deaths occur in

small overlap crashes. >> the so-called small overlap crashes take place when the side of a car clips an obstruction, and the heavy engine block does not absorb much of the blow. >> most of the automakers are not building their safety cages to account for this kind of crash. >> only the acura tl and volvo s-60 received a good overall while the infiniti g was rated acceptable. the remaining eight were graded marginal or poor. >> with the release of this report, what's likely happening inside automobile companies? >> probably some words that we can't say on cbs will be uttered this morning as this is all revealed. for "cbs money watch" has covered the automobile industry and says he's surprised these luxury automakers had not built cars better able to withstand front corner crashes. should we be the driving public be alarmed that no one has

focused on these types of crash tests for so long? >> you know, the way i look at it, over the years, cars have gotten much, much safer. and 10 years from now, there may be some new tests that will reveal a vulnerability and those cars will get even safer. i don't think we should worry something new has been found. i think we should be glad that progress is being made. >> reporter: we reached out to all of the automakers tested. those who replied stood by their safety record. and some said they would incorporate this knowledge into designs moving forward. but mercedes questioned the testing protocol altogether. the insurance institute for highway safety says it would like to see all automakers start designing vehicles that better protect people in these crashes. in the short-term, that likely means heavier, less fuel efficient cars. >> i think that there will be some increased costs for the consumer. but in the long run, i think these costs are going to be pretty minimal. >> what makes these results even

more surprising is that the insurance institute for highway safety tested luxury vehicles. they said those are the cars that usually get safety innovations first. the institute plans to look at mid size moderately priced cars next. helen gurley brown is being remembered this morning as the woman who told other women you can have it all. the longtime editor of "cosmopolitan" died monday in a new york hospital. in 1962, her book "sex and the single girl" helped to inspire the sexual revolution for women. and for 32 years, brown used "cosmo" to show women how to make money, have sex, and find love. her motto was, good girls go to heaven. bad girls go everywhere. helen gurley brown was 90 years old. and we'll have an in depth look at her influential life and career in our next hour, including a conversation with kate white, the current editor of "cosmo." and time to show you some of the morning's headlines from

around the globe. the "wall street journal" reports that syria's government wants to use russian banks to sidestep economic sanctions imposed by the west. those sanctions are aimed at syria's oil industry and financial institutions. they don't apply to russian companies that do not do business in the west. "usa today" reports the justice department is ready to release dozens of federal prisoners after they were locked up. an appeals court ruled they had not committed a federal crime. britain's "guardian" says pope benedict's butler faces years in prison for stealing documents. he will stand trial for leaking the letters. the "chicago tribune" reports congressman jesse jackson jr. has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. the representative from chicago has been on medical leave for more than two months, and he's up for re-election in november. and "the new york daily news" says a car thief here in

manhattan drove away with a maserati while the car's owner stood nearby. the owner got out to talk with a friend, leaving the car running. the thief asked permission to take a photo, then jumped into the driver's seat and took off. there's no sign of the stolen car which sells for about $150,000. >> good move. a dangerous wildfire in central washington state is burning out of control this morning. the wind driven fire started monday and so far has destroyed at least 60 homes. in morning more homes are threatened. a firefighting crew was briefly surrounded by the fire, but managed to make their way to safety.,,

>> announcer: this national this national weather report sponsored by the makers of zyrtec. zyrtec, love the air., [ sneeze ] >> if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze. ♪ [ sneeze ] >> you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec. it gives you powerful allergy relief and it starts working hour one on the first day you take it. claritin doesn't start working until hour three. zyrtec, love the air. >> this week only, save up to $15 on zyrtec products. see sunday's newspaper. why is it always busy at this costco? why is it always busy at

this costco? some locals say blame canada. this morning, we'll look at the argument over shoppers crossing the border for bargains. and a major gold buyer closes down after a cbs investigation finds it lied to customers. some employees now say that the company was so badly run, it was bouncing checks across the u.s. >> i'm not going to jail for jeff parsons. i'm done doing that man's dirty work. >> we'll show you why the company's ceo is now being investigated on "cbs this morning." >> announcer: this portion of "cbs this morning" sponsored by hershey's. hershey's makes it a smor. you make it special. that brings people together. hershey's makes it a s'more... you make it special. pure hershey's.

"the most fun you'll have at the movies this summer." yeah. ow! [ male announcer ] zombies are calling it... [ grumbling ] i have no idea what you're talking about. [ male announcer ] it's "brilliant." don't make me throw this hummus. [ all gasp ] it's spicy. [ male announcer ] but zombies say... [ grumbling ] [ male announcer ] critics say it's great for kids and adults. well, duh. while zombies are giving it... [ grumbling ] i just knew something like this was gonna happen tonight. you did? 'cause that zombie bit really threw me. [ male announcer ] "paranorman." rated pg. ♪ i got it made ♪ i got it made ♪ i got it made fresh at subway ♪ ♪ breakfast made the way i say ♪ i got it made ♪ i got it made ♪ i got it made ♪ i got it made fresh at subway ♪

♪ breakfast made the way i say [ male announcer ] get breakfast made the way you say, like your very own egg white & cheese topped with that creamy super food, avocado. want jalapenos? red onions? done and done. on toasty flatbread? you so got it made. ♪ at subway on toasty flatbread? you so got it made. for ocean spray cranberry juice cocktail. it tastes real good, and it's good for you. i use it to make our refreshing cranberry lemonade. ahh! summer. find all our recipes at oceanspray.com.

♪ i'm teaching performance. here's what they'll need. ♪ get your backpack, your hoodies, harajuku, ♪ ♪ turquoise kinda purple orangish sorta blue. ♪ ♪ backpacks, yeow, ♪ to put their stuff in. ♪ graphic tees and denim, denim, denim, denim. ♪ ♪ backpacks. school takes a lot, target has is all. like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec® at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. zyrtec®. love the air.

>> a good morning everyone. we head to the lake county wildfires, this are 7,000 a. that have burned so far. containment is now 30% and evacuation orders have been lifted. the area with the chevron refinery fire started last week is apparently too dangerous for investigators to look at. the chronicle reports chevron considered replacing the defective pipe last year but decided it would last five more years. the palo alto home of steve jobs, $60,000 worth of computers and personal items taken. an alameda man is under arrest.

