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American Morning

Coretta Scott King Dies at 78; State of the Union

Aired January 31, 2006 - 09:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
Some news to tell you about this morning, sad news. Civil rights pioneer Coretta Scott King is dead. We've got much more on her life and her mission coming up in just a few moments.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Miles O'Brien.

President Bush tries to prop up his sagging poll numbers with tonight's State of the Union Address. We are live at the White House, and we'll have a preview for you.

We're just a couple of hours away from the likely confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito, meanwhile. But do Democrats have any last-minute surprises?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm pleased to announce that the films selected as the best picture nominees for 2005 are...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: If you don't already know, we'll tell you who is in, who is staying home for the Oscars.

A look at that ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

M. O'BRIEN: Welcome. Once again, we were shut out at the Academy Award nominations.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, we were.

And we start, in all seriousness, some very sad news to share with you this morning. Coretta Scott King is dead.

Mrs. King was last seen in public on the Saturday before Martin Luther King Day two weeks ago. She has been in a wheelchair ever since her stroke and the heart attack that she suffered last August. She was 78 years old, a well-respected civil rights leader in her own right.

Mark Teichner of our affiliate WAGA is live in front of the Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta.

Mark, good morning.

MARK TEICHNER, REPORTER, WAGA: Well, good morning, Soledad.

Obviously a very somber time here at the King Center in Atlanta where folks are just getting the news. Some people are actually wandering up and discovering this as they see the media hoards that have gathered.

If you take a look, it's hard to see, but they've already got the flags at half staff here at the King Center. And if my photographer, Kerry (ph), could swing around a little further off that way, can show you the Ebenezer Church where Dr. King and his father, "Daddy King," as he's known in these parts, once preached. And they've even got a street banner of Dr. King and Mrs. King here.

Folks are extremely somber. We've seen a lot of tears. We've seen people who are already showing up, dropping off flowers at the tomb of Dr. King, expressing their sorrow, expressing their sympathy for the King family.

Haven't heard officially from the King family as of yet, nor have we heard from the National Park Service. Much this area is actually controlled by the National Park Service. And they have yet to come out and give us a statement, nor have the Kings themselves.

We did talk with a long-time worker at the King Center, 18 years. And he tells us that he was extremely shaken up by this, describes Mrs. King as like a mother for him.

So extremely difficult times for folks here in Atlanta. And it will continue to stay that way, as you can imagine, for quite some time.

We're reporting for CNN. Mark Teichner.

Back to you.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Mark. Thank you for that update.

And of course sad news not only in Atlanta, but around the nation, as well.

In her 78 years, Coretta Scott King leaves a legacy of outstanding civil rights accomplishments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN (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 slowly with her husband behind the scenes while raising their four children.

In December, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up here seat on a public bus to a white man.

MARTIN LUTHER KING, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: We feel also that one of the great glories of American democracy is that we have the right to protest.

S. 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.

S. 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.

S. O'BRIEN: Coretta Scott 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.

KING: Now is the time...

S. O'BRIEN: 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.

KING: I have a dream...

S. O'BRIEN: 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.

S. O'BRIEN: She created a 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 recanted to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. DEXTER KING, MARTIN LUTHER KING'S SON: I believe, and as I said, my family believes that he is innocent.

S. O'BRIEN: Like others who survive 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, MARTIN LUTHER KING'S WIFE: We must make our hearts instruments of peace and nonviolence, because when the heart is right, the mind and the body will follow.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Coretta Scott King dead at the age of 78 -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: His -- sorry.

His poll numbers may be dismal, but the president is vowing to be upbeat in tonight's State of the Union Address. The speech comes as the president's approval rating hovers in the low 40s or even high 30s in some case.

Elaine Quijano at the White House with a preview for us.

Elaine, good morning.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles.

Well, the themes tonight, really, optimism and leadership. That at a time when polls are showing that Americans don't think the country is headed in the right direction.

