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The Situation Room

Tribute to Coretta Scott King; Bulk Cell Phone Buyers May Have Terrorist Links; Jane Harman Interview; GM Cutting Stock Dividend;

Aired February 07, 2006 - 17:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: It's almost 5:00 p.m. here in Washington. And to our viewers, you're now in THE SITUATION ROOM, where news and information from around the world arrive at one place at the same time.
Happening now, it's 5:00 p.m. in Georgia, where presidents, civil rights leaders and thousands of others are gathered for the funeral of Coretta Scott King. It's a tribute combining sadness, humor, and even politics.

And it's 1:30 a.m. in Tehran, one of the many cities around the world rocked by new violence. Outraged Muslims are protesting what they say is an insult to Islam.

And here in the nation's capital, the Bush administration is defending its domestic eavesdropping program. We're going to talk about it with the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Congresswoman Jane Harman.

I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

The body of Coretta Scott King lies before the family, the friends, the followers whose lives she touched. Funeral events are still under way around Atlanta. President Bush, former presidents Carter, Bush and Clinton were on the roster of elite speakers praising the civil rights matriarch.

Also in attendance, ordinary people and household names.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYA ANGELOU, POET, ACTIVIST: And those of us who gather here, principalities, presidents, senators, those of us who run great companies, who know something about being parents, who know something about being preachers and teachers, those of us, we owe something from this minute on so that this gathering is not just another footnote on the pages of history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And let's go to the funeral service right now. The gospel singer BeBe Winans singing.

(SINGING)

BLITZER: The gospel legend BeBe Winans. This note: he released an album last year that was based exclusively on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 speech "I Have a Dream."

BeBe Winans singing at the funeral of Coretta Scott King.

The president's plane, Air Force One, about to return from Atlanta. The president was there, together with the first lady. Air Force One has just landed outside of Washington, D.C. at Andrews Air Force Base. You see Air Force One coming to a stop right there.

At the service, the podium was also used to air some political platforms, if you will. Some used Dr. King's mission of peace to make veiled references to the nation at war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. JOSEPH LOWERY, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: She extended Martin's message against poverty, racism and war. She deplored the terror inflicted by on our smart bombs on missions way afar. We know now there was no weapons of mass destruction over there.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The Reverend Joseph Lowery speaking at the funeral earlier.

We're going to go back there shortly, but I want to update you on some other important news we're watching right now, including a new warning coming in from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI just a little while ago. And it has to do with prepaid cell phones and terror networks.

Let's get some specific details. Our justice correspondent, Kelli Arena, is monitoring this story.

What's going on, Kelli?

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI sent out a bulletin to law enforcement partners today. It basically says that there are some individuals who have made bulk purchases of prepaid cell phones who may have links to terrorist organizations.

Now, Wolf, as you know, buying these types of cell phones in bulk and reselling them at a higher price is big business on the black market. FBI analysts conclude that if terrorists are involved it's probably to raise money.

It's also important to point out that cell phones have also been used by terrorists as improvised explosive devices, as we saw in the Madrid train attack. But the bulletin says that it's unlikely that these purchases have links to IED construction.

Now, when I asked several officials whether there was any specific intelligence linking these sales to terrorist organizations, I was told flatly no. They say the reason this bulletin went out to today was to educate law enforcement partners about that very real possibility -- Wolf.

BLITZER: We'll continue to watch this story, together with you, Kelli. Thank you very much.

Kelli Arena reporting for us.

And to our viewers, please stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

It's been another day of violent protests around the world over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

CNN's Betty Nguyen is monitoring developments. She's joining us once again from the CNN Center -- Betty.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Wolf.

From Asia to Africa, and especially in the Middle East, the outrage over those caricatures showed no sign of diminishing. Take a look at this.

In Afghanistan, demonstrators tried to get into a NATO base. Fire broke out as they shot guns and grenades at Norwegian peacekeepers there. Those troops responded with tear gas and warning shots.