,,,,,,,,

>> we're following a couple of accidents right now including a multi vehicle crash coming through the santa cruz mountains on highway 17. both directions are blocked. another accident was down 580 by 205. drive time nearly a half hour between the altamont pass and the dublin interchange. the bay bridge toll plaza is jammed solid >> you can see some clouds as you approached the coast line, thicker at the beaches. at ocean beach will find cooler weather. 70 in livermore and a very well could hit the century mark. could hit the cewe're sitting on a bunch of shale gas.

there's natural gas under my town. it's a game changer. ♪ it means cleaner, cheaper american-made energy. but we've got to be careful how we get it. design the wells to be safe. thousands of jobs. use the most advanced technology to protect our water. billions in the economy. at chevron, if we can't do it right, we won't do it at all. we've got to think long term. we've got to think long term. ♪

he's a fitness buff who got some of his colleagues hooked on a grueling exercise routine called p-90x. >> surprised someone so successful is so susceptible to infomercials, although we know biden's late-night impulse control. started with the snuggie, then he bought a blanket, then a swilt, a sweater/quilt. he also owns two pairs of slooks and for state occasions, the snugxedo. >> do you have one of those at home, anthony? >> i don't even have a tuxedo. >> all right. welcome back to "cbs this morning." >> good morning. a border battle is brewing in bellingham, washington, north of seattle. some residents say they're tired

of sharing a local costco with their canadian neighbors. as reporter michelle millman of kiro tv reports, they're calling for american-only shopping hours at the retailer. >> reporter: on any given day, cars pack the parking lot at this costco store in bellingham, washington, but most of the license plates are from across the border. >> i usually come down for the gap. >> reporter: canadians are taking advantage of their country's strong dollar, stocking up on everything from gas to groceries. >> we come down here a couple times a month and we save a fair bit of money. >> reporter: but some locals are fed up with the cross-border bargain-hunting. last month, a facebook page popped up asking costco to hold shopping hours for just americans. so far, the site has gotten more than 2,900 likes. the page includes video of shoppers clearing out several gallons of milk in a matter of seconds and photos of long lines and bad parking jobs. the infestation of canadians in bellingham is downright gotten

out of control," posted one user. another one writes, "i say we boycott costco until we get the treatment we deserve." >> the first reaction was a bit surprised. then as we read some of the postings, rather appalled that people would say some of the things they have said on the page. >> ken oplinger is the president and ceo of the local chamber of commerce. >> the county economy is reliant on canadians shopping here. we shouldn't limit access to retail stores based on nationality. >> reporter: bellingham's mayor says the growth of taxable retail sales was almost double the state average from 2010 to 2011, much of it due to people from canada. jori hall is a bellingham resident. >> to be perfectly honest, we would be in a world of hurt right now if we didn't have the canadian shoppers down here, and i don't think a lot of people realize that. >> reporter: monday, a second facebook page emerged, welcoming canadian shoppers to the area. and costco says it's doing everything it can, hiring local

off-duty police to control traffic, beefing up staff and expanding store hours. >> i know it is kind of crowded here. i would like for them to expand, but to have american-only hours kind of sounds a little out-dated. >> reporter: costco doesn't plan on changing its policy any time soon, but the company is in talks with the town to open a new, bigger location. for "cbs this morning," michelle millman, seattle. >> so, this is a net positive for costco. if they're going to open up a bigger location. >> the infestation of canadians? >> imagine if it was a different group of people and all of a sudden -- >> and they said that to us. >> -- and that conversation was happening. >> yes. >> we want to go to costco. >> they're saying you can come into orr country, you just have to pay full price. >> hallelujah. well, millions of americans are selling their jewelry, looking to cash in on the skyrocketing price of gold, but a warning, there may be companies looking to rip you off, and we're going to follow up on a "cbs news investigation" which led to one major company

being shut down. that is next on "cbs this morning." ♪ [ bee ] it is coming. that glorious season of nasal congestion. [ sniffs ] ♪ discover nasonex (mometasone furoate monohydrate), the only prescription nasal spray approved to relieve nasal congestion due to seasonal allergies. [ female announcer ] nosebleeds, infections of the nose and throat and slow wound healing may occur. do not use nasonex until your nose has healed from any sore, surgery or injury. eye problems, including glaucoma or cataracts may occur. have regular eye exams. nasonex can increase your risk of getting infections. avoid contact with infections like chicken pox or measles while using nasonex. side effects may include headache, viral infection, sore throat and coughing. [ bee ] why suffer? ask your doctor about nasonex.

yeah go hide. one, two... [ son ] come and find me! three! [ male announcer ] bite-sized chicken's grown up. new kfc bites. freshly hand-breaded in the colonel's original recipe. try 10 bites with an 8 piece meal for $19.99. today tastes so good. the blissful pause just before that rich sweetness touches your lips. the delightful discovery, the mid-sweetening realization that you have the house all to yourself. well, almost. the sweet reward, making a delicious choice that's also a smart choice. splenda no-calorie sweetener. with the original sugar-like taste you love and trust. splenda makes the moment yours.

hi, i'm new ensure clear... clear, huh? i'm not juice or fancy water. i've got nine grams of protein. that's three times more than me! [ female announcer ] new ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach. here's what the kids will n-e-e-d. ♪ pens and markers, paper wide ruled. ♪ ♪ hoodies, sneakers, tape, sticks of glue.♪ ♪ large boxes pencils, highlighters. ♪ ♪ sneakers and t-shirts. ♪ notebooks and jeans, ♪ notebooks and jeans, ♪ notebooks and jeeeeans, yeah! ♪ ♪ notebooks and jeans! announcer: school takes a lot, target has it all.

for ocean spray cranberry juice cocktail. it tastes real good, and it's good for you. i use it to make our refreshing cranberry lemonade. ahh! summer. find all our recipes at oceanspray.com.

♪ this morning we have new information on a story we first reported earlier this year. buyers for a gold-buying company was taking customers for their cash by lying about gold jewelry. six cbs stations across the you'd led the investigation into the fraud along with julie from our affiliate. good morning. >> since our report, the company, thr & associates, shut down and is now the focus of several state and federal investigations. as a result, a number of former employees are coming forward and

coming clean. >> basically, if it's old gold or silver we say bring it in. >> reporter: one morning, he was a guest on a tv show. >> we'll get you a check on the spot. >> reporter: next, the checks bounced and he was wanted by police. >> it was very embarrassing. >> kenny birdsall says thr & associates didn't tell him the checks were bad until it was too late, and he's not alone. >> i feel sick. i have wrote checks for two days. i said, do you realize that that is fraud? >> reporter: like birdsall, dolly dubard resigned after she discovered she was writing bad checks. they are two of the dozens of thr employees across the country who have now come forward to reveal what they say was a culture of deception within one of the nation's largest gold-buying operations. many former employees attribute the bounced checks to ceo jeffrey parsons and what they call an extravagant lifestyle. while parsons did not respond to a request for comment, he owes the irs millions, and according to his own sworn testimony, he used the company bank account as

his personal bank account and splurged on luxury homes, boats, even a jet, paid for in part with silver purchased at thr shows. >> believe it or not, half of what you have on the table here is copper. >> reporter: in a joint investigation, cbs producers in five states attempted to sell gold to thr buyers, and many former employees say they weren't surprised by what we found. >> it's gold. >> reporter: four out of the five producers were either lied to, offered less than a quarter of the gold's value, or both. >> i think a lot of managers did think it was okay to lie. >> reporter: dubard says she felt pressured to take advantage of customers. the thr buying guide instructed employees to offer less than 10% of the gold's value, and those who went too high were eventually laid off. in may, we questioned spokesman matt enright about the investigation. where you're not lying, you're certainly low-balling. >> it's not illegal. do some managers maybe feel guilty? you know, i'm sure they do. >> i was always feeling guilty.

>> reporter: which is why she is coming forward now. dubard points out, in spite of pressure from the company, many buyers were honest. and while low-balling is legal, lying about the quality of the gold is not. >> there's been some issues with checks this week. >> reporter: and then there were the bad checks. the company took in more than $200 million last year, yet bounced checks worth more than $1.7 million during april of this year alone. >> it's an unfortunate situation, to be honest, i have no idea -- >> reporter: in may, thr promised to reimburse every customer, but many remain outstanding and the company continued to write bad checks, even bouncing a check to the irs. thr blamed their bank for closing its account without warning, but even the company's spokesperson did not deny the bounced checks could be due to parsons' spending. do you think the bank unexpectedly closing your account has anything to do with mr. parsons using company funds for extravagant, personal expenses? >> i don't know. it's a great question.

i don't know. >> reporter: enright resigned last month. most employees have been laid off or quit, but not before they say parsons ordered them to immediately ship him all remaining gold, in spite of laws requiring the gold stay in many jurisdictions for 30 days after purchase. >> so, they're asking me to break the law in california to ship this stuff out of state before the 30-day hold is up. and he goes, well, you put it that way, then yeah. >> i'm not going to jail for jeff parsons. i'm done doing that man's dirty work. >> jeffrey parsons is now facing civil and criminal investigations at the federal, state and local levels. his lawyers denied our request for comment, but once again, a company spokesperson says thr will make good on all bad checks. >> julie, great lesson in all this, seller beware, and you have three tips for people. >> absolutely. first things first, know what you have. take your gold to a reputable jeweler and ask about the carat count and the weight. there are lots of websites that will tell you the going rate for

scrap gold on any given day. you also need to know how to negotiate. buyers usually aren't going to give you the best price off the bat. if they know you know what you're talking about, they're likely to give you a better deal. and lastly, be ever wonder what your cat does all day? well, some scientists certainly did. a new study tailed more than 50 pet cats. this morning, we'll show you

what they found. you're watching "cbs this morning." ♪ ooh, baby, baby, it's a wild world ♪ [ male announcer ] what's in your energy drink?

♪ power surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8. [ music playing ] [ music playing ]

huh. [ birds chirping ] are you a fan of demoisier? uh, um... [ thinking ] demois-a-who? okay, you can't get by on just your looks forever. okay. [ thinking ] you just ordered a premium roast coffee and a savory sausage mcmuffin for only a dollar each off mcdonald's dollar menu at breakfast. so you know you're smart. he has a certain... je ne sais quoi, you know? [ speaking french ] yeah. oh, yeah. all the time. [ male announcer ] the simple joy of being smart. [ wife ] a beached whale! lawn clippings! a mattress. a sausage link. mermaid. honey!? driftwood. come on, you gotta help us out here a little. [ male announcer ] febreze eliminates odors and leaves carpets fresh. ♪ [ male announcer ] febreze. eliminates odors

and leaves carpets fresh. ♪ and leaves carpets fresh. ♪ what's new pussycat, whoa, whoa ♪ this wasn't part of the lesson plan. that is a cat falling through the ceiling during a lecture at a college in costa rica. check out the teacher. no one was hurt. anthony, their entire website's now dedicated to video of cats like this. >> i know.

>> because it's so entertaining. speaking of cats, millions of cat owners put their pets outside in the morning and let them in at night, and we don't know what happens to them. as mark strassmann reports, new research shows the average feline has a more interesting life than we ever imagined. meet moses, a pet cat, and emily pitts's roommate for the last seven years in athens, georgia. she is a web designer. he is a bit of a mystery, like most cats. do you have any idea what he did all day? >> i didn't know what all he did all day at all. >> reporter: then pitts strapped this 3-ounce video camera around moses's neck. for a month, it recorded his neighborhood adventures while she was at work. >> so now he's just gone down into the storm drain, which is in front of our house. >> reporter: moses likes to explore, especially dirty places. shows him going in the sewer. now, what'd you think about that? you pet that cat. >> yeah, i do pet that cat.

>> reporter: researchers put kitty cams on 55 pet cats, a collaboration between the university of georgia and "national geographic." more than 2,000 hours of cat reality tv, a first, according to researchers. what you discover is the secret lives of cats. >> yes, the secret lives of cats. >> reporter: professor sonia hernandez, a specialist in wildlife diseases, had the idea for the kitty cam. she's studying the impact of cats on urban wildlife along with the risks they face outdoors. >> there's nothing more powerful than images to get the point across about what these cats are doing. >> reporter: among the findings? >> they spend a lot of time under cars, inside of cars, inside of doors, climbing roofs, climbing fences. i think they have intriguing lives because they do things that we've never expected them to do. >> reporter: but if you want loyalty, get a dog. > a lot of cats were found heeding on their owners in that they spent a lot of time with

other families and were fed by other families and slept on the beds of other families. >> reporter: the videos also showed why cats need nine lives. that is a possum. now, the possum's not bigger than the cat. >> could be. that's, now the possum's minding its own business and here's the cat. the cat thinks the possum is coming into its territory, so there's definitely an interesting, tense moment there. >> reporter: but cats are also hunters. they kill squirrels, lizards and birds. 44% of the cats in this study actively stalked wildlife, fewer than expected, but they brought back only one-fourth of what they killed. >> and that means that your average cat owner doesn't understand that their cat is killing way more, 75% more of what they see. >> reporter: that makes birders like gavin shire shutter. america had 90 million fairly or

wildcats, and all of them kill as many as 500 million birds a year. >> this study really shines a spotlight on the problem and it demonstrates in very clear and graphic forms that cats are killing birds in tremendous numbers. >> reporter: turns out, moses is not a hunter, at least according to his kitty cam, and sewers and dumpsters are his playground. one of the things the video sort of teaches you, too, is maybe some things you don't want to know. >> yeah, you don't want to know. i mean, he just, he sleeps in my bed, he's in the house, i pet him. >> reporter: at long last, kitty cams have spilled some of the secrets. the cat is finally out of the bag. for "cbs this morning," i'm mark strassmann in athens, georgia. >> i love the whiskers on the came camera. >> yes, exactly. other than hanging out in the sewer, i could get on board with that lifestyle. >> it looks pretty nice. all right, coming up, once upon a time, "cosmopolitan" was just an ordinary women's magazine. then helen gurley brown took over and she changed everything.

when we come back, we take a look at her life. >> announcer: this portion of "cbs this morning" sponsored by hershey's. hershey's makes it a s'more. you make it special. that brings people together. hershey's makes it a s'more... you make it special. pure hershey's. yeah, and i took on all the bigger, tougher ones. but now that mr. clean's got this new select-a-size magic eraser, i mean, he can take on any size job. look how easily he gets things cleaned. it's enough to make you cry. you, specifically. not me. i'm just happy we don't go near rex's mobile home as often. because it's hard to clean or because you're scared of an itty-bitty doggy? [ dog barks ] aah! oh! [ clears throat ] yeah, that was a sneeze. i think i sprayed myself. [ male announcer ] new mr. clean select-a-size magic eraser. lets you pick the right size for every job.

check out the latest collection of snacks from lean cuisine. creamy spinach artichoke dip, crispy garlic chicken spring rolls. they're this season's must-have accessory. lean cuisine. be culinary chic. so how much do we owe you? that'll be $973.42. ya know, your rates and fees aren't exactly competitive. who do you think i am, quicken loans? [ spokesman ] when you refinance your mortgage with quicken loans, you'll find that our rates and fees are extremely competitive.

because the last thing you want is to spend too much on your mortgage. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. ♪ real big deals of the week. or how to get great prices on things you need. we know you look around for the best deals. that's why we give you real big club card deals each week. this week, local seedless grapes straight off the vine are just 79 cents a pound. starbucks coffee is only $7.49. that's less than a quarter for a great cup of coffee. tropicana o.j. is just $2.88. real big deals this week and every week. only at safeway. ingredients for life.

>> good morning everyone. pallet fire said it now says that up to 7,000 a. are burned as wildfires keep burning in lake county. containment is at 30% and evacuation orders have been lifted. bankrupt solar company cylinder has agreed to a settlement with laid-off employes. the company will pay $3.5 million because it failed to properly notify workers that they would be losing their jobs. hundreds of former employees had,, okay, here's the plan.

you have a plan? first we're gonna check our bags for free, thanks to our explorer card. then, the united club. my mother was so wrong about you. next, we get priority boarding on our flight i booked with miles. all because of the card. and me. okay, what's the plan? plan? mm-hmm. we're on vacation. this is no plan. really? [ male announcer ] the united mileageplus explorer card. the mileage card with special perks on united. >> we are following a couple of accidents coming down the shore freeway. one at san pablo dam road and

another one going against the commute. it is really backing up across that stretch. drive time is almost 40 minutes now from the cardenas bridge to the maze. look at this shot, the golden gate bridge, lots of thick fog and a fog a visor has been issued. >> we cool things down but it will be hot again. a few high to mid-level clouds in the distance the we are expecting some sunshine and temperatures will get hot. 69 in livermore, 52 in pacific up. it looks like triple digits again but this is probably the last day in the valley. everyone begins to cool,,,,,,,,

♪ >> there you go. let's st do this. >> let's just do this. now it's meaningless. what are we doing here? are you all right? is everything okay? i'm worried about you and you're all right. >> my biggest problem of my life is i'm cheap and i didn't hire a publicist. i was like, i should have -- i'm going to hire a publicist. >> the last time i had a bad breakup ben and jerry got me through some of the tougher times so i thought you and i could bond over this and talk about -- boy, you are better off. kick her to the curb. >> ice cream solves everything. robert pattinson visitedon stewart. his first visit since it was revealed he was cheated on. i'm anthony mason. charlie rose and gayle king are

off. >> i'm rebecca brown. >> ice cream has been my problem so this boot camp of getting up early is healthy. >> i'm glad to hear it. of course the kristen stewart, pattinson breakup, i know that impacted you as well. >> it did but my wife has got me well trained. >> all right. 50 years ago helen gurley brown began to change the lives of american women with a book called "sex and the single girl." she kept on influencing their behavior for decades. we remember the remarkable woman who died monday at the age of 90. >> reporter: when helen gurley brown took over "cosmopolitan" magazine in 1935, she turned it into a how-to manual for the sexual revolution. women either devoured every issue or dismissed it as trash even though they secretly read it at the hair salon. nobody else told them this. >> if you're a single woman and

you're having sex, you don't have to put your head in the oven. don't feel guilty. >> reporter: by the time brown not long before she stepped down after 32 years as editor in chief, it wasn't shocking anymore. she lived to see her cosmo girl of the '60s morph into the girls on "sex and the city." >> the only place you can control a man is in bed. >> she took endless flak. all women ahead of their time take flag. >> reporter: feminist writer. >> the criticism is cruel. they try to silence you, but if you outlive that wave of criticism, you become an icon. and she did. >> reporter: helen gurley brown of the pink silk lined office was born 90 years ago in green forest, arkansas. she described herself as ordinary, hillbilly, and poor.

a mouse burger. >> 18 years old, wall-to-wall acne, no money. mother not so long ago widowed and she's depressed a lot, and my sister, mary, at age 19 got polio before the vaccine so she's in a wheelchair. >> reporter: but we're talking about the queen of self-invention here. she became the original cosmo girl. on her way up she worked her way through 17 secretarial jobs and an undisclosed number of men in each workplace. some of them married. >> married men i've always been controversial on that subject. i feel as a single woman you can use them as they use you. >> reporter: as a sexual revolutionary, brown's manifesto was "sex and the single girl," her 1962 best seller. it was made into a film with natali wood. >> when i do get married it's not going to be for love or sex

or row manages. i can get all of those things outside of marriage just as easily as you can. >> "sex and the single girl" was exosive in american culture. women were used to getting advice from ministers, from academics, but helen gurley brown was the first woman to come along to give this sister to sister, girl to girl straightforward talk about sex. >> reporter: that advice was scandalous to feminists according to her biographer, bowed den college professor, jennifer scanlon. >> some feminists were horrified by helen gurley brown because they, to put it in a nutshell, wanted to change the system and helen gurley brown wanted to work the system. >> reporter: that's what she did, and her life seemed to prove her point. she was a huge success. at 37 she married david brown, the man of her dreams, and now even feminists have come around

half a century after she you utd the word sex outed loud. >> sex is not the determining force in a woman's life. that's one of the best things in life. the other two are eating and breathing. >> kate white is the current editor in chief of "cosmopolitan." she joins us. >> thank you. >> what made this woman so powerful? >> she really listened to women and she listened to their needs and desires and wasn't afraid to speak candidly back to them. and i think that cosmo as she created it in 1965 was so authentic and really real and women loved how fresh and candid it was. >> this is one of the people who really made the '60s interesting, that's what i remember. >> that's right. >> but she took a struggling magazine. cosmo was on the map but it wasn't anything like what she

turned it into. she came from arkansas. how did she do that? >> she was a self-made woman. she grew up poor. she didn't want to be a hillbilly she said though. she became a copyrighter after being a secretary. her book "sex and the single girl" was such a success, she wanted another way to speak to women. she went looking for a magazine to launch and "cosmopolitan" was on its really last leg. the corporation said, look, why don't you take it and see what you can do with it. her very first issue blew off the newstand. her top line was the pill that promises to make women more responsive, and it was a birth control pill. she told me once that she wanted to say more responsive i think in bed or to men, but management wouldn't let her do it. but every woman knew what she was talking about. >> this is 1965. >> right. she really helped usher in the sexual revolution. >> i'm marveling how anthony mason can show he's not

blushing. >> he asked for double makeup. >> the cosmopolitan woman, she had an awful lot of self-discipline which i marvel at. >> yes. she was incredibly self-disciplined. i tried to go out to lunch with her over the years and she always said she brought her lunch and worked at her desk through lunch. she edited everything in the magazine. she knew what was going on. she lived a glamorous life, but she worked very hard. and i think just as a marketer she came up with a brand and stuck with it and never waivered and that's partly why cosmo is still number one today. i think it's amazing for a brand that was started in the '60s and we're in 64 countries around the world because it resonated. >> what was her advice to you when you took over "cosmopolitan"? >> her advice was just stay true to the brand. listen, trust your gut. today i do focus group, i do

surveys, but from her i learned that deep down inside of you, if you feel something, chances are other women feel it too. and don't be afraid to run with that. >> there was a great line in "the new york times" op ed that i read this morning that described her as a janice like figure, she was looking forward and back. >> yes, i think that gets at why some feminists had a problem which was touched on in the tape. on the one handne hand she was you can have it all, that you can go after what you want. she believed that women could be happy without being married and they could have sex without being married. at the same time there was a lot about man pleasing because she believed that ultimately women wanted mr. right and i think in hindsight her message really allowed women to feel that they could make it in the world of work but have those other things that deep down they wanted too. >> kate

call it music with a message. this morning we'll look at an ambitious effort to get rock fans to sign up to help save lives. stay with us. snoits ♪ higher and higher, baby ♪ it's a living thing [ kate ] most women may not be properly absorbing the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d.

it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. ready or not, here i come! ♪ found ya! you always find me. you always hide here. [ male announcer ] tim and richard smucker have always loved the taste of just-picked fruit. so it's no wonder why today smucker's makes the world's best jam. for five generations, with a name like smucker's, it has to be good. [ music playing ]

[ music playing ] we believe small things can make a big difference.e, like how a little oil from here can be such a big thing in an old friend's life. we discovered that by blending enhanced botanical oils into our food, we can help brighten an old dog's mind so he's up to his old tricks. it's just one way purina one is making the world a better place... one pet at a time. discover vibrant maturity and more at purinaone.com. try our new lunch-size grilled chicken fajitas, with sauteed onions and peppers, served with soup or salad. lunch break combos, starting at 6 bucks. enjoy them with friends, because a lunch together feeds the friendship.

this makes me this makes me feel better. the united states won more gold medals than china. of course, the gold medals are made in china, but that is not the problem. that's not why you called. >> nice. very true probably. all right. in today's "healthwatch", saving lives one concert at a time. a popular musician who survived

cancer is now inspiring people to step up. his foundation is part of some of the biggest music eventof the summer. >> reporter: it's rock and roll. and at a growing number of concert venues, music with a message. >> we're rock and roll cancer foundation. >> reporter: at this booth set up at chicago's annual lol la pa lose za festival, people were invited to get on the list and become bone marrow donors. >> it only takes finding one match at one concert for word to get out that there was an organization saving lives. >> shannon henn is the director of the love hope strength foundation. >> nobody's here today to become a bone marrow donor. they're all here to listen to great music so we kind of have to get them out of their comfort zone for a little bit. we come in just knowing that one person is all it takes and if we walk out of here with several

hundred, we're going to be ecstatic. ♪ >> reporter: founded by cancer survivors, mike peters, front man of the popular 1980s rock band "the alarm" and his friends james chippendale, they began their mission with adventure rouse trips to remote conferences, performances from mount kilimanjaro to machu picchu. >> whenever we do events we try to benefit a local community. ♪ to light the fire that i need to survive ♪ >> reporter: introducing the first mammography machine in nepal. building tanzania's first children's cancer center. >> reporter: since 2007 love, hope, strength has crisscrossed the globe raising awareness and money to fight cancer. they have found a permanent home here.