Now, as for President Bush's own approval ratings, recent polls showing that number in the low 40s, including a CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll showing him at 43 percent. So the State of the Union Address is really a chance for the president to outline some solutions, to try to tackle some of the issues facing the country.

And as you know, Miles, the counselor to the president, Dan Bartlett, was on AMERICAN MORNING earlier today. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN BARTLETT, WHITE HOUSE COUNSELOR: What the public expects from their president is that despite the challenges our country may face, they want a leader that has an optimistic vision and outlook on life and puts forward an agenda that meets that optimism. If you had a president of the United States, Soledad, who looked at all the challenges and only saw the dark side of it and had a pessimistic view, you couldn't lead this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, aides are saying that the focus tonight is really going to be on issues the White House believes are important to Americans, so-called kitchen table initials, things like energy and gas prices, health care and retirement. But we're also told there will be some proposals addressing this issue of competitiveness, America's competitiveness in the world.

But of course, the political stakes in all of this quite high, Miles. As you know, the State of the Union Address is taking place ahead of those upcoming November congressional midterm elections -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: And, of course, the issue which is on so many people's mind, the war in Iraq. What, if anything, will the president be saying about that?

QUIJANO: Well, you're absolutely right. Since the U.S.-led invasion began, more than 2,200 Americans have died. And, in fact, the White House has been trying for some time, the past couple of months, really, to try to turn around public opinion on this issue, to try to rally Americans behind the president's Iraq policy.

So tonight we're not expect anything kind of major announcements, at least not so far that we've heard. But you can expect the president to once again vigorously defend his Iraq policy as a necessary part of fighting the war on terror -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Elaine Quijano at the White House.

Thank you.

CNN's prime-time coverage of the State of the Union Address begins with a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM." Wolf Blitzer and Paula Zahn will take care of that. That's at 7:00 Eastern Time tonight.

Then Anderson Cooper will bring you immediate reaction after the speech.

Larry King will host an hour of inside analysis at midnight.

The short answer here is, stay with CNN all night. And if you miss it all, if you can't stay up, worry not. Soledad will be in Washington tomorrow with a complete recap of the speech, reaction from all quarters, and that's right here on AMERICAN MORNING, beginning at 6:00 Eastern.

Let's get to Carol in the newsroom with some headlines.

Hello, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Miles.

And good morning to all of you. ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff and photographer Doug Vogt are set to begin treatment back in the United States later today. The pair of journalists left Germany just about three hours ago. They're now heading to the brain injury center at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center outside of Washington, D.C. Both suffered head injuries in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq.

A new terror tape from Osama bin Laden's right hand man. Ayman al-Zawahiri is shown in a three and a half minute video that aired on the Arab network Al-Jazeera. He appears defiant and says he's alive and well.

It his a first message since a U.S. missile strike in Pakistan earlier this month targeting him and other members of al Qaeda. Zawahiri calls President Bush the butcher of Washington, and he threatens new attacks.

New footage of U.S. journalist Jill Carroll, but still no details about how she is doing and her possible release. Al-Jazeera aired the video without sound. You can see Carroll apparently urging United States and Iraqi authorities to release all female prisoners in their custody. And she is also crying.

Police in California still trying to sort things out after a shooting rampage at a postal facility near Santa Barbara. Police say a former employee opened fire, killing six people and wounding one other person, and then she shot and killed herself. Another news conference from authorities expected later today.

Samuel Alito could be wearing the U.S. Supreme Court robe by the end of the day. The full Senate set to take its final vote on his nomination. The confirmation is a sure thing at this point. The Senate is set to vote in about two hours. Alito would be replacing retiring justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

In Houston, Texas, they sat a jury with lightning speed. Yes, opening statements set to begin this morning in the Enron fraud case.

Ken Lay, the Enron chief, on trial. He says, "We think we had a good day and that the jury will make a fair decision." Lay and Jeffrey Skilling are accused of painting a rosy picture of Enron's finances even though the company was going bust.

And aloha to winter. Guess what? It's snowing in Hawaii.

