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CNN Live Today

Coretta Scott King Dead; Postal Shooting In California; President's State Of The Union Address Tonight

Aired January 31, 2006 - 10:00   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. You guys have a great day in New York City. We'll go ahead and get started.
We are following a number of developing stories this hour on CNN. Coretta Scott King, the wife of the slain civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has died. The King family friend and former Ambassador Andrew Young is expected to speak shortly. CNN will carry that live.

Gunfire inside of a postal facility near Santa Barbara, California. Police say that seven people are dead, including the shooter. A woman who used to work there was the shooter, police believe.

Today is a big day for President Bush's latest Supreme Court nominee and it's a big day as well for Mr. Bush. His State of the Union Address is just hours away. Extensive coverage of all those story ahead this is hour. But first, let's check on other stories happening right "Now in the News."

Russia and China are reportedly attempting a last diplomatic effort to Tehran. The Russian information agency said envoys will urge Iran to cooperate with U.N. nuclear inspectors ahead of Thursday's special meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The watchdog group is responding to international concerns that Tehran is pursuing nuclear weapons. Tehran says it will end all diplomacy if the matter goes to the U.N. Security Council.

A pair of American journals are on their way back to the U.S. for treatment of serious wounds suffered in Iraq. ABC News Anchor Bob Woodruff and his photographer Doug Vogt are being flown to the brain injury center of the Bethesda Navel Hospital near Washington. ABC says Woodruff is responding to stimuli and briefly opened his eyes. Vogt is said to be alert and joking.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is overseeing his last meeting of the nation's top economic policy makers. He retires today after 18 years on this job. The Federal Reserve board, by the way, is poised to raise the key interest rate by a quarter percentage point.

At the top of the hour, the Senate is due to begin its final vote on Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito. His confirmation is virtually guaranteed with at least half a dozen votes beyond the simple majority need. But the lack of support among the Democrats may make this one of the most partisan confirmation votes in decades. CNN will carry the Alito vote live in the next hour. I'm Daryn Kagan at CNN Center in Atlanta.

We're going to begin with the news of the passing of a civil rights icon. Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has died. She was 78. Besides being married to the civil rights leader, Mrs. King was an activist in her own right. She founded the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change.

We expect to be hearing from former Mayor of Atlanta, Andrew Young, former U.N. ambassador and a good friend of the King family. He is supposed to hold a news conference here in Atlanta any minute. While we do that, other comments starting to come in, including from the Reverend Jesse Jackson who spoke just a while ago outside his home in Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSE JACKSON: Well, I knew her for 40 years in a very direct way. And whether it was staying at the house on west side in Chicago, or marching in Mississippi, or marching for the right to vote to open housing or marching (INAUDIBLE) wars, or marching for women's right, environmental protection, the great themes of our day, she embraced those themes and so I can't help but think she couldn't control fate -- and her fate couldn't control her fate. She fought fate with faith and did so in a very masterful way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And with more on the life and times and legacy of Coretta Scott King, here's Soledad O'Brien.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): She became known to the world as a woman of courage and conviction. But as a girl from rural Alabama, Coretta Scott King probably never dreamed of the historic events that awaited her life. She studied music at Antioch College in Ohio. In 1951, she received a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. While there, she met and married Martin Luther King Jr., who was studying theology at Boston University.

In 1954, Dr. King began his career as a pastor and his civil rights work in Montgomery, Alabama. Mrs. King worked closely with her husband behind the scenes while raising their four children. In December 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man.

