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CNN Live Today
Grammy Awards Preview; Funeral Service for Coretta Scott King Draws Crowds
Aired February 07, 2006 - 10:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is the super bowl, the big mac daddy of the music industry. Tomorrow night, the Grammy Awards will perhaps distinguish rapper/songwriter Kanye West as music's new MVP.
Our entertainment correspondent Brooke Anderson has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Legend, Common, Alicia Keys. What do these multiple Grammy nominees have, well, in common? They've all been produced by Kanye West. The man with the Midas touched has either written or arranged album tracks for all three artists.
SERENA KIM, FEATURES EDITOR, "VIBE" MAGAZINE: Kanye West represents a movement. Because of his collaborations with John Legend, and with Common and all the other production he's done for other artists.
ANDERSON: Other chart toppers on camp Kanye's roster are Jay Z, The Game and Mariah Carey. Ironically, West is up against himself for album of the year, because of his work on his own disk, as well as Carey's.
His sophomore CD "Late Registration" even features Adam Levine, frontman for Maroon Five.
And It was Maroon Five that beat West out for best new artist at last year's Grammy.
KANYE WEST: You know what, honestly, I think that was a tough competition.
ANDERSON: So how does Kanye sell millions of his own CDs while successfully hocking other artists as well?
GAIL MITCHELL, SR. EDITOR, "BILLBOARD" MAGAZINE: He's a real student of music. I mean, he's really into the craft of it, putting it together. He's very conversant.
COMMON, RAPPER: When you have greats come in and touch a piece of art, then you know it is going to last forever. He's one of the producers, one of the artists, a visionary.
JOHN LEGEND, SINGER: Kanye is definitely, you know, an important critic of mine. ANDERSON: Between his musical partnerships and turning out albums, West seems confident Grammy night will be his.
WEST: I love the Grammys, and I think I win album of the year.
VERJEE: Brooke Anderson, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: He has got to work on that little confidence thing there.
Well, on to fashion now. Do you wonder what you'll be wearing next fall? Is gray the new black? Our Sibila Vargas has the answers. She's in New York City for fall fashion week, and she joins us later this hour.
Plus, getting your groove on in the White House. The president and Mr. Bush try out some dance moves. We have the pictures. Stay tuned. Your not going to want to miss this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Louisiana's governor says she's concerned that President Bush and the nation have largely forgotten devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Governor Kathleen Blanco spoke yesterday at the special opening of the special legislative session for hurricane recovery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO, LOUISIANA: The harsh reality is that for many people in Washington, Katrina is yesterday's problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: The Louisiana governor led a bus tour through some of the devastated areas of New Orleans yesterday. She's vowing to push Congress for more money to revive and rebuild the area. President Bush has asked for another $18 billion in reconstruction aid for the Gulf Coast region. If that's approved, that would bring federal money earmarked for hurricane recovery to more than $100 billion.
Meanwhile, time is up. Thousands of hurricane evacuee also now have to foot their own hotel bills. Starting today, the government will no longer pick up the tab. About 5,000 people are affected. FEMA did grant extensions for thousands of other evacuees. Those folks can stay in hotels until next week, or until the first of March, depending on their circumstances. FEMA says it has spent more than a half-billion dollars putting evacuees up in hotels.
(NEWSBREAK)
KAGAN: But the big live event of the day taking place just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Funeral service for Coretta Scott King starting in about an hour and 20 minutes. Four presidents, four former presidents, plus the current president will be there, as well as a number of dignitaries from around the world.
President Bush has ordered that all flags across the country fly at half staff.
We have coverage all day long. Stay with us here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Let's go ahead and check the markets once again. They continue to kind of head south. The Dow is down 25 points, Nasdaq also in negative territory. It is down 10.
Funeral services will be held in about an hour and a few minutes in Lithonia, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta, for Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King, Jr. A who's who of the civil rights world and government and celebrities will be at this. It's a service that's expected to go three, maybe four hours.
Our Tony Harris is standing by outside the church with more on that -- Tony.
TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning again, Daryn. Standing beside me now is the Bishop T.D. Jakes, who will be speaking at this afternoon's funeral for Coretta Scott King, homegoing celebration for Coretta Scott King.
And Bishop, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. First of all your thoughts today -- when you're thinking about Coretta Scott King, where are they going, where are your thoughts going?
BISHOP T.D. JAKES, SR. PASTOR, THE POTTER'S HOUSE: It's a bittersweet moment for me. She was a personal friend. I was with her just a few weeks with her before she passed, went in her home and had prayer with her. And I've been walking with her throughout the process. So personally, I'm affected.
And then on a national level, as a religious leader, I know that she left a strong challenge to our generation to bring people together. And that's a difficult task. But she and Dr. King, with an undaunted tenacious spirit of love and grace, were able to accomplish a lot of things that we must continue to build upon.
HARRIS: Bishop, I know you're speaking during the service today. Give us a sense, a bit of a preview, if you would, of what you might be saying?
JAKES: I think that Mrs. King represents to us a greatness that transcends all entanglements -- religiosity, sexual persuasions and even Democrats to Republicans. They're all merging at the intersection of her greatness. And I think that it bespeaks to her legacy and in effect actually serves to eulogize her by the diversity of people who have come to honor her.
