Con artists have been filing bogus tax returns and collecting millions. Steve Kroft finds out how far the scam has gone and why the IRS hasn't been able to stop it. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs tells Scott Pelley about his personal mission to reorganize the troubled agency for his fellow vets. While profiling Foo Fighters and their frontman Dave Grohl, Anderson Cooper accompanies the band on an exploration into the roots of American music; all that and more on "60 Minutes."
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This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Fantastic actress. She wanted to be in the movies a cosplay model charged with her fiance's murder. I didn't do what they're saying I did now. Will the jury believe she's not acting, couldn't believe called matthew, tresor, Melissa, turner, follow and listen to the thirty eight hours podcast on apple podcasts, amazon, music. Did you get your podcasts
Was this, like a community of people, doing this more? Like a name
of people doing this he's talking
the scam so simple. You think it would never wore, but for years now, people like Corey Williams, had been filing bogus tax returns in order to collect billions of dollars in fraudulent rethought by the year.
Two thousand and sixteen iris will be
emerging and losing twenty one billion dollars due to this type of fraud,
it's only two thousand and fourteen. Don't you think something can be done in the next two years to fix the law? That is my hope,
department of veterans affairs is at the helm of the second largest agency in the entire government and a man,
because the largest healthcare system it suffered, the
guess scandal in its history.
Can one of america's topsy yos fix it? How long is that
well, it's gonna take time
The news media is not helping me right because
every adversely outcome that gets amplified by the media doesn't help me. I was on. I've got a bad reputation.
I do but we're changing it
The fighters may be america's best rock and roll band. That is not. The only reason are on sixty minutes tonight. The there are also in the midst of one of the most interesting music projects. We've ever seen, the Dave Grohl, the band's leader, invited us along to watch as they travel to eight american cities
some of the most influential musicians to record all that's great about american music, I'm steve cross,
I'm leslie star morley safer, I'm anderson cooper, I'm bill whittaker. I'm scott Pelee, though
stories tonight on
sixty minutes
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there have been lots of stories over the past few months on identity theft and how
information can be used against you, you may have
something about stolen identity, tax fraud. You may
and have been a victim of it. It's the biggest
acts scam around right now, as we first reported
in september. This is how it works. So
steals your identity files of bogus tax return in your name before you do in collects array,
from the irs itself.
simple, you would think he would never work, but it does,
it's been around since two thousand and eight you think the irs would have come
but the way to stop it. It has it. Instead,
scams. Bonfire tripling in them
three years ago,
it says its affecting millions of americans and costing taxpayers
he is of dollars. Every year proven
once again what every good com
an already knows, there is no under
estimating the general dysfunction and incompetence of government bureaucracy
It's a tsunami of fraud that we have been encountered, the vast number of of
fraudulent tax returns with something that I don't think the irs ever really was ready for this, as well?
fredo for rare, as the united states attorney for southern florida in George Piero, the agent in charge of the miami field office of the fbi to
there they run a federal taskforce operating at the epicenter of the law
Tax game and the country Florida
has been thirty year in a row on the top number one in terms of id theft, complaints and
Amy is also number one in terms of metropolitan areas, suffer from identity, frog, don't take this the wrong way. Is there any scheme that I am not a number one that we have very
This and good criminals steve who who know how to had a bit of defeat the system
at the age. Now south florida has been the silicon valley for scam artists, drawn here by the weather, the beaches and the opportunity to make lots of money without actually doing much work. There is medicare for
mortgage fraud. Securities fraud, and now with the
justice department, Paul, stolen identity, tax rates on fraud, attacks preparation.
Scheme a pyramid
Why and overabundance of questionable looking establishments that have sprung
up here over the past few years,
scam is so easy. You don't even need an office for this fraud. All you need is a laptop
someone's social security number date of birth, not even their name. They can do it
their kitchen table. They could do it at a fast food
jane restaurants, or they can do
on the beach as long as they have wifi access action.
The inquiry. William says you don't even need a laptop. You can file phony returns on your cell phone. If you have the right out
to be a legitimate tax prepare until his boss turn demanded the scan.
For. He was arrested and sentenced to forty months in prison. He made millions and millions of dollars.
Anybody who knew about it, you ll, be a fool tonight.
Try to get involved with making some money. I could wake up in the comfort of my own home and just get on
our top dog,
Fifteen returns a day of fifteen
three thousand dollars a return as forty five thousand dollars a day, so you at home office
workin
Our work on my boxes and the teacher,
it's easy is one to three williams gave us a demonstration one. You can
thereby a list of stolen identities that are readily available in miami. If you know the right people too,
You go to one of dozens of packs, preparation, sides online and using the stolen social security numbers and date of birth. You fill out a complete
lee bogus w to form claiming a modest refund of a few thousand dollars.
It has given us a refund
four thousand eight hundred and thirty four hours, three
the irs. If you want the reef on male, be your house wired to your bank, account
are loaded onto a prepaid debit card
idea, amateurs, harmony but
in turn should feel that
ass to be likened, thousands did the ira.
pay, all of them
percentage ranges say they will pay out forty percent of its actual times when
at the send button, I want to take you to get a czech ceremonies, so
it s so you'd send in these returns. In seven days later you gotta check yes, forty four
the time. Forty percent of the time where we jam send the check
Are you just send the checks to address any address? I think
This is where twenty five
came to one address and the male men delivered it.
it sounded so outrageous. We wanted to run it by the federal task force. So you just
put down a name and a social security number and make you could make up an employer or the amount of money that was earned and withheld
and sent it off the irs. Then I'll. Send you a check.
Back for the river. They will pay
so the time unless they catch that are some fraudulent, knew no information, and that is our job to chase.
I'm still amazed that you don't need to provide any documentation when you follow your tax return.
There are no ship supporting documents when you're following chronically and that's the
ease or the convenience that was created for the benefit of the innocent taxpayer.
She is now being exploited by criminals. You would
The irish computers would notice that they were sending. Thousands of czechs do a handful of addresses, but they did, and you might have
back to the irs, with match taxpayer returns with legitimate.
You two forms file by employers.
Do that either because the law,
requires refund checks to be sent out within six weeks in imports.
you're w two's are often not available until months later so of a boat
return, is received before legitimate one. The check will go out of the groups.
the way that you learn that you become a victim of this
when you go in and try to follow your return in the ira's tells you how you ve already filed like no, I haven't
you have? Well it wasn't you. It was the fraudster who you
Your identity to file the return,
and it's not an easy problem to get fixed. Many of the
people in this line outside the irs office. Implantation florida are victims of the fraud,
leading to prove their identity
laying their rightful reefer
they will eventually be reimbursed, but it can involve massive amounts of paperwork, multiple vis
the office in months and
wait did you know
just before. We got this job. I had no idea about this before I started. Getting brief. Last fall John,
asking and, as the commissioner of the irs its forthcoming
in just two years of its become
high turn over position in part, because the
can see, has been beset by a number of embarrassing problems, including
stolen identity, tax fraud that have lead people to quit.
In its competency. Maybe
to me, like the irs got really outsmarted by
Some people, who were not all that bright or not all that ingenious what happened was a lot
We discovered that a social security numbers are either easy to steal or fine or by and then be you can file a false return. Why didn't anybody anticipate that? Well, I think it goes back to
that people didn't anticipate social security numbers, we're gonna be so readily available. The assumption was until very recently that is
security number was a part of your identity that you protected and took great care, so that
No one
sure ever expected that those would be easily get hold of generating, but there were plenty of warnings. The sooner
Finance committee held hearings on stolen identity, reefer fraud way back in
two thousand and nine. When then irish, commissioner douglas showman testified
cs the issue of identity theft
with the senior leaders at the irs my first day,
On the job,
There were more hearings in two thousand and eleven and another in two thousand and twelve with deputy irish commissioner Steve Miller. We cannot stop
identity theft. However, we are better than we were and we
better. Still,
in those in suing years, the number of cases of stolen identity reef on fraud have risen from fifty.
one thousand to nearly
three million in the eu.
two thousand twelve that department of treasuries
spectrum general predicted that by the year
Two thousand and sixteen iris will be here.
Judging and losing twenty one billion dollars due to this type of fraud.
it's only two thousand and fourteen: don't you think something can be done in the next two years to fix the law? That is my hope boom.
Be easy: the entire
Irish system uses social security numbers as its primary means of identifying taxpayers
even though there now ubiquitous in public private in corporate files
wait to be stolen by thieves.
Key to this is:
if somebody in the inside or someone who has access to our
security numbers to our data
and a lot of these individuals are insiders and big institutions in banks. Hospitals, schools clinics
we would approach anyone who worked like a dental office, anybody who worked in a medical fill you. If you would just approach him, you tell them. If they get you a hundred names, you
a thousand dollars these people
defined in miami very easy.
If you would think you went started, knocking doors and asking people to work in hospitals and doctors, offices and dentist's office with somebody would call the cops
now they they needed the money more than they were
I have to call the cops
Everybody was with it
Everybody was with the scam. Was this
community of people doing this more like us
a nation of people doing this, it's
from hundreds of people filing of hundreds of fraudulent returns to thousands of people filing millions of fraudulent returns, and it's become
more organised: u s
for rare, says some
people or even setting up franchises
We have had defendants masterminds of these schemes.
engage and filing parties and what they do, is they invite
friends to a hotel room or to an apartment, and then they tell them how to do it. In return for a cut of these taxes,
You make it sound like em way or tupperware. That's what we ve seen even
careers, old boss. U s attorney general Eric holder had had his identity stolen in an irish refunds, scam and and
we members of the task force, have also been victimize, including
my miami beach police officer, rocky festa, who says local police departments, have been hit hard.
more than seventy zero had nearly the entire department, which is
Fifty somewhat officers got hit David
fire and davy police was in the hundreds, they're all victims or tax return fraud faster,
partner, craig Caitlin, now work exclusively on tax, we fund cases and were among the first to discover the breadth of the scam five years ago when they began finding tax documents and stacks of pre paid debit cards. When
pull over suspicious vehicles
he's a wire plastic card. You can get one of these pre paid debit cards almost anywhere, usually without providing identification. You then depend
sid and withdraw money from it is needed. It's like a bank account
people who don't have one
that are based on real basic art, that euro visa card- and you know you can go into convenience store in via visa card, run off the shelf. If you
The irs will electronically deposit tax refunds directly onto these cards. No question
asked
eliminating the need for crooks to ever actually set foot inside a bank or to try and cash to refund check
They can spend the money in stores or withdrawn,
do you see this is kind of like a
go away. Thank you, sir
Then, what's the money goes on the card you empty the money, often atm geneva, the cardinal garbage pretty good.
the prepaid cards are now used by millions of americans to collect a hundred and forty two billion dollars in government entitlements like so secure
in medicare payments. Iris commission
hoskin and thinks it's an image,
nation to commit fraud, a prepaid card
which are the currency of criminals.
Problem, is you can't distinguish? The number of our a prepaid card from legitimate bank account almost empty?
The bullet traits right. It is almost too
possible retrace. Why does it
We put an end to that. There are significant percentage of the population on bank. Does it we're call if you don't allow them to use a prepaid card? They're gonna have
you get a check and,
the pay somebody a lot of money to cash that check so europe.
Disadvantaging a significant part of the population and empowering a criminal network
your empowering criminal network.
five years into the scam, the ira,
can still not always tell if the person filing return in claiming the refund is actually the real taxpayer. By comparison, the credit card companies are much.
Better at flagging, suspicious charges before their paid out credit card companies? Don't have that much of a problem with why can't the irs
So that's the direction in which we are going
It's a significant
move into that. What I call the twenty first century, we're still kind of in the late nineteen nineteen hundred, but this is still a big problem that we are. Why we're making great progress, we ve got a lot of work to do and are having
how keeping up with the con artists last
The irs announced that hackers it busted into its computer system.
Stolen another one hundred and four thousand taxpayer identities which so far have been used
collect nearly fifty million dollars and bogus refunds as for corey whims
he's now in jail serving his forty month sentence,
well, then the player I knew pie, gas network featuring radio and tv personalities, talking business, sports, tack, entertainment and more play it played out in the report
veterans. Affairs is in the midst of the biggest reorganization in its history. It comes up
the agency's biggest fiasco
It's just a year ago that we learned that tens of thousands of that's were waiting months for medical care, while
a cooked the books to hide the delays, the farmers,
four was forced out as we ve
reported last fall. The new man in charge has no government or medical experience, but sick.
The two year old bob mcdonald does no management. He was cheating
jackie officer of procter and gamble the
largest consumer products company in the world. We
to know how a soap salesman we'll go up
cleaning up. The v
how many employees do you think, should be fired based.
What you need other report, we ve passed
to the to the list.
And it can mean house committee- does about thirty five names on it.
I've got another report that has over a thousand if a thousand people
need to go: give a sense of
the things that they did well, we were simplistically type
about people who violated arise.
and those values or what
synthetic integrity
its advocacy, its respect, its excellence,
These are the things that we try to do for a veterans but Bob mcdonald
aunt punisher, fire, a thousand people right now he's discovering. How differ
the capital is from capitalism to fire and govern
manager he has to put together a case and prove it to you.
Ministries of judge
The reason this is this reason this is ok in some respects. Is that a lot of people think-
it's, not ok. If people lied and
Veteran was set out in this effort. There said earlier for first, they should be cleared out absolutely absolutely, but we're gonna make it stick. How do you mean
so we propose the action, the judge rule.
and the individual has a time to appeal. That's why we have a lot of people on administrative leave. We ve moved them out. We don't want any harm to our veterans like you to meet my district.
I bought my found when we met mcdonald he'd been on the job for months and was getting an education again. He had inspected forty one vs facilities. Yes, we can
with him in does an where we just
I've heard that he refuses to be called MR secretary
The region is bob, we compete with multiple do is washington staff can get their heads around calling the boss by his first name, so they ve taken to calling him really separated
bob
you know we are affected
It you'll need that sense of humour, because mcdonald is battling of the hammer cobbled together.
over decades. The v is this:
Second largest agency in the entire federal government, behind only the department of defense we have
hope of taking care veterans if we don't take care of each other, he has
three hundred and forty thousand employees who handle services ranging from home mortgages to college loans to heart transplants. Well, you got
people really care about veterans here, exactly
With nine million patients, the visa is america's largest healthcare system, but it had slipped into critical condition. Last year
doctor in phoenix expose those phony weightless. It has
dishonourable. It is disgraceful,
and I will not tolerate it period.
Investigators found that the official record showed that that's in phoenix we're getting appointments and fourteen days, but this one,
The true wait list
those are numbers of days in the right hand, column more than four hundred days. In most cases, the investigation,
that the weight may have contributed to six deaths.
It was all because phoenix was overwhelmed. The job
a condition of the emergency room at that time, you would describe as what chaos absolute chaos doktor catherine mitchell.
Was co director of the emergency room. How well known was it inside the veto in Phoenix?
that veterans we're going months without getting an appointment. Everyone needs
everyone that worked at the phoenix ba for any length of time and when she reported the problems she was reassigned to an empty clinic in today,
and thirteen I submitted a confidential elijah's complaint regarding them
threatening issues within the phoenix ba system doctor
mitchell was among the first to blow the whistle I had veterans, who had survived well more to her survive. Porch uphill hood, sir. I.
The battle felicia. Who who had gone
So many
situations of combat where its life into
situation, and yet I cannot guarantee their safety in the middle of metropolitan phoenix in my ear, because we didn't have adequate staffing retraining
a nation wide investigation, confirmed the phoney weightless in phoenix
and ninety two other vs centres.
When you read that in the inspector generals report, you thought what I wasn't sensed, I wasn't sensed
our veterans have earned these benefits they
in them with their lives in danger, it strikes me
that you are coming into a system which was broken because
people in the regions were lying to headquarters. This is one of the reasons I have travelled. I've gotta get to the bottom of it. I've gotta meet the people, so the address
Information gets from the bottom to the top as quick as possible. People get reward
for being adverse information forward. That has never been the case before its scope.
we the case? Now? I have a piece.
Paper re here from a veteran
The day we were with him of that had driven twelve hundred miles to get care at the boston vs hospital. She slipped mcdonald. This note here
it, says I'm from alabama, and I
They come here to Boston, to get care that breaks. My heart
other failures, plugging the mind in pittsburgh, six that
died of legionnaire's disease.
The a hospital that had no its water system was contaminated in brockden,
massachusetts of vietnam. Vet
hospitalized for eight years with a psychiatric disorder.
No one ever scheduled an appointment for him with a psychiatrist
you got the call suggesting this job.
I would imagine you would have thought. Oh boy,
not sure I need that headache at this point. In my life.