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: And we feel (INAUDIBLE) that one of the great glories of American democracy is that we have the right to protest.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: It set off the 381-day Montgomery bus boycott. The civil rights movement had begun. It was a dangerous time for the King family. GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He was beaten and stabbed and jailed and came close to losing his wife and baby daughter when their house was bombed.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: In 1960, the Kings moved to Atlanta where King was jailed until Mrs. King appealed to then presidential candidate John F. Kennedy to intervene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know of the times that Coretta got up early in the morning to go out and help women organize as hospital employees.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Coretta King balanced mothering with movement work, organizing sit ins at segregated restaurants, and marches. She also performed in freedom concerts, singing and reading poetry, to raise money for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

She was present at many of the major events in the civil rights movement, like the Washington Mall March where her husband gave his "I have a dream" speech. In 1968, an assassins bullet shattered her world killing Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis. His death sparked outrage and riots. Coretta moved from the role of wife to that of caretaker of her husband's legacy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the same time, she was raising four children, encouraging and teaching us by example to be the very best that we could be.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: She create add living memorial dedicated to advancing King's dream. Mrs. King remained a dynamic figure for civil rights. She joined the battle to end apartheid in South Africa. But life in the endless spotlight proved to be grueling. There was a bitter public fight between the King family and the National Park Service over preserving King's birth place and his tomb. And the controversial absolution by her youngest son, Dexter King, of James Earl Ray, the man who confessed and then recanted to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

DEXTER KING: Believe and, as I said, my family believes that he is innocent.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Like others who survived racism, intolerance, and great loss, Mrs. King lived life with a special kind of grace. She challenged future generations to dream of more.

CORETTA SCOTT KING: We must make our hearts instruments of peace and nonviolence. Because when the heart is right, the mind and the body will follow.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: A civil rights icon herself, she ranks among the most influential African-Americans of all time.

Soledad O'Brien reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE) KAGAN: Once again, we're waiting to hear from some leaders, including the former mayor and former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young. He'll be appearing with the current mayor, Shirley Franklin, of Atlanta. They'll be talking about Mrs. King, coming up in just a bit. And in a moment, we'll be speaking with the Bishop Eddie Long. He has a personal relationship with the family and talks about the final moments of Coretta Scott King. And he should be here with us in just a few minutes.

Meanwhile, there is sadness and a search for answers this morning after a shooting rampage at a postal facility in Southern California. Authorities say seven bodies were found inside the building. One is believed to be the body of the suspected female shooter. CNN's Ted Rowlands joins us now. He's live in Goleta, just north of Santa Barbara.

Ted, hello.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

The big question is why this woman came into this postal facility, which is a 24-hour facility, last night and opened fires on employee. The sheriff of Santa Barbara County said that seven are dead, including this woman. She was found with a gunshot wound to her head. But when they were first called about 9:15 p.m. last night, they found four victims. Three were fatal and one was critically injured with a gunshot wound to the head. That is a woman who is still in critical condition this morning.

For the next five hours they searched this area for the shooter. They weren't sure if it was a man or woman or if the individual had left the premises. They checked all the employees that were trying to flee, made them go through metal detectors and pat them -- or not metal detectors but they patted them down looking for a gun. Eventually, about 2:00 a.m. Pacific time, they did find the alleged shooter. She was dead. Having killed herself inside the postal facility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JIM ANDERSON, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: The search revealed an additional four victims who were fatally shot. This is in addition to the three victims who were identified earlier. One of the four deceased inside appeared to have suffered a self- inflicted gunshot wound. We concluded the search of the building and we do not believe that there's any additional threat to the community.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS: At this hour, federal officials have joined the investigation there, still combing through this massive facility, according to the sheriff. The bodies were found in different areas of the facility. It is two levels. It took them hours to get through the entire facility. For a while, the entire neighborhood was locked down, not letting anybody come and go. But the situation is resolved, for the most part. The big question, though, is what led this woman to go on this rampage here last night.

Daryn.

KAGAN: And so far no clues on that or no identity on her or any of the other victims?

ROWLANDS: They have not released the woman's identity. According to workers here, our local affiliates are reporting that they came out and said that this was a former employee who had some sort of relationship with a current employee and that she had been around over the years. However, that has not been confirmed by sheriff's deputies. They have, however, called an 11:00 a.m. Pacific news conference and we're hoping to get more information at that time.

KAGAN: Ted Rowlands live from Goleta in Santa Barbara County. Thank you.

