Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

CNN Hero Helps Holocaust Survivors; Tracy Morgan Critically Hurt in Crash; Family, Friends Remember Maya Angelou; Bergdahl's Hometown Delays Celebration; Obama Defends Sergeant Bergdahl Rescue

Aired June 07, 2014 - 11:00   ET

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

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Of course, this week we're remembering the sacrifices of D-Day. President Obama joined other world leaders and aging World War II veterans in France yesterday, in fact, to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day, the day allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy. It marked the beginning of the end of World War II.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: It was also the first step in liberating a lot of its victims. This week's CNN Hero stumbled upon a forgotten generation still struggling with the war's effects, Holocaust survivors living in squalor. Zane Busby took it upon herself to become their lifeline.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZANE BUSBY, CNN HERO: As a child, I ran from the killing squads three times, even now I still dream that I am running. Our entire little town was burned to nothing. My mother and father were killed in the mass graves. I sometimes think it would have been better if I died with them. I cry at night, your letters are for me like medicine. These are the last survivors of holocaust of Eastern Europe. They're out there today, elderly, alone, suffering. They don't have extended family. Life is so hard in these places. They don't have anything.

I saw it with my own eyes and I knew that no one was helping them. So I wanted to reach out and help them. We provide them with direct to continuous financial aid for food, heat, medication and shelter.

Ok stay healthy and write to me. And we let them know they have not been forgotten. This person I'm very worried about his wife is paralyzed, he himself is so not well. We get stacks of letters every week. Mostly in Russian, they sent out to translators and then we start answering them immediately and sending money. We're now helping 2,000 people in eight countries.

The money is lifesaving but the connection, the letters, the communication, equally lifesaving.

I'm going to come back and see you.

We can really write a more hopeful final chapter to the Holocaust, this time one of kindness and compassion and what they finally deserve at the end of their lives.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: God bless Zane Buzby there. You can learn more about CNN Heroes at CNNheros.com. And we thank you for making us part of your morning.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: We hand things over now to our colleague Fredricka Whitfield. Good morning Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you Christi and Victor. Thanks so much.

What a beautiful ceremony taking place at Wake Forest University for Maya Angelou. Of course we're going to return to that in a moment. It is the 11:00 eastern hour of the NEWSROOM which begins right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like two tractor trailers, a limo bus, SUV, a limo bus overturned. Tracy Morgan was in the limo bus but he is alive, he's in intensive care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Comedian Tracy Morgan in critical condition at the hospital. We go there live for the latest on how he's doing and what led to this horrific crash.

Plus -- a memorial service going on right now for poet Maya Angelou. We're expecting to hear from Oprah Winfrey and First Lady Michele Obama. Former President Bill Clinton just speaking and now listening to some music before the continuation of the speakers eulogizing her. We'll take that to you live.

And despite the political fallout surrounding the release of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, President Obama is not changing his position. What he's saying about it now.

And the latest on Bergdahl's reintegration process coming up.

Comedian and actor Tracy Morgan in critical condition this morning after a serious multivehicle crash involving his limo bus. You might recognize Morgan from the hit show "30 Rock" or from "Saturday Night Live." Well police say he was in this limo bus on the New Jersey turnpike early this morning. State police say it flipped over. One person was killed in the wreck and seven others hurt.

Alexandra Field is live outside the hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Alexandra, what can you tell us about his condition and what happened?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Fredricka, just a really scary scene out there.

Look, right now, we don't know the extent of Tracy Morgan's injuries or what types of injuries he suffered but we do know that he was in that limo bus he was brought to this hospital, Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick where he is in critical condition.

Four victims of the crash were brought here, three of them including Morgan in critical condition, one we're told in fair condition, but in total seven people had to be rushed to hospitals in the middle of the night. This accident happening at around 1:00 in the morning, one person killed in the accident. He was a passenger on board Morgan's limo bus. Police have identified him as a 63-year-old man, James McNair.

New Jersey State Police have been investigating the crash. They tell us that six different vehicles were involved. Two tractor trailers, the limo bus, an SUV and two other cars all of them somehow colliding. Police still investigating this.

