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American Morning
Latest on Beatings of Homeless Men in Ft. Lauderdale; MLK Revelations; "New You" Update
Aired January 17, 2006 - 08:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The latest on those awful beatings of homeless men in Ft. Lauderdale. Police say they have a third suspect in custody; 18-year-old William Ammons is charged with aggravated battery in one of the three beatings, not the one that was fatal, and so he does not face murder charges as the other two do.
David Mattingly has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Caught on tape and wanted in a series of senseless beatings, two teens turned themselves in to Fort Lauderdale police Sunday morning, after briefly fleeing the state.
DETECTIVE KATHY COLLINS, FORT LAUDERDALE POLICE DEPARTMENT: We were in communication with the family and their attorneys. So, with the effort of the attorneys, they were able to return them to the area and bring them into us.
RAMBERG: Eighteen-year-old Brian Hooks and his friend 17-year- old Thomas Daugherty are charged in a series of attacks on local homeless men, killing 45-year-old Norris Gaynor in the pre-dawn hours Thursday.
But police say it was this surveillance video and the beating of 58-year-old Jacques Pierre that incensed the community and led to the boys' arrests.
K. COLLINS: We got many calls from the citizens themselves that recognized them as being neighbors or friends or acquaintances. Everyone has the same opinion, that these acts are -- are heinous, and they need to be brought to justice for them.
MATTINGLY: Police say they got more than 100 tips, leading them to the two teens. On Saturday, investigators searched the boys' homes in an upscale neighborhood near a local high school.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You finally see the mug shot and you're just like...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. That -- that...
(CROSSTALK) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... when I saw that.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You see them...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... picture and it's like, wow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, you all recognized them right away, when you saw them?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right away. Right away.
JUDGE STEVEN DELUCA: Mr. Hooks, you're charged with a new substantive offense of premeditated murder.
MATTINGLY: Hooks reportedly graduated from high school last year and was described as a good athlete. Daugherty, according to students, was a typical friendly teenager.
Police say they don't know if either of them has a criminal record. Adults who know them, however, say they never appeared violent or were known to be in trouble.
RUSTY ZINGONE, NEIGHBOR: Great kids. I mean, they go fishing all the time. They -- you know, they play together. They just -- I just can't believe it.
MATTINGLY: The two are also suspected in a third beating of a homeless man, 49-year-old Raymond Perez, that same night. But neither Hooks, nor Daugherty, has spoken to investigators.
According to the Associated Press, an attorney for Hooks says the 18-year-old's involvement is far more limited than has been speculated. A bond hearing for the teen is scheduled for Tuesday.
The 17-year-old Daugherty will be held without bond for three weeks in juvenile detention and, at his attorney's request, will undergo psychological examination. In the meantime, investigators say they're looking for possibly one or two more suspects in the Thursday- morning beatings. And they will try determine whether the youths in custody had also been involved in any previous attacks on the homeless.
David Mattingly, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Prosecutors are not decided if they'll charge the 17-year-old, Daughtery, as an adult in this case. The police are still perhaps looking for another suspect. As we told you, a third suspect was arrested yesterday.
We've been listening to the mayor of New Orleans Ray Nagin. The comments that he made on Martin Luther King Day. Here he talks about how Martin Luther King may have reacted to Hurricane Katrina.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MYR. RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: And I just wanted to know, what would he think today if he looked down and was part of this celebration? What would he think about Katrina? What would he think about all the people that were stuck in the Superdome and the Convention Center? And we couldn't get the state and the federal government to come do something about it. He said, I wouldn't like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Several other issues hung over the Martin Luther King celebration at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Among them, revelations in a new book, "At Canaan's Edge" is the last book in a trilogy about Martin Luther King's life and struggle. The author is Taylor Branch. He joins us this morning.
Nice to see you.
TAYLOR BRANCH, AUTHOR, "AT CANAAN'S EDGE": Nice to see you.
S. O'BRIEN: Boy, this is a trilogy that has taken a long time. Twenty-four years, you've been working on this story, over three books. The most recent one, 700 pages, covering the last four years of Martin Luther King's life, '65 to '68. What's the theme, do you think, in this final book?
BRANCH: Well, Freedom Under Siege, it basically starts in Selma about the struggle for the most fundamental aspect of democracy, the right to vote, because four million black people were denied the right to vote, march over Selma. So the Voting Rights Act.
But at the same time, the Vietnam War started almost within hours the first troops landed. So the question is, can we advance democracy by force of arms in Vietnam, or by nonviolent demonstrations led by black people in Selma? And that struggle dominates the last few years of Dr. King's life.
S. O'BRIEN: And turmoil really dominates the book. I mean, you see the turmoil in Martin Luther King's marriage, the turmoil in the nation. Some of the people who are really focused on the civil rights event sort of get their focus now on the war as they sort of try to deal with that issue. And turmoil, I guess even within the organization, right?