Now, in Iran, demonstrators hurled fire bombs at the Danish Embassy and tried to storm the building. The cartoons first appeared in a Danish newspaper, as you'll recall. Iran says it's cutting off all trade with Denmark, and the Iranian ambassador has been recalled.

Now, in Indian-controlled Kashmir, what started as a celebration of a Muslim holiday turned into a violent protest over the cartoons. Islam forbids any depiction of the prophet, and many feel the caricatures are especially insulting.

And hundreds of young people took part in this mostly peaceful demonstration in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. Many dressed in black and white and carried copies of the Koran. Denmark's prime minister calls the protest a growing global crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN, DANISH PRIME MINISTER: Right now, radicals, extremists and fanatics are adding fuel to the flames in order to push forward their own agenda. For that purpose, they are portraying a picture of Denmark and European countries that is not true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Meanwhile, Iran's best-selling newspaper has launched a contest in retaliation of the cartoons. What it's doing is it's encouraging readers to send in cartoons mocking the Holocaust. The State Department calls that outrageous -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Betty. Thank you very much.

Betty Nguyen reporting.

We'll check back with you very soon.

And we're going to have much more on the protests and the cartoons behind them in our 7:00 p.m. Eastern hour, including my interview with the editor of that Danish newspaper that first published these cartoons. I'll ask him what he was thinking, why he decided to do that.

We'll move on now to some other news.

Legal, authorized, and vital in the war on terror. That's how the attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, describes the Bush administration's controversial domestic surveillance program. So is he right?

Joining us now is California Congresswoman Jane Harman. She's the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, a leading congressional expert on terrorism and homeland security as well.

Congresswoman, thanks very much for joining us.

REP. JANE HARMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: You were in those meetings, the so-called Gang of Eight, four Democrats, four Republicans, where the vice president, Dick Cheney, the former director of the National Security Agency, then lieutenant general, now general, Michael Hayden, repeatedly briefed you on what was going on.

During the course of those meetings, did you ever complain about this program?

HARMAN: Well, I'm not going to describe what happened in the meetings, but I will say that the president -- the program on which I was briefed is vital to the war on terror. And I support the program. But you had -- or the attorney general said legal, authorized and vital.

Now that the existence of the program has been disclosed by the president in response to some leaks to "The New York Times," I have had a chance to check with some real experts on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. I believe the entire program could be covered under FISA, and it is not. And I'm baffled why the administration is declaring that it has inherent power to do this, disregarding laws that Congress intended to be the exclusive means to eavesdrop on Americans.

BLITZER: Here's what General Hayden said on Sunday. He said, "There were questions raised and questions answered, issues raised and issues discuss. But I certainly never left the room believing that we had to do anything differently." Which goes back to original question, did you or any of your other Democratic or Republican colleagues, for that matter, ever say, you know what, you need legislation to get this authorized?

HARMAN: The conversations in the room, which I'm not going to describe in any detail, were about the operations of the program. That's what they were about.

Members of Congress in that room had no ability to consult with anybody else, talk to colleagues on the committee. And to research the law, although I'm a trained lawyer, I would have had to tell somebody, hey, there's this program out there, and I'd like you to check some elements of FISA and make sure it complies with the law.

That is not -- not dealing with a full set of cards, Wolf. The way this should be done is now that the program has been disclosed and is going to be gone over in painstaking detail, at least by the Senate Judicial Committee -- bravo for Chairman Specter, whom I spoke to earlier today and congratulated -- the full Intelligence Committee should be briefed on all aspects of program. We should decide in closed session whether the program complies with the laws that we have enacted.

If it does not -- and I'm saying I think it does and those laws should be followed -- if it does not in any way, we should either change the law or change the program.

BLITZER: You became the ranking Democrat, the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee in 2003, if I'm -- if I'm right.

HARMAN: That's right.

BLITZER: And this program started right after 9/11, 2001 and 2002. You weren't briefed initially, but I have been told, as have some other reporters by senior White House officials that they originally said to the so-called Gang of Eight right after 9/11, if you want to have some new legislation, we can move forward, but there was a consensus among the member of Congress that that would be a bad idea because it could leaked, it could be tipping off the terrorists, if you will, that their phone calls were going to be monitored.

Have you heard that?

HARMAN: Well, I have read it in the press, Wolf. I don't recall being in any meeting where that was said. I didn't take any notes of meetings, and I'm -- you know, although, I believe I'm a careful member of Congress, I have described the circumstance of those meetings.

Senior officials come in with very highly-trained lawyers and all the facts at their disposal. Members of Congress sit there with no ability to consult anybody and are informed of the operations of the program, period. And then you can't go out of the meeting and do any legal research because that could violate the oath that we take not to disclose the information.

And I never talked to anyone about it until after the president confirmed the existence of the program when I made my first phone call to Jeff Smith, former general counsel of the CIA who is very knowledge able the law and who has helped me become pretty sophisticated. And it is my view that the program could comply with FISA as presently drafted.

And my question is, why doesn't the administration do that?

BLITZER: Well, we're almost out of -- completely out of time, Congresswoman. But just -- I want to be very precise, you couldn't speak with anyone on the outside, but you could speak with other members of Congress who were briefed, right?

HARMAN: We all talked among us in those meetings. Yes, we did.

BLITZER: And so you could have saved to Tom Daschle, who was then the Democratic leader in the Senate, or you could have spoken with the ranking member, the Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Jay Rockefeller, you could have said, you know, I feel that there's something not right about this. Maybe we have to go back to the vice president, back to General Hayden, back to the attorney general and complain.

HARMAN: Well, Jay Rockefeller actually wrote a letter which he has released expressing those views. He wrote it by hand. He couldn't talk to any of his staff members, and he kept it privately. And I applaud Jay for handling it in that manner.

The Gang of Eight process is not a process which allows for serious congressional oversight. And it was an improper process for this program, I now understand.

This is not a covert action program. It's a foreign collection program. And it needs to be briefed to the full intelligence committees. And I believe the administration is violating the law by not doing that. And I hope that they will do it in the near future. And we are making some progress on that.

BLITZER: Jane Harman is the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, Democrat of California.

Congresswoman, thanks very much for joining us.

HARMAN: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Let's go up to New York. Jack Cafferty is standing by with "The Cafferty File."

Hi, Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Wolf.

An increasing number of states and businesses are cracking down on cell phone use. "USA Today" reports there are now restrictions in all kinds of places from restaurants to gymnasiums, to golf courses, churches, banks, post offices. These are in addition to the usual places, like airplanes, trains and cars.

Some restaurants even have cell phone areas, like smoking sections where people can talk on their phones without disturbing other. Many business owners say that people speak louder on cell phone.

No kidding.

Here's the question: Where should cell phones be allowed, if at all?

E-mail us at CaffertyFile@CNN.com.

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Jack. We're going to go -- we're going to go back to you, come back to you very, very soon.

We're going to go to the funeral of Coretta Scott King right after a short break. We expect to hear the main eulogy. Her daughter, Bernice King, delivering that eulogy. We're going to go there after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Bernice King, the daughter of Coretta Scott King, is now delivering the main eulogy. Let's go there.

BERNICE KING, CORETTA SCOTT KING'S DAUGHTER: ... continued prayers as we continue to process and try to understand and get questions answered. And perhaps questions being answered having to be amended as we seek god to bring complete closure, because one thing that is so critical is that we don't hold on to our mother as we long as we held on to our daddy. Because the way we hold will prohibit and inhibit the destiny that god has inside each and every one of us.

And so we thank you for all of your prayers over all of those months. And we all prayed for her healing, but, you know, she's perfectly healed now.

(APPLAUSE)

When you pray, you always pray as Jesus Christ did in the Garden of Gethsemane. Father, not my will, but thy will be done.

Not that you don't have and the assurance by Jesus' stripes (ph) that she is healed. But he healed us in such a way that we can have eternal life and experience the presence of god in such a way that we don't even have to face all of the things that we face in this earthly dimension.

And so we thank each and every one of you for your prayers and your well wishes and your visits and things of that nature.

And finally, but not last, I want to just recognize and thank from the bottom of our heart my mother's caretakers, who were so lovely and so caring and so sacrificial in the time that they spent releasing us from the burden of having to do it literally as a caretaker. We did it in other form and in another fashion.

But I want them to stand now just so that we might give them applause and thank god for them.

Licia Carter (ph), Kimberly Judd (ph), Evelyn Dudly (ph), Joy McKenis (ph), Wanda Hunter (ph), Kelly McCaskel (ph) and Jule Davis (ph).

(APPLAUSE)

Are they here? Oh, they're right back there.

I love you. I appreciate you. On behalf of Dexter, Martin, Yolanda and myself, the rest of the family -- and we know that although this is assignment is over, god still has even greater assignments for you, that god made deposits in your life through the life of Coretta Scott King, and you had to make a stop by and be introduced to her spirit. That you might take that spirit that lives inside of her and begin to share with so many other people in your next assignments.

God bless you. And we thank you and we praise god for you.

(APPLAUSE)

Before I deliver these last words, I don't want to -- I don't like the word "eulogy," even though I know what it means. I just want to acknowledge the fact that Graca Machel and Nelson Mandela sent a letter to us, as well as Bishop Desmond Tutu. And we do not want to go on without recognizing and acknowledging their condolences at this very difficult time.

As I was trying to prepare what I would say to the people today, it dawned upon me that many of us perhaps are here to honor the life and the legacy of Coretta Scott King. We did change our schedules to be here to pay our condolences. But if I might be honest with you this evening, those who are still here, you really didn't have a choice, because before the very foundations of the earth were laid, god ordained that people would be drawn from the East and the West and the North and the South and to this place called New Birth for such a time as this.

God makes no mistakes. He's a god of perfect timing. And there's a thing called ciros (ph) moments when god interjects himself in time like he did back in 1955, 50 years ago to move this nation to another place. And here he goes again in a ciros moment.

And it would be neglectful of us if we missed this moment and treated it like we were attending some funeral or home-going service and paying condolences and respect and then we allowed ourselves to return to life as usual and not stop and listen and hear the voice of god. So god drew you in here today, even the four presidents of the United States of America because god had a word that he needed the nations to hear. And as I was sitting there and I was vacillating back and forth, the lord brought back to my remembrance the very way that my mother left this place.

I remember on Friday, January 27, as I was with her down in Mexico, somewhere around the 8:00 hour -- eight is the number of new beginnings -- my mother started groaning, moaning for three straight hours. And Evelyn can attest to the fact, because she was the caretaker that was with me, that it was literally three straight hours without a break.

And I asked my mother, I said, "Are you in pain? Is your stomach hurting? Is your head hurting?" I asked her different places and she said, "No," because she could still talk up until the time that she transitioned.

So she went on and on and on and on. And I couldn't figure what could we do. And I called on the doctors there. There are medical doctors there, contrary to the reports that you may read.

Be careful what you read in the papers, please. Be intelligent, be critical.

And they brought something to try to help relieve her. But in the midst of that, I said, "Mother, are you uncomfortable?" And she said, "Uncomfortable."

Now, she said she wasn't in pain, but she said she was uncomfortable. And that word "uncomfortable" doesn't -- doesn't always mean what we think it means, because god gave me a revelation at that moment that my mother really was wresting with god as Jacob wrestled with god.

And I looked a my mother and I said, "Mama, are you wrestling with god?" She didn't say a word to me. Because I believe in that very moment she was making a decision as to whether it was worth staying here in the earth to continue some more work or whether she had to transition to be with god.

And I think the glimpse that she got at that moment was a glimpse that told her that unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.

In other words, I think she got a glimpse to understand that there was a moment in god's calendar that if she did not make the transition that she made, that there was some things in the earth that could not be released to the people in the nations. Oh, my god. And so her death was much greater at that moment than she was -- than it would have been for her to hold on to life.

And so for the next three days -- remember, Christ, was crucified. And on the third day, he was resurrected.

For the next three days she went in and out of consciousness. There were moments when she was very clear, and there were other moments when she was just sleeping herself away in the arms and the peace of god.

And I've never seen my mother in so much peace. And even though I knew I did not want to accept it in my flesh, that the this was perhaps it, I was still believing for a miracle.

And that Monday, Pacific Coast Time, around the 8:00 hour again -- eight being the number of new beginnings, as I remind you again -- I was laying in the bed next to my mother not as the paper said. I did not find her dead. I was there with her to the last moment. I was laying in the bed next to her, and around 8:25 Pacific Time, our mother took her last four breaths.

It wasn't the stroke that took her in the natural sense of the word, but it was the complications from ovarian cancer which cause respiratory pneumonia, that took her.

And the lord had me to look back on that. And he took me to scripture, where a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, came to Jesus at nighttime.

And he said, Rabbi, we know that you're a teacher who come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God was with him. And Jesus answered, and said to him, most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot, she cannot see the kingdom of God.

And I said, God, why are you taking me there? He said, because it's no accident and mistake that the very thing that took your mother out here, ovarian cancer, is the very -- is -- is a message that emerges from that -- that kind of death for people all over the nations for such a time as this.

For you see, her cancer, in other words, was concentrated in the reproductive area, the reproductive system. And God took me back to there. And he showed me how -- how the cancer was just growing in that reproductive area. And it was beginning to affect other organs in -- in that vicinity.

And -- and he reminded me. He said, your mother passed away of complications from ovarian cancer, respiratory pneumonia, because, right now, my Earth, my world, my -- my nations are on the verge of -- of losing it, and dying, and being overtaken with respiratory pneumonia failure, because of complications from reproductive cancer.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: And those complications are hindering the ability for a new birth.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: See, what God is saying to us today, through the -- through the transition of Coretta Scott King, is that we, here in this world, right now, are suffering from a -- complications of cancer, from materialism, and -- and greed, and -- and selfishness, and arrogance, and elitism, and poverty, and racism, and perversion, and obscenity, and misogyny. and idolatry, and violence, and militarism.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: It's a cancer that's eating away at the very essence and the nature of what God created human -- humankind to be, for, he created us to have rulership in and dominion in the earth, and not allow the earth to dictate to us.

But, now, what has happened...

(APPLAUSE)

KING: ... is that the very earth, the very creation that he put us in charge of, is now controlling us.

And instead of us reproducing other people who look like God, who talk like God, who act like God, who think like God, who do business like God, who govern like God, who entertain like God...

(APPLAUSE)

KING: ... we're not reproducing anything, because the cancer is eating away at us.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

KING: He's saying, roles have reversed. Creation has become your king, instead of you being the king, he said, because the very trees that I created for you, instead of you having dominion and authority over them, they are now dictating how your families look, how your friendships look, how your governments look, how your media and entertainment industry look, how your youth population looks, because, in fact, money is made from trees.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: And the Bible says that the love of money, not money itself -- see, God didn't have a problem with leaving us riches and -- and wealth -- of -- of materials and resources. He doesn't have a problem with billionaires and millionaires.

In fact, God has left enough for everybody to be a billionaire, in fact. What he has problem with is our affinity to, our loyal to, our soul tied to money in such a way that the love has overtaken us, and now we have escalating divorce rates. And now we have people doing violent things in the street.

He's saying, now we have people that their only preoccupation is, how can I make more money? And he interjected Martin in time to tell America, there is a danger when you become a thing-oriented society, rather than a people-oriented society.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: So, Coretta Scott King's transition is calling for a new birth.

You're not sitting in this church just because it was logical to be here. Of course, discussions on where to have it went into play. Should we have it at Ebenezer? Should we have it at the Civic Center? Should we have it New Birth?