Now I want to show you live pictures from Los Angeles County, to the southeast of there. This is a situation where a tree fell on top of a mobile home and you can see crushed it. Rescuers believe there still might be somebody trapped inside this home. So they're working, trying to get in there to see if anybody is still inside that. Once again, tree into a mobile home somewhere in L.A. County and they believe one person might still be trapped inside of there.

Still more news to come today. There is a jury that has been selected in the Enron trial. We'll tell you what the makeup of that jury is and what's ahead for Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling.

A it's a big night for President Bush. The State of the Union Address takes place. We'll look ahead to that coming up in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's talk some politics now. President Bush has had some low poll numbers, so he's on the verge of a much needed victory as he prepares to address the nation tonight. The Senate is poised to confirm his Supreme Court nominee next hour and that could add to the upbeat tone Mr. Bush will try to relay in his State of the Union Address. Our White House Correspondent Elaine Quijano is here with a preview of tonight's speech.

Good morning.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn.

And the theme tonight will be optimism at a time when polls are showing that many Americans aren't happy with the direction of the country. The president is going to try to strike an optimistic tone. Now taking a look at some of the most recent numbers that have come out. This is a "Time" magazine poll, first of all, let's start off with, that shows that some 63 percent of Americans, when asked if the country was headed in the right direction, said they didn't believe so. Now this coming . . .

KAGAN: Elaine, I'm just going to jump in here for just a second because we have a news conference beginning here in Atlanta. Current Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and the former mayor, Andrew Young, talking about the death of Coretta Scott King.

MAYOR SHIRLEY FRANKLIN, ATLANTA: And to recognize, also, that her work will continue to inspire us as we go about our work in this new century.

I am joined by Ambassador Andrew Young. Ambassador Andrew Young is known for his leadership in civil rights. He is known for his tremendous leadership in politics and, as an elected official, known for his representation at the United Nations of this country. He is my mentor and dear friend and a very close friend of Coretta Scott King and the King family.

So, Ambassador Young.

ANDREW YOUNG, U.N. AMBASSADOR: Well this was quite a shock. I received the call about 1:00 this morning asking me had I heard? And I had not. And then about 1:30 another one game that confirmed that Coretta had been resting and that she had a kind of difficult day yesterday and Bernice was with her and thought that she was resting well, so she didn't bother to wake her up. But then later on, when she went in to check, she realized that she had just slept away. And I don't know, that is -- she lived a graceful and beautiful life. And in spite of all of the difficulties, she managed a graceful and beautiful passing.

Her husband always talked about death. Talked about death as imminent. As being possible any day and admonishing everyone to live as though each day were your last. In many respects, Coretta Scott King did that. She came up in a very small town, Marion, Alabama, and her father was one of the early entrepreneurs. He had both a -- well, he had a trucking company and a sawmill and a grocery store. And all of them at one time or the other while she was a child were burned down by racists in the community. So that segregation and racism was a far more personal and bitter experience for Coretta than it was for Martin even growing up in Atlanta.

But she always managed to believe in and adhere to the fact that we could overcome these difficulties without violence. She went from Marion to Antioch College in Ohio and from there to the Boston New England Conservatory of Music where she met Martin Luther King. And I think he saw in her then a kind of strength and determination that brought them together and kept them together.

I remember at the time of his death, there was almost no time for mourning because she immediately began to see how she could carry on. She started out really a few days after his burial to lead the march and continue the march in the poor people's campaign in Memphis. And she was involved in going out, particularly with women's groups, Women's Strife for Peace, the Hospital Workers Union. And she never made much publicity about it, but she was always standing up and being involved with people in need of help.

In the later years, she became very active in the rights of gay people and also in the fight against Aids. But she was always a mother and I think that probably her only regret in life was that she didn't get to see any grandchildren. But that, too, will come.

QUESTION: Ambassador Young, how would you like to see her legacy remembered?

