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Indiana Stage Collapse Kills Five; Bachmann: Iowa Victory A Message; Apple vs. Exxon Mobil; Rapper Takes Heat for Tweet; Newest Tablet Computers for School; Pawlenty Drops Out; Perry to Make Iowa Debut; Obama Midwest Tour Begins Tomorrow; Trouble in the Tropics; Wild Week on Wall Street; Study: Americans Low on Emergency Cash; Future of MySpace Outlined

Aired August 14, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Our top story this hour, tragedy at the Indiana State Fair. These images are extraordinary. A massive burst of wind swept through a grandstand where hundreds of people were attending a concert.

At least five people were killed and dozens more hurt. This dramatic video from one of our iReporters on the scene. Before the collapse, concert goers had about a four-minute warning from state police to seek shelter because severe weather was on the way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY HOYE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INDIANA STATE FAIR: Today, at the fairgrounds, we're - we're all very much in mourning the loss of the victims, and we are praying with their families. It's a very sad day at the State Fair, and our hearts are really breaking. So we appreciate all of you giving us a day to regroup. So we are closed today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And we'll be talking to the iReporter, Jessica Silas, who actually took those extraordinary images, and we'll also talk to other iWitnesses this hour.

Turning to presidential politics and the changing playing field, Tim Pawlenty says he is dropping out of the race for the Republican nomination after finishing a distant third in Iowa's Ames Straw Poll. The former Minnesota governor says his poor showing would have prevented him from raising funds to keep his campaign alive.

The winner of the Iowa Straw Polls says the contest isn't just about GOP candidates. Michele Bachmann says her victory was a message to President Obama that voters want a big change in leadership. The Minnesota Republican beat Ron Paul via 200 votes, and tonight Bachmann speaks at the Republican Lincoln Day dinner in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa.

And sharing the spotlight at that event, newly declared GOP candidate Rick Perry. It is the Texas governor's first appearance in the nation's first caucus state. Perry is spending today campaigning in another key state, New Hampshire, which holds the first primary.

In Stanford, Connecticut, a candlelight vigil in honor of slain Navy SEAL Brian Bill. Bill was among the 30 Americans killed last weekend when an insurgent attack brought down their helicopter in Afghanistan. The vigil was held at Bill's old high school.

The rapper known as "The Game" could face charges in Los Angeles for a phone flash mob. Police say he posted the phone number for the Compton Sheriff's Station on Twitter and told his half a million plus followers to call it for a chance at a music internship. Well, they were flooded - the police station was flooded with calls, and it interfered with handling 911 calls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. MIKE PARKER, LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Legitimately calling through with important calls would include two robberies, a spousal assault, missing person, hit-and-run.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The rapper says his account was hacked.

Now, back to Indianapolis now, where investigators are gathering evidence from last night's deadly stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): Incredible. Another vantage point there. Concert goers panicked as a powerful gust of wind swept through the grandstand. A witness says the wind snapped the stage like a toothpick, killing five and injuring several others.

Jenna Gioe is with us now from Indianapolis. She was at the concert last night.

So, Jenna, first of all, how are you feeling today?

JENNA GIOE, STAGE COLLAPSE WITNESS: Today it kind of set in that it was a pretty shocking and - morning. But, overall, feeling OK. Just feeling very sad for our - our (INAUDIBLE) and the people there.

WHITFIELD: An incredible sequence of events that took place. Kind of take me back to last night. A, you know, begin with the weather, and what led up to that huge gust of wind? Did you feel that this weather was that ominous, that potentially dangerous?

GIOE: Not, not at all. We had a very beautiful day. We - there was a slight chance of storms and as - after Sara Bareilles finished opening up for Sugarland, the stage was clear and they finished changing the set. And as we were facing the stage, the - the clouds and the sky all of a sudden turned really dark and - and pitch black, and it was coming straight at us and it was coming really quickly and you could tell that the weather had changed quite a bit at that time. But it was a really - we had a really great day, so it was not anything that we were expecting.

WHITFIELD: So I understand that some police officials, or perhaps even some representation with the state fair got on stage, warned people about four minutes before this happened that some severe weather was on the way and to take cover. Is that something that you heard?