And, of course, logic would dictate, so that so many of you could be here today, that we come to one of, if not the largest congregations in Atlanta, not any choice of ours. God just ordained it to be this way.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: And I said, God, why? Why here?

He said, because it's time for world to be born again.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: It's time for a new birth. It's time for my people to reposition themselves into their rightful places as true kings. And that's why he used the life of a King at this set time, because he said, we're on the verge on losing credibility, even before the creation and the animals and the fishes of the sea, because the whole creation is groaning.

And that is why Coretta was groaning on that night. She was groaning because there's an earnest expectation, there's a waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. And that's not masculine...

(APPLAUSE)

KING: ... but those who move and operate in the spirit and in the heart of God, and who know they were created in the image and after the likeness of God, and that God placed them here to reproduce life, and even life more abundantly.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: And, so, God says, today, you must be born again, because the way you have been operating as nations in this world is contrary to what my will was for the Earth.

You have allowed this Earth to be contaminated with poverty, as Martin Luther called the triple evils of racism and militarism.

And I'm now raising up a people who hear the voice of God, saying it's time to emerge and take your proper place as kings in the Earth and begin to rule in your territories according to the spirit of God, whether you're an entertainer, or whether you're a politician, or whether you're or whether you're entrepreneur, or whether you're an actress, or whether you're a businessman, or whether you're a mechanic, or whether you're a pastor.

It doesn't matter whether you're a student. God has called you to be a king in this time...

(APPLAUSE)

KING: ... to rule and to exercise influence for the kingdom of God.

The first sermon that Jesus preached, he wasn't inviting -- inviting people to church, even though we do that well. We invite people to come to our various churches to visit. That wasn't it. God wasn't interested in getting us into church, because church had crippled us and created traditions of men that entrapped us and kept us from exhibiting the true spirit of God, which is unconditional love, which Coretta Scott King exhibited time and time again, and Martin Luther King Jr.

So, Christ said, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. He was saying, you got to change your mind now, because all of the systems that you have created, all of -- of the traditions that you have come through, they are failing, and they are -- are fading. And they are doing it very fast and -- and very quick.

And that's why you see right now, there's a diminishing of some things, if you haven't noticed, lately. And God is elevating his spirit in the earth. So, he says, the way you have been trying to work it out, it ain't working no more. It's time for you to get free. It's time for you to take off the shackles, because we have moved into another dimension now.

When she passed, she caused an earthquake of a magnitude of eight in the earth.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: And the reason that she couldn't pass in Atlanta, Georgia, and why God had to fly her to over to the West Coast from the East Coast, and drop her over the -- over the -- over the -- the line, is because she was not just a national figure. She was a global leader.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: And God wanted this world to not just recognize her, but recognize the spirit in which she lived and moved and had her being, out of that unconditional love.

But the interesting thing is, she couldn't go conventional...

(APPLAUSE)

KING: ... when she should have gotten conventional treatment, because, if she had gotten conventional treatment, she would have -- she would have lived. I don't think so, because, when it's God's time, it's God's time.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: The reason why we make decisions in the natural that sometimes appear to be wrong decisions, until you step back and realize, first, the natural, then the spiritual, you begin to understand that this was a really a spiritual move, because, in many ways, God was trying to say that the conventional way that you have been doing things in this world, especially through militarism and -- and war and things of that nature, are not working. They are not representative of my heart and my nature and my character and my essence. And, so, I had to take her to something that looked like an alternative thing, because, when Martin came along, he introduced an alternative. And that was called nonviolence.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: And Coretta -- Coretta captured those words.

And, when Martin died, I thank God for the revelation that he gave to our bishop. God came to Coretta Scott King, said, Moses, Martin, my servant, is dead. Arise and take this people over the Jordan.

(LAUGHTER)

KING: See, Joshua was really Coretta.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: I know I wouldn't get too many claps...

(LAUGHTER)

KING: ... because sexism is still alive.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: And sexism is not always just from men. It's from women, too.

