to publicly question the engineering behind our smartphones, apps and social media platforms. he says they're built to be addictive, and warns of long term consequences for us and our families. >> never before in history have a handful of people at a handful of technology companies shaped how a billion people think and feel every day with the choices they make about these screens. ♪ ♪ >> bruno mars may be the hottest lucky man in show business. and when you hear how he grew up you'll understand why this fullback never takes anything for granted. your house. >> i just really care about what people see. i want them to know that i'm... i'm working hard for this. the artists that i look up to-- like, you know, michael, prince, james brown-- they're not phoning it in. they're going up there to murder anybody that performs after them or performs before them. ♪ ♪ >> i'm steve kroft. >> i'm lesley stahl. >> i'm bill whitaker. >> i'm anderson cooper. >> i'm lara logan. >> i'm scott pelley. those stories, tonight on "60 minutes." ♪ [beeping] ♪ wow. good to know we have that on our prius! ♪ [beeping] ♪ and lane departure alert. see what i mean? with so many safety features like pedestrian detection and lane departure alert, toyota doesn't need us test dummies as much. oh, i get it, man! hey, i gotta get my thrills somehow. the 2017 prius with toyota safety sense standard. toyota. let's go places. 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>> thae yong-ho: of course. why not? >> whitaker: the man who could order an assassination is kim jong-un. the dictator is the third member of the kim family to rule north korea. they have controlled the impoverished country with an iron-clad fist for 70 years. this missile test was in february. kim devotes a quarter of his country's economy to weapons like this, and his million man army, despite widespread food shortages. >> thae yong-ho: kim jong-un strongly believes that once he possesses i.c.b.m., then he can easily scare off america. >> whitaker: right now, how dangerous is north korea to the stability of south korea and as a threat to the united states? >> thae yong-ho: kim jong-un's capability to wreak harm, not only to america but also to south korea and the world, should not be underestimated. >> whitaker: during his five years in power, kim jong-un has expanded north korea's nuclear arsenal, despite international sanctions that have brought his country's economy to its knees. electricity is scarce. from space, north korea is a black hole. that's it, wedged between the shining lights of south korea, and china to the north. thae said he was living a comfortable life here at the north korean embassy in london before he fled with his wife and two grown sons. his job in london was to spread north korean propaganda, and report back on his colleagues. you all live together under one roof? >> thae yong-ho: yes. >> whitaker: so you could keep an eye on each other? >> thae yong-ho: keep an eye on each other, control each other, and even spy on each other. >> whitaker: but thae said he lost all faith in the regime when kim jong-un killed his own uncle in 2013, and executed dozens of perceived enemies, including diplomats. i have seen tape of you-- >> thae yong-ho: yes. >> whitaker: --giving speeches in london. you're very convincing. you seem to be a true believer yourself. >> thae yong-ho: if i show any sign of hesitation, then i would be, you know, sent to-- >> whitaker: what would happen to you? >> thae yong-ho: i would be sent to prison camps. so my whole family's life will be jeopardized. >> whitaker: thae said there was one big obstacle to his defection. >> thae yong-ho: all north korean diplomats are forced to leave one of their children back in pyongyang as a hostage. >> whitaker: as a hostage? >> thae yong-ho: yes. >> whitaker: his break came when that policy unexpectedly changed, and thae's oldest son was allowed to join the family in london. they all agreed to defect. he would not give us the details of his escape and who helped, but we know he was kept in a safe house by south korean intelligence agents and questioned for more than three months. he said it was too dangerous for us to meet his family. now, i've been talking to you for a couple of days now. you come from a secretive place. >> thae yong-ho: yes. >> whitaker: but i think you still have lots of secrets. >> thae yong-ho: sure. yes. >> whitaker: how do we know that what he is telling us is the truth, not just self-serving? >> chung min lee: you know, when a defector makes a decision to jump ship, he is doing it at a huge cost, his co-workers or relatives, in-laws will be purged or killed. >> whitaker: chung min lee was south korea's ambassador for national security until last year. he said looks here can be deceiving. the risk of war today is exceptionally high. i think most americans right now would see this as a holdover from the cold war. but it seems to be quite hot when you're here. >> chung min lee: that's right. this is the only place on the entire planet where you have nearly a million forces on both sides standing, ready to fight a war in basically a nanosecond. and who is there right in the middle of this? it's basically the u.s. forces. >> whitaker: lee helped shape seoul's policy toward north korea. he went with us to panmunjom, the village in the two and a half mile wide demilitarized zone that separates north and south korea. as we got closer, seoul's sprawl gave way to military check points. the agreement that suspended the korean war was signed here. but there's still no peace treaty. the war began when the communist north invaded in 1950. 