HARRIS: Which also seems to speak to what Dr. King talked about, this idea of a beloved community. JAKES: Yes, it does. And I think that she is a remarkable woman to have maintained the mission of her husband. I once talked to her over lunch and I asked her how was she able to do what she did. She said, I felt as called to be his wife as he felt called to do what he did.
HARRIS: Bishop Jakes, good to see you, and can't wait to hear your comments inside during the funeral service.
JAKES: Thank you.
HARRIS: Thank you so much.
And Daryn, let me tell you, this is a huge church, as we have been saying throughout the morning. It holds -- the main sanctuary holds 10,000 people. But we're going to show you some shots now of the line of buses and people who are trying to get inside the main sanctuary.
We're talking about New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. Buses, we're talking about MTA buses, MARTA buses coming in. And I got to tell you, there is an overflow area that is a gymnasium now that is quickly filling up, as well. So this is going to be a huge event this afternoon.
KAGAN: Tony, thank you. And Tony's visit with T.D. Jakes just part of our day-long coverage of the funeral services for Mrs. King. You'll see the complete service live here on CNN beginning at noon eastern, 9:00 a.m. Pacific. We're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: And now we have an answer to that eternal question by women and some men out there: what am I going to wear? In New York, the designers are looking several seasons ahead of us to help you plan early, of course.
Our fall Fashion Week is rolling along, as is our Sibila Vargas. She is live with the latest from the runway.
Where do we find you today, Sibila?
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Oh, so many things. But I'm here joined by Michael Vollbracht, who is helming the Bill Blass collection.
How are you today?
MICHAEL VOLLBRACHT, DESIGNER, BILL BLASS: I'm fine. Organized hopefully.
VARGAS: You are just moments away from unveiling the fall fashions.
VOLLBRACHT: Yes, just moments away, yes.
VARGAS: How are you feeling right now?
VOLLBRACHT: I can't wait for it to be over. This is a long process and for -- we spend $500,000 for 14 minutes. Oh, my gosh. It's so strange to talk about fashion right now when -- I'm a fan of CNN, and I watch the hubris of the world, and I want your audience out there to know it's not just frivolous what we're doing. This is very important for the New York industry, New York fashion industry, that these clothes sell and that these clothes really reflect New York City. This is important to us.
VARGAS: You're going to give us a sneak peek, as well, right?
VOLLBRACHT: Yes, I have Frevil (ph). This is one of the skirts that we'll show. We do very expensive clothes for very wealthy women, and we always have to keep that in mind. And like this is hand embroidered. Every one of the little rosettes are done by hand. and you have 20 -- Frevil is part of my design team, so he's been into this. So there's 20 yards of this fabric, and fabric is $200 a yard.
This is a coat that we're doing on one of the top models in the world, and it is already expensive piece of goods. That's a fashion term. And then we embroider it to make it more expensive. So this coat will probably be around $12,000.
VARGAS: Oh my gosh. And I see a lot of fur.
VOLLBRACHT: Not a lot of fur. Just around the neck.
VARGAS: There's lot of trimming, though.
VOLLBRACHT: A lot of trimming, yes, yes. Detail is important.
VARGAS: How do you stay true to Bill Blass' legacy?
VOLLBRACHT: I'm a consumer-driven designer, and a lot of time the press don't like that. But I dress one-tenth of one percent of the American woman, and I have to honor her. She is a very powerful -- she may be married to a very powerful man, or she may be a very powerful woman in her own. I have to honor her, because that keeps my paycheck going. I couldn't afford these clothes.
VARGAS: Neither can I.
VOLLBRACHT: I couldn't afford any of these clothes.
VARGAS: Thank you so much for the insight. I appreciate it.
VOLLBRACHT: You're very welcome. Thanks you. Enjoy the show.
VARGAS: Thanks.
So there you have it, Daryn. We can't afford it, but somebody will.
KAGAN: Yes, interesting guy. Good perspective on what he does, his passion. But how it kind of fits into the rest of us. Sibila thank you. Enjoy the rest of Fashion Week.
VARGAS: Thank you.
KAGAN: Let's check the time around the country. It is 10:52 here on the East Coast, 7:52 for those of you in the West.
Stay with us. I'll be back with a quick check of your morning forecast.
Also, President Bush, he busts some moves next. Dancing the night away in D.C. Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: President Bush and the first lady were dancing with the stars in the East Room of the White House last night. The first couple hosted the renowned Dance Theater of Harlem and showed off some of their own moves. With legendary Al Green doing the singing, Laura Bush took to the floor with Arthur Mitchell who founded the dance school. It's been a Harlem institution since 1969, although it had to close briefly in 2004 because of money problems.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: It's a beautiful day here in Atlanta, Georgia, as people come in from all over the country, including President Bush. This is a live picture from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. This is Air Force One, or at least the nose of Air Force One, as it arrives here in Atlanta. President Bush and Mrs. Bush onboard. They are coming to town to attend the funeral service for Coretta Scott King, who died on January 30th. Not only is President Bush going to be here, he also ordered that all flags across the country fly at half staff today in honor of Mrs. King. He will be joined by former President Bush, his father, who we already saw arrive, also former President Clinton and former President Carter who, of course, lives here in Georgia.
We have day-long coverage of the arrival of dignitaries from around the world, as well as the actual funeral service. And that continues throughout the day.
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