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Remembering Salsa Legend Celia Cruz

Aired July 21, 2003 - 14:51   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: Well, New Yorkers are paying special tribute to the queen of salsa, Celia Cruz.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Her send-off is just about as flamboyant as her life. Our Maria Hinojosa had her own personal experiences with her.

And Maria is here to share that with us -- hello, Maria.

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, it's so hard to kind of encapsulate the life of Celia Cruz. From the people who don't know anything about her, I think now is the chance when they're getting a chance to peer into the life of Celia Cruz.

But you can get of sense of what she was like when you see her videos of her performing. One of the musicologists that I met said that Celia Cruz became known to the mainstream American audiences when she was already -- quote, unquote -- "an elderly woman." Well, this is a woman that continued to perform for decades after that.

I want to give you a sense, though, of the crowds that have been gathering here since 6:00 last night. They have come out now by the thousands. We have heard estimates of up to 30,000 people who have been able to make their way here to the Upper East Side of Manhattan. This will be their chance to pay tribute to Celia Cruz that they know so well.

And you think about what it was about Celia that was so special. She really crossed all kind of boundaries, racial boundaries. She was one of the first black Latinas to have such a stardom. She was a Latina that was Cuban, but really became known to so many Latinos across the board. She was a performer who -- there were little kids out here with signs out that said (SPEAKING IN SPANISH), the children also love Celia Cruz. And people are here in their wheelchairs.

We have heard, also -- get this -- in true to Celia Cruz style, four costume changes for her viewings in the funeral homes, here in New York, in Miami, in Saint Patrick's Cathedral, so a real extraordinary -- an extraordinary end to an extraordinary life of Celia Cruz.

And I know you wanted me to talk a little bit about my personal stories. Well, the thing about Celia is that, even though she was this icon, this legend, she treated you -- well, let's hear actually what her niece had to say and then I'll share my stories. This is what her niece had to say about Celia Cruz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CELIA MARIA CODY, NIECE OF CELIA CRUZ: Of course, there were artists of her stