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Pebble CEO Explains Why They Returned To Kickstarter; Jury Convicts Texas Man Of Chris Kyle Murder; Assyrian Human Rights Organization Fears Up to 150 Christians Taken By ISIS; Leading Women: Mindy Grossman
Aired February 25, 2015 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRISTIEE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.
Now ISIS may be holding more Christian hostages than initially thought. And there are growing fears about their safety.
Plus, a Texas jury convicts a man of killing American sniper Chris Kyle. We'll bring you emotional reaction from the verdict.
And Pebble is back on kickstarter. Its new smartwatch is on track to set new records. We speak to the CEO.
Now the Assyrian Human Rights Network tells CNN that ISIS is moving 150 Christian captives to the Syrian city of Raqqa, a stronghold for the
Sunni militants.
Now the hostages were kidnapped from villages in northeast Syria. Now the group says it is worried that they face the same fate as members of
Egypt's Christian minority who were slaughtered by ISIS one month ago.
Let's get more on the hostages being held in Syria. And for the latest developments, CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson
joins us now live from London. And Nic, fear is mounting for the scores of Assyrian Christians being held by ISIS right now. What can you tell us?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It could be as many as 150 that are being held right now, that's what Assyrian activists are
telling us. They say that this has been going on since yesterday, that there are as many as 35 different villages affected, as many as several
thousand families they now say -- these numbers keep growing -- may have been forced from their homes and the number of people captured, kidnapped,
is 150, they believe, as of a couple of hours ago.
Women, children, the elderly, priests as well, have been taken captive. What the human rights -- Syrian human rights network is saying is
that they believe that ISIS is moving these people that they've kidnapped to sort of deeper inside ISIS territory, possibly to Raqqa. They're
concerned about what may happen to these people. They've certainly seen how Christians have been treated by ISIS in Iraq and in Egypt, so they're
very concerned about what ISIS is going to do.
And what we've seen ISIS do in the past is in some cases killed their Christian captives, sometimes force them to convert to Islam. But what is
also troubling this Assyrian human rights group at the moment as well is not just those being kidnapped, but those who have been forced from their
homes. They say as many as 600 right now could be holed up in a cathedral not far from the area where they were attacked.
So, a big degree of concern about what happens next, Kristie.
LU STOUT: Yeah, deep concerns for the population of Assyrian Christians there as well as the fate of the three missing British teenaged
girls believed to be on their way to join ISIS. Are they now inside Syria?
ROBERTSON: That's the believe. And that's sort of the working assumption, hypothesis, best information if you will that the British
police have. The information is that these girls could have gone into Syria as long as four days ago. So not good news for their families.
Turkish authorities had been cooperating and assisting, although they have said that, you know, part of the problem lies here in Britain as well.
So, the fate of these girls now seems to be not only unknown but potentially sort of out with the control of authorities, Kristie.
LU STOUT: And, Nick, the fight against ISIS on the ground in both Syria and Iraq, I mean, what new progress has been made to weaken the
militant group.
ROBERTSON: Well, there have been a number of airstrikes around in the past 24 hours around Mosul, which is perhaps a sort of significant turn, if
you will. We've talked about the U.S. trained elements of the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga planned to attack Mosul and take back that sort of Iraq's
second largest city, take it back from ISIS. The dates for that have been sort of talked about later in the year, potentially April, potentially May.
Depends when the Iraqi army is ready.
But it appears what we're seeing at the moment is that some of the significant strikes in the past 24 hours by the coalition had been targeted
around the city of Mosul, so perhaps some of the sort of pre-shaping activities in terms of the longer range planning for the attacks are
already underway. They were targeting -- they were targeting checkpoints on the outskirts of the city, ammunition dumps, headquarters where they
believe ISIS may have had people collected -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: All right, Nic Robertson reporting for us. Many thanks indeed for that, Nic.
Now Iraq's defense ministry says that it's armed forces have liberated most areas of al Baghdadi in Anbar province. An official in Anbar tells
CNN that coalition airstrikes helped Iraqi security forces secure approximately 80 percent of the town.
Now the ministry has released this video showing convoys patrolling parts of the city. Some of the scenes are near a building that was
featured in a recent ISIS video.
Now we turn now to the U.S. state of Texas where a jury has convicted the man who killed Chris Kyle, the Navy SEAL whose story is told in the
movie American Sniper.