BRANCH: Absolutely. Dr. King said it's hard to change the power of relations of a great nation when you've got just a few nonviolent people with no armies and you have to be crazy to do it and you have to be distinguished between what is destructively crazy and what's creatively crazy. So it was that necessarily meant a lot of turmoil.
S. O'BRIEN: What happened inside the nonviolence movement? You had some people saying this isn't working; nonviolence is not the way we need to be proceeding, and there was a rift, a very strong rift. I mean, it seemed like it almost -- Dr. King didn't really know kind of where to go with it.
BRANCH: Well, I think he knew what was right. He emphasized nonviolence more and more, but nonviolence was not only controversial, it was wearisome. It was like being in a war, and a lot of people said why is it that black people, who have been suffering, have to be nonviolent? But white America, otherwise, admires John Wayne and James Bond. They only want black people to be nonviolent. And the only answer Dr. King could give is that the nonviolent black movement is offering leadership to all of America, and that wore out on some people, so it split apart. Nonviolence, which was the most powerful idea out of the movement, was the first one to become passe. We haven't heard that much about it in the succeeding decades.
S. O'BRIEN: It's really true. It's sort of disappeared from the landscape, the nation's landscape. You got a really interesting picture of the FBI in action through your book. A lot of book was written -- I mean, I guess ironically. You're able to reconstruct a lot of the conversations because of all the wiretaps?
BRANCH: The wiretap transcripts. Yes, I'm an ironic beneficiary of the things the FBI did that they shouldn't of done. It's a pretty complex picture. It's a lot of disgraceful, and I would argue, even criminal things that the FBI did, pettiness harassment and vilification of Dr. King and the movement. And yet at the same time, the FBI agents are solving the first civil rights crimes ever. Most FBI agents don't go into the FBI to monitor wiretaps, and break into hotel rooms plant bugs, they go into solve crimes, so you have both those things going at the same time.
S. O'BRIEN: It's known now, and was known by many then, that Martin Luther King was having affairs. At one point, you write about the confession he makes to his wife right after his birthday, two weeks after his birthday, and confesses one affair at a time when she is incredibly vulnerable?
BRANCH: Yes, this is right at the end of his life, and I try to portray it as the culmination of all of these pressures on him, but he's also got to deal with tension over his private life. And I think he made a bad choice as to when to do it. There was conflicting advice, even among his best friends about what he should do, and I think this caused more hurt than healing. And this is, yet again, another measure of the pressure on him toward the end of his life.
S. O'BRIEN: One thread through the book is the sense of foreshadowing of his own death. I mean, you realize how often he was predicting, especially in that last four years, that this maybe be the last time, this might be the last you see of me; I may not make it.
BRANCH: Yes, that was a constant only because he received death threats all of the time and in -- at the end here, is the first time actually where you see him change his schedule. He hides in a hotel room for two days because the death threats are so explicit in Miami once.
But at the end of his life, he really felt that the movement itself was dying out for a time, and that he may be just leaving a testament for the power of nonviolence to expand freedom for all Americans, and I would argue for people all around the world, in South Africa and Nelson Mandela and the end of the Soviet Union. So he knew he was leaving a testimony.
S. O'BRIEN: That's what he did.
Taylor Branch, the book is just beautiful. It's called "At Canaan's Edge." It's long, but it's fascinating.
Is it strange to be done? I mean, what you had next? You spent 24 years of your life on Martin Luther King.
BRANCH: It's a blessing to have a life's work in this area, and I'm a little giddy and lost, but I'm really happy that it's done.
S. O'BRIEN: Wonderful. It's nice to have you. Thanks for coming in to talk to us this morning. We certainly appreciate it.
BRANCH: Thank you very much for having me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Be sure to check out our Web site, CNN.com, for the latest on this morning's top stories, including that one right there, entertainment news. "Brokeback Mountain" cleans up at the Golden Globe awards. Four awards out of I think a possible seven that they were nominated for, so congratulations to them.
If you're about to head out the door for work or school, you can stay in touch with CNN and AMERICAN MORNING just by logging onto CNN.com and our Pipeline video service. You can catch live commercial-free news updates all day at CNN.com/pipeline.
(MARKET REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: Not even February and already a lot of us have given up on our resolutions. Not me! And what about our "New You" friends? We're going to check in our lobbyist and his assistant. They're working out together.
M. O'BRIEN: You're on it, huh? (INAUDIBLE).
S. O'BRIEN: Well, we're only what, 14 days into the new year, 18 days into the -- 16 days into the new year.
M. O'BRIEN: Still, you go.
SERWER: Three hundred and fifty to go.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm with you.
S. O'BRIEN: We'll see how they're doing. That's right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: You don't hear "Eye of the Tiger" enough.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm trying figure out -- Muhammad Ali, Betty White, Ida Tucker (ph) ...
S. O'BRIEN: None of it goes together, and that's why it works.
M. O'BRIEN: You know, boxing, Muhammad Ali. You know, I don't know.
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. Week two of our "New You" resolution. And now that you've met three of the power pairs or all three of the power pairs, really, every Tuesday we're going to update you on their successes and some of the shortfalls, too.