YOUNG: You know, I don't know. I mean, I was looking at the pictures this morning and she was, one, such a beautiful, graceful woman. But whenever I see these pictures of her with kings and queens, I'm reminded that her father said that she could pick 200 pounds of cotton on a Saturday, because she wanted to be able to stay late to practice her music.

And I was with Martin sometimes when we'd come into the house with 15 people and she'd get up and cook breakfast and never make a fuss. I never heard her complain about anything. And it was as though she was -- she was born for the breadth and depth of responsibility that she incurred as the wife of Martin Luther King. Indeed, she was as strong, if not stronger, than he was.

I also went to visit them shortly after their home had been bombed in Montgomery and she had just taken Yolanda out of the front bedroom back to the kitchen to warm a bottle of milk. And a bomb blew the front of the porch off. The porch had recently been repaired, but she was still sitting there in the kitchen with Yolanda as a baby. And everybody was saying, you need to leave Montgomery, you need to move to Atlanta, but it never occurred to her to leave Montgomery. Or -- I mean -- it just -- she was born for this struggle and she waged it in a beautiful and graceful manner. Always.

QUESTION: Ambassador Young, I know there are so many stories you have of her. Can you share with us just one of the ones that kind of sticks out in your mind over the years?

YOUNG: Well, I think the only time I saw her husband get upset with her was when he had just won the Nobel Prize and we were coming back through Paris and his mother and his sister and Coretta decided that they wanted to go to one of these French -- I don't know what you call them -- dance halls. And Martin and Ralph didn't feel as though preachers should go. And they said, well we're going. And I said, well I'm a congregational preacher, I don't have to stay out of places like this with you Baptists. So we all went.

And I forget -- I don't even remember what it was or what the name of it was, but he was -- it's the only time I ever saw him get upset. But she wore one of the dresses that she wore in her concerts. And he said, you're going out of here looking like that? Your look -- without your husband? And -- but she said, this is a concert dress I wear. Oh, you know, and he just had nothing but fault to find. He was a typical, jealous husband. But that's the only time I ever saw anything like that.

KAGAN: We've been listening in to the former mayor of Atlanta, the former U.N. Ambassador as well, Andrew Young. Also a very close, personal friend of Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, on this, the day that the news breaks that Coretta Scott King has died at the age of 78. Ambassador Young sharing a number of memories of Coretta Scott King. Some humorous, like the last story he just shared.

But basically saying that this was a woman who was graceful in life and went gracefully into death, as well. And that she was born for the struggle that her life brought her. We'll have more remembrances of Coretta Scott King just ahead with another family friend, the Bishop Eddie Long will join me in just a moment. We're back after this.

And a little bit of business we need to get to, as well. Some stock market check. The markets have been open just over an hour. You can see the Dow is down. It's down 26 points. The Nasdaq is pretty much flat. It's down less than -- well, actually, it's down 12 appoints. All right. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Tributes for Coretta Scott King have been pouring in from around the world this morning. But few people know the King family as well as my next guest. Bishop Eddie Long has spent a great deal of time with the family during Mrs. King's illness and he spoke this morning with Bernice King who discovered her mother had passed away during the night.

Bishop, thank you for being with us on what I know is an emotional day for you and the whole King family as well.

BISHOP EDDIE LONG, KING FAMILY FRIEND: Thank you.

KAGAN: We had a chance to talk before the break and you were saying that even though Mrs. King had not been well, especially for the last six or seven months, that this comes as a surprise.

LONG: Very much so. In knowing Mrs. King, you know that she's a fighter. You know that she's -- everything is gung (ph) ho. And regardless if you've got bad news, she always had a way of overcoming and fighting through it. And so even when you'd hear things from a doctor, you had those reports, our faith is strong, her faith was strong. So it just totally wasn't expected.

KAGAN: What can you share with us of your conversations with Bernice, her daughter, who was caring for her at the time that she died?