And we missed it. We missed the fact that the one who really caught the heart and the spirit of Dr. King and wouldn't let us forget time and time again, as you saw on the video, that it's either nonviolence or nonexistence, that was Coretta Scott King.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: She held it down. God gave her the grace to be able to live as long as she did.

And, when she transitioned, she transitioned to a better place. But she left us, as Joshua did with the children of Israel, with this question, or statement: Choose ye this day.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: And, if I might abbreviate for her, which way you going to live?

Are you going to live according to the world's system and the traditions and the conventional methods, or are you going to live according to radical and the revolutionary, transforming way of God, through nonviolence, which is the kingdom of God?

Now is the time for the saints of the most high God to rise up and possess the kingdom and move in everything that God has ordained for us to move in.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: And I close with this.

God has been waiting on us a long time to get it together. And, if we miss this one, we're going to miss one of the greatest opportunities to demonstrate God in the earth.

We have got to cease from our division divisions. We got to cease from our politicking.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: We have got to cease from the exploitation and the insecurities, because God is not looking for another Martin Luther King or Coretta Scott King. The old has passed away.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: There is a new order that's emerging.

And, in this new birth, God's going to raise up a remnant of people who are determined to position themselves, that the kingdoms of this world might become the kingdoms of our lord and of his savior, our savior.

It's time for us to birth out righteousness..

(LAUGHTER)

KING: ... equality, true justice, true freedom, and true holiness, which, at the end of the day, when you think about holy, it just simply means, what she demonstrated and lived every day of her life is why she could build, as a woman, the Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, against the wishes of so many men, who told her to stay at home and raise her children.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: But she was a woman who built a multimillion-dollar facility...

(APPLAUSE)

KING: ... that would be an epicenter for this kingdom-of-God nonviolence. And she did it because she was holy.

She had -- holy means having our lives yielded to God. She didn't do it for fame. She didn't do it for fortune. She did it because it was the will of God. And she yielded to it. And that's why she could lay aside her music career. That's why she could push back her first desires.

And if we would just begin to do that, this whole worth -- world would be transformed, as my father said, into an oasis of freedom and justice.

Thank you, mother, for your incredible example of Christ-like love and on obedience. We're going to miss you.

But, as I was laying on that floor, talking to you, Yolanda, and we were praying, and I went in tongs, I started praying in another language. I felt a transfer take place. There's a mantle that has fallen. And we're going wait and see what God does through the seed of Martin and Coretta.

God bless you.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on. Give God praise.

BLITZER: Bernice King, born in 1963, the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, the only of their children -- only member of their children who actually became a minister, following in her late father's footsteps, eulogizing her mother beautifully over the past half-hour or so.

CNN's Tony Harris is outside the church, outside Atlanta.

Tony, you were watching all of this unfold. What was going through your mind?

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I have to tell you, Wolf, it -- I was just listening to her, and wondering how she was going pull it all together.

She was -- she gave such vivid details, more details than I expected, of the final days for her mother. And, then, she went into this metaphorical flourish, where she talked about the cancer in the reproductive system of her mother, and how it was eating away at her other organs.

And I honestly was wondering, where was she going? How was she going to tie all this together? And, then, she made the connection that this was an opportunity. The passing, the transitioning, of her mother provided this opportunity for a new birth -- ironically, the service is going on here inside New Birth Missionary Baptist Church -- the opportunity for a new birth, for this country to fully realize Martin Luther King's dream.

And, Wolf, as you know, one of the things that Dr. King talked about was this notion of a beloved community, this idea that we would all live in freedom, and peace, and harmony, without racism and equal justice for all.

And I heard strains of that in what she was talking about today that perhaps the way of militarism, certainly in her words, are over, and that now is a time, and maybe the best opportunity ever, to move forward in the spirit of Dr. King and her mother, Coretta.

BLITZER: Tony, thank you very much. HARRIS: Sure.

BLITZER: Tony Harris has been covering this for us all day. He's outside the church near Atlanta.

What a remarkable day in the nation's history -- four presidents, current and former, all getting together, with so many other leaders, to remember Coretta Scott King -- a remarkable day, indeed.