My reaction was, I want to do it. I feel like
my whole life has been designed,
to lead to this.
Design of bob mcdonald's life in many ways started:
at the. U s military academy
graduated in seventy five and served
five years as a paratrooper, he bought his
first home with a visa loan and that the aid
aid for his masters degree in
the three years had procter and gamble he put tied pampers enjoy into most of the cupboards on earth, though he left west point long ago. West point never left him. First time you saw this view of the hudson river. You were eight ten years old here at west point getting sworn at this very spot, and I wonder what that experience has done to inform your life. I think it's, the the west point motto duty, honour cunt.
he's sentimental that way uncompromising.
So it's no wonder his new number two with a visa is his west point classmates sloan gibson, who used to run the? U s o as cadet.
They sat across the table from each other in the mess hall that the first place
I visited was phoenix ground zero.
While I was in phoenix, I met with the large group of employees they wanted to
the right thing they worked really hard, but
system and the organization was just not supporting them,
what I saw their leadership failure
mismanagement and chronic under investment in the system
Gibson has suspended, bonuses, suspended all the executives and he fired the director of director alabama hospital now off at thank very much bob.
donald reorganization of the vizier
design. So veterans won't have to go to war to get their benefits,
right now, the they face nine differ.
Organization structures across the country, so
I don't know where to go and if they do find some way to go to that person
maybe an expert and benefits, but not an expert in healthcare, and we want
create a customer service representative that that person go to. Secondly,
They face multiple websites that require multiple usernames and multiple passwords and that's not acceptable. We ve gotta get
one website, one entry point and then fan
People out from their he's enough for me
something he's already done? Is given doctors or raise the
physicians were making less than most private doctors. It was hard to fill the open jobs and that led to those
intolerable weightless. How many doctors and nurses and medical professionals do you need to hire right now? If we could do it today,
Entire we probably need about. Twenty thousand is what we said in our in our committee. Testimony I'm sorry
Twenty eight, yes thousand yes, but wait
How long is that going to jail? It's gonna take time because every adversely outcome they get sample.
by the media doesn't help me. I was I've, got a bad reputation.
I do but we're changing, it is large.
integrated health network in the united states. We destroy
the change that reputation himself, which mcdonald as per
finally recruiting doctors and nurses. This was
such use its general hospital. If you want
do research clinical work and teach at the same time. This is a great place to work.
Later. We caught him calling a young doktor that he'd met the day. Before I heard what a wonderful cardiologist you are. So we got some state of the art stuff ordinary
here we'd love to get on board. And if you get to washington, I love to see you and if you know
number of a good psychiatrist. Mcdonald me
the higher twenty five hundred mental health professionals, since
two thousand six for him.
Thousand, that's many from Iraq and Afghanistan have applied for
health services?
we have an instance where we ve spoken to the family in the family has told us that
the individual came to the viewer and they
You got have their car and they.
Their own life and our parking lot, because they knew that we could then deal with it and they didn't want to do it at home with their family deal with their body. That will deal with the tragedy.
What we try, there are many tragic senseless failures around the v. A
We noticed something else too great
bonuses to begin, and I were everywhere.
Mcdonald went there were plenty of that's eager to praise their care from rehab.
and there was a lot of guys and, ladies that you know-
was homeless like I had became and we stay like a family
do a boston, homeless, shelter funded by the air for cancer,
It was my pleasure that you were here. While his staff gets used to secretary Bob there's another term they're learning. He calls vets customers which
procter and gamble mind is both a compliment and a bond migdol.
Says by next year. There will be one website, not twelve new page
We will see a doctor without thirty days and no one
we'll wait for their benefits
What do you? Oh these veterans, not the vizier, but Bob mcdonald.
What do you? Oh these veterans, with this
The surrey, personal.
Because I served with why these guys
and we are in very dangerous situations and.
Anytime. You jump out an airplane, the parachute you're, putting your life and danger.
And as a job master, your checking that person's equipment.
and their life is reliant on yours.