What we though is that Tracy Morgan was just seen last night performing. He was at Dover Downs Hotel and Casino in Delaware. A fellow comedian Arte Fuqua actually posted pictures with him to an Instagram, their Facebook account showing Morgan and the crowd at the casino just hours before this crash -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Of course prayers are being said for him. We know that people are speaking and sending out their prayers and thoughts to him via social media. We'll have more on that as well coming up. Alexandra Field, thank you so much.

So the family and friends of legendary poet and civil rights icon Dr. Maya Angelou are celebrating her life right now at a memorial service in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Live pictures right now of the service at Wake Forest University's Wake chapel. Former President Bill Clinton spoke moments ago. He is on the first row right next to the First Lady Michele Obama and Oprah Winfrey -- all of them helping to organize this service. Both women, Michele Obama and Oprah Winfrey, will be speaking shortly and of course, we'll be taking you there live as that happens.

Polo Sandoval is there. Polo, give us an idea of all that's taking place there. Certainly close friends who have filled that chapel for this beautiful sendoff.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fredricka. It took several hours to actually fill that chapel here earlier this morning as you can see, right now, that memorial continues at this hour. Everybody inside, nearly 2,200 folks, were given this program and it really does sum up the theme of today, which is a celebration of rising joy.

Now the folks inside they open it up and they see a collage of pictures with Maya Angelou and it really does offer a glimpse and a window to the life of this woman from her early years obviously towards one of the latest pictures with her family here. And it really does demonstrate that she's touched so many lives. You mentioned there, former President Bill Clinton taking the pulpit here just a few moments ago, he said -- he described his friend Maya Angelou as having a voice of God and he wanted her back essentially. That's how he closed his remarks. And really some other moving moments that we've seen from her grandson Elliott Matthew Jones and also most recently from actress Cicely Tyson, she actually struggled as she emotionally as she recalled an encounter that she had with Dr. Angelou. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CICELY TYSON, ACTRESSS: I dropped everything I was doing, went upstairs, and at the head of the stairs, was Maya in a wheelchair. It's the best gift that she's left me with. She took the time, despite the pain that she was suffering, to ride on that bus, to come all the way to the (inaudible) Theater to see me. And from what I understand, she loved every minute. This bond, it's a tie that never will be broken. I will love you always.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: So clearly a mix of emotions right now here at Wake Forest University -- a lot of people here focusing on the memories. You know, there are so many notable figures here, the First Lady, Oprah Winfrey, former President Bill Clinton. The other stories that we're hearing also from just the regular students that encountered -- who they called Dr. Angelou almost on a daily basis. She was even scheduled to return here in the fall to do more lectures. We also know that she often opened the doors to her home, allowing students into her home where she gave several courses and several lectures, poetry, history, literature, so clearly anybody that you talk to here on this campus will tell you a large portion is missing but really the main focus now is on the legacy of the civil rights leader, actor, musician, really whatever you choose to call her, there seems to be really a common description here. Everybody calls her a phenomenal woman.

WHITFIELD: Wow she really did do it all. And it's beautiful that this huge chapel on this university campus, a place in which she taught so many students as you underscore, is filled with people who had a real special relationship with her, from the students to the former president, to, you know, a media icon such as Oprah Winfrey who momentarily will I understand be taking to the stage there and as she does take to the podium there to eulogize and really underscore the special relationship the two of them had we'll take you there live.

Polo thanks so much there are Wake Forest.

President Obama is standing by his decision to swap five high-level Taliban leaders for U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. Bergdahl spent five years as a prisoner of war in Afghanistan until his release last weekend. Here's what the President told NBC's Brian Williams about his decision to trade those Guantanamo Bay prisoners for Bergdahl.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was a unanimous decision among my principals in my government and a view that was shared by my -- the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And this is something that I would do again and I will continue to do wherever I have an opportunity if I have a member of our military who's in captivity. We're going to try to get them out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Our Martin Savidge joins us now live from San Antonio, Texas where Bergdahl will continue his reintegration process when he does come home to the U.S. So Martin do we know when Sergeant Bergdahl is expected to arrive there?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. Unfortunately, Fredricka, we don't. The transportation, the coming here, back to the United States home coming, reintegration is such a really kind of harsh word, but it's really about coming back home and being reunited with his family. It's a critical part of his recovery after five years in captivity.