34,000 americans were killed in what amounted to a stalemate. >> chung min lee: so this is the longest war on paper since world war ii. so we are still technically in a state of war. >> whitaker: today both sides still stare each other down. that's north korea right there, that building just 100 yards away. we were told to avoid sudden movements that could be interpreted as threatening. it wasn't long before north korean soldiers took an interest in all the activity. so we went inside a negotiation hut that straddles the border. what is right behind the door? >> chung min lee: right behind the door is, basically from there this is north korea. once you go out, that's it. we have no jurisdiction on that side of the door. >> whitaker: so if i were to walk out that door? >> chung min lee: that's it. >> whitaker: i'm in the hands of north korea? >> chung min lee: that's true. >> whitaker: let's stay on this side. it was all surreal. this part of the d.m.z. closest to seoul had the feel of a cold war theme park-- complete with a fake village on the north korean side built to impress the south. and in case you missed the point, loudspeakers blared propaganda: marshal songs praising kim jong-un. a few miles away, tourists crowded an observation deck, snapping photos with troops, cardboard cut-outs, and the real ones. what the visitors could not see on the other side of those mountains are 10,000 artillery pieces the north korean military has aimed at seoul. all of which could reach the 28 million people in and around the south korean capital. u.s. war planners estimate 500,000 people could be killed in a second korean war. is there any other metropolitan area on earth this vulnerable? >> james slife: certainly nothing that approaches seoul in terms of the size, the density of the population. there's nothing like it. >> whitaker: u.s. air force general james slife flew with us over the city. it's just 30 miles from the d.m.z. we landed at osan air base where korean airmen and their american colleagues monitor all activity north of the d.m.z. for security, they shut off the giant video displays right before we came in. this facility is among the first to detect north korean missile launches. you're, like, on a war footing all the time. >> slife: that's right. this is truly one of those places where the best way to prevent a war is being ready for a war. >> whitaker: the north's latest missile tests used a new type of solid fuel engine and were fired from mobile launchers, making them quick to deploy and difficult for u.s. satellites to detect in real-time. >> slife: with the development of ballistic missiles, with the development of nuclear weapons, things here have a tension that you can feel in the air as you move around places like this. >> whitaker: we wanted to talk to the general who leads u.s. forces in korea and would command korean troops in the event of a war. he asked to meet us at guard post four. it's a citadel on critical high- ground at the end of a road lined with land mines. we were the first american news crew allowed in. this was no cold war theme park. body armor was required and artillery was on standby in the event we came under fire. general vincent brooks has commanded u.s. forces fighting in iraq and afghanistan. i don't think people at home know how tense this line is. >> vincent brooks: what it takes to go from the condition we're in at this moment to hostilities again, is literally the matter of a decision on north korea's side to say "fire." and on top of this, we have the missile capability that's been developed, over 120 missiles fired just in the time of kim jong-un alone. >> whitaker: so now they're talking about i.c.b.m.s that might be able to reach the west coast of the united states. how do you stop them from taking that next step? >> brooks: north korea's responsible for the direction that the region is going. it is responsible for the conditions of instability that are starting to arise. it has to take responsibility for that and stop. >> whitaker: his country is poor. his people are starving. what is it that he wants? >> brooks: survival-- >> whitaker: survival. >> brooks: --and recognition. >> whitaker: kim jong-un is now recognized as a global threat. u.s. intelligence estimates he has at least ten nuclear weapons. if the u.s. decided it had no choice but to launch a pre- emptive strike on an i.c.b.m. test site, it could trigger the unthinkable. >> brooks: if north korea uses nuclear weapons, it will be met with an effective and overwhelming response. now they can take it to the bank. we make that same point to our allies and partners, like the republic of korea and like japan. >> whitaker: effective and overwhelming response? >> brooks: effective and overwhelming response. >> whitaker: wipe north korea off the map? >> brooks: whatever overwhelms you. >> whitaker: that warning rang in our ears as we returned to seoul and met one last time with defector