GIOE: Well, one of the radio station that sponsored the concert, they had gotten on the stage, one of the radio talents, and they had said that there were some severe weather in the radar, and it was coming our way. They weren't sure what was going to happen with the concert, but in case of emergency, they told us where to go and what buildings to head towards and how to evacuate.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Could you possibly get to those locations with that crowd, looking at how many people were there?

GIOE: You could get there, not in the manner that they want you to. You could get there, but in the four minutes, I'm - I'm not sure.

They - what they did state to us was that the concert was going to try to go on. They did say that they would let us know what - if we needed to evacuate, and then he closed it and said Sugarland would be on in just a couple of minutes.

WHITFIELD: So Jenna, how far away from the stage were you?

GIOE: I was in the seventh row, in the grandstand. So there's a grandstand, and there's a track area. And the track area is where this stage fell on top of the people who were in the pit, and I was just seven rows back on the grandstand.

WHITFIELD: Because I'm noticing in this video that we're looking at right now, every time it replays, you can get a better vantage point of how many people tried to get to that stage area to help, seemingly to kind of look -

GIOE: Yes.

WHITFIELD: -- for others underneath. Give me an idea of what that kind of, you know, impromptu rescue mission was like.

GIOE: Yes. Well, it was absolutely pandemonium. I - I don't think anybody knew what to - to do. When the clouds started coming towards us, after they made that announcement, a lot of people started to evacuate at that time.

But then, after we all watched the stage, it literally just was like this, and then it - it just fell straight over. The entire thing. Nothing snapped. It was completely intact and just fell. And you could just see people jumping over the grandstand, jumping over to try to get down there, to try to lift up the - the things that had fallen onto the people. At that time, the security at the grandstand were trying to get people out of the - out of the stands.

And - but everybody didn't know what to do, whether to stay and watch, whether to jump over and help, whether to leave. People were screaming and crying. They were getting shoved down. People were trampling over each other. It was absolute pandemonium.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Incredible. Well, Jenna Gioe, we're glad that you're OK. Thanks so much for being with us -

GIOE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: -- the explain exactly what it is you saw. And of course our hearts go out to the so many people - at least five now - who were killed, and many others injured.

And, of course, we've got much more coverage ahead of that collapse at the Indiana State Fair. Coming up next, we'll check in with one of our CNN affiliate reporters there who is at the state grounds today, and then later one of our iReporters tells us exactly what happened from her vantage point as well.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Incredible. No matter how many times you see it, it's a terrifying scene at the Indiana State Fair. A grandstand packed with concert goers collapsed when a powerful wind gust hit the fair grounds. At least five people were killed dozens more hurt.

With another view of what happened, on the phone, reporter Eric Halvorson, with our affiliate WISH. So Eric, what are you hearing about how this could have happened?

ERIC HALVORSON, WISH CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, it's - it's really a very strange situation, and I don't know that anybody really is comfortable with saying exactly what they think happened. But it does relate to what Jenna was saying just a bit ago in your - before the break, talking about the pandemonium last night, and - and seeing what happened with the wind gusts that came through. That's the speculation right now, is it - it has to go back to that somehow.

The - the wind came through and, all of a sudden, it just caught everything in - in that rigging over the stage, the steel frame. You can see the steel frame and all the heavy lights collapsing down into the people, and that's the best guess at this point as to what happened.

The fair's executive director was saying this morning that Indiana's Occupational Health and Safety Administration is out there, investigating, the State Fire Marshal's Office is out there. And when I was out there, just within the past 45 minutes or so, we could see that there were people going through the grandstands, up from some of the - the high views that you've been getting and where some of the best video was taken from the fans who were there. So we know that they're going through there. We anticipate that at some point they will have some more information to tell us about what they think happened.

I talked to the - the head of public relations for the Indiana State Fair today. They are still trying to put together some information to update, but I think right now they're still kind of mystified as to what happened and they are expecting maybe another news conference this afternoon.

But what they were telling us this morning matches what you were hearing from Jenna, again, and what you've been reporting. First, we were told three people died, then four, and, as we woke up this morning, we learned the fifth person died. Forty-five people are hurt. The governor is calling it at this point a freakish accident.

So the fairgrounds is uncommonly quiet for a Sunday afternoon. The only people getting in are the people who have to be there - emergency personnel, some of the folks who work there, and the people who have livestock at the fairgrounds that need to take care of the animals.

