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CNN Live Today

Remembering Coretta Scott King; New Orleans Hopes Mardi Gras Relaunches Tourism Industry

Aired February 06, 2006 - 11:31   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Coretta Scott King is being remembered today at the Atlanta church where her husband once co-pastored. Her body will lie in honor at Ebenezer Baptist Church all day today.
Let's go to our Rusty Dornin, who is standing by outside the church.

Rusty, hello.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, thousands of people are braving a very cold and wet day here in Atlanta to honor Coretta Scott King in a church that perhaps is more fitting than any other church. Her husband was co-pastor here from 1960 on. His father before him was a pastor. The King family has history at the old Ebenezer Baptist Church dating back to 1894.

This is really the heart and soul of the civil rights movement. This is where Martin Luther King Junior preached his message of non- violence and social justice. And thousands are expected to file past her casket, from 10:00 a.m. this morning until midnight.

And just in about a half hour, across the street is the new Ebenezer Baptist Church, and that's where they're having a musical tribute to Mrs. King, featuring Gladys Knight, Stephanie Mills, and also we are hearing that Oprah is going to speak at length about Mrs. King, as is her daughter, Yolanda.

There will also be another tribute to Coretta Scott King at 7:00 tonight. That will feature many of the hero those of civil rights movement, Jesse Jackson, Reverend Joseph Lowery, and many others, Andrew Young, the former mayor of Atlanta, also former Congressman. Many of those people will be speaking and honoring Mrs. King tonight. And of course the funeral tomorrow will be in Lithonia, Georgia, at the church, where her daughter, Bernice, is a minister -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Rusty Dornin. Rusty, I know, interestingly, showing how times have changed, as I understand it, the goodbye, and the services and the tribute that Mrs. King is getting, at least from the city of Atlanta and the state, even bigger than what Martin Luther King Junior got in 1968.

DORNIN: Well, he was really snubbed at the state Capitol. Governor Lester Maddox wouldn't allow him to lie in state, wouldn't allow the state flags to be lowered or anything. So here, she was -- her body was escorted in by the current governor, Sonny Perdue, and he gave quite a moving speech in her honor. So, yes, it's very, very different from when her husband died so many years ago.

KAGAN: Rusty Dornin, Live in downtown Atlanta. Thank you, Rusty.

Coming up in a few minutes, we'll take a closer look at the alternative medicine clinic in Mexico, where Coretta Scott King died.

And this program note, you can watch CNN tomorrow for live coverage of Mrs. King's funeral services. It begins at noon Eastern. Plus, you can watch continuing coverage of today's events, including the noon music service at Ebenezer Baptist, on CNN pipeline at CNN.com.

The Louisiana legislators opened a special session today. This is the second to deal with hurricane recovery. Governor Kathleen Blanco plans to bus legislators around New Orleans this afternoon. And after that, she'll given a address at the New Orleans Convention Center. Some lawmakers call Blanco's field trip offensive. They said they don't need a sightseeing tour through their neighborhood, and they feel the convention center venue is tasteless given the chaotic events that happened there.

Mardi Gras parades get rolling in New Orleans late next week, and that will lead up to the big party on February 28th, Fat Tuesday. The city hopes that Mardi Gras relaunches its shattered tourism industry. Tourism is the top moneymaker in New Orleans. Ten million visitors spend $5 billion dollars a year in the city. Before the hurricane, New Orleans had 38,000 hotel rooms, according to experts at "Conde Nast Traveler." Most of the rooms of the 33,000 were destroyed or uninhabitable after the storm. But in the months since, 25,000 are renovated and they are ready for guests.

Big question now, will the crowds show up. Let's talk to journalist Guy Martin about New Orleans. His article on the city's tourism business appears in the current issue of "Conde Nast Traveler."

Guy, good morning.

Thank you, Daryn. Good morning.

And before we get to what's waiting for people if they want to go visit, you really focus on a couple of men who run some of the big hotels there and how they really stepped up to save the day right after Hurricane Katrina.

GUY MARTIN, "CONDE NAST TRAVELER": Right. Well, I mean, The basic story of Katrina and it's immediate aftermath, in particular the aftermath of the flooding, was that everybody was on their own. So these guys had some -- in particular the manager of Cenesta Hans (ph), Wan Flu (ph) and the manager of the Sheraton, Dan King, had corporate resources at their command and were able to successfully shelter not only the police, but their guests, evacuate their guests, and work through the aftermath. It was incredibly difficult for them.

KAGAN: And so is New Orleans ready for Mardi Gras and for this influx of visitors.

MARTIN: Yes. Yes and no. I think Mardi Gras is going to be sort of the first commercial test, the first test of the tourism infrastructure. The convention center is back.

There are three hotels in downtown New Orleans, the Fairmont, the Hyatt and the Ritz that are still not on line. But 28,000 actually. It's a bit higher, the actual number of hotel rooms that have been brought back; 28,000 are back of the 33,000 that were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable by the storms. So, yes.

KAGAN: Even more than rooms, or just as much as rooms, they need workers, and I understand there's a problem with workers having a problem to live.

MARTIN: Yes, huge, enormous and ongoing. I mean, there is staff to service the rooms that are there, there are restaurant staffs. Every manager, every owner has problems with this. New Orleans was a tourist destination, and a large number of people, many thousands of people worked in the industry. There are 300,000 New Orleanians, or a little bit less new, in the diaspora still not back at home.

KAGAN: And for New Orleans to recover, though, the tourism industry must recover.

MARTIN: The Convention Center has been brought back, I agree. It is a major engine, perhaps the major engine of the local economy. If they don't have New Orleans anymore, there won't be a New Orleans to go to. But they will. And the reason for that is that certain immortal elements of that town cannot be stomped out. No matter how many people get displaced, there is a great longing for a sense of home there, and I believe that will triumph in the end.

KAGAN: And so you say go, but be realistic about what you will find when you go.

MARTIN: I say absolutely go.

Actually, as you know, every reporter in America, covering America, is going to be down there. And I believe many, many thousands of people who love New Orleans, and have loved New Orleans and have been there will be there. It will not bring a billion in this time. It'll probably be 65, 70 percent, but it will bring a lot of money to the city, and it will jumpstart a lot of things. So there's no reason not though go.

KAGAN: Every dollar will help. Guy Martin from "Conde Nast Traveler," thank you.

MARTIN: Thank you.

KAGAN: And one other note about New Orleans, you want to take a look at this. It's a picture that tells the story. The hurricane damage, Louisiana Superdome set to re-open September 24th of this year. A mural with the news was completed on the outside of the Superdome yesterday. The NFL says the Saints will take on the Atlanta Falcons for their first home game of the upcoming season. Big news for a lot of folks that didn't think the Saints were going back to New Orleans.

When we come back, a transplant patient puts her best face forward, and so far it's a success.

First a look at how you can keep up with the latest fashion online.

Let's check in with Veronica De La Cruz at the dot-com desk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While most of us are looking forward to spring and summer, the fashion world is already thinking fall. For an inside look at Fashion Week, log on to CNN.com.

With many runways throughout New York City, Fashion Week is an opportunity for designers to showcase their ideas, as well as established designers to showcase their new fall creations. And experts say the event is not just about high fashion. New trends emerge as a result, and retailers place orders for their upcoming fall lines. Check out pictures from last year's Fashion Week. Everything from the glamorous to the -- um, I'm not so sure what to call it.

Test your couture knowledge in this quiz to find out if you're a style icon, a trendsetter or a fashion victim. And be sure to check back for daily highlights and a schedule of this year's shows at CNN.com/fashion.

For the dot-com desk, I'm Veronica De La Cruz.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: I want to show you live pictures we're just starting to watch. This is Southern California, the Anaheim Hills area. Really dry and windy conditions in Southern California today. Highs near 80. Well, we lost the live picture. We also have tape from earlier today. You can see this fire clearly burning out of control. It's in the Cleveland National Forest, near Anaheim Hills.

Topping our "Daily Dose" of health news, Coretta Scott King's death raises new questions about alternative health care in Mexico. Although authorities there have shut down the clinic where Mrs. King was getting treatment, similar clinics are drawing Americans south of the border. But are they safe and what's the big attraction?

With more on that, here's CNN's Dan Loathian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Across the border, 16 miles south of San Diego, Michigan army veteran Dick Deletsky (ph) put his life in the hands of a small alternative medicine clinic after he was diagnosed with cancer. He was referred by a relative who had been treated there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've just been in great shape ever since, and I said, if I ever get cancer, that's where I'm going.

LOTHIAN: Santa Monica Health Institute in Rosarito Beach has claimed its holistic approach of magnets, diets and oxygen therapies can heal chronically and terminally ill patients, like those battling cancer. What some call quackery was just the right prescription for Deletsky, who says he's suspicious of traditional treatment and the U.S. health care system.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They don't want to cure cancer, it's all money.