The kind of relationship should create
the relationships and drive me to do this. A few footnotes to our story,
last fall mcdonald, apologized for telling a homeless veteran that he had served in special operations when he had only gone through the training. As for the visa,
The average wait for a doctor is now just four days and mcdonald fired the executive director of the Phoenix hospital at the centre of the scandal
We kicked around with the world's greatest shorter player. Barcelona, lionel messy close to their colleagues. New owner, see appended and rigorous future were compelled to people. We want to wear sixty minutes or it's Wednesday July. First, only on showtime, showtime anytime, welcomes the player. A new pike, ass network, featuring radio and tv personalities, talking business, sports, tack, entertainment and more planned play died in
when David letterman retired in may. He could have chosen just about any one in the world to be his final musical guessed. The honor went to fires,
in the last great american rock bans that consistently cells, millions of albums and fill stadiums around the world,
were created twenty years ago by lead singer and guitars Dave, grow
but it was his latest project that really gunnar attention. The ban-
has made a multiparty documentary and record
with an album called sonic highways, it's a mix,
of music history, journalists,
song writing an old fashion.
Rock and roll, as we first reported last fall its unlike.
anything, any rock band has ever attempted and reflection.
Of everything Dave grow loves about making music
who fighter soon is wool real rock and roll no tricks.
Given this was one of two sold out shows a plea to a hundred and sixty five thousand fans, London's wembley stadium in two thousand and eight they brought in says. Money has never been his motivation, the reward of
Music should be playing music.
But isn't that is to say for someone who's. Incredibly successful. It's really easy for me to say, but that's the way I felt before any of this happened. I was
Do I wasn't doing it so that this would happen. I was due
because I loved and you still love deploy dude,
What that globe we will grow group believes should always be afforded music. Don't worry about what everyone else thinks, don't let someone say like sorry didn't when the song contest gone, but on
american idol. The judges would say. Well, look, are you doing somebody favor
telling them
you going at something there not get a who's to say what
whose good or not
Bob Dylan standing there and second blood in the wine in front of those judges.
it's a little nasally and a flat. Next
I would only one american idol, I would never make it ever in a heartbeat
we'll need to appreciate their voice
I don't want to sing like someone else was going to me. The girl was singing his florida when we met up with foo fighters last year in new orleans they'd taken over.
preservation hall, a legendary jazz performance space in the french quarter on a saturday night, the windows were opened up for the first time in more than fifty years, the band could play a surprise show for hundreds of stunned passers by the concert was being shot for an eight part, h b, o documentary about the history of modern american music Dave Grohl,
is directing
episode focuses on the unique musical heritage of one city
help him learn that history grow interviewed local musicians everywhere. The ban went among
troy Andrews that are known
as trombone shorty braver.
some new knowledge to remain, even when I interviewed these people, and I get them to explain not only the history, the city, but the influence that that that
on the music that comes from here, there's a reason why
chicago blue, sounds I chicago blues, there's a reason why jazz music is here in new orleans and the reason is: is the history of how that music? We can be anything in seattle. It rains
time? So people stand there. Basements and rights arms rule approached
project is both a musician and a historian and says he was often surprised about what he learned. Everybody knows national as the country, music capital of the world,
then I start to realize wait a minute all of these,
The foundation of a lot of these musicians is in the church.
Its dolly partnered carry underwater that like this,
in the church. I never knew that it seems like that
the text is the roots of music matter and on port for people to know. I feel like
have the opportunity and a resource to give this to everyone, I can do it.
So why wouldn't I do it
Trombone shorty down here and we've made the project. So ambitious is that Grohl wasn't just shooting a documentary. He was also using the interviews to come up with material for a new song he'd write in each of the eight cities. Foo fighters spent a weekend the way. You're writing songs for this album is completely different than anything you've ever done it as far as I know, different than anyone has ever really done. These are all things that people have talked about, and ones is a crossroad, the spirits
square Cyril never used to watch his family pit play music through the cracks in the door. Press
the face against the screen and he'd go home with the imprint of a screen on his hands or phrases that you got out of interviewing various artists, words and phrases. The crew had just written the song an hour earlier, wouldn't be released for six months, but he invited us to watch him. Recording the it's cold in the clear and references, the lingering effects of hurricane katrina and the history
of jazz. None of the fire fighters knew much about jazz before coming to new orleans, but that was the whole reason to make the trip on there. Last night,
in town role in the band joined a large crowd on saint charles avenue to take part in
local sunday, tradition, amusing
jazz parade, known as
in line.