thae yong-ho. we asked about his brother and sister, still in north korea. what do you think has happened to them? >> thae yong-ho: they will be sent to prison camps. that is what i am absolutely sure. >> whitaker: does that weigh on you? >> thae yong-ho: of course. yes. i cannot get rid of that kind of nightmare after night of seeing my brother and sister in prison camps. >> whitaker: thae told us he believes he can help topple the north korean regime by encouraging other defections and speaking out. during the campaign, president trump called kim jong-un a "maniac." his language has been much more careful since the latest missile tests. >> join the "60 minutes" team under the watchful eyes and loaded guns of the north korean army. >> you are watching a very-- >> on 60minutesovertime.com. sponsored by pfizer. your body was made for better things than rheumatoid arthritis. before you and your rheumatologist move to another treatment, ask if xeljanz is right for you. xeljanz is a small pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. xeljanz can reduce joint pain and swelling in as little as two weeks, and help stop further joint damage. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened. don't start xeljanz if you have an infection. tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz, and monitor certain liver tests. tell your doctor if you were in a region where fungal infections are common and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. xeljanz can reduce the symptoms of ra, even without methotrexate, and is also available in a once-daily pill. ask about xeljanz xr. i wish you were here. i miss home. ♪ ♪ for those who find a way. always unstoppable. ♪ the moments that connect us happen one morning at a time, and one cup at a time. folgers, the best part of wakin' up. >> cooper: have you ever wondered if all those people you see staring intently at their smartphones-- nearly everywhere and at all times-- are addicted to them? according to a former google product manager you are about to hear from, silicon valley is engineering your phone, apps and social media to get you hooked. as we first reported in april, he is one of the few tech insiders to publicly acknowledge that the companies responsible for programming your phones are working hard to get you to feel the need to check in constantly. some programmers call it "brain hacking," and the tech world would probably prefer you didn't hear about it. but tristan harris openly questions the long-term consequences of it all, and we think it's worth putting down your phone to listen. >> tristan harris: this thing is a slot machine. >> cooper: how is that a slot machine? >> harris: well, every time i check my phone, i'm playing the slot machine to see, "what did i get?" this is one way to hijack people's minds and create a habit, to form a habit. what you do is you make it so when someone pulls a lever, sometimes they get a reward, an exciting reward. and it turns out that this design technique can be embedded inside of all these products. >> cooper: the rewards harris is talking about are a big part of what makes smartphones so appealing. the chance of getting likes on facebook and instagram. cute emojis in text messages. and new followers on twitter. >> harris: there's a whole playbook of techniques that get used to get you using the product for as long as possible. >> cooper: what kind of techniques are used? >> harris: so, snapchat's the most popular messaging service for teenagers, and they invented this feature called "streaks," which shows the number of days in a row that you've sent a message back and forth with someone. so now you could say, "well, what's the big deal here?" well, the problem is that kids feel like, "well, now i don't want to lose my streak." but it turns out that kids, actually, when they go on vacation, are so stressed about their streak that they actually give their password to, like, five other kids to keep their streaks going on their behalf. and so, you could ask when these features are being designed, are they designed to most help people live their life? or are they being designed because they're best at hooking people into using the product? >> cooper: is silicon valley programming apps or are they programming people? >> harris: inadvertently, whether they want to or not, they are shaping the thoughts and feelings and actions of people. they are programming people. there's always this narrative that technology is neutral, and it's up to us to choose how we use it. this is just not true. >> cooper: technology's not neutral? >> harris: it's not neutral. they want you to use it in particular ways, and for long periods of time, because that's how they make their money. >> cooper: it's rare for a tech insider to be so blunt, but tristan harris believes someone needs to be. a few years ago, he was living the silicon valley dream. he dropped out of a master's program at stanford university to start a software company. four years later, google bought him out and hired him as a product manager. it was while working there he started to feel overwhelmed. >> harris: honestly, i was just bombarded in email and calendar invitations, and just the overload of what it's like to work at a place like google. and i was asking, "when is