Now former U.S. Marine Eddie Ray Routh was immediately sentenced to life in prison without parole for fatally shooting Kyle and Kyle's friend
Chad Littlefield.
Now the day they were killed, the two men took Routh to a remote gun range as part of a trip that was meant to help him with post war stress.
And it was there that Routh turned his gun on Kyle and Littlefield.
Now Chris Kyle is considered one of the most lethal snipers in U.S. history. The Navy SEAL marksman served in Iraq several times and became a
legend in military circles due to his 160 confirmed kills.
After his death in 2013, thousands of people attended his memorial service, filling a football stadium in Dallas.
Now the movie based on his memoir American Sniper has drawn crowds around the world.
Now CNN's Martin Savidge covered the trial of Kyle's killer. And he joins us now live from Stephenville, Texas. And Martin, it took the jury
there less than three hours to deliver its verdict. Walk us through the decision.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, yeah.
You know, an insanity defense -- and that's what the defense was putting forward, his attorney saying that Eddie Routh was insane -- it's
always a very difficult one. Many people are skeptical of that. But it was clear here in Texas, this jury was even more skeptical. And here to
the point, it took three hours for the prosecution and the defense to make their closing arguments. It took less than that for the jury to make up
its mind. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDY LITTLEFIELD, MOTHER OF CHAD LITTLEFIELD: It took two years for god to get justice for us on behalf of our son.
SAVIDGE: Breaking overnight, the American sniper trial captivating a nation is over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We, the jury, find the defendant, Eddie Ray Routh, guilty.
SAVIDGE: Deliberating for less than three hours. The jury found 27- year-old Eddie Ray Routh...
EDDIE RAY ROUTH, FRM. U.S. MARINE: I told her I had to kill men today.
SAVIDGE: ...guilty of killing former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield. The former marine seemingly showing no reaction as
the judge sentenced him to a life behind bars without parole.
TIM MOORE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: He thought he had to take their lives because he was in danger.
SAVIDGE: Jurors rejecting defense arguments that Routh, diagnosed with PTSD, was legally insane.
ROUTH: I've been so paranoid and schizophrenic all day I don't know what to even think of the world right now.
SAVIDGE: The 27-year-old, shown here in 2013 moments after police arrested him for shooting Kyle and Littlefield multiple times at a gun
range. Later, Routh told police he believed his victims were pig human hybrids.
ROUTH: They're pigs. I've been smelling it this whole time.
SAVIDGE: In an unusual circumstance the judge barred audio from the trial until the verdict was reached.
JODI ROUTH, MOTHER OF CONVICTED KILLER: He was very suicidal.
SAVIDGE: Routh's mother Jodi, who claimed Eddie once threatened to kill himself and their family, retold what she did the moment she heard her
son killed Kyle.
JODI ROUTH: I had Chris's phone number in my phone and I dialed that number praying to god that he would answer.
SAVIDGE: Taya Kyle, the wife of the former sniper, was overcome with emotion on the stand.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take a minute if you need to.
SAVIDGE: Recalling the last time she saw her husband.
TAYA KYLE, WIFE OF CHRIS KYLE: We said we loved each other and gave a kiss and a hug like we always did.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: I was in the courtroom, actually, Kristie when testimony was given by Taya Kyle. And you could tell the jury was deeply moved by that.
That was early on in the trial.
As you point out, Taya was not in the courtroom when the verdict was read. She had stormed out during the closing arguments so upset by some of
the language, some of the depictions the defense had used to describe the death of her husband -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: And Martin, what's the motive here? I mean, why did Routh kill Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield?
SAVIDGE: That was up for debate in this trial. And in fact you heard a number of different reasonings, really.
The prosecution was saying, look, it's quite simple, he was angry apparently -- Eddie Routh was angry at these two men, because they didn't
talk to him on the two hour drive down to the gun range. In other words, something so petty as his anger is why he killed them.
The defense is saying, no, it's much more than that. This weird delusion he was under that the two men were actually going to kill him so
he had to kill them first -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: Bizarre reasoning there. Martin Savidge reporting live for us from Texas. Many thanks indeed for that.