Snowboarders and skiers not wasting any time. Recent storms dumped about a foot of snow on Hawaii's tallest peak. The name, by the way, means "White Mountain" in Hawaii -- in Hawaiian, rather. So I guess it's all fit -- I'm just surprised at how many people have snowboards in Hawaii.

S. O'BRIEN: It looks pretty nice there.

All right, Carol. Thank you.

Let's get right to the forecast. Chad has got that. Hey, Chad, that's not unusual for that mountain, is it?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No, actually it happens -- you know how tall that mountain is? Thirty-two thousand feet tall.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow.

MYERS: But, it's sunk in 18,000 feet of water. So it only sticks out 13,000 feet. But no, it snows there all the time.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad. Thanks.

MYERS: OK.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, much more on the news, the sad news we've been sharing with you this morning. The widow of Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, is dead. Her biographer will join us right after this short break to take a look back at her life.

M. O'BRIEN: Plus, President Bush will address the nation in tonight's State of the Union speech, but will it play in Columbus? We'll take the pulse of Ohio ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: We're remembering the life of Coretta Scott King this morning. Just about two hours ago, we learned of the death of the civil rights pioneer. She was 78 years old.

We saw her earlier this month at ceremonies commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It was her first public appearance since she had that stroke last August.

Joining us by phone from Pasadena, California, is biographer Digby Diehl. He worked on a never-published book with Coretta Scott King.

Thank you for talking with us. We certainly appreciate your time.

Why was the book never published?

DIGBY DIEHL, BIOGRAPHER: It was actually canceled, unfortunately, due to a disagreement with the family. It was a Warner Books publication that encompassed some of Dr. King's own works, Coretta King's works, and, of course, the biography by Dexter King that was published.

S. O'BRIEN: She was, in some ways, for a person who had such a public life, also a very private person, wasn't she?

DIEHL: Extraordinarily so. In fact, that was the most important part of her life. Her family was always paramount and her love of her children was one of the most beautiful things about her. S. O'BRIEN: I know you spent a couple of years really working on this book and talking over -- over several years. Were there any surprises in your dealings with her? Something that you discovered you did not know about this woman who in a lot of ways everybody knows a lot about?

DIEHL: It's true, for a woman who was in the public eye so much, she was really very little known.

I think one of the most extraordinary parts Mrs. King was the work that she did for international civil rights and for countries such as Ghana and Zimbabwe and India. It was amazing how much she did behind the scenes in Washington.

She was very much a behind-the-scenes person, even with her husband, and her contributions to his career were amazing. In fact, she was much more politically sophisticated when they first met.

She went to the first progressive party convention in 1948. Henry Wallace, singer Paul Robeson -- Bayard Rustin, in fact, was the man who got her there. And at Antioch College she and her sister were the first black women, black people of any sort, to attend school there. And she had a remarkable background that she brought to Martin Luther King's entire vision.

S. O'BRIEN: A true pioneer in a lot of ways.

When you're talking with someone, when you're doing their biography, I know you start looking forward in the sense of, how do you want to be remembered? Did you have those conversations with her? Did you talk about what she -- she personally felt her legacy was and is to this nation?

DIEHL: She was extraordinarily humble about that. By the way, this would have been Mrs. King's own memoir, not a biography.

And what her view was, was that her husband was the most important person, and that the King Center was by far her most important contribution to his memory. I think, also, Mrs. King felt that the continued work that she was doing for nonviolence in all areas was very, very important.

And she not only worked for civil rights for people of color, but also for gays and lesbians. She was an extraordinary woman in the reach of her thinking. Very, very sophisticated, wonderfully knowledgeable about world affairs, and an amazing woman to have the privilege to have spent the years talking with.

S. O'BRIEN: An extraordinary woman on a lot of fronts.

Digby Diehl, a biographer, really working on Mrs. King's memoirs.

Thank you for talking with us and sharing your experience with us. We certainly appreciate it.

A short break and we're back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: State of the Union day. And for Republicans it is the best of times and the worst of times.