denver's red rock ampitheater. the amphitheater is a favorite place of jennifer ronhovde who last year while planning her wedding was diagnosed with leukemia. >> my whole world was turned upside down in an instant. it was a huge, scary thing thinking, okay, if i don't have a match what are we going to do? i have no other options. i have to get a transplant. this is my only possibility of being able to live past the age of 25. >> reporter: someone on the donor registry which love, hope, strength has helped grow by 25,000 was a perfect match. >> that was an incredible miracle. >> reporter: that saved your life? >> it did. >> reporter: each year more than 18,000 people in the united states require a bone marrow transplant. pmatch in their family.ind a the least likely to find a match are all from the hispanic and african-american communities. ♪

>> reporter: which is why now a love, hope, strength get on the booth is included at every concert. >> i'm jennifer. >> nice to meet you. >> reporter: caleb joined it. he's not jennifer's donor but he was a match for someone. >> the thing that hit home for me when i saw jenn, i just love that tomorrow they will get a second chance at life. >> reporter: caleb's procedure, which is the least common, required a direct extraction from the hip and a few hours in the hospital. >> there is some pain involved with it. it's very minimal. there's a large misconception around donating bone marrow that even i had before i went into this process but i think it's really cool that anyone can do this and save a life. >> reporter: just ask jennifer, though still receiving chemotherapy after several relapses, she got to marry the love of her life and is planning

for the future she wasn't sure she would have. >> i want to travel with my husband and i want all the normal stuff, have kids. >> reporter: while she makes those plans, mike peters and his foundation now joined by dozens of other bands and artists around the world keep the music playing and that number of registered donors growing. for cbs this morning, from denver. rod carew was an advocate for this. his daughter was plagued for this. pshe could not find a donor. it's so painless to get on the registry with a swab. what bigger incentive do you need than to save a life. >> it's nice to see people teaming up doing the things that they would naturally do when teaming up with these better causes. >> true essence of team work. you're right. also, if you need a car ride fast, there's an app for that. customers stay over by having a private driver on demand. >> this morning, the man behind

uber will show us why he wants to change the way we get around even though some cities are trying to keep him out. ♪ ♪ >> announcer: "cbs healthwatch" sponsored by nicorette. rette. [ male announcer ] every time you say no to a cigarette you celebrate a little win. nicorette gum helps calm your cravings and makes you less irritable. quit one cigarette at a time. and makes you less irritable. [ boy ] i used to hate eating healthy stuff. but badger likes it, so i do too. i used to have bad dreams, but not anymore. [ barks ] i used to be scared of the basement. but when badger's with me, it's not so bad. [ barking ] [ announcer ] we know how important your dog is to your whole family. so help keep him strong and healthy with purina dog chow. because you're not just a family. you're a dog family.

this is crazy. race car takes a this is crazy. race car takes a turn too fast and rolling down a hill a dozen times. it happened during sunday's international hill climb in colorado. and i think what is most amazing about this. the driver and the s the driver and the co-driver, they say they're fine, just a little beaten up. they went to the hospital and came back. >> remarkable. >> yeah. >> i wouldn't want to go through that at all. >> no, thanks! >> they don't have a seat belt big enough for me with that one. nearly one-quarter of americans say,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

in the headlines to wildfires are 30 percent contained in lake county and now have consumed 7,000 a.. no homes to expend any longer any evacuations order in the spring valley area have conducted with two minor injuries reported in the flames destroyed to structures. and this is in san jose busy looking into several violent incidents as. last night police found a woman stopped and the sidewalk and west san carlos st. the witnesses sought a samurai sword next to the woman's body and she was pronounced dead at the scene. at one city in the afternoon the recession in north san jose.

the found a white chevy with a man slumped in the driver's seat he had a single gunshot wound and was pronounced dead and 5 mi. away a man was hit and wounded in a drive-bshooting.

good morning. you have a way toward the bay

bridge toll plaza jim selleck to the maze. heavy traffic east shore freeway westbound 80 backed up from hercules into berkeley because of a couple of earlier accidents. 880 looking good and southbound 880 does slow closer to hayward. northbound 680 and accidents as been the four hour still blocking one lane. here's the weather. out some cloud cover around the bay area this morning and it's starting to break up. as we head through out the day to day will warm the temperatures already 70 degrees and livermore and 64 in san jose. we could still seek triple digits inland and '70s and '80s around the bay area and '60s toward the coast line.

,,,,,,,,

r-e-b-a. reba mcintyre is here. "the talk" today on cbs. ♪ shut up and put your money where your mouth is ♪ ♪ that's what you get for waking up in vegas ♪ welcome back to "cbs this morning." you know the fact, the economy is sluggish, unemployment is high, gas prices are going up again, just hit $4 a gallon in california. so, you'd think that americans would be cutting back on travel. well, cbs news travel editor peter greenberg says not everyone. and he's in las vegas this morning. and, peter, what is going on in las vegas? >> reporter: something called virtuoso week, been going on for 24 years. most of the public doesn't even know what goes on. imagine 4,000 people crowding

into every ballroom in the bellagio. ceos, hotel owners, cruiseship owners, ambassadors, ministers of tourism and over 1,800 top travel agents doing what, buying and selling travel. and by the end of this week, they're doing four-minute meetings each. think about this, 350,000 individual meetings. and when that's over, about $500 million in travel will be sold. >> this-in those four-minute meetings, how is business conducted so effectively so fast? >> reporter: it's speed dating, indeed, but the clients know the agents, the agents know the clients and the clients know the providers. they come in with a list, an agenda of what their clients want, and they're spending money. even in this bad economy and in an election year, which traditionally people don't travel. >> and we understand they're spending money on buying islands, things like that. >> reporter: buying islands. they've spent $10 million on the version galactic space flight,

$200,000 a pop. there's a waiting list already. think about that. even in this economy, it's a great economic indicator of how strong travel and tourism is. >> rebecca talked about people buying islands. obviously, this is the very affluent who are doing such, but how is it helping as far as the employment picture is concerned? >> reporter: well, that's the key. by the end of this year, we will reach 1 billion people actually crossing international borders. that's a record. that translates into jobs. in fact, the travel industry is creating more jobs right now than the rest of the economy. in 2012 alone about 283,000 jobs outpacing the rest of the economy. that should tell you something. and that kind of growth means nearly a 10% figure of global gdp. that's a staggering number. >> it is a staggering number, peter. as you mentioned, this billion people crossing international borders, these are chinese, russians, brazilians, in many cases coming here to the united states with their money, ready to spend it. >> reporter: you're right.