Now Roman Polanski is again facing possible extradition to the United States. The film director, now 81-year-old fled the U.S. in 1977 after
pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl in California. He has avoided arrest and extradition since then, but at a Polish court that
may decide to send him back for sentencing. Now a hearing is underway in Krakow, Poland.
Now the prospect of a winter World Cup in 2022 has some European football clubs unhappy. We'll tell you why they want compensation.
Reddit takes a stand against revenge porn. And we'll have more on how the online community is stepping up against internet harassment.
And smartwatch pioneer Pebble has unveiled their latest device. We'll ask their CEO how it compares to the Apple Watch a little bit later in the
program.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Welcome back.
Now FIFA says it will not compensate football clubs that are unhappy about a potential date change for the 2022 World Cup. Now FIFA task force
recommended the Qatar World Cup be moved from summer to winter to avoid the fierce Qatari heat. In response, the European Club association demanded
compensation for the disruption that the change could cause to their own seasons.
Now for more, Amir Deftari joins me now live from CNN Abu Dhabi. And Amir, tell us more about these new announcements and what more we learned
about the preparations for the 2022 World Cup.
AMIR DEFTARI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What more we've learned is that there is yet more drama surrounding Qatar 2022. I mean, today was supposed
to be a run of the mill press conference where FIFA would just reflect on the announcement made yesterday. But Jerome Valke, the secretary-general
of FIFA came out bluntly and said we are not going to compensate these European teams.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEROME VALKE, SECRETARY-GENERAL FIFA: There will be no compensation. I mean, they have seven years to reorganize football around the world for
this World Cup. We enjoy football when all is OK, why we don't once organize ourselves and make sure that we can enjoy football in a different
environment in a different situation without someone screaming and saying that's impossible. It's not impossible, it's very possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTARI: Jerome Valke there who is the secretary-general of FIFA, basically President Sepp Blatter right hand man.
And with that comment, you can be sure there will be fireworks between FIFA and the European leagues.
LU STOUT: Yeah, more reaction. And we'll wait for that.
There's also deep concern about the dangerous working conditions, migrant workers building the venues. Is Qatar addressing that issue?
DEFTARI: Qatar is addressing that issue. We have not seen anything significant so far and human rights organizations say the working
conditions are still unsafe. The fact that the migrant workers have to work through the summer heat, which, you know, here in this region hit
about 50 degrees Celsius, over 120 degrees Fahrenheit, which is unhealthy and impossible to do anything outside at the best of times, let alone play
sport, have not yet been addressed.
Now, Qatar again says we are looking at it. And in the next days and months, there will be, you know, new legislation to that end.
LU STOUT: Yeah, the working conditions simply must improve.
Amir Deftari joining us live from CNN Abu Dhabi. Many thanks indeed for that.
Now let's turn to a scathing report on the state of human rights. Amnesty International wants the five permanent members of the United
Nations security council to give up their veto rights on matters of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Now the group says the world's politicians have, quote, miserably failed to protect those in greatest need.
Amnesty predicts that between now and the end of the year without drastic intervention, more civilians will be forced to live under the
control of brutal armed groups, more people will be subject to restrictions on expression of freedom, or freedom of expression and other rights
including unjustified mass surveillance.
And refugee and humanitarian crises will worsen dramatically due to governments blocking borders and the lack of international assistance and
protection.
Now last year, activists here in Hong Kong staged one of the biggest political challenges to China since the 1989 Tienanmen protests. Now
demonstrators, many of them students, occupied Hong Kong's major streets for two months calling for free elections. And this month's On China, I
talked to teen activists about the rise of a so-called Occupy generation. Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSHUA WONG, STUDENT ACTIVIST...in the history is none -- there's none of the country can get democracy under the rule of Communist Party or
communism. Fighting for true universal suffrage in Hong Kong is trying to turn something impossible to possible is really a big challenge, but for a
student or youth in Hong Kong, of course we cannot know all of the agenda or their proposal of the ruling caste in Beijing, we just try our best to
motivate most of the students to tell the ruling caste that the time to stand on the side of the youth.
LU STOUT: Joshua, you just said it, challenging Beijing, the Chinese Communist Party for democracy is an impossible task, but why do you do it?
WONG: Because I believe we still can have the time to turn something that is only a dream or imagine to be possible.
LU STOUT: You fear for your personal safety?