But there will be no shows today. They will reopen tomorrow, and the first official event will be a prayer service for - a memorial to everyone who was killed or injured there at the fairgrounds yesterday, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So, Eric, when you - when you look at the images and you see the collapse of the steel frames on this stage, it would almost seem as though we're talking about hurricane-force winds. Have you learned anything more about the force of the winds, you know, whether the - the warnings that were given to the concert goers, something like four minutes, was adequate, or was there any way to know with any greater warning time?

HALVORSON: Yes. I think - I've heard anywhere from 70 miles an hour to maybe 77 miles an hour. So if - if we're getting in the 77 mile an hour range, that puts it slightly beyond what would be a hurricane- force wind or maybe a low-strength tornado. So, if that's the case - they're not saying that it was a tornado, but I think they're referring to it more as straight line winds. But it - when we're talking about something in that 70 to 80 mile an hour range, it certainly puts it into destructive potential for the winds.

So I think that's the - the category of strength they're talking about, so maybe it's not so surprising that it could do some damage to something like the structure we're seeing. And the grandstand is just right across the street, basically, from a coliseum where people could get in and get some shelter from a storm. But if you've got to go down all the stairs in the grandstand and get across the street in a crowd, that makes it challenging.

So it sounds like different people heard the warnings differently. So it - maybe it depends on who you listen to, to confirm whether the warnings were adequate.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

HALVORSON: But there is space available if people needed to get inside to get shelter. WHITFIELD: Yes, and extraordinary, too, as we keep looking at these images, how that collapse took place, and just instinctively people ran towards the stage, wanting to help as opposed to people running away, you know, trying to save their own lives.

HALVORSON: Yes. The - the governor praised those people today, and as I was looking around the scene this morning, one of the investigators made a point of coming over and saying, you know, the people who really deserve some praise for this were the doctors and nurses, EMTs.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

HALVORSON: And he said there's some military people who were in the audience -

WHITFIELD: OK.

HALVORSON: -- who, instead of running away, they came forward to help, and he said those are the people who need to be acknowledged as heroes.

WHITFIELD: Incredible.

Eric Halvorson of WISH, thanks so much for your reporting. Appreciate that.

And we're going to -

HALVORSON: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: -- check in with our meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras, too, who have much more to say, as well to add to that, on the weather situation, and what led up to those moments.

So if you were at the Indiana State Fair last night, we want to hear from you. Send us your video or your pictures and your stories to iReport.com.

All right, the sudden and mysterious kidnapping of an American diplomat expert in Pakistan. Still no claim of responsibility for the abduction of Harry (sic) Weinstein more than 24 hours after it happened. Men with guns stormed Weinstein's house in Lahore before dawn yesterday and drove away with him.

And police in Norway are getting a firsthand visualization last month's deadly terror attack. A Norwegian newspaper published photos said to show the suspect back at the youth camp where he allegedly killed 69 people. He reportedly showed investigators how and where he allegedly gunned down his victims, most of them teenagers.

And the president of Venezuela is said to be home again following a second round of chemotherapy in Cuba. These pictures are from President Hugo Chavez's last public appearance earlier this month. Chavez acknowledges that he has cancer and hasn't said, however, what type. All right. It makes phones, computers, apps, and there's even talk about branded TV sets. Guess what I'm talking about yet? Apple Incorporated.

As Apple continue to take over the tech world, we want to take you back just a bit. When did Apple open its first retail store? We'll have the answer, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: OK, so before the break we asked you about a little Apple history. When did Apple open its first retail store? Drum roll please.

The first Apple store opened 10 years ago, in 2001. Apple is now one of the world's two most valuable companies. It's running neck-and- neck with Exxon Mobil based on stock price, and it even took over the number one position for two days last week.

Mary Snow explains why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We think the solution is our next big insight.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's become a big event each time Apple unveils new products, and those products have now catapulted Apple to the ranks of most valuable company, even surpassing Exxon Mobil Wednesday as the two jockeyed for the number one slot. The ranking is based on market value, which doesn't count a company's cash or debt.

Still, some who cover the tech industry see Apple's overshadowing Exxon is significant.

MARTIN GILES, U.S. TECH CORRESPONDENT, THE ECONOMIST: I think the fact that Apple was, 14 years ago, practically bankrupt - indeed, Michael Dell of Dell Computer basically was asked, you know, what he thought Apple should do, and he said I think it should shut its doors.

Well, it didn't, and look where it is today. That's a phenomenal achievement.