all of this adding up to, like, an actual benefit to my life?" and i ended up making this presentation, it was kind of a manifesto, and it basically said, you know, "look, never before in history have a handful of people at a handful of technology companies shaped how a billion people think and feel every day with the choices they make about these screens." >> cooper: his 144-page presentation argued that the constant distractions of apps and emails are "weakening our relationships to each other," and "destroying our kids ability to focus." it was widely read inside google, and caught the eye of one of the founders, larry page. but harris told us it didn't lead to any changes, and after three years, he quit. >> harris: and it's not because anyone is evil or has bad intentions. it's because the game is getting attention at all costs. and the problem is, it becomes this race to the bottom of the brainstem, where if i go lower on the brainstem to get you, you know, using my product, i win. but it doesn't end up in the world we want to live in. we don't end up feeling good about how we're using all this stuff. >> cooper: you call this a "race to the bottom of the brainstem." it's a race to the most primitive emotions we have? fear, anxiety, loneliness, all these things? >> harris: absolutely. and that's, again, because in the race for attention, i have to do whatever works. it absolutely wants one thing, which is your attention. >> cooper: now he travels the country trying to convince programmers and anyone else who will listen that the business model of tech companies needs to change. he wants products designed to make the best use of our time, not just grab our attention. do you think parents understand the complexities of what their kids are dealing with, when they're dealing with their phone, dealing with apps and social media? >> harris: no. and i think this is really important. because there's a narrative that, "oh, i guess they're just doing this like we used to gossip on the phone." but what this misses is that your telephone in the 1970s didn't have a thousand engineers on the other side of the telephone, who were redesigning it to work with other telephones and then updating the way your telephone worked every day to be more and more persuasive. that was not true in the 1970s. >> cooper: how many silicon valley insiders are there speaking out like you are? >> harris: not that many. >> cooper: we reached out to the biggest tech firms, but none would speak on the record and some didn't even return our phone call. most tech companies say their priority is improving user experience, something they call "engagement," but they remain secretive about what they do to keep people glued to their screens. so we went to venice, california, where the body builders on the beach are being muscled out by small companies that specialize in what ramsay brown calls brain hacking. >> ramsay brown: a computer programmer who now understands how the brain works, knows how to write code that will get the brain to do certain things. >> cooper: ramsay brown studied neuroscience before co-founding dopamine labs, a start-up crammed into a garage. the company is named after the dopamine molecule in our brains that aids in the creation of desire and pleasure. brown and his colleagues write computer code for apps used by fitness companies and financial firms. the programs are designed to provoke a neurological response. you're trying to figure out how to get people coming back to use the screen? >> brown: when should i make you feel a little extra awesome, to get you to come back into the app longer? >> cooper: the computer code he creates finds the best moment to give you one of those rewards-- which have no actual value, but brown says trigger your brain to make you want more. for example, on instagram, he told us sometimes those likes come in a sudden rush. >> brown: they're holding some of them back for you, to let you know later in a big burst. like, hey, here's the 30 likes we didn't mention from a little while ago. why that moment-- >> cooper: so all of a sudden, you get a big burst of likes? >> brown: yeah, but why that moment? there's some algorithm somewhere that predicted, hey, for this user right now who is experimental subject 79b3 in experiment 231, we think we can see an improvement in his behavior if you give it to him in this burst instead of that burst. >> cooper: when brown says "experiments," he's talking generally about the millions of computer calculations being used every moment by his company and others to constantly tweak your online experience and make you come back for more. >> brown: you're part of a controlled set of experiments that are happening in real time, across you and millions of other people. >> cooper: we're guinea pigs? >> brown: you're guinea pigs. you are guinea pigs in the box, pushing the button and sometimes getting the likes. and they're doing this to keep you in there. >> cooper: the longer we look at our screens, the more data companies collect about us, and the more ads we see. ad spending on social media has doubled in just two years to more than $31 billion. >> brown: you don't pay for facebook. advertisers pay for facebook. you get to use it for free because your eyeballs are what's being