GLACIER KWONG, STUDEN ACTIVIST: When I was facing the baton of the police, I was really scared that they would really beat me up. But not --
I'm not really afraid of being arrested or being caught by the police, but it's actually frightening to know that I'm actually dealing with the whole
Beijing government.
LU STOUT: Do you fear for your personal safety?
WONG: Actually, I'm a bit worried, but under the democracy movement every activist is trying to create miracles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And you can tune in for the full episode this Thursday 5:30 p.m. Hong Kong time, 6:30 p.m. in Tokyo.
You're watching News Stream. And still to come on the program, turning a past time into a profession, how Instagram is becoming a platform
for aspiring photographers to create new careers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Wow, interesting light effects in the misty night sky out there.
Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you are back watching News Stream.
Now the studio behind the Hunger Games films is investing in a developer of cinematic games. Lions Gate entertainment says it's made a
significant investment in Tell-Tale Games.
Now Tell-Tale is known for the critically acclaimed Walking Dead series. Now the games resemble a digital version of a choose your own
adventure book where key choices made by players have an impact on how the story plays out.
Now Tell-Tale and Lion's Gate say that they are going to try to bring this approach to television. And they're working on an interactive TV
show.
Now, Instagram's popularity is booming. Facebook, as you recall, bought the photosharing app nearly three years ago for a billion dollars.
Analysts now value the company at more than 30 times that. Instagram says about 70 million photos are uploaded every day by 300 million who use the
service each month. And generates more than 2.5 billion daily likes.
Now some users have even turned their Instagram success into careers. Now we met up with one photographer from Tokyo who did just that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HIROAKI FUKUDA, PHOTOGRAPHER: My name is Hiroaki Fukuda and I'm a photographer based in Tokyo.
I built my photography career based on success on Instagram. So it started off as social media. Actually the first time I took a photo was
three years ago on Instagram. And it was never my intent to pursue photography as a career, but just something that I fell into.
The reason why I got so hooked was because, you know, it was so simple. I could just use the camera that I had on me all the time, which
was my iPhone. Two years into using that app, I got my first offer and I think at the time I had around 70,000 followers.
I worked with Lemmy Maria (ph) and Don Perignon (inaudible) and I've also worked with Dior and Michael Kors. And I think also at the time
brands started becoming aware that Instagram could be a tool, a tool where they can, you know, connect with a different audience. And I think that's
when they started looking towards Instagramers.
Of course, Twitter has -- Twitter has its strength, Facebook has its strength, but with Instagram with the images, people are really connected.
So, it's a great opportunity for fans to kind of -- to connect with the people, you know, on a more personal level.
So typically I'll go through the images that I shot today. I can just transfer it directly to my phone.
I really like this one, just because I like the light in it. I also like the mood.
But the one person walking down almost into the light. So I'll save that one.
It affording me the opportunity to travel and experience the world in a way that I never thought was possible.
I've been to a lot of wild places. Iceland is definitely on top of my list. Alberta, Canada was another one, and also India, really changed my
life, because now I'm able to do, you know, what I love to do in terms of - - you know, taking photos and seeing the world in a different way.
I would say it's my dream now for sure.
I like it when my followers comment that they feel something from the photo, or like it brings back memories. It's that connection, it's that
feeling, it's that emotion that's why people like my photos.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Beautiful images there, but he's not using his smartphone, hm.
Now Instagram says it's 11th worldwide Instameet will take place on March 21 and 22. What is an Instameet? Well, it's where Instagram users
can meet up at a specific place and time anywhere in the world to hang out and take photos together.
Now, confusion at a Brazilian airport leaves a student stranded in the wrong city for days. Now this man, a young man from Ghana in West Africa,
he was making his way to Gayana in South America to attend university and here's where he wanted to go, but because there was no direct flight there
from his home, he was forced to make a stop here in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
And this is where the confusion hit. Instead of heading to his university, he was sent to the city of Goiania near the Brazilian capital.
Just take a look at how far it is from his destination, it's almost 3,000 kilometers away.
Now the student had to spend a week in Brazil because he had no money, poor guy, but this tale it has a happy ending. Once the story was picked
up by local media, the travel agency that sold him the wrong ticket issued him a new one, this time to the correct city.
Now you're watching News Stream. Still to come on the program, a major shift from Reddit. Now the discussion forum and news website is
cracking down on so-called revenge porn.