We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we will have a quick check of some of the other important news that has been going on all day.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to THE SITUATION ROOM.

Another major U.S. carmaker announcing some belt-tightening measures.

Let's pick -- pick up the story with CNN's Ali Velshi. He's in New York with the "Bottom Line" -- Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Wolf.

Well, the world's biggest automaker -- and it still is -- lost $8.6 billion in 2003. Now, that's the company's biggest loss in 13 years. So, for the first time in 13 years, GM today announced it is cutting its dividend from $1 per year for share to 50 cents.

Now, many people invest in stocks like GM for the income. The dividend yield is the dollar, and that -- now 50 cents -- divided by the price of a the share. High dividends makes stocks attractive to conservative investors.

Now, when you cut a dividend, you know the company is in trouble. Cutting the dividend is a sure sign. It's the last thing a company's board wants to do. But this cut was made under pressure from billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, who now controls almost 10 percent of GM. He's trying to force the company to turn around.

Now, GM also announced white-collar salary and benefits cuts to try in stay in line with those cuts that were made late last year. The boss is taking a 50 percent cut. And three top executives are taking 30 percent salary cuts.

We will stay on the story of GM -- Wolf...

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Ali.

VELSHI: ... back to you.

BLITZER: Let's stay in New York.

Jack Cafferty is standing by with "The Cafferty File" -- Jack.

CAFFERTY: "USA Today" reporting, an increasing number of states and businesses are cracking down on cell phone use. There are restrictions now in all sorts of places, just -- not just restaurants, but gyms, golf courses, church, banks, post office.

So, we asked, where do you think cell phones ought to be allowed?

Wade writes: "I remember the first time I saw someone wearing on of those little cell phone receivers stuck in his ear. When he walked into my office, I thought he was talking to himself. What a championship nutcase. The preponderance of folks using cell phones suffer from a severe case of narcissism."

John in Philadelphia: "Use them outside restaurant, in the lobbies, same with the theaters, et cetera. Let me have my peace. I remember a time when we all got by quite well without them."

Mamie in Reno, Nevada, my hometown: "Cell phones should be in your pocket, power off, as you trek through the desert alone, just in case you get a snake bite and need to call for help."

Kirk in Kingsville, Texas: "Cell phones should not be allowed anywhere. Today is the 7th. My daughter is out of minutes, 1,000 free minutes. She's in college, 600 miles away. She doesn't use those minutes to talk to us. My cell phone is an appendage. I'm afraid something really is happening when I don't have it. When we travel, my wife and I will drive back seven hours to retrieve a charger. This is stupid. We are stupid. Please, outlaw cell phones."

And Jim in Mocksville, North Carolina: "Cell phones should be allowed everywhere. In fact, I would like to see the Wolfman answer his cell phone during broadcast with a, 'What up, Dog?'"

(LAUGHTER)

CAFFERTY: "A backwards baseball hat once in a while wouldn't kill him either."

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: We are going to do that for Jim one of these days, but not any -- any time soon.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: I know you love your cell phone, Jack.

CAFFERTY: I don't have one.

BLITZER: You got the Bluetooth, so you got the wireless, the whole connection, right?

CAFFERTY: I don't have a cell phone.

BLITZER: Come on.

CAFFERTY: I don't have any of that stuff.

BLITZER: This day and age?

CAFFERTY: I don't have...

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: I don't have any of those things, and I have lived 63 years quite nicely -- thank you very much.

BLITZER: See you at 7:00...

CAFFERTY: You got it.

BLITZER: ... in one hour. Jack, thanks very much.

We are here in THE SITUATION ROOM weekdays afternoons, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Eastern, back at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

Coming up later today, my special interview with the editor of that Danish newspaper that published the cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed. It sparked massive protests around the world.

I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

Kitty Pilgrim, filling in for Lou, she is picking up our coverage -- Kitty.

KITTY PILGRIM, GUEST HOST, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT": Thanks, Wolf.

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