sold, there. >> cooper: that's an interesting way to look at it, that you're not the customer for facebook. >> brown: you're not the customer. you don't sign a check to facebook. but coca-cola does. >> cooper: brown says there's a reason texts and facebook use a continuous scroll-- because it's a proven way to keep you searching longer. >> brown: you spend half your time on facebook just scrolling to find one good piece worth looking at. it's happening because they are engineered to become addictive. >> cooper: you're almost saying it like there's an addiction code. >> brown: yeah, that is the case. that, since we've figured out, to some extent, how these pieces of the brain that handle addiction are working, people have figured out how to juice them further and how to bake that information into apps. >> larry rosen: dinner table could be a technology-free zone. >> cooper: while brown is tapping into the power of dopamine, psychologist larry rosen and his team at california state university-dominguez hills are researching the effect technology has on our anxiety levels. >> rosen: we're looking at the impact of technology through the brain. >> cooper: rosen told us, when you put your phone down, your brain signals your adrenal gland to produce a burst of a hormone called cortisol, which has an evolutionary purpose. cortisol triggers a fight-or- flight response to danger. how does cortisol relate to a mobile device, a phone? >> rosen: what we find is the typical person checks their phone every 15 minutes or less, and half of the time they check their phone, there is no alert, no notification. it's coming from inside their head, telling them, "gee, i haven't checked on facebook in a while. i haven't checked on this twitter feed for a while. i wonder if somebody commented on my instagram post." that then generates cortisol and it starts to make you anxious, and eventually your goal is to get rid of that anxiety, so you check in. >> cooper: so the same hormone that made primitive man anxious and hyperaware of his surroundings to keep him from being eaten by lions, is today compelling rosen's students and all of us to continually peek at our phones to relieve our anxiety. >> rosen: when you put the phone down, you don't shut off your brain, you just put the phone down. >> cooper: can i be honest with you right now? i haven't paid attention to what you're saying because i just realized my phone is right down by my right foot and i haven't checked it in, like, ten minutes. >> rosen: and it makes you anxious. >> cooper: i'm a little anxious. >> rosen: yes. >> cooper: we found out just how anxious, in this experiment conducted by rosen's research colleague, nancy cheever. >> nancy cheever: so the first thing i'm going to do is apply these electrodes to your fingers. >> cooper: while i watched a video, a computer tracked minute changes in my heart rate and perspiration. what i didn't know was that cheever was sending text messages to my phone, which was just out of reach. every time my text notification went off, the blue line spiked, indicating anxiety caused in part by the release of cortisol. >> cheever: oh, that one is-- that's a huge spike right there. and you can imagine what that's doing to your body, every time you get a text message. you probably can't even feel it, right? because it's such a-- it's a small amount of arousal. >> cooper: that's fascinating. their research suggests, our phones are keeping us in a continual state of anxiety, in which the only antidote... is the phone. is it known what the impact of all this technology use is? >> rosen: absolutely not. >> cooper: it's too soon. >> rosen: we're all part of this big experiment. >> cooper: what is this doing to a young mind, or a teenager? >> rosen: well there's some projects going on where they're actually scanning teenager's brains over a 20-year period, and looking to see what kind of changes they're finding. >> gabe zichermann: here's the reality. corporations and creators of content have, since the beginning of time, wanted to make their content as engaging as possible. >> cooper: gabe zichermann has worked with dozens of companies, including apple and cbs, to make their online products more irresistible. he's best known in silicon valley for his expertise in something called gamification, using techniques from video games to insert fun and competition into almost everything on your smartphone. >> zichermann: so one of the interesting things about gamification and other engaging technologies, is at the same time as we can argue that the neuroscience is being used to create dependent behavior, those same techniques are being used to get people to work out, you know, using their fitbit. so all of these technologies, all the techniques for engagement can be used for good, or can be used for bad. >> cooper: zichermann is now working on software called "onward," designed to break user's bad habits. it will track a person's activity and can recommend they do something else when they're spending too much time online. >> zichermann: i think creators have to be liberated to make their content as good as possible. >> cooper: the idea that a tech company is not going to try to make their product as persuasive, as engaging as possible, you're just saying that's not going to