And Pebble hits gold again on Kickstarter. Now I talked to the company's CEO about its latest smartwatch that has already broken a record.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Welcome back.
I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.
Now the Assyrian Human Rights network tells CNN ISIS militants are moving 150 Christian captives to strongholds of the radical jihadi group.
Now that is nearly double initial estimates that put the number of those captured between 70 and 100 people. Now the Assyrians were kidnapped from
villages in northeastern Syria.
A jury in Texas has found Eddie Ray Routh guilty of murdering American Sniper author Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield. Now Routh was
immediately sentenced to life in prison without parole. Kyle was a former U.S. Navy SEAL with 160 confirmed kills as the sniper while fighting in
Iraq.
Now the British defense minister Michael Fallon says Britain will not send combat troops to eastern Ukraine. Now the UK announced on Tuesday
that it would send troops to provide training to the Ukrainian army amid the ongoing conflict with pro-Russian rebels.
FIFA says it will not compensate European football clubs that are unhappy a about a potential date change for the 2022 World Cup. The
European Club Association had demanded compensation for the disruption that could be caused if the tournament in Qatar gets moved to later in the year,
which a FIFA task force is now recommending.
The sprawling online community Reddit is taking a stand against revenge porn. Now the company is updating its privacy policy to prohibit
the posting of nude and sexual images without the subject's consent beginning March 10.
Now Reddit says this, quote, "we recognize that violent personalized images are a form of harassment that we do not tolerate and we will remove
them when notified."
Now the new policy puts the burden of proof on the victim. He or she will have to email Reddit in order to have the images removed.
Now, smartwatch pioneers Pebble are back with their latest device, the Pebble Time. Now the new smartwatch has a thinner design, color screen and
a brand new interface.
Now I spoke with the company's CEO Eric Migicovsky. And I began by asking him why he chose to put Pebble Time on the crowd-funding site
Kickstarter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIC MIGICOVSKY, CEO, PEBBLE: So, when we started working on this, it was seven years ago. And if you try to picture yourself seven years ago,
smartwatches were definitely not a thing. They weren't on the tip of people's tongues. But today in 2015, smartwatches are big. And for us, we
feel like we played a pretty important part in making that happen. We launched our first smartwatch for iPhone and Android on Kickstarter three
years ago. At that point, we were just five guys in a living room here in Palo Alto. Now we're a company of over 130 people.
And when we launched our new watch on Kickstarter today, I think it's -- it was a message to our backers, to the people who supported us at the
beginning, that we're in this for the long haul. And we're 100 percent focused on building the best smartwatch possible.
LU STOUT: And how does your new smartwatch, the Pebble Time, compare to the Apple Watch? And do you think the two are sufficiently different?
MIGICOVSKY: So our new watch is definitely a worthy -- a worthy kind of advancement to the original Pebble watch. It works with both iPhone and
Android. It displays incoming notifications. We've actually added a microphone so that you can send quick voice responses. So if you get a new
email, you can quickly respond to that right from your wrist without having to take out your phone.
We've also made sure that Pebble Time is an amazing watch. You know, this is something that's going on your wrist. It's with you for some
people 24/7.
We wanted to make sure that it would live up to the task of being on your wrist. That's why we made sure it had a battery life of up to seven
days. It's water resistant. So you don't have to worry about it. You can shower, you can swim, you can go for a run in the rain. You don't have to
worry about it like a piece of expensive consumer electronics.
LU STOUT: Let's talk about your user interface, the Timeline, because why do you take that take of using buttons as opposed to what the Apple
Watch has a digital crown, or just swiping through?
MIGICOVSKY: So for us it's about accessibility.
When we built our new operating system around the concept of time as a metaphor, we needed to make sure that it was extremely easy to use and
something that you wouldn't have to fiddle with.
A watch is not designed -- a smartwatch shouldn't be like having a smartphone on your wrist. It's not designed for long interactions. You're
not going to be typing things out on a touchscreen.
What we did with Pebble Time is make sure that people can quickly glance down, see important information about what's coming up next in your
day. And then, you know, return to your regular life without having to spend time fiddling with your watch.
One of the reasons why we added buttons to our watch was so that users would have a tactile feedback. So for example when you have an incoming
call your Pebble Time will vibrate. And with one click of a button, you can accept a call, you can cancel the call, you could send it to voicemail
without even having to look at the watch.