Right now he's in Landstuhl, Germany. He is still undergoing medical treatment there as well as psychiatric treatment. Until he's given the green light to travel he'll stay there and until that moment he won't be coming here. We do know that the advance team from San Antonio was in Germany, they are ready to receive him, ready to bring him here, but it hasn't happened yet.

Of course the biggest thing to happen here will be reuniting with his family -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And do we know whether his family does plans to go to Texas to reunite with him or will it be another location?

SAVIDGE: Well, I mean, it had been the plan all along. And I have to say that now things have changed only from the political perspective, not from the management of medical reasons how he would be handled. It has always been that he would be reunited with his family here. And that's not just something that special for Sergeant Bergdahl. As you point out that for U.S. Army South, which is headquartered here, their job is to reintegrate as you point out, any P.O.W.s from any conflict. Fortunately there haven't been many recently. That's their job.

And they know it well and they also realize that the reuniting with the family is probably the most emotionally difficult part of the whole transition. Even though it's the moment that the captive has been waiting so long for, it's really tough after five years of isolation in many cases. So they take it very carefully.

It's expected to happen here once he comes here and the first meeting only going to be a few minutes because that's about all they have found in the past a person can take.

WHITFIELD: Ok.

SAVIDGE: And he'll be here for some time as he literally learns how to live once more because everything in his life had been dictated by somebody else. Now it's going to be personally taking on life once more for himself.

WHITFIELD: Right. And even reportedly that his English is broken, that it has been difficult for him to communicate as he's been accustomed to all his life for the last five years. And so that, too, is part of that reintegration and makes it very tender and volatile.

Thanks so much, Martin Savidge, I appreciate that.

All right we're going to have much more straight ahead on the Bergdahl controversy and of course, we're going to take you also to North Carolina, again, the service honoring poet Maya Angelou.

And shortly, we understand Oprah Winfrey, good friend, will be taking to the podium. We'll take that live next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then she told me about the remix.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Wake Forest University now, this is the memorial service for poet Maya Angelou. Right now, singing Alison Williams, "God Put a Rainbow in the Sky". Momentarily we understand Oprah Winfrey, good friend, media mogul, will be taking to the podium there.

We just heard from former president, Bill Clinton earlier talking about the many messages he learned from Maya Angelou. Most notably, that she helped impress upon him that life is about a constant change.

Let's listen in to Alison Williams.

(MUSIC)

ALISON WILLIAMS: A rainbow named Dr. Maya Angelou. Dr. Maya Angelou, you will always be here -- our rainbow in the cloud.

WHITFIELD: Maya Angelou being remembered here at Wake Forest University, a place in which she was a professor and taught many students here, particularly in dance, some find it hard to believe that while they remember her for all of her beautiful writings, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", part of her career started in dance.

Here now, her good friend Oprah Winfrey.

OPRAH WINFREY, MEDIA MOGUL: To President Clinton and First Lady Michele Obama, to Guy Johnson, Colin, Stephanie, the entire family

Our thanksgiving family, those of us who consider ourselves family, I remember the first time I heard that phrase "God put a rainbow in the clouds". I was in utter despair and distraught and had called Maya.

I remember being locked in the bathroom with the door closed, sitting on the toilet seat and I was crying so hard she could barely understand what I was saying. I had -- I was upset about something that I can't even remember now what it was. Isn't that how life works?

And I had called for a long distance cry on her shoulder, but she wasn't having it. She said, as you all know she could, "Stop it. Stop it now." I said "What? What? What did you say?" And she said "Stop your crying now." And I continued to sniffle and she said, "Did you hear me?" And I said, "Yes, ma'am." Only she could level me to my seven-year-old self in an instant.

And she said -- I said "Why do you want me to stop crying? I'm trying to explain to you what happened." She said, "I want you to stop and say thank you. Because whatever it is, you have the faith to know that God has put a rainbow in the clouds -- and you're going to come out on the other side of whatever it is the better for it."