M. O'BRIEN: Now, as you know, this is usually about time we introduce our own doctor. He's a real doctor. Dr. Sanjay Gupta -- he is a brain surgeon, folks, and he's been busy this morning. He is actually in surgery. And so he's not going to be with us to tell us first-hand about it but he left us his "New You" piece.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know that you guys are both very busy. Both in school, both have jobs. What do you typically do for lunch?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, mercy.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Their first week in New York City in "New You" training including a lesson in healthy eating with "Cooking Light's" Chef Billy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many calories?
GUPTA: Then we flew in their D.C. trainer, Tasha Cooper. Her "New You" prescription? To make additions to their already busy schedules.
TASHA COOPER, TRAINER: You're going to shoot for about four days of cardio and about three days of weight lifting.
GUPTA: But they learn they have to make sacrifices, too. The less is more approach.
DONNA BRIGHTHAUPT, NEW YOU PARTICIPANT: I'm going to try to stop smoking. I'm not promising anything, but to try to find ways to incorporate the smoking thing with the eating and exercise. For example, just take two cigarettes out of the pack and put it aside for the day.
GUPTA: And Frank, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to be able to do without potato chips, Frank?
FRANK PURCELL, NEW YOU PARTICIPANT: I think I can live without potato chips. I better be able to live without potato chips because I'm not going to be having potato chips for a while here.
GUPTA: And he's already making changes in his typical BLT lunch orders.
PURCELL: I got myself a tuna wrap, so all hooked up.
GUPTA: So, what's next?
PURCELL: Well, I think my plan is make sure each day I make some time for exercise. The second thing is to be able to pack our fridge at the office with things that are healthy.
BRIGHTHAUPT: I will clear the beer out of the refrigerator at work for you.
PURCELL: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good luck. Eight weeks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: All right!
M. O'BRIEN: The secret to good lobbying is a refrigerator full of beer!
S. O'BRIEN: Clear the beer out of the fridge.
Well, let's check in with the other "New You" pairs, the Rampollas, for example, the military family, and also the twin brothers that we're talking about, Mark and Stuart -- were they able to pull it off?
M. O'BRIEN: Did they mirror each other's "New You" goals?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: In week one, the twins are already encouraging each other with brotherly competition.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I give (ph) up.
GUPTA: Getting started is harder than it looks for Stuart.
STUART RASCH, NEW YOU PARTICIPANT: I haven't really exercised since junior high school.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What were the goals again?
S. RASCH: My goal is that I succeed and I do better than he does.
GUPTA: Mark was reunited with his trainer who whipped him back into shape last year. Now he is on the bandwagon hopefully for good. MARK RASCH, NEW YOU PARTICIPANT: The goal here is to really keep it off, keep it off not just for eight weight, but for a lifetime.
GUPTA: From the relative calm of Cheyenne to the hustle and flow the big city, the Rampollas came to New York and "New You" ready to start and raring to go. Home?
DENISE RAMPOLLA, NEW YOU PARTICIPANT: We are motivated, have lots of energy and want to get home and get started right away.
GUPTA: One thing they started in New York, laying out the fitness goals with trainer Mary Holte (ph).
RAMPOLLA: I told Mary not to be easy on me and not on us as a couple.
GUPTA: Next week, a diet overhaul with "Cooking Light's" Chef Billy.
PEDRO RAMPOLLA, NEW YOU PARTICIPANT: When the kids don't go along with our food choices then we end up going with theirs.
GUPTA: Watch out, kids! "New You" is coming to town!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: All right, Dr. Gupta is so good. Didn't you see that? He is doing brain surgery right now. He is a cook, he is an athlete and he is a journalist who has left us some tips. So let's share what the doctor would tell you right now.
S. O'BRIEN: He says gym classes are the best way to find a buddy. Ask a friend in the class to join you to be your "New You" partner. That's a good idea.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, make your life easier by pre-cut, pre-made, pre-washed items ...
S. O'BRIEN: Amen to that.
M. O'BRIEN: Pre-eaten would be good. Then you'd really not have a problem at all. And they may cost a little more, but you're more likely to eat them.
S. O'BRIEN: And you can cut calories by cutting out the sauce, adding fresh herbs and spices instead.
M. O'BRIEN: And no beer in the refrigerator at the office. And for more, log on to CNN.com/newyou, and you can follow along with our participants. We're participant. You've been good, but you've had vacation, so that doesn't count. But anyway, you can even vote on which is your biggest inspiration for the week.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: Who is yours so far? S. O'BRIEN: You know, I love the go get 'em of the Rampollas. She is like don't be weak. You know, push me, be tough on us. I don't know that I could do that. Might be the twin brothers, competition is sort of how I try to do it.
M. O'BRIEN: It's fun to watch them.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, they're a riot. Be sure to join us next Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. for another weekly checkup. In just moment, a look at the day's top stories, plus we're going to have a recap of last night's Golden Globes in "AM Pop." It looks as if one of the big winners is now a clear-cut favorite for the Oscars. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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