SNOW: One thing seen as hurting Exxon Mobil right now are lower oil prices. And, for Apple, unlike other tech giants IBM and Microsoft, which rely on corporate customers, Apple built its fortune on consumers. Compare that, says one oil industry analyst, to consumers for oil and gas.

PHILIP WEISS, ARGUS RESEARCH: They need the product but they want to pay as little as they can because they want to have more the budget that they can spend on things that they want.

SNOW: And the things they want and are shelling out money for are things like iPads.

So what can other companies learn? Martin Gartenberg is an analyst of consumer technology.

MICHAEL GARTENBERG, GARTNER RESEARCH: Well, I think they can learn a number of things. One is that you have to be bold. Fortune does favor the bold.

SNOW: But there's always the chance that what's bold today will be old tomorrow.

GILES: It's not the only company out there that's doing this. It faces stiff competition. There's no guarantee that in, you know, the next 14 years Apple remain top of the pile.

SNOW: Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we've got much more coverage straight ahead of the collapse of that Indiana State Fair. The iReporter who shot this video joins us in just a few minutes to tell us exactly what happened from her perspective.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Top stories now, tragedy at the Indiana State Fair. A massive burst of wind swept through a grandstand where hundreds of people were attending a concert.

At least five people were killed and dozens more were hurt. Before the collapse concert goers had about a four-minute warning from a local radio station there to seek shelter because severe weather was on the way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. DAVE BURSTEN, INDIANA STATE POLICE: In Indiana, the weather can change from one report to another report, and that was the case here. And it really wasn't the issue of the weather as it was with the high gust of wind.

What's remarkable about this is virtually throughout the rest of the fairgrounds, the midway particularly, there were no damages to structures there, which is continuing to lead us to believe this was an isolated, significant wind gust that resulted in what occurred.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The Indiana State Fair is closed today and plans to reopen tomorrow.

And this is the house in Lahore, Pakistan where American Warren Weinstein was abducted at gunpoint yesterday. No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping or issued any demands for his release.

Warren Weinstein is an international development expert who works for a consulting firm headquartered in Virginia. Shreveport, Louisiana now, hometown to two of the U.S. Navy SEALs killed in last weekend's helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Family and friends of one of those SEALs, Chief Petty Officer Robert Reeves, gathered to honor him yesterday.

And it is a welcome sight in Texas, rain close to an inch fell near the Dallas Fort Worth area and provided some relief for the relentless drought that has plagued the state. North Texas have been struggling with a near record breaking heat wave. Today, the forecast calls for the return of triple degree heat.

Rain in other parts of the country is triggering a new worry for pet owners. Veterinarians are saying that they are seeing a lot of animals getting sick from toxic, wild mushrooms.

Take the case of Champ, the puppy who got sick on a family camping trip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID LYNN, PUPPY'S OWNER: We're sitting around the campfire when we noticed that our 13 week old puppy was just acting really strange and it scared the heck out of us. Feet were going out from under him, he started drooling, and at that point we knew, obviously, we need to make a trip to a - a vet.

DR. DAVID ROBINSON, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, EVERGREEN ANIMAL HOSPITAL: We're seeing it fairly frequently, almost daily.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Whoa. Well, vets say red-colored mushrooms can be lethal for pets and that poisoning from white or brown mushrooms can actually cause seizures or even brain damage.

So was it a twitter prank or a PR stunt, or criminal mischief? That's what the L.A. County Sheriff's Department is trying to determine. Police say rapper "The Game," who also goes by the alias "Charles Louboutin," posted the phone number for the Compton Sheriff's Station on Twitter. His followers were told to call for a shot at a music internship. He has more than half a million followers.

The sheriff's station was flooded with hang-up calls. When police asked the rapper to take down the tweet, another tweet was posted saying, quite, "Y'all can track a tweet down but can't solve murders? That was an accident, but maybe now y'all can actually do your job."

Well, it was hours before the phone number was finally tracked down and police say the flash calls interfered with their ability to answer legitimate 911 calls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PARKER: Legitimately calling through with important calls would include two robberies, a spousal assault, missing person, hit-and-run.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Well "The Game" says his account was hacked, but police say so far they have not seen anything on Twitter to actually confirm that.