She was in all ways, no matter the time of day or night or the situation she was always there for me to be the rainbow. And I'm here today to say thank you, to acknowledge, to you all and to the world, how powerful one life can be -- the life of Maya Angelou.

The loss I feel I cannot describe. It's like something I have never felt before. She was my spiritual queen mother and everything that word implies. She was the ultimate teacher. She taught me the poetry of courage and respect. Many a day I would ask her for advice while trying to navigate the pitfalls of fame, of a public life, when somebody had written or said something hurtful and untrue and she would say, "Baby, you're not in it. You're not in it when they wrote it, when he sat down at the type writer," -- that's how long we had been talking. She'd say, "Those people can't hold a candle to the light God already has shining on your face. Can't you see it?" She'd say, "Look up, look up and see the light."

When I was on trial in 1998 in Texas for saying something bad about a burger; yes, for six weeks, I was on trial, sued by the Texas cattlemen, Mama Angelou came to Texas with a prayer posse. And we all know that Maya was a force all by herself, but the force came with backup. They prayed all day and all night long and Maya would sit in the courtroom while I testified. The prosecuting attorneys didn't know what hit them.

Warrior mom had arrived in Amarillo. And it was at the same time that I had met Dr. Phil who was coaching me on how to behave in the courtroom and he'd say, look in the jurors' eyes and Maya said "No, look above their heads. Look above their heads." She'd say, "Look above their heads and stand still inside yourself and know who you are. You are God's child." She told me. "And in God you move and breathe and have your being."

Of course we won that trial. And every other one I faced, she was always there holding me up, holding me up to know myself. To see the light that God already had shining on my face. Yes. I will -- I will miss her.

Stedman, Gayle and I recently came to visit and just sit and be with her and when I walked into the room, her eyes lit up and she greeted me as she always did in person or on the phone and she said, "Hello, you darling girl." She'd taken a liking to the iPad I gave her and I loved that all of her notes began with, "Oh Dearie O" and ended with "Love Mom, Maya Angelou". When her mother Vivienne Baxter told her at age 17, "You know, baby, you may be one of the greatest women I've ever known." She didn't know that she was prophesying what we all know now to be true. Maya Angelou is the greatest woman I have ever known.

In all the ways that only she could define what it means to be in her words "a real woman", and not just "an aging female", but a proud to spell my name w-o-m-a-n kind of woman. She had many daughters throughout the world, Stephanie, Rosa, Fatima (ph), her great gift to us, is that she made every one of us feel like we were the one. She made us feel heard and seen and loved and special and worthy.

"You alone are enough," she taught me. I am the woman I am today because she was. She not only existed as she proclaimed in her poem "Tall Trees", she thrived to help other people do the same and, indeed, as she said we can be better and do better because she existed.

You know, I still marvel at God, I am just in awe, that I, a little colored, then-negro girl, growing up in Mississippi, having read "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", and for the first time reading a story about someone who was like me. I marveled that from the first page, "What are you looking at me for, didn't come to stay, only came to say, Happy Easter Day," I was that girl who had done Easter pieces and Christmas pieces. I was that girl who loved to read. I was that girl who was raised by my southern grandmother. I was that girl who was raped at 9.

So when I first met Maya Angelou in the late '70s in Baltimore as a young news reporter and begged her to do an interview with me and I said, "I promise, I promise, I promise if you just give me your time, I promise it would only be five minutes," and at the end of 4 minutes and 58 seconds, I told the cameraman "Done". And Maya Angelou looked at me and said, "Who are you girl?"

First we became friendly and then sister friends and the first time she told me I was her daughter, I knew I had found home. Sitting at her kitchen table on Valley Road, she was reading Paul Lawrence Dunbar -- "Little brown baby with sparkling eyes". That was my favorite place to be at the kitchen table or sitting at her feet, leaning over her lap, laughing out loud for real. Soaking up all the knowledge, all the things that she had to teach, the grace, the love, all of it, my heart was full.

Rarely did we ever have a phone conversation where I wasn't taking notes. She was always teaching. "When you learn, teach; when you get, give." I was a devoted student of Maya Angelou's -- learning up to our very last conversation, the Sunday before she died.