This is one of the best things about music. This is real right now and it's happening in musical history in this country's deep. You know and there's so much of it that I honestly feel like if music were more a part of our daily lives, this country would be a better place. The a few months later, Grohl was back in los angeles, along with bassist nate mendel drummer, taylor, hawkins and guitarist.
at smear increase, shipley
in studio six. Oh six reporting facility, they built
They showed us some of their new documentary series,
hold us how learning about the history of american music, his chin.
The way they listen to it. Just
such a big soup, american
again, it's all connected. It's not like
what we do is.
Elastically different from one country ban would deal or even maybe it
the oil and gas van. That's all it's pretty
similar, that's interesting and that's interconnected. First episode is about the history of punk rock and blues in chicago
This is a good example of
a moment in an interview that made its way into one of our songs?
the interview was with buddy guys, tourist and singer, who took a train north from louisiana in nineteen fifty seven and became a balloon legend.
Like this house.
When I found a boy,
When I came out of his mouth ass, I was sitting there interviewing. I just thought I have to tell
set his story in the song, the dance with the girl who's done, the song he wrote in chicago was called something from nothing. The chicago isn't just important to american music to play.
Crucial role in dave rules own history. He grew up
in virginia and when he was thirteen on a family trip to chicago a cousin.
Come to his first concert. Local punk rock band called
If you re gun that night,
girls life. My belly was
against the stage and the singer was diving on my head and it was so loud. My teeth, itched like there was a spit and sweat and that that night I just thought I can do this
girl taught himself to play guitar and drums, and seventeen dropped out of high school to go on tour with a punk banned by twenty one. He was
broke in los angeles, with no way to get home that
gonna call about joining a seattle band nirvana your voters. First album withdraw as drummer, not Michael jackson, off the top of the chores change pop music forever.
less than three years later, nirvana lead singer and songwriter. Kurt Cobain killed himself after struggle
with drug addiction.
lose incur was just
earth shattering and.
I was afraid of music after he died. You can you listen to me, no man, I swear if I, if I heard a song that even touched
an emotion in me. I would turn it off. I was sick.
fi, because to me that's what music always was. It was a direct connection to my heart
It took him several months, but girl did start playing again and went into
studio to record some of his own songs. He had no bad
so he sang and played all the instruments himself. I call it for
because I didn't want people. I don't want to put my name on it at first
people to say: oh, that's the guy from nirvana how'd. You come up the nymphs foo. Do you like
and had I imagined that it would last more than a month and a half, I might have named it something else. It's the dumbest band name. Ever foo fighters was a slang term that they used for your foes in world war. Two now
forty six grohl is not the drummer of fighters, but here
still considered one of the greatest of his generation. Nirvana was recently inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame and its
only one day fighters will be as well
grow lives, in LOS angeles, with his wife and three young daughters.
none of whom seem to care their dad is a rock star, particularly when
just want to go. Swimming
like to be away from home for more than two weeks at a time but has begun. A new tore has already planning another album
This is all I do. Man like there's other interests you this is it all. I do is shuttle kids around in a minivan
come down here and be in the fighters? That's it
and I'm not lying. That's true.
Who fighters returned to eat the eight cities where they recorded sonic highways, but grow fell in love with one city in particular that
week we had a new orleans totally changed. My life has it made me fall
head over heels and love music. All over again, one of his favorite memories from that week in new orleans was when food fighters gave the surprise show in the french quarter
playing on their own, they were joined by the legendary preservation hall, jazz band, the trombone shorty showed up late and had to borrow an old horn, but the sound was pure nor the rock drummer taylor hawkins had help from jazz drummer Joe last year. Jr comes from a long line of local musicians and told us.
He always dreamed of being a rock star. His wish came true that night roll call,
A musical gumbo bureau
blend of, sounds and style. The true celebration when american music is all about joint anderson cooper inside they blows homes. Studio, though, do
sixty minutes overtime, dot com sponsored by lyrica, I'm Steve
we back next week with another addition of sixty minutes tomorrow, be sure to what CBS
Cbs fridays, we may have been criminals seeking redemption, that's the one we are now takes courage, we're firefighters by kansas. They can change from producer, jerry, bruckheimer or save as many lives as possible. Tv's top new series reinstating the poor from the moderate work. Don't worry, let's go. We can do this country fridays on CBS streaming on paramount.
Transcript generated on 2023-01-16.