LONG: Well, when she called me, when we talked this morning, as you know, that's mother. You know, so everybody knows how dear your mother is, especially Bernice and her mother walked very, very closely. And so at that moment, just again, just like this whole nation and this whole world, at shock. You know, she's -- knowing her mother's not doing well, et cetera, but still just thinking she's going to pull through. Any moment she's going to pull through. So in all of that just realizing and finally just taking a deep breath and saying, you know, mom's with dad now. She's gone on.

And for a few moments we started talking some business. So immediately I think it's so significant that she was with her mother because it's sort of like a mantle pass. Then she just took a deep breath and we started talking about plans for what we're going to do here, what we're going to do about that, the homegoing, the funeral service, et cetera. And so she kind of took a deep breath and grabbed some great strength, and that's typical of her mother and typical of Bernice.

KAGAN: This family has been in the news quite a bit lately, how there is a division between one brother and one sister on either side. And seems like Mrs. King was the glue that held them together.

LONG: Well, definitely, Mrs. King, mom, was the center of the family, but I want to make a statement pretty clear. There's some disagreements, as you know, over the King Center and which direction to do go, but there's no love loss between the family. They all love one another. They all -- they have very strong opinions about certain things, and there are certain things -- that happens in every family. It just so happens because of who their parents are and the legacy and all of that, that it gains national attention. And it's very significant in the direction of the King Center Goes and what happens with the King Center, so it's a very important, but yet they have some pretty strong opinions about what to do.

KAGAN: And those will be issues of another time, you think, right now? Right now, it's focus on Mrs. King?

LONG: They're all coming together. They're pulling together. And right now, the whole focus is on their mother, the legacy, the memory, and just really dealing with, just like everybody else, waking up and just always believing she's going to be here. And so it's a little challenge right now.

KAGAN: Well, we'll always be here in memory. What is your favorite memory of Mrs. King?

LONG: My favorite memory of Mrs. King, and there's a reason why we have the King Center and reason why we have the holiday, et cetera, when we first really bonded together, I was sitting with her at her home, and I was really trying to find some answers, because I travel so much, and my wife was kind of upset a little bit because we have small children, and I'm like, I'm going to talk to Mother King, and I went and sat, I said, how did you deal with your husband traveling so much and you having a family, you having the children and all that? And she looked at me very calmly, and she looked at me, she started smiling. She said, I did not marry a man; I married a vision, and that just really grabbed me, because in all of that, as Dr. King passed, she kept going with what the vision was. That's the reason why we have the King Center. That's the reason why we have the holiday. That's the reason why she fought so publicly and privately for the dream and equality for all people, et cetera, because it wasn't that she was just so tied up in just the marriage of the man, knowing she loved him so, but what God put in him to bring to pass, and then her coming alongside and she never, ever lost focus of that, and that's a blessing.

KAGAN: Bigger than just one man and one family. Bishop Long, thank you for your time today. And our thoughts to you because I know you're part of the family. LONG: Thank you. Bless you.

KAGAN: Thank you for making time for us. We appreciate it.

LONG: Thank you.

KAGAN: There's other news to get to today, including big politics on Capitol Hill, the vote on Sam Alito, Samuel Alito to be the next Supreme Court justice. That's happening in the next hour. See it live here on CNN.

More coverage after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: At the top of the hour, the Senate begins its final vote on Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. His confirmation is a virtual certainty.

And this is new video into us here at CNN. Samuel Alito and his wife have arrived at the White House. This is where they will watch the vote take place, we understand, so it's possible that he will be sworn in as soon as possible. President Bush has made it known that he wants Samuel Alito confirmed before tonight's State of the union Address and would want him there as a Supreme Court justice.

There is also a lack of support among Democrats, of course. This is going to be a very partisan vote. At most only six or seven Democrats are expected to vote for Alito, and that would make it one of the most partisan confirmation votes in decades.

Andrea Koppel is on Capitol Hill with more on that.

Andrea, hello.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Daryn.

Well, three months to the date since President Bush first presented Samuel Alito as his choice to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, it appears the last hurdle remaining between him and his new job has been cleared, and Samuel Alito seems poised to take on not just a new job, but a new title: Justice Alito.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The yays are 72; the nays are 25. The motion is agreed to.