It has been difficult for me to try to put into words what it means to lose, as Cicely said, a rock. She was my anchor. So it's hard to describe to you what it means when your anchor shifts. But I realized this morning I really don't have to put it into words. What I have to do is live it. Because that's what she would want. She would want me, you, us to live her legacy. I remember when I opened my school in South Africa and I said to her, "Oh, Maya, this is going to be my greatest legacy," and she said, "Not so fast. Your legacy, she said, is every woman who ever watched your show and decided to go back to school. Your legacy is every man who decided to forgive his father. It's every gay person who decided to come out because they saw a show of yours. Your legacy is every person you ever touched. Your legacy is how you lived and what you did and what you said every day."

So true, Sister Maya. I want to live your legacy. We want to live your legacy as you touched us all. Each of us who knew her, those only touched by her words or those who were able to be less to sit at the kitchen table, we are next in line to be a Maya Angelou to someone else. It's a challenge that I embrace with my whole heart. I cannot fill her shoes, but I can walk in her footsteps, to carry and pass on to the next generation what she knew so well, what she tried to teach all of us.

We are more alike than we are different. When I see you, I'm really just looking at myself in a different costume. I am human and therefore nothing human is alien to me, she used to teach. So we must carry on and pass on, lifting humanity up, helping people to live lives of purpose and dignity, to pass on the poetry of courage and respect. That is what she would want. That is what we will do.

And I know I will do it in a way that she most would want. My last conversation with her, I was telling her about going to film the movie "Selma" and she said to me, as she always said when I was doing any kind of job, she said, baby, I want you to do it and I want you to take it, take it all the way.

WHITFIELD: Bottom of the hour now, you're listening to Oprah Winfrey, talking about what she called the person she called the greatest woman I have ever known, Maya Angelou here at Winston-Salem, North Carolina at Wake Forest University. We'll be right back. First lady Michele Obama up next with her parting words about a woman who has touched so many lives, Maya Angelou.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Momentarily, we'll take you back to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, at Wake Forest University, where they are paying tribute to poet, Maya Angelou, who died at the age of 86. A little more than a week ago in her home. We understand First Lady Michele Obama, soon to follow good friend, Oprah Winfrey who just eulogized her calling her the greatest woman I've ever known. The first lady will be taking to the podium momentarily and when she does we'll take that live.

Meantime another story we're following for you this weekend, you might think an American soldier held in captivity for five years, would receive a hero's welcome. But a planned celebration in Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl's hometown is now on hold because of hate mail, threats, and fears of protests. Ed Lavandera is talking to the folks in Hailey, Idaho.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This moment was supposed to be an emotional triumph for Bowe Bergdahl's hometown of Hailey, Idaho. It has spiralled into a nightmare and Stefanie O'Neil is heartbroken.

STEFANIE O'NEIL, BERGDAHL'S FAMILY FRIEND: It's a feeling of extreme sadness that we're not allowed or able to have this event for Bowe, to welcome him back to the community. This is something to honor him and we can't do that now, not at this time.

LAVANDERA: O'Neil and her family organized what was supposed to be called the Bowe is back celebration in the park where Bowe Bergdahl played as a child. Last year on the fourth anniversary of Sergeant Bergdahl's capture, O'Neil organized the "Bring Back" rally. Bergdahl's parents were overwhelmed by the support.

BOB BERGDAHL, BOWE BERGDAHL'S FATHER: It's my privilege to know him, I think better than anyone else, as a father and as a man. I will defend his character until the day I die.

LAVANDERA: O'Neil says the town of Hailey was flooded with more than 3,000 requests for protester permits for the celebration, as well as nasty threats and e-mails. The event was canceled because of security concerns and Bowe Bergdahl's parents have remained out of sight.

(on camera): How are his parents taking it?

O'NEIL: You know, I think they were upset. I think in a way it was shocking to them that we weren't able to do this for their son. You know, again he hasn't been able to talk and so I think they're pretty saddened by it all.

