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King Commemorated at Home Church in Atlanta

Aired January 20, 2003 - 14:36   ET

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

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


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush and his wife observed Martin Luther King Day with prayer. Mr. Bush told members of an African-American church in Maryland that progress has been made toward racial equality, but there is still work to do.
CNN's Brian Cabell is at the church where King preached in Atlanta -- hi, Brian.

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. Martin Luther King was born here in Atlanta. He was raised here. He raised his own children here. He pastored here, and he's now buried about 100 yards from where I'm standing.

Today, Atlantans celebrated and are still celebrating his life that ended some 35 years ago. They are marching for Martin Luther King, what he represented, thousands of them. Among them political groups, social groups, youth groups, music groups. But a number of them, literally hundreds, were marching against a possible war on Iraq today. We saw many, many signs in the crowd, we still see many, many signs.

And from the pulpit we heard from many speakers saying that if Martin Luther King were alive today, he too would be protesting against the war in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORETTA SCOTT KING, WIDOW OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: Martin said true peace is not merely the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice. And once again, Martin made his words credible with action as he protested against the war in Vietnam, may his challenge and his example guide and inspire us to seek peaceful alternatives to the war with Iraq and military conflict in the Middle East and all over the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABELL: The service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, were King once pastored, was a joyous remembrance of his life. The famous were there, the not so famous were there. There were a couple hundred. The overflow crowd was across the street. There were Democrats here, there were Republicans here. Bill Frist, the new Senate majority leader, was here as well.

All of them came today to the hometown of Martin Luther King, 35 years after his death, again, to remember what he did so many years ago -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: Brian, you know, we're taking a glimpse inside the church here. We see it behind you. Talk a little bit about the tour that takes place there. I think one of the things that I think is so fascinating is you can go and sit in this church. It's remained unscathed from the era, and you can actually listen to King's sermons as you sit in the pews.

CABELL: Yes. It's been renovated. It was kind of falling apart a few years ago, but it has been renovated. It has been turned into a museum. It is now just -- it holds special services. It's no longer the home church for the congregation here. The home church is actually across the street, a much larger church. But yes, if you go inside there, and you see virtually exactly where Martin Luther King and his father preached many, many years ago. It is taking a step back into history, and that's what they did today again.

PHILLIPS: It is a pretty awesome sight. Our Brian Cabell right there in the neighborhood where Martin Luther King lived and preached -- thanks, Brian.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired January 20, 2003 - 14:36   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush and his wife observed Martin Luther King Day with prayer. Mr. Bush told members of an African-American church in Maryland that progress has been made toward racial equality, but there is still work to do.
CNN's Brian Cabell is at the church where King preached in Atlanta -- hi, Brian.

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. Martin Luther King was born here in Atlanta. He was raised here. He raised his own children here. He pastored here, and he's now buried about 100 yards from where I'm standing.

Today, Atlantans celebrated and are still celebrating his life that ended some 35 years ago. They are marching for Martin Luther King, what he represented, thousands of them. Among them political groups, social groups, youth groups, music groups. But a number of them, literally hundreds, were marching against a possible war on Iraq today. We saw many, many signs in the crowd, we still see many, many signs.

And from the pulpit we heard from many speakers saying that if Martin Luther King were alive today, he too would be protesting against the war in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORETTA SCOTT KING, WIDOW OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: Martin said true peace is not merely the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice. And once again, Martin made his words credible with action as he protested against the war in Vietnam, may his challenge and his example guide and inspire us to seek peaceful alternatives to the war with Iraq and military conflict in the Middle East and all over the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABELL: The service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, were King once pastored, was a joyous remembrance of his life. The famous were there, the not so famous were there. There were a couple hundred. The overflow crowd was across the street. There were Democrats here, there were Republicans here. Bill Frist, the new Senate majority leader, was here as well.

All of them came today to the hometown of Martin Luther King, 35 years after his death, again, to remember what he did so many years ago -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: Brian, you know, we're taking a glimpse inside the church here. We see it behind you. Talk a little bit about the tour that takes place there. I think one of the things that I think is so fascinating is you can go and sit in this church. It's remained unscathed from the era, and you can actually listen to King's sermons as you sit in the pews.

CABELL: Yes. It's been renovated. It was kind of falling apart a few years ago, but it has been renovated. It has been turned into a museum. It is now just -- it holds special services. It's no longer the home church for the congregation here. The home church is actually across the street, a much larger church. But yes, if you go inside there, and you see virtually exactly where Martin Luther King and his father preached many, many years ago. It is taking a step back into history, and that's what they did today again.

PHILLIPS: It is a pretty awesome sight. Our Brian Cabell right there in the neighborhood where Martin Luther King lived and preached -- thanks, Brian.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com