KOPPEL (voice-over): And with that, Judge Samuel Alito took a decisive step closer to reaching the nation's highest court.

SEN. BILL FIRST (R), MAJORITY LEADER: The sword of the filibuster has been sheathed, because we are placing principle before politics and results before rhetoric.

KOPPEL: But Democrats didn't give up without a fight. SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: If you are looking for someone that is going to be willing to stand up to the executive branch of government at a time that he is going to exceed his power and authority and the law of this country, it's not going to be Judge Alito.

KOPPEL: Edward Kennedy, one of two Massachusetts Democrats leading the uphill charge, a futile attempt to filibuster Alito's controversial nomination, more symbolic than serious, while Republicans remained united in their support.

SEN. PETE DOMENICI (R), NEW MEXICO: This is turned into nothing more than a political war.

KOPPEL: A handful of Democrats crossed party lines to block the filibuster. Among them, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, a first-term senator facing re-election in a red state, and a member of the so-called Gang of 14. The bipartisan group sealed Alito's fate following a meeting Monday.

SEN. BEN NELSON (D), NEBRASKA: This one is not one that should be filibustered in our opinions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: And as we now know, it wasn't. The way things stand right now is we're about half an hour away from the beginning of the full Senate taking this on as a vote on the floor of the Senate. The expectation, as you said, Daryn, is that this is going to pass not by the same sweeping vote that we saw for Judge John Roberts about four months ago, but still enough votes that he'll take on his new job. As you mentioned, he's going to be watching the vote from the White House this morning. He'll head over to the Supreme Court sometime later this afternoon, where he will be sworn in. But the actual kind of ceremonial swearing in will take place tomorrow at the White House.

But what matters for President Bush right now, Daryn, is that Justice Alito will be in place, ready to go and attending his State of the Union tonight -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Andrea Koppel live on Capitol Hill, thank you.

And as you say, as we look at the live picture of Arlen Specter, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the floor of the Senate, as Andrea was saying, that vote is about 20 to 30 minutes away. You'll see it live here on CNN. We'll have much more coverage ahead.

Meanwhile if you're interested in staying with what's happening on the floor of the Senate, just go to CNN Pipeline, CNN.com/pipeline, and you see continuous live coverage on your computer.

We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAGAN: Let's go ahead and check the markets on Wall Street right now. They've been open about an hour and 15 minutes. The Dow, as you can see, is down 27 points. Nasdaq in negative territory, as well. It is down 12 points.

And now to Houston, where a judge made good on a promise to see the jury for the Enron trial in just a single day. Right now, opening statements are going on in the trial of the former heads of the bankrupt firm, Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling.

CNN's Ali Velshi is in Houston with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Federal court is in session here in Houston and it is the first time that the jury of 12 jurors and four alternates will hear the case that the government has developed over four years against Enron's former chairman Ken Lay and its former president Jeff Skilling.

Now, this case is complicated. It's about accounting. The charges are conspiracy and fraud and insider trading, but really it's about a complicated scheme that allowed the Enron executives to pump up the value of the company and at the same time, sell their stock to line their pockets. That is what the government is alleging.

The defense is saying this wasn't fraud. This was complicated. It may not have been according to the spirit of the law, but there was actually no crime committed. In the end, to prove that, the government is going to have to get into some of the accounting that went on and that is complicated. It's dangerous as a strategy because the jury may not understand it properly.

So the challenge for the government is keep this simple. This trial is expected to last up to four months. The defense is going to say it wasn't a crime and that the worst thing Ken Lay did was be a bad CEO and not keep his eye on the ball, while some executives did loot the company.

The government is going to call some star witnesses, including the former chief financial officer of the company, Andy Fastow, who's already pled guilty, and the company's chief accounting officer Richard Causey, also having pled guilty.