LU STOUT: And with this whole new platform that you're introducing, do you have any thinking about going beyond the watch to other screen
devices?
MIGICOVSKY: For us, our focus is on the watch. We think that it's an incredibly -- it's an incredibly interesting place to build technology.
People have been wearing technology on their wrists for the last 100 years. Most people don't realize that. What we're doing is we're bringing
21st Century modern technology to this same spot that people have classically been wearing things on their body.
That's not to say that in the future we might not do some interesting, some cool stuff with our new interface. But for right now, we're intensely
focused on the wrist.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And that was the founder and CEO of Pebble speaking to me earlier.
And Pebble is setting records all over again on Kickstarter. The original was the first project to make over $10 million on the crowd-
funding site. But Pebble Time has made almost $9 million in 24 hours.
Right now it is the fourth most funded project ever on Kickstarter and it still has 30 days to go to raise even more money.
Now, drones, they were spotted hovering over Paris landmarks for a second night in a row. And police say that they don't know why they're
being flown. And they're searching for the drone operators.
Now some drones actually have no-fly zones built into them. Now drones from the industry leader DJI are programmed with this list of
sensitive areas like airports. They use GPS to check whether their current location is inside one of these zones. And if they are, the drone will
automatically land. It will not fly until they are removed from the area.
According to DJI's website, the only areas where their drones won't fly in Paris are around the city's two airports.
You're watching News Stream. Still to come, she is one of the best at convincing shoppers to splurge. But being the head of one of the biggest
TV shopping networks isn't easy. Home Shopping Network's Mindy Grossman tells CNN why it's important to bet on your employees.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Welcome back.
Now call her a disruptor, that's how this week's Leading Woman Mindy Grossman wants you to see her. Now she is the CEO of HSN Inc. You may
know the company for its Home Shopping Network. Isha Sesay found out how Grossman transformed it into success.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MINDY GROSSMAN, HSN CEO: I believe the reason I really understand our consumers, I am her.
Is that a real thing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
GROSSMAN: Oh, I need that. No, I need the antler head.
I love it.
But I also like to get a good deal. So I really understand the behavior.
I'm Mindy Grossman. I'm a mom, a wife, a friend, the CEO of HSN Inc., but most of all I'm a disrupter.
ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When it comes to shopping, Mindy Grossman knows what's going to make you part with your money. She spent
decades in fashion and retail, working for iconic brands like Ralph Lauren and Nike. She's no stranger to what's hot.
GROSSMAN: So this can showcase the trends while we're showcasing them on models.
SESAY: Now, as chief executive officer of HSN Inc. she oversees a multibillion dollar retail portfolio that includes a TV shopping network
that is a powerhouse in the United States. She's credited with reinventing the network by making it, well, hip.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's chic? What does chic mean?
SESAY: Talk to me when you first joined this company, 2006, what was it then? How was it perceived?
GROSSMAN: It was more struggling business. It wasn't exactly looked at as aspirational. Too many people only see what is right in front of them.
And I've always believed in the possibilities. So when I look at something, I don't look at what's there, I look at what it could be.
SESAY: And she feels that philosophy applies to the 6,000 employees that fall under her leadership.
GROSSMAN: Too many CEOs come into companies that aren't performing and they just assume that the people aren't talented. They never think maybe it
was the leadership that wasn't inspiring those people.
What I really wanted to understand is how could we unleash the talent that was here.
SESAY: What are some of the challenges you faced during your time here?
GROSSMAN: I would say that in the very beginning being dismissed. On one hand you take it personally, on the other hand it makes you stronger,
because I always believe that you never bet against anyone. You bet for people.
SESAY: Sure.
GROSSMAN: And that was really a learning experience.
So we are now in our main kitchen set.
SESAY: She likens her job now to being a kid in a candy store, saying if she can dream it she and her team can do it.
GROSSMAN: Every one of these is Velcro. It can pop off.
SESAY: Oh, you are kidding?
Oh, you're not kidding.
And along the way, she may sample some of the treats.
Now let me ask you, do you shop at HSN?
GROSSMAN: My husbands once was burst out laughing. I said, what is so funny? He goes, you just got a letter from yourself for being one of the
best customers at HSN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere. World Sport with Alex Thomas is next.
END