All right, the pictures coming in from the stage collapse at last night's Indiana State Fair have been downright horrifying. One of our iReporters captured the moment leading up to the collapse and the terror that spread through the crowd as the stage fell. Let's take a moment to watch and listen.

(VIDEO CLIP OF STAGE COLLAPSE PLAYS)

WHITFIELD: These terrifying moments were captured by CNN iReporter Jessica Silas. Jessica is on the phone with us right now from Indianapolis.

So, Jessica, as we're watching these images, and moments before that collapse, there were people who were screaming in the background. So was there a sense that something very terrible was about to happen the moments before the stage collapsed?

JESSICA SILAS, CNN IREPORTER (via telephone): I don't think anyone actually expected for the stage to collapse, but when you hear the people screaming, it was because of the wind and the dust.

In the beginning images of the video, you can see that the dust starts coming in. That's why I actually started recorded in the first place, is because I saw the people standing up and screaming and I saw the dust start coming. But no one - I - I can't imagine anyone expected that the stage would actually fall down.

WHITFIELD: And apparently some representatives of a radio station got on the stage and told people that they have a four-minute warning before they may want to seek shelter.

That's what one of the other eye witnesses we talked at the beginning of the hour said. Do you remember that kind of instruction and, if so, what were you and the people that you were with planning to do?

SILAS: I remembered that the person got on stage and said that there was severe weather in the area and that they were going to try to continue with the concert and if the weather got bad, they were going to try to resume afterwards.

But I don't really remember him telling us that we were supposed to start evacuating. He said that we were going to keep going with the concert and see how the weather ended up and then five minutes later is when the stage fell.

WHITFIELD: And it's amazing that you had the wherewithal to videotaping there and as we're looking at it right now maybe you should talk me through of what you were thinking and feeling. The stage collapses, you continue to roll. There were a number of people who started running towards the stage to help. Take it from there. SILAS: Honestly, I don't even remember. I was pretty much in shock. I didn't expect the stage to fall. I was trying to film the weather actually, the lightning behind it and the wind.

And all of a sudden in my camera screen, I saw that the stage had fallen and it was just chaos. People were screaming and yelling, my God, running and I was in shock.

I just kept filming because, I guess, I didn't know what else to do. And then eventually my parents were with me and they started yelling at me to get going. And so I stopped recording and followed them out.

WHITFIELD: There were thousands of people there. You can see that from your images. So clearly no one knew that this weather would be that dangerous? Had there been any kind of warning or any forecast of maybe not the gust of wind, but what weather might potentially be like that evening.

SILAS: About 20 minutes or so before I had noticed that the sky was getting a little bit dark. So I looked on my phone and saw that Indianapolis was in a severe thunderstorm warning.

But other than me checking it on my phone, they didn't make a large announcement to the entire crowd other than that person getting on the stage five minutes before it fell saying that there was weather in the area and we might need to evacuate. But other than that, I didn't know of anything.

WHITFIELD: Jessica Silas, thanks so much for your images and I'm glad you and your family are OK.

SILAS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate your time. So perhaps you were at the Indiana State Fair last night. We want to hear from you. Send us your video and pictures and story to go along with it at ireport.com.

So Indiana's governor is calling what happened at the Indiana State Fair a freakish accident, but even freak accidents really can be explained to a certain degree.

Our Jacqui Jeras with us now to give us an idea of wow, she, Jessica tried to explain, you know, that there was some kind of ominous weather. But when we heard from one of the reporters early in the hour, they talked about near hurricane-force wind gusts that moved in.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Sure.

WHITFIELD: Might could there have been any warning for this?

JERAS: Yes, and there really was, actually. Part of it is upon yourself, you know, to educate yourself. She did the right thing, by the way, checking on her cell phone to say, is there any way I can get more information, you know, to keep yourself safe.

There are so many applications. You can go to weather.gov, the National Weather Service home page and that will tell you if there's severe weather that's moving into your area.

First of all, earlier in the day there was an outlook issue that included Indianapolis, it said, today, there's a slight risk that we could see some severe thunderstorms.

Around 6:00 that night, the yellow box that you see right here, a severe thunderstorm watch was issued. You can see off here to the west and you have to pay attention, what is going on in areas around you.

Severe thunderstorms are moving through Chicago that produced damaging winds and hail and that line held together and moved into Indianapolis. Now, where a little bit of the question comes in, it seemed like things were fine.