LAVANDERA (on camera): Well, the yellow ribbons and banners declaring "Bowe is free at last" still line the streets and storefronts inside city hall the flood of angry e-mails and phone calls pour in. One woman wrote, "If your town can still welcome this traitor home you're not part of the U.S. that I know."

An Army veteran e-mailed to tell city leaders that ceremonies honoring Bergdahl would be a grave insult as well as a stain upon the reputation our community." An editorial in the newspaper lashed out at those critics.

(on camera): Five years captivity is enough, bring him home and let him heal.

(voice-over): The "Idaho Mountain Express" editor, Greg Foley, says the backlash against Bowe Bergdahl has surprised many.

(on camera): What kind of reaction have you gotten to that editorial?

GREG FOLEY, "IDAHO MOUNTAIN EXPRESS": We had a lot of positive reaction locally, but certainly outside of our immediate area, there have been people who think that we're casting a blind eye on what they believe to be fact, where the our mind, the facts of his capture really haven't been established. LAVANDERA (voice-over): Bowe Bergdahl's family friend says the homecoming celebration has only been canceled for now. They're not giving up on Bowe yet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Ed Lavandera joining us live right now. So Ed, what more do we know about Sergeant Bergdahl's health and when he would conceivably find his way back home to Idaho?

LAVANDERA: Well, you know, things have slowed down considerably. Initially, we thought it might take a couple days or so for Bowe Bergdahl to make his way back from the treatment area where he's getting in Germany and make his way to that Army medical center in San Antonio, but every indication we still have is that his parents are still here in Idaho.

We have been told that they have not spoken with him by the phone yet, but medical -- Army medical officials in Germany say that Bowe Bergdahl is starting to show signs of improvement. His health is starting to improve and that he's starting to engage with the doctors and the psychologists in the reintegration program.

But still, it's really slowed down considerably considering it's been a week since Bowe Bergdahl was rescued in Afghanistan and still no sign yet or no exact timeline on when his parents will be reunited with their son.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ed Lavandera, thank you so much from Hailey, Idaho.

When we come back, saying good-bye to poet, dancer, civil rights leader, instructor there at Wake Forest University, host of people eulogizing the great, Maya Angelou. We heard from former President Bill Clinton earlier. Good friend Oprah Winfrey. Up next, First Lady Michele Obama.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Back to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, paying tribute to poet, civil rights leader, Maya Angelou at the university where she was an instructor. She died just over a week ago. Now First Lady Michele Obama.

MICHELE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: Thank you so much. My heart is so full. My heart is so full. BB. Oprah, why did you do that? Just why? Why did you put me after this? To the family, Guy, to all of you, to the friends, President Clinton, Oprah, my mother, Cicely Tyson, Ambassador Young, let me just share something with you, my mother, Marion Robinson, never cares about anything I do.

But when Dr. Maya Angelou passed, she said, you're going, aren't you? I said, Mom, I'm not really sure. I have to check with my schedule. She said, you are going, right? I said I'm going to get back to you, but I have to check with the people, figure it out. I came back up to her room and I found out that I was scheduled to go and she said that's good. Now I'm happy.

It is such a profound honor, truly a profound honor, to be here today on behalf of myself and my husband, as we celebrate one of the greatest spirits our world has ever known. Our dear friend, Dr. Maya Angelou. In the Book of Psalms it reads, "I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, wonderful are your works, my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret. Intricately woven in the depths of the earth."

What a perfect description of Maya Angelou and the gift she gave to her family and to all who loved her. She taught us that we are each wonderfully made, intricately woven and put on this earth for purpose far greater than we could ever imagine. And when I think about Maya Angelou, I think about the affirming power of her words.

The first time I read phenomenal woman, I was struck by how she celebrated black women's beauty like no one had ever dared to before. Our curves, our stride, our strength, our grace, her words were clever and sassy, they were powerful and sexual and boastful, and in that one singular poem, Maya Angelou spoke to the essence of black women, but she also graced us with an anthem for all women.

A call for all of us to embrace our God-given beauty, and how desperately black girls need that message. As a young woman, I needed that message. As a child my first doll was Malibu Barbie. That was the standard for perfection. That was what the world told me to aspire to. But then I discovered Maya Angelou and her words lifted me right out of my own little head.