LOTHIAN: But here, patients said they were offered hope.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would have died if they had not taken me.

LOTHIAN: The families of other patients have been less impressed and blame the clinic's unorthodox treatments for hastening deaths of relatives being treated there.

And just days after 78-year-old Coretta Scott King checked in for treatment of advanced ovarian cancer and then died, the Mexican government ordered the facility closed, citing unproven treatments and unauthorized surgeries. The clinic claims the government's action is unrelated to King's death. The founder and director says they are working with the health department to correct any alleged infractions, and he expects the clinic to re-open soon.

(on camera): This case puts the spotlight on alternative clinics growing in popularity south of the border. They are often uncontroversial, operating outside of U.S. regulations and oversight, and experts say the claims they make and treatments they offer are sometimes dangerous.

(voice-over): But patients who say they've exhausted all traditional treatment like chemotherapy and radiation or have lost faith in those therapies say they're willing to take the risk.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They know what they're doing. They're saving lives.

LOTHIAN: And in this case, they seem unaware of or unfazed by the criminal record of the clinic's founder, 72-year-old Kurt Donsbach. Among the list of charges and accusations, court records show he pleaded guilty to federal charges a decade ago, of smuggling illegal medications into the U.S. from Mexico. And Donsbach, who has no medical degree, was charged by authorities in California during the '70s for practicing medicine without a license.

For now, his Mexico operation is closed, patients told to find other facilities. But it's clear more and more Americans will keep traveling south of the border, hoping to find the miracle cure. Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: The French woman who received the world's first partial face transplant is showing off her new face for the first time today. Isabelle Dinoire was mauled by her own dog last year. She says she recently began to regain sensation in her new lips and her nose and her chin, and that is after the surgery, was just ten weeks ago. And she's getting used to having a whole new look as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISABELLE DINOIRE, FACE TRANSPLANT PATIENT (through translator): There is no comparison between the face I have today and the one I had seven months ago. Quite different.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Doctors say it's still impossible -- it is still possible, actually, that Dinoire's body could reject the donor skin, but she is taking drugs to prevent that from happening.

To get your "Daily Dose" of health news online, log on to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address is CNN.com/health.

A penny saved, a coincidence realized. Let's explain this "Twilight Zone" moment here for you. Seventeen-year-old Stephan is a volunteer firefighter in the Buffalo area. He also works at a restaurant. Seven years ago, when he was just a little leaguer, Penny Brown saved his life. She is the woman in blue right there. Brown performed CPR when a ball hit Stephan hard in the chest. OK, now we're going to fast forward to 2006, and the pair is reunited.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN STEPHAN, VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER: I was in the back and I was putting away dishes, and all of a sudden my manager came into the back and was telling me to go out to the front, and all the cooks were telling me to go out there. And I walked out there and I saw one of the waitresses attempting the Heimlich Maneuver. And she was unsuccessful.

And I went over there and I did two thrusts and then food became dislodged, and Mr. Brown started breathing again. I sat her down at her table. And then my mom had came over, and she was like, that's Mrs. Brown, that's the lady who saved you. And I was just in total disbelief.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Absolutely amazing. Talk about payback, huh? You can wake up with the news on "AMERICAN MORNING." Miles O'Brien and Soledad O'Brien get started 6:00 a.m. weekdays and then we take over at 10 a.m. We'll have a check of weather and business news, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: James Taylor has a lot of friends, a lot of friends who are impressed with his career. He will be honored as Musicares person of the year by the recording academy on Monday night. That is kicking off Grammy week. So congratulations to him. James Taylor, has been around a long time. A lot of great music.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: It is a big day here in Atlanta. The late Coretta Scott King is lying in honor at this hour at Ebenezer Baptist Church in downtown Atlanta, and a number of celebrities and dignitaries paying their respects, including Oprah Winfrey, who did this just mere moments ago, having her chance to pay last respects as the viewing for Mrs. King. There's Also a going to be a big service at noon, and a number of other celebrities, including Gladys Knight, Oprah and Aretha Franklin are expected to be there. We're going to monitor that and bring you the highlights of that moment.

(MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: I'm Daryn Kagan. International news is up next. Stay tuned for "YOUR WORLD TODAY," and I'll be back with the latest headlines from the U.S. in about 20 minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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