happen? >> zichermann: asking technology companies, asking content creators to be less good at what they do feels like a ridiculous ask. it feels impossible. and also, it's very anti- capitalistic. this isn't the system that we live in. >> cooper: ramsay brown and his garage start-up, dopamine labs, made a habit-breaking app as well. it's called "space" and it creates a 12-second delay-- what brown calls a "moment of zen" before any social media app launches. in january, he tried to convince apple to sell it in their app store. >> brown: and they rejected it from the app store because they told us any app that would encourage people to use other apps or their iphone less was unacceptable for distribution in the app store. >> cooper: they actually said that to you? >> brown: they said that to us. they did not want us to give out this thing that was going to make people less stuck on their phones. >> cooper: a few days after our story first aired, apple called to tell us it had a change of heart and made "space" available in its app store. >> this cbs sports update is brought to you by the lincoln motor company. hell loy, everyone. i'm bill macatee with back-to-back rounds of 66 today in memphis. daniel berg berger has won his second consecutive fedex classic. in paris today, the king of play resumed his play as rafa nadal won in straight sets to capture a record 10th french open title. for more sports news and information go, to cbssports.com. you might not ever just stand there, looking at it. you may never even sit in the back seat. yeah, but maybe you should. ♪ (laughter) ♪ abdominal pain... ...and diarrhea. but it's my anniversary. aw. sorry. we've got other plans. your recurring, unpredictable abdominal pain and diarrhea... ...may be irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea, or ibs-d. you've tried over-the-counter treatments and lifestyle changes, but ibs-d can be really frustrating. talk to your doctor about viberzi,... ...a different way to treat ibs-d. viberzi is a prescription medication you take every day that helps proactively manage... ...both abdominal pain and diarrhea at the same time. so you stay ahead of your symptoms. viberzi can cause new or worsening abdominal pain. do not take viberzi if you have no gallbladder, have pancreas or severe liver problems, problems with alcohol abuse, long-lasting or severe constipation, or a bowel or gallbladder blockage. pancreatitis may occur and can lead to hospitalization and death. if you are taking viberzi,... ...you should not take medicines that cause constipation. the most common side effects of viberzi... ...include constipation, nausea, and abdominal pain. stay ahead of ibs-d with viberzi. flea bites can mean misery for your cat. advantage® ii monthly topical kills fleas through contact. fleas do not have to bite your cat to die. advantage® ii. fight the misery of biting fleas. we cut the price of trades to give investors even more value. and at $4.95, you can trade with a clear advantage. fidelity, where smarter investors will always be. >> logan: bruno mars is one of the world's biggest music stars, and he's one the most driven people we've ever seen. just 31, he's the product of what he calls a "school of rock" education-- a working class life of experiences that have taught him the music business. as we first reported in november, none of it came easily. he's been broke, busted and nearly homeless. to show us how he got to where he is today, bruno mars did something he's never done: he shared with us some of the toughest moments of his hawaiian upbringing and gave us the opportunity to witness his extraordinary skills as a songwriter and producer. we begin with bruno mars, the entertainer. this show in connecticut was his first public concert last year-- >> mohegan sun! >> logan: --and he used it as a tune-up for the release of his new album and world tour to follow. ( ♪ "uptown funk" ) on every song and every note, from arenas to halftime of the superbowl, he and his band, the hooligans, perform full throttle. ( ♪ "uptown funk" ) his standards are high, because the legends of music set them. ( ♪ "uptown funk" ) >> bruno mars: i just really care about what people see. i want them to know that i'm-- i'm working hard for this. ( ♪ "uptown funk" ) the artists that i look up to, like, you know, michael, prince, james brown. you watch them, and you understand that they're paying attention to the details of their art. and they care so much about what they're wearing, about how they're moving, about how they're making the audience feel. they're not phoning it in. they're going up there to murder anybody that performs after them or performs before them. that's what i've watched my whole life, and admired. >> logan: he is a throwback. you see it in the choreography on stage-- ( ♪ "locked out of heaven" ) --and hear it in the songs themselves, descendants of the generations that came before him. ( ♪ "locked out of heaven" ) >> logan: when i listen to your songs-- >> mars: uh-huh? >> logan: --you can hear all those people that you've listened to-- >> mars: yeah. >> logan: --over the years. >> mars: a lot of people are really quick to say, "that song sounds like this." or you-- "he's tryin' to sound like this." and i'm always like, "you're damn right i am. that's