It was dark off into the distance and this was the time that the storm hit. About 8:50, here's the fairgrounds right here, but look where the thunderstorms, where the heavy rain is, where most of the damaging winds are normally way back here.

What happened is what we call a gust front. When winds come out ahead of the mainline of the storm and you saw all of that dust starting to kick up and some of that video.

What happens is that kind of a situation is that in the downdrafts of the thunderstorm, normally we see it down here near the rain shaft. Sometimes it comes out ahead of the storm, mixes with that warm air and you really get a very strong advanced punch of those winds and we're getting any estimates of those winds, somewhere between maybe 60, 70 miles per hour.

So what can you do? How many people at home have not been to an outdoor venue? You know, it's baseball games. It's concerts. It's festivals. It's fairs. What can you do? Well, educate yourself, plan ahead. Check the weather before you go. Is there a risk?

And what are you going to do if that severe weather occurs? Make sure you find a meeting place. You know, when this happened, Fredricka, people lost their cell phones so they couldn't get in touch with each other.

So you have to find a place where you can go and where you can stay safe. So scan the grounds there. Become familiar with your surroundings. Is there a shelter nearby? Is there a concrete bathroom maybe where you can get inside to a sturdy location.

And then also be weather aware in terms of what county you are in. A lot of these people probably weren't from Indianapolis, Fredricka. So you have to know what county you are in for when those warnings are occurring.

Yes, use your cell phone if you've got one to help monitor those warnings. A lot of automatic alerts can be issued that we'll tell you right away if severe weather is heading into your neighborhood.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right, great tips to keep in mind. Thanks so much, Jacqui Jeras. Appreciate that.

JERAS: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right, so with the surge of new gadgets gearing up for back to school, it's never been this cool. But it is becoming more expensive for parents. So up next, some tips to help you keep some money in your pocket.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, so before the break, we promised some tips to help you save money when your kids go off to school. Number one, don't purchase the Wi-Fi network for your gadgets, your kids' gadgets. Most schools actually provide free internet.

Second, skip the texting plan. Use e-mail, G-chat, or Skype instead of a texting plan to try and save a little bit of money. And then last, rent to save. Students can actually save by renting or purchasing used textbooks through sites like textbooks.com.

And just in time for back to school shopping. Our gaming and gadgets expert, Marc Saltzman joins us with the newest tablet computers that go right into your backpack for class.

Marc, so let's begin with the Toshiba -- everyone's got a kind of tablet these days and this is one. I haven't seen this one, the Thrive?

MARC SALTZMAN, SYNDICATED TECHNOLOGY WRITER: Yes. This one is brand new. It does run on Google's Android platform, which is very popular. It's an open source platform. It's a bit more affordable than the iPad. It's starts at $429.

But what I like about the Thrive is the fact that it's got multiple connection options. You might see here, I've got a USB stick in the side of the tablet. You don't see that very often. It has a full size USB port, a full size HDMI as well.

If you want to connect it to a TV and an SD memory card slot. So you can pop that memory card out of your camera and view photos right away. You can even connect an external hard drive if you like. So that's one thing that I like about this Toshiba Thrive again, along with the price.

WHITFIELD: OK, that's good. So speaking of the Android, how does the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 compare, is that right 10.1?

SALTZMAN: Yes. That's right, 10.1. So this is also like the Thrive, a ten-inch tablet. But this is, I would argue more of a premium one. It's got a faster processor. It is extremely thin.

In fact, it's lighter and thinner than the iPad 2. This is my favorite Android tablet on the market. It's got a lot of power. It's got a lot of capacity. You can store all of those apps, like games like Angry Birds.

So I really like this tablet. It's very thin and light weight. So I think Samsung really hit a home run with that one.

WHITFIELD: All right, and then the HP Touchpad. What do you think about this?

SALTZMAN: Right. So this is also new to the market, but instead of using the Android platform, this is HP's own platform called Webo West. When they acquired Palm a couple years ago, they got this really unique operating system for Smartphones and tablets.

It's also a 9.7-inch tab much like the iPad. I like their new operating system for two main reasons, very good at multitasking so you know students they like to do multiple things at once. They want to Skype while doing homework and listening to music. You can do that on this easier than the iPad.

Secondly, you might notice this card view, if you will. It's really easy to see those opens apps. It's a nice operating system. It also starts at $400. So it's one of the more affordable big screen tablet on the market.