In Houston, I'm Ali Velshi, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: On to other financial news now. A lot of 30-somethings may have reached the same financial crossroads in their lives. Should they stop renting and take the plunge and buy a place?

Valerie Morris has some timely advice as part of CNN's "At This Age" series.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm 33. My biggest financial concern is whether to invest in buying real estate or whether to keep money in the bank.

VALERIE MORRIS, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR (on camera): And the answer is there is a third option. You could actually do both. It is possible, if you plan wisely.

Since the mid-1990s, an increasing number of 30-somethings have been buying home. As of 2003, 56 percent of 30 to 34 years old owned a place of their own. However, Greg McBride at bankrate.com says there are a few key things to keep in mind before getting the keys to your place.

First, keep your dream home just that. A dream. There is no reason to rush out and overspend when a starter home is a better choice and a better fit to your current income.

Second, by thinking small and smart, you can contribute to the 401(k), which you should think of as the home of free money because it's funded with your pre-tax dollars. This plan also allows you to maintain a safety net of liquid savings in the event of an emergency.

Key number three, get pre-approved for a mortgage before you start shopping. Get your credit reports from each of the three credit reporting agencies and correct any errors.

Answering the question on buying a home "At This Age," I'm Valerie Morris in New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Thank you, Valerie. And if you're in the 40s, don't feel left out. We're covering one of the biggest financial concerns for your generation. In the "At This Age" next week, we'll talk about planning to pay for your kids' college tuition.

We're also talking a lot this morning about Coretta Scott King and her death today at the age of 78. The former mayor and former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young is holding a news conference here in Atlanta, talking about the life and legacy of Coretta Scott King. And we just want to remind you, that you can watch that live event taking place right now. Just go to CNN.com/pipeline.

Well, the nominees and -- are official, and the gold rush is on. Up next, the surprises and the snubs from this morning's Oscars announcement.

Also, the clock is ticking toward a Senate vote to confirm Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. Key Democrats say they are not going to support him. Stay with us as we stand by for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: A lot of news happening today, including the death of civil rights icon Coretta Scott King. Also just minutes away from the Senate voting on the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to be the next Supreme Court justice. To get some comments on both of those, let's welcome in Senator Ted Kennedy, Democrat from Massachusetts.

Senator, good morning.

KENNEDY: Good morning.

KAGAN: First, we're just minutes away from the Alito nomination. The efforts to filibuster this were basically a bust. What's the problem with the Democrats trying to pull together and be able to stop this nomination, sir?

KENNEDY: Well, first of all, I think you'll see in just a few minutes that the Democrats are together in voting their concern about whether Judge Alito is the right person to promote to the Supreme Court, whether he's going to be a part of the march to progress, which we have seen over the period of the recent years, in which all Americans are reminded about, particularly today with the death of Coretta Scott King, who was really the mother of the civil rights movement. There's enormous poignancy, I think, in this vote. Coretta Scott King, a part of Dr. King's whole movement, knocked down the walls of discrimination and prejudice in this country, in this society, and as someone who believed that we could be a better country when we did that. That was certainly an issue during the Alito hearings. I think you're going to see Democrats expressing their reservations about it.

Let me just say, finally, I think this whole process of reminds that Americans that we have -- I can remember Democrats in recent times voting overwhelmingly for Republican nominees. We can do that. We have done it. I think Americans want us to be together when it comes to the Supreme Court. I think we can be together. It's a two- way street.

KAGAN: But, senator, this is going to be one of the partisan votes on a supreme court nominee we have seen.

KENNEDY: Well, I consider -- I'll vote negatively. But I think if you're going to talk about partisanship, I would say our Republican friends are the partisanship, because they didn't have to have this fight, did they?

They had Harriet Miers, and the Republican right wing gave the litmus test to Harriet Miers, and they sunk her. I think what we learned from Harriet Miers and this nominee is that like President Reagan nominating Sandra Day O'Connor, awful us came together, and I would certainly hope that we have learned this now, and that in the future we're going to have someone that can bring the nation together, rather than being a divisive force, but we're reminding of this particularly because of Coretta Scott King and the extraordinary impact that she had on this country with Dr. King.