how-- that's why we're all here." you know, we all grew up idolizing another musician. that's how this works. that's how music is created. >> logan: the musical education of bruno mars began in his hometown: honolulu, hawaii. he was born peter hernandez, to a puerto rican father and philippino mother: parents who were professional musicians, performing together in the tourist showrooms of waikiki beach. their act was called the "love notes," and when bruno was four years old, his parents included him in the family business. ( ♪ "blue suede shoes" ) he played "little elvis" and it's when he first learned he could steal the show. ( ♪ "hound dog" ) the "little elvis" routine lasted six years, but the lessons of his parents' vegas- style waikiki entertainment revue, have lasted a lifetime. >> mars: you know, it was, like, "school of rock" for me. and it was just-- this kind of razzle-dazzle lifestyle. >> logan: that's real showbiz. >> mars: yeah, show business. you know? >> logan: right? >> mars: and if you wasn't hitting those notes and the audience wasn't-- freakin' out, then you weren't doing it right. >> logan: by the time he turned 12, his parents divorced and the family band broke up. money was tight. his four sisters moved in with his mom. he and his brother lived with his dad-- on top of this building? >> mars: on top of this building. >> logan: --anywhere they could. >> mars: my dad was just the king of finding these little spots for us to stay that we should never have been staying at. >> logan: but you were, like, homeless people? >> mars: yeah. no. yeah, for sure. we was in a limousine once. 1984 limousine. >> logan: sleeping in the back of a car, on top of buildings, and this place-- so this is where you lived? --paradise park, a bird zoo where his dad took a job. this was the first time he'd been back here since. even people who work with him haven't heard this part of his story. >> mars: where we were staying at first-- >> logan: yeah? >> mars: --didn't have a bathroom. so we'd have to walk across the park to this other spot that had a bathroom. >> logan: wow. >> mars: in the-- in-- >> logan: and sometimes in the middle of the night. >> mars: in the middle of the night. >> logan: when the park closed, they stayed, moving into this one-room building. this was your house? >> mars: yeah. >> logan: they lived here for more than two years. >> mars: just so people don't think we're crazy-- >> logan: yeah? >> mars: --it did not look like this. >> logan: it had a roof? >> mars: it had a roof. >> logan: it didn't have plants growing inside? >> mars: it didn't have plants growing inside. i don't know what happened to the roof, but the bed would be right there in the middle. >> logan: yeah? and you'd all sleep in one bed? >> mars: we'd all sleep in one bed. >> logan: happy memories? >> mars: the best. >> logan: that's-- is kind of amazing, in that, what you remember about it is not the struggle or the things you didn't have. >> mars: naw-- >> logan: it's all the things you-- you had. >> mars: yeah. we had it all, you know. we had each other and it never felt like it was the end of the world. "it's all right we don't got-- don't got electric today. it's all right. it's temporary." sayin', "well, we're going to figure this out." maybe that's why i have this mentality when it comes to the music. because i know i'm going to figure-- i'm going to figure it out, just give me some time. >> logan: as soon as he graduated high school, he left the waikiki showrooms, and hawaii altogether. you could've stayed here, right? >> mars: and be-- >> logan: --and you could-- >> mars: --very happy. >> logan: yeah? and made a good living, and-- and done what your dad did, and been a big star in hawaii? >> mars: i wanted to go for it. >> logan: you wanted more? >> mars: i wanted more. and my family pushed me. and this island pushed me. >> logan: how? >> mars: these are my people, and this is my culture, and i want to represent them. i want people to think of hawaii and think of palm trees and-- ( laughter ) magical islands and-- and bruno mars. >> logan: so he headed for los angeles, where he was quickly signed by motown records. gone was his given name of peter hernandez, branding himself bruno mars instead. "bruno," his childhood nickname, "mars," shooting for the stars. the name stuck, but the record contract didn't. motown dropped him. >> mars: i don't blame motown. i don't-- i-- i was sim-- it's simply, i wasn't ready yet. i think everybody don't know what color i am. it's like, he's not black enough, he's not white enough. he's got a latin last name but he doesn't have-- he doesn't speak spanish. who are we selling this to? "are you making urban music? are you making pop music? what kind of music are you making?" >> logan: with no hit songs of his own and dead broke, he started over, writing and producing songs for other artists, with friends ari levine and philip lawrence. they were starving musicians. inspired by the hustle just to pay for food, they came up with this song: ( ♪ "billionaire" ) it led to another record deal of his own. ( ♪ "just the way you are." ) his career as a songwriter and performer was finally on track. ( ♪ "just the way you are." ) about that time though, he was arrested for possession of 2.5 grams of