WHITFIELD: And then there's the Acer Iconia tab.

SALTZMAN: That's right.

WHITFIELD: And that's going to be launching.

SALTZMAN: Let me just turn it on here. So you might notice the big difference between this one here is the fact that it's a seven-inch tablet so much like the Blackberry playbook or Samsung's first Galaxy tab. It's seven inches, which some may prefer because it's more portable.

You can flip into a purse or even into your pockets and as you can see, it's got a web browser and all of these, by the way, support a web browser with a flash so you can visit all kinds of web sites that you may not be able to so easily on an iPad.

So this is nice one from Acer. It does also have HDMI and USB, but not a full size one. So it's not as easy to get your memory on and off the tablet as it is the Toshiba, but it's a nice more pocketable alternative to the iPad as well and it also runs on Android as well.

WHITFIELD: Wow, this is incredible. So are we saying that laptops are obsolete? A student doesn't want a laptop? It's got to be a tablet?

SALTZMAN: Yes, definitely laptop sales are down and some market research firms are predicting that tablets sales will eclipse laptop sales by 2015. So I think it's a matter time that you have the best of both worlds.

There are foldable keyboards that are wireless that let you, you know, type on an Android or an iPad, you know, so you don't really need that to carry around a heavy laptop. You have to wait to boot up and it only lasts two or three hours. Lots of advantages to touch screen tablets. WHITFIELD: Wow, incredible. All right, Marc Saltzman, thanks so much. Always good to see you. Appreciate that.

SALTZMAN: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Good luck to your kids as they get ready to go off to school. We know they'll all of the latest and greatest in technology. Thanks so much.

All right, so for more high-tech ideas and reviews, just go to cnn.com/tech and look for the gaming and gadgets tab.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, time for a CNN Equals Politics update. We're keeping an eye on the headlines on the cnn.com politics desk and here's what's crossing right now.

Tim Pawlenty is no longer in the presidential race. The former Minnesota governor dropped out citing the results of the Iowa straw poll. Pawlenty finished a distant third behind Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul.

He says that that showing deprived his campaign of the boost that it would need to keep going. Bachmann meantime says Pawlenty brought an important voice to the campaign and she wishes him well.

The Minnesota congresswoman remains in Iowa today and tonight, she'll address the Republican Lincoln Day dinner in her home town of Waterloo.

And taking the stage ahead of her tonight, the newest candidate, Texas Governor Rick Perry. It's the first of several appearances that Perry will be making in Iowa over the next three days. Right now, Perry is stamping in another early voting state, that of New Hampshire.

President Obama leaves the White House in Washington behind tomorrow and sets off on a bus tour of the Midwest with the 2012 campaign looming.

CNN's Athena Jones reports the president is traveling to states that he won in 2008. States now seeing Republican gains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While Republican hopefuls battle for a chance to take on President Obama in 2012, the president has spent much of the summer stuck in Washington as Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill duelled over the debt limit. Now Congress is on vacation and the president is heading to the heartland to talk directly to the American people.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: There's been a lot of talk in Washington right now that I should call Congress back early. The last thing we need is Congress spending more time arguing in D.C. They need to spend more time out here listening to you. That's why I'll be traveling to a lot of communities like this one over the next week.

JONES: The three-day bus tour will cut a 360-mile swath through Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. He won all three in 2008, but Iowa and Minnesota could be up for grabs this time around.

STUART ROTHENBERG, THE ROTHENBERG POLITICAL REPORT: I think that's an attempt to simply get as much attention as he can in an important part of the country.

JONES: With an unemployment rate above 9 percent, jobs topped the agenda. Seven out of 10 poll respondents say there are few jobs in their community and only 29 percent believe more jobs will be available a year from now.

KEATING HOLLAND, CNN POLLING DIRECTOR: Americans seemed to be really worried about things and it looked like optimism is getting a little bit better month by month, you know, over the last couple of years and now it's basically dropped off a cliff.

JONES: President Obama wants Congress to extend the payroll tax cut among other measures to help spur hiring.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I'll put forward more proposals to help our businesses hire and create jobs.

JONES: One thing political analysts agree on kickstarting job growth will be key to the president's re-election hopes.