Her message was very simple, she told us that our worth has nothing to do with what the world might say. Instead, she said, each of us comes from the creator trailing wisps of glory. She reminded us that we must each find our own voice, decide our own value, and then announce it to the world with all the pride and joy that is our birth right as members of the human race.

Dr. Angelou's words sustained me on every step of my journey, through lonely moments in Ivy covered classrooms and colorless skyscrapers, through blissful moments, mothering two splendid baby girls, through long years on the campaign trail where at times, my very womanhood was dissected and questioned. For me that was the power of Maya Angelou's words.

Words so powerful that they carried a little black girl from the south side of Chicago all the way to the White House. And today, as first lady, whenever the term authentic is used to describe me, I take it as a tremendous compliment because I know that I am following in the footsteps of great women like Maya Angelou, but really, I am just a beginner. I am baby authentic.

Maya Angelou, now she was the original. She was the master. For at a time when there were such stifling constraints on how black women could exist in the world, she serenely disregarded all the rules with fiercely passionate, unapologetic self. She was comfortable in every last inch of her glorious brown skin. But for Dr. Angelou, her own transition was never enough. You see, she didn't just want to be phenomenal herself. She wanted all of us to be phenomenal right alongside her. So, that's what she did throughout her lifetime. She gathered so many of us under her wing. I wish I was a daughter, but I was right under that wing, sharing her wisdom, her genius and boundless love.

I first came into her presence in 2008 when she spoke at a campaign at that point she was in a wheelchair, hooked up to an oxygen tank to help her breathe. But let me tell you, she rolled up like she owned the place. She took the stage as she always did, like she had been born there.

I was so completely overwhelmed by her presence, I could barely concentrate on what she was saying to me. But while I don't remember her exact words, I do remember exactly how she made me feel. She made me feel like I owned the place, too. She made me feel like I had be born on that stage right next to her, and I remember thinking to myself Maya Angelou knows who I am, and she's rooting for me! So now I'm good. I can do this.

I can do this. And that's really true for us all because in so many ways Maya Angelou knew us. She knew our hope, our pain, our ambition, our fear, our anger, our shame. And she assured us that despite it all, in fact, because of it all, we were good. And in doing so, she paved the way for me and Oprah and so many others just to be our good old black woman selves.

She showed us that eventually if we stayed true to who we are, then the world would embrace us. And she did this not just for black women but for all women, for all human beings. She taught us all that it is OK to be your regular old self, whatever that is. Your poor self, your broken self, your brilliant, bold, phenomenal self, that was Maya Angelou's reach.

She touched me, she touched all of you, she touched people all across the globe, including a young white woman from Kansas who named her daughter after Maya and raised her son to be the first black president of the United States. So when I heard that Dr. Angelou had passed, I felt a deep sense of loss.

I also felt a profound sense of peace because there is no question that Maya Angelou will always be with us because there was something truly divine about Maya. I know that now as always she is right where she belongs. May her memory be a blessing to us all. Thank you. God bless.

WHITFIELD: First Lady Michelle Obama talking about the inspiration in poet, Maya Angelou, and admitting that the first time, she truly became inspired by Maya Angelou was from her 1995 book of poems, "Phenomenal Woman." You heard Michele Obama saying quote, "She wanted all of us to be phenomenal alongside her," and how much Maya Angelou's spirit inspired her and so many other women to simply rise to the occasion and be who they are and show who they are.

This is a special tribute there in Winston-Salem, North Carolina at Wake Forest University. The place in which Maya Angelou was still teaching until her death just May 28th, at the age of 86. We will have much more on this tribute to this poet, a dancer, instructor, an inspiration, Maya Angelou.

We've got so much straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CNN HOST, "PARTS UNKNOWN": This is known to start with lime. He will with more, sugar, ice. The magic ingredient. Shaken not stirred. You have one of the world's truly great cocktails. The utility beverage good for any time of day or any social occasion. Very satisfying.

These toasted cheese things here, awesome. Think there's anything better than cheese, it is semi melted cheese. What's the best part of French onion soup? The burned cheese around the edge. My God, yes. Just as good as it looks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)