The GOP controls the White House and Congress and sets the political agenda, but there are undercurrents of discontent in some very important places. And when it comes to politics, there is no more important place than Ohio. And there is no better man to tell us how things are playing in Columbus than our own political guru, Bill Schneider.

Good morning, Bill.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Miles.

You know, Ohio is ground zero in American politics. Fifteen months ago, it re-elected Bush, 15 years ago Republicans took over Ohio.

How are they doing now?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER (voice over): Ohio re-elected Bush. Could it be the starting point for the next political revolution? Go to Licking County, where old and new America collide. Small towns like Newark, with its imposing 1876 courthouse, the old heartland. And raw exurbs, where families fleeing Columbus find open spaces and affordable housing, the new frontier.

Ohio Republicans are worried.

JAMES DREW, "TOLEDO BLADE": The scandals that have hit over the past year have opened the door for the Democrats really for the first time since 1990 to regain control.

SCHNEIDER: The state's Republican governor, Bob Taft, pleaded guilty to a campaign finance violation.

DREW: He is the first sitting governor to be convicted of a crime in Ohio.

SCHNEIDER: A major Republican contributor is accused of using a rare coin scheme to bilk the state out of millions of dollars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A coordinated smear campaign.

SCHNEIDER: The Justice Department is investigating whether Republican Representative Bob Ney of Licking County provided political favors for convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff in exchange for campaign contributions and a golf trip to Scotland.

STEVE HARRINGTON, LICKING COUNTY DEMOCRATS: What was he doing in Scotland? What was he doing? I mean, he represents the rural community. How does that benefit us?

SCHNEIDER: National Democrats have not failed to notice.

HOWARD DEAN, DNC CHAIRMAN: You've had five years of corruption at every level in the state of Ohio and five years of corruption at every level in the -- in the nation's capital.

SCHNEIDER: Thirty-six years ago this book described the typical American voter as a "a 47-year-old wife of a machinist living in suburban Dayton, Ohio." Today, that typical voter is likely to be like Laura Skidmore.

LAURA SKIDMORE, OHIO VOTER: Let's just say I'm a licensed Republican but I voted Democrat in the past as well. I'm a conservative liberal, or liberal conservative, whatever you want to call that. Middle of the road. How's that?

SCHNEIDER: The scandals in Ohio and Washington have affected Ms. Skidmore's view of President Bush.

SKIDMORE: I think he's too closely tied to oil. I think he's too closely tied to a lot of the lobbyists.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: Ohio is troubled by job losses, by corruption, by Iraq. President Bush has to address those troubles. The future of the Republican Party depends on it, because the real majority now lives here in the far exurbs of Columbus, Ohio -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Bill. So what do you think specifically they would like to hear from the president tonight?

SCHNEIDER: I asked them. And what they told me was, what's he going to do to get jobs back in Ohio and to keep the jobs that are already here?

To the voters of Ohio, the president's number one job is to be commander in chief of the economy. That's not in the Constitution, but it means a lot to voters here -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. It's the economy, stupid, as they said once. Not referring to you, of course, Bill Schneider.

Thank you -- using the phrase.

SCHNEIDER: OK.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Bill Schneider, in Columbus.

Remember to tune in to CNN tonight. Complete coverage of the State of the Union speech.

Our coverage begins 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. A special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM" with wolf Blitzer and Paula Zahn, followed by our live coverage of the president's speech, 9:00 Eastern. Then Anderson Cooper will bring immediate reaction. And then Larry King with midnight program, midnight Eastern, that is, which will offer you a complete wrap-up.

And then, of course, tomorrow morning, 6:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on AMERICAN MORNING, Soledad will be in Washington and we'll have everything for you then.

So stay with CNN.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, the world's most infamous politician turned realty TV star. Britain's George Galloway is going to join us live. We'll ask him whether all these TV antics, like this one here where he's pretending to be a kitty cat, remember that one? Is that helping his career or hurting his career?

Then later, we're going handicap this year's big Oscar race. Nominees were announced less than half -- less than an hour ago. So who are the early front-runners?

"AM Pop" is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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