ROTHENBERG: The biggest problem for the president and for the White House is creating a sense among most Americans that the economy is about ready to improve. The problem is there is nothing that he can do immediately to change that. There's no magic wand that he has.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: The president will be hosting town halls in Decorah, Iowa, Atkinson, Illinois and Alpha, Illinois. And what the White House is calling a rural economic forum in Peosta, Iowa. Athena Jones, CNN, Washington.

WHITFIELD: And for the latest political news, you know exactly where to go, cnnpolitics.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We've been talking so much about heat and drought, but remember this is the hurricane season, Atlantic hurricane season and suddenly it's become quite busy in the Atlantic. Jacqui Jeras her to tell us about another tropical storm whose name we rehearsed yesterday and now we can really start saying it.

JERAS: We thought that you had to say excuse me after you said it. The name is Gert. It's a tropical storm right now and it's packing winds around 40 miles per hour. It's several miles still away from Bermuda and this is going to be something we'll be watching in the next couple of days.

There's also an area highlighted here, another tropical wave that has a medium chance of developing into another storm and then down here, the hurricane center no longer has this one highlighted. We told you about it yesterday and we are more concerned about it because it's expected to take a more southerly track.

Even though it's no longer highlighted today, I think it's something we need to continue to watch for possible development in the upcoming days. So just to let you know there's really three different areas that we're watching.

The biggest concern with Gert is that it could potentially hit or get close to Bermuda. That's going to happen tomorrow already. Bermuda is a very hurricane-ready place so they should fair OK with this one. It is expected to stay at tropical storm status as it moves through there and curves away.

But no worries here for the United States. So things are starting to get busy. It's that time of year, mid-August. We start to get into what we call (inaudible) season and that's where you see those storms developing off the coast of Africa and those are the ones where the large majority of major hurricanes develop.

WHITFIELD: All right. Keeping our fingers crossed. Thank you so much, Jacqui. Appreciate that.

All right, Justin Timberlake, well, he played a social networking mogul in a movie about Facebook, right? Well, now he is making a move to be a mogul at one of Facebook's biggest competitors. Our money team explains when we look at the financial week ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So what do the stock markets, social networking and Justin Timberlake have in common? You're about to find out as our CNN Money reporters Alison Kosik, Felicia Taylor and Poppy Harlow, fill us in on what to look for in financial news in the week ahead. Let's get started with Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUISNESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredrica. It was a wild week on Wall Street and that's putting it mildly. The Dow gained or lost more than 400 points, Monday through Thursday, a streak not seen in the history of the blue chip average.

Financial stocks and oil prices also swung dramatically and the VIX, which measures fear in the market, hit its highest level since 2009. The volatility begun with Standard & Poor's downgrade of U.S. debt, but during the week the Federal Reserve jumped in and said it would keep interest rates low until 2013. Felicia --

FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT, CNNI: Thanks, Alison. A new study shows many Americans still don't have enough money set aside for emergencies. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling says 64 percent of Americans don't have enough cash to handle a $1,000 emergency expense.

To cope, they say that they'll either borrow the money from family, sell or pawn some belongings or skip a credit card or mortgage payment to free up some cash. Most financial experts recommend having six months worth of living expenses set aside. Poppy Harlow has a look at what's coming up in business news. Poppy --

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Thanks so much, Felicia. If last week was any indicator of the next week on Wall Street could be a volatile one. Investors will get some important insight on the U.S. economy. The reports due out will show where home sales are, home construction, where that stands and where inflation stands.

Finally, MySpace and pop star Justin Timberlake will hold a press conference on Wednesday. They're going to outline what the future of MySpace looks like as it has been losing market share to Facebook and other competitors and now counts Timberlake as a partial owner. We'll follow it all, of course, right here and also on cnnmoney.com. Fredricka, back to you.

WHITFIELD: The death toll in last night's stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair has climbed to five. More than 40 other people were hurt. A massive wind gust blew through the grandstand as concert goers were getting ready for Sugarland. The stage crumbled, trapping people in the rubble. The fair is closed until tomorrow.

And now to the winner for Iowa's straw poll, Michele Bachmann. She says that her victory in Ames is a message to President Barack Obama. The voters want new leadership in the White House and a stronger economy.

All right, I'll be back one hour from now.

A gay marriage is illegal in Cuba, but the marriage of a gay rights activist to a transsexual woman has blurred the line. We will have a full report on this landmark wedding in our 4:00 pm Eastern hour.

"YOUR MONEY" starts now.