And I think not only in her contributions in the civil rights battle, but also as a mother. I know the children, and know the children well. She was an extraordinary mother. They all have a presence. They all resolved to giving something back to America. And I think we honor her memory by continuing the battles against discrimination and bigotry in our country.

KAGAN: She did lead an incredible life indeed and was an incredible woman, and we thank you for helping us remember her today.

KENNEDY: Thank you very, very much.

KAGAN: Senator Ted Kennedy, it's going to be a fascinating morning on Capitol Hill as well. Thank you, Senator.

KENNEDY: Thank you.

KAGAN: We'll take a break, and we're going to loosen things up a little bit, talk some Oscar nominations, after this.

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KAGAN: Oscar nominations are out. Let's get right to it with the observations from Tom O'Neill of "In Touch Weekly" and theenvelope.com. He's in our L.A. Bureau.

Tom, we have three minutes. So let's prep people for the Oscars. The big story.

TOM O'NEILL: The big story is "Brokeback Mountains" lead with the most nominations. It got eight. But that's two fewer than I believed most experts believed it would. However, we've got to say this out front, because in the past 20 years, the movie with the most nominations has won best picture 17 times.

KAGAN: It has. But you're really good at explaining to us the context here, and the timing of Oscars this year, how that might actually hurt "Brokeback Mountain."

O'NEILL: Really it could. There's a sense in this town, out in Hollywood, that they want to shake things up, and there's one extra week this year between nominations and awards than we saw last year, for example. There's momentum building everywhere for "Crash," and we could see an upset there. We could see an upset for best actress for Felicity Huffman over Reese Witherspoon. This race isn't over yet. We have established frontrunners, but there could be some major surprises.

KAGAN: One thing you do know, George Clooney is going to have a big night, three nominations in three different categories.

O'NEILL: Yes, and he'll probably, of course, take that supporting actor nod.

But what you were referring to earlier I should explain. We just finished the Guild Awards. Normally those come at the end of the race, about a week or two before the Oscars. So that tips us off about surprises coming, like a few years ago, we saw Halle Barry win for "Monster's Ball," after she had not won anything before that. And all of a sudden, we go, oh, we knew she was a viable candidate. This year we'll have none of those (INAUDIBLE).

KAGAN: Very good. Now any snubs this morning? Anybody expected to get a nomination who didn't?

O'NEILL: Well, actually I was actually right on this time.

KAGAN: So you weren't surprised, but others.

O'NEILL: Others were surprised that "Walk the Line" didn't get in for best picture. I thought "Munich" had more number-one vote support. And it all comes down to a preferential ballot they use instead of a weighted ballot. And some people thought Russell Crowe would get in for best actor. He didn't. Terrence Howard got in for "Hustle and Flow." Hip-hip hooray. That was a great one.

A sad exclusion was Don Cheadle for "Crash." I thought he'd get in. Instead, William Hurt came in for a "History of Violence."

KAGAN: Finally, in the last 30 seconds -- is this going to be kind of a blah Oscars? There's no "Titanic," no huge movie stars.

O'NEILL: I know. I know. It looks like it's a very blah Oscar race that's already wrapped up with obvious frontrunners. But I think the element of surprise that I just mentioned, about the fact that we don't really know what's going to happen on Oscar night. And these Hollywood voters are contrary-minded, pigheaded, stubborn, selfish people who are going to give us big surprises on Oscar night. Just watch.

KAGAN: Self-centered, stubborn people in Hollywood. I am shocked. There's our lead.

Tom O'Neill, envelope.com and "In Touch Weekly." Thank you. Good to talk to see you. We'll be talking to you close to Oscar time.

Fifty-one votes. That's all that stands right now between Judge Samuel Alito and the Supreme Court. The Senate vote is just moments away. We'll of course take you there live.

The second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins after a quick break.

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