cocaine. >> logan: from the outside, you really seem to keep it together and to be very-- professional and, you know, very committed, but you nearly threw it all away. >> mars: i did something very stupid. i'm in las vegas, lara. i'm 24 years old. i'm, you know, drinking way more than i'm supposed to be drinking and it was so early in my career and i always say that i think it had to happen. that was the reality check i needed, and i'm-- i promised myself that that-- you know, you ain't never going to read about that again. ( ♪ "grenade" ) >> logan: headlines for hits, not drug busts have been his narrative ever since, capped by two super bowl half-time performances in three years; ♪ ♪ and five grammys, including record of the year for his collaboration with producer mark ronson, "uptown funk." it's the biggest hit in a career full of them. ( ♪ "uptown funk" ) how difficult is it to write a song that's great? >> mars: "uptown funk" took us almost a year to write. and there's songs that taken-- that's taken us two hours to write. and we throw 'em away. "uptown funk" was in the trashcan about ten times. >> logan: really? >> mars: yeah. >> logan: why? >> mars: because we made a lot of-- you know, you can make a left turn and all of a sudden this song is something terrible. embarrassing, almost. but you have this one thing that keeps you going, this one part of the song that feels so good and it makes you want to keep going. and it makes you want-- "ah, we should just try again. let's try again, let's try again." >> logan: he told us the conception of much of his music begins, in this california recording studio. >> mars: this is it, lara. >> logan: over the last two years, he has been on lockdown here, trying to answer the challenge created from his run of big hits, especially "uptown funk." >> mars: this album, it was daunting, because coming off of "uptown funk" was like the biggest song i've ever been a part of. and then, you're like, all right, now what are you going to do? ( ♪ "24k magic" ) >> logan: this is what he came up with. ( ♪ "24k magic" ) his latest album is called "24 karat magic." the title song is already another massive hit. ( ♪ "24k magic" ) he showed us how they built the song, from the drums up. ♪ ♪ >> mars: that's how it starts. >> logan: and then? >> mars: well, come on, come on! ( ♪ "24k magic" ) and then we could put some sparkle on it. like, put a little magic dust on it. hear that? ( ♪ "24k magic" ) drums and bass is locking, right? >> logan: yes. >> mars: feel good yet? >> logan: yes! >> mars: then you add the sauce, the secret sauce. you ready? ( ♪ "24k magic" ) that's it. ( ♪ "24k magic" ) ( ♪ "24k magic" ) showtime! guess who's back again? >> logan: it's easy to see that bruno mars loves the only job he's ever wanted, and that he's still driven, to get it right. >> mars: i was built for this, lara. it's dedicating yourself to your craft. spending thousands of hours in a studio learning how to write a song, learning how to play different chords, training yourself to sing. you know, to get better and better. >> logan: are you there? >> mars: no. i'm not even close. goodnight, y'all! i was always "the girl with psoriasis." people don't stare anymore. i never joined in. that wasn't fair to any of us. i was covered. i tried lots of things over the years. but i didn't give up. i kept on fighting. i found something that worked. that still works. now? see me. see me. i found clear skin that lasts. see if cosentyx could make a difference for you- cosentyx is proven to help people with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...find clear skin that can last. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting cosentyx, you should be checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms. or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. if you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur. see me to know... ...clear skin can last. don't hold back... ...ask your dermatologist if cosentyx can help you find clear skin that lasts. >> whitaker: i'm bill whitaker. we will be back next week with another edition of "60 minutes." tomorrow, be sure to watch "cbs this morning." ings home... ...it shouldn't be fleas and ticks. no, no no no no... seresto® kills and repels fleas and ticks for 8 continuous months - for effective protection in an easy-to-use, non-greasy collar. 8-month seresto®. from bayer. will you be ready when the moment turns romantic? cialis for daily use treats ed and the urinary symptoms of bph. tell your doctor about your medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis. and get medical help right away. cindy, you don't evenno dress.ress. ♪ uh-uh, you're not going anywhere in those rags. ♪ cindy? ♪ introducing an all-new crossover, toyota c-hr. toyota. let's go places. for my constipation, i switch laxatives.ed stimulant laxatives make your body go by forcefully stimulating the nerves in your colon. miralax is different. it works with the water in your body to hydrate and soften. unblocking your system naturally. miralax. captioning sponsored by cbs ( cheers and applause ) ♪ have you ever felt like nobody would care. ♪ have you ever felt forgotten in the middle of going live on air. ♪ have you ever felt the ratings could disappear. ♪ that if you host no one