it's one of america's biggest foreign trade exports. we talk about cross border travel. the average chinese tour analyst america in a given week will spend about $6,500, a lot more than the typical american. >> so even in a down economy, the upswing is significant there, and the reason why, peter? >> reporter: when the going gets tough, the tough go traveling. >> all right. that's nice to hear. and of course this is mounting to we saw in the last jobs report 29,000 jobs in the month of august created -- or rather in the month of july created as a result of this travel picture, hospitality and leisure adding to our economy. >> reporter: you're right. it's 1 out of every 10 jobs, nearly 10% of global gdp. this is a figure that you put in perspective when you think about what most people think about travel. in this economy, it brings families together, people want to travel as a group. there's a mentality, people think if we don't go this year, we may not go at all.

let's go as a group. it's not unusual for people to spend $200,000 and take their family on a trip. that's what we're seeing at virtuoso week. >> peter greenberg, thanks very much. up next, robin williams' conv

[ female announcer ] safeway presents real big deals of the week. or how to get great prices on things you need. we know you look around for the best deals. that's why we give you real big club card deals each week. this week, local seedless grapes straight off the vine are just 79 cents a pound. starbucks coffee is only $7.49. that's less than a quarter for a great cup of coffee. tropicana o.j. is just $2.88. real big deals this week and every week.

♪ dude looks like a lady good morning. we continue a look back at charlie rose's conversations with some of america's top comedians. in 2009, robin williams returned to stand-up comedy after a seven-year break. he talked with charlie about the lessons he's learned from comedy and from acting. >> stand-up, back to stand-up. >> it's been good. >> does that mean that that is your first love? >> yes, i think it was kind of -- it has always been a wonderful kind of alternative to the acting, because it did two

things, paid the bills and also great therapy. >> therapy. >> yeah, literally. i mean, to be able to talk about things, you know, whether it was things going on in my life, going on in the world it was always kind of a great relief. especially in the early days with mor-con, it was kind of the antimorph, i could do something slightly darker and crazier and wouldn't be stuck going, "hi, how are ya?" it was great to do something totally different. >> how is it today than when the days you began on the street corner in san francisco? >> i actually began doing mime in new york, which was crazy. i was going to juilliard perf m studying acting and i would perform mime and the scariest women in the world were, you would imitate them and they would be like, get away from me. it was before botox. even the animals, get away. but the thing of performing it was get out and do it. it was that relief. >> good morning vietnam!

hey, this is not a test. this is rock and roll! time to rocket from the delta to the dmz! is that me or does that sound like an elvis presley movie? viva danang. ♪ get a rope and hang me >> when you went into television and then went into film with "good morning, vietnam," and all that, was it a sense of coming home for you? because that's what you were trained to do at juilliard. you weren't trained to do stand-up at juilliard. >> no. i mean, doing television, i mean -- well, television was more like stand-up. >> acting. >> acting. when i finally did movies, that's what was strange to me that was like -- >> so that came easy to you when you made that transition? >> no, not easily. because first when you're doing film, example, "the world according to garb," i improvised, it was the first day of shooting and -- >> george hill. >> i improvise ed a line and he goes.

i go, not good. he goes, no. say the line, say the line and commit to that. and i go, okay. that was the first great lesson. second lesson came from peter weir, who said you know, you have great power listening. >> i went, really? that's the second part of the equation. when you listen to someone, it's quite fascinating and stillness is very powerful. and i went, second great lesson. and third great lesson is always find out where catering is. but the idea that these great guys were giving me great less jobs. >> listening is great. >> and the idea of great listening and what it means to be engaged in listening. and my other great gift was jeff bridges, who said whatever there's an accident, in terms of filming, not really something falling down, but a line gets flubbed or something may go off, he says that's a gift because that forces you to be in the moment and deal with it. >> what does iconic mean? >> i think it really means something that stands -- for me, if someone's doing an impression, it becomes iconic, like, chris walken is iconic and

beyond, and it's something that just stands on its own. it's so distinctive. >> guys love talking to him, don't they? >> oh, because punctuation is gone. a friend once told me he was standing in a puddle with his socks and everything, just in his socks and a friend said, what are you doing? and he said, "today, i'm an alligator," and they asked him that, said chris, if you could have anything, anything you could have, what would you want? he said, "a tail," because then you'd know if i was happy. my tail would be up and it would always move according to your motions. i'm surprised, question mark, punctuation, right now, maybe. >> good. >> yeah. >> who else do you do that you love? >> nicholson's the best, just because he's so out there. i love the fact that everybody in "the departed's" doing boston accents. he's going, i'm not going there. just out on my own. this is who i am, you know?

when he won his third academy award, i was with him, i had just won mine and he stood up and said, rob-o, i've got one for every decade. what a great night for me, yeah. >> the best. the best. >> he's pretty wild. and brando, i got to meet him and that was pretty great. he was teaching this acting class in l.a., and i got to kind of sit in on it. he said, you know, if i ever did a movie with you, it'd be really hard because i'd be laughing all the time. >> have you ever bought that there's some connection between tragedy -- >> tragic life? >> -- yeah, and comedic talent? >> well, comedic talent is a survival mechanism. yeah, i buy into that. it becomes that, because you went through and it was part of how they got through it. richard pryor said he had to be the funniest guy around just to not get the crap kicked out of him. the whole idea -- and it was just him with the childhood of his mother working in a whore

house and the comedy, doing characters, richard pryor started doing cosby and one night it snapped. i'm not doing this, and he found another side of him that tapped into the anger and all the other things, but he was funny with it, so he could get it out. >> he's one of those that everybody honors now. >> i used to see him performing at the comedy circuit getting ready for his stand-up, and he was the most amazing thing because people want him to do mud bone and he goes, oh, you people, you do it! and he would do characters and you could see him be possessed by these characters, and it was amazing to see him do and go free range with it. >> have you ached to have something you don't have? i mean, you've had enormous success. >> no. i think i am, as they say, content, and there's nothing like -- no, there's nothing i'm going, you know, envy on that level? no. i'm going, life is -- i'm at a meet and right and so to do and

as it should be and i'm in a wonderful place. >> quite a talent. >> also, talk about listening and playing off of that. so, now that i've listened to anthony mason, i know i shouldn't let all of america he blushed in that segment. >> the second time. thank you. >> i just wanted to bring that up. >> thanks. hey, folks, a company called uber says it has a better way to catch a ride. the ceo is here this morning to talk about his online car service and what he learned when his other start-ups failed. you're watching "cbs this morning." ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

romney unveiled his vice

presidential choice at a rally on saturday morning, on the deck of the battleship "uss wisconsin," a ship on which both men served. i'm sorry, were served refreshments. the ship made for a patriotic backdrop but did have its drawbacks. while the next president of the united states makes his way down the stairs and over the monkey bars, down the rope swing. let me say this, it's a good christie. "i'll run in 2016." >> well, travis kalanick is an online entrepreneur who's been shaking up industry for years. his resume includes a bankruptcy and a multibillion dollar lawsuit, and his latest start-up, uber, is using a smartphone app to try and change the car service industry. and he joins us now here in studio. i love the way this is all introduced in that you believe in creating disruptive businesses to upset the status

quo. what does that mean in terms of your latest effort? >> well, you know, i think that's -- being disruptive is very familiar territory with tech entrepreneurs in silicon valley. for me, this go-around, my company's called uber, and our motto is "everyone's private driver." what it means is you push a button, and in minutes, a town car arrives and picks you up. it's disruptive, because for decades, in cities across the country and around the world, there hasn't been a good teran five for getting a ride in the city. the only alternative was taxis. and because of that, they've been very protective from any kind of alternative or any kind of competition. >> and it's interesting, because they still are pretty protective in many cities. you have the cab drivers, you have the other black car services in the cities banning together, saying we don't want uber here, because if uber comes here, we have new competition, but that's the whole idea behind the service. >> well, look, in almost every industry out there, competition is a good thing, right? you have choice of restaurants, you have a choice of dry

cleaners, you have a choice of almost everything you do out in any city. but for one reason or another, in transportation, they've found a way to work with city governments and lobbies so that there was no competition, and it's been that way for decades. and so, when you bring a competitive, a competitive service that's able, that gets people around, i like to say a classy and convenient ride, there's a lot of folks who get really worried who are in the incumbent industry, especially when they're not used to competing. >> i like what you said, you like to make incumbents of an industry scared. so, what are you doing that they're not doing? how do you make this ride cheaper? >> well, i think what we do that they don't is we focus on the customer, right? we focus on a desire. again, i'm from san francisco. it's really hard to get a ride in san francisco. and my co-founder and i, we were just sitting around, we'd say why can't we just push a button and get a ride?

and it's one thing to push a button and get a ride, but it's another to have a mercedes roll up. and that's kind of nice. whether it's a towncar or a mercedes, we have a cheaper alternative, too, but it's about capturing that core desire of getting a ride and use iing mato make the logistics of moving those cars much more efficient so you can do it cheaper. >> let me coattail off anthony's word, scared. you failed a number of times. i talked about a $250 billion lawsuit by media companies, large media companies. why didn't you run from the country? >> that's funny. by the way, i appreciate the intro when the segment started. that was great. [ laughter ] >> one of the reasons we had you here is because you've been so honest. but so many ceos, they're not as giving with their failures. they don't make their mistakes part of their story. >> sure. you know, i think what it's about is, whether it's about social media or blogging or some of the things that are happening online, authenticity is how you tell your story now. and if you look at stories, you

know, whether it be literature, history or just entrepreneurism, the stories can't always just be good. it has to be real, and it's the hard times that you learn from as much as the good. >> and i think that's probably a lesson a lot of people can take away, especially right now in the economy, the way it stands. i just want to clarify, you know, as far as the business goes. >> sure. >> who these cars are, how they're responding to this app in the first place. >> yeah. so, we don't own the cars. we're a technology company. we don't employ drivers. we work with small limo companies or sedan companies is the way to think of them, because they're town cars for the most part. and we give them an iphone. so, we have, i don't know, tens of thousands of these things around the world now in cars. and when a user opens up their phone and pushes the button, that request is routed to the nearest driver to them. >> and you can watch it on your phone. i've done this. i've used this service before. as far as pricing goes, how does that work? >> typically, you know, we range

between 40% and 60% more than a cab. so you know, what cabs are in that particular city, depending on what the price point is for taxis in that city, you're going to be around 50% more. >> you've been honest about having a lack of success before, twice. i think you've had two ventures that failed, right? what did you learn from those? >> i think -- i was sort of saying it before, is that in your toughest times is when you learn to be your best. and i think that is what you learned from it. and everybody has a different definition of what failure means. but in that way, you can look at, you know, your past experiences and be successful. >> resilience and perseverance is what i've taken away from your story and negotiating from a point of weakness. ten seconds on that, negotiating from a point of weakness. >> look, you've got to know -- what is it -- i can't remember the country singer that said you've got to know when to hold them and know when to fold them?

and it's something like that. when you're in a weak position, sometimes you say give you a hard price and you just say yes. >> travis kalanick, thank you for being with us this morning. that does it for us. up next, your local news. and we'll see you tomorrow on "cbs this morning." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

[ male announcer ] if you think all batteries are the same... consider this: when the unexpected happens, there's one brand of battery more emergency workers trust in their maglites: duracell. one reason: duralock power preserve.

it locks in power for up to 10 years in storage. guaranteed. so, whether it's 10 years' of life's sunny days... or... the occasional stormy one... trust goes a long way. duracell with duralock. trusted everywhere.

good morning. in the headlines the burn area from two wildfires in lake county has not grown to 7,000 a. to people suffering minor injuries in the flames destroyed to structures there now gripping the two fires together as current containment at 30%. and busting it cannot get to the site of a field pipe believed to trigger the last weeks refinery fire in richmond. the area still considered unsafe reporting inspectors determined last year the pipe might need to be replaced more than $60,000 worth of computers and personal items were stolen from the palo alto, the late steve jobs if the federal man has been arrested

and charged with residential burglary and selling stolen property. the home was broken into last month. cooling temperatures in the bay area but still caught in the valley outside right now we go to mount diablo with some call coming in of a head butt of the vice patchy fog on the coast line. we're going to have hot temperatures in linden could seek triple digits and livermore and 86 in san jose and 73 in oakland. the next couple of days to watch the temperatures cooling off and partly cloud cover on friday and saturday.

and the bay bridge toll plaza of finally spinning out. the word east shore freeway westbound 80 from hercules down into berkeley will still pick up a lot of slow speed sensors because of a couple of earlier accident. nearly 40 minutes in the westbound lanes. from the bridge and amazed and other slow spots to oakland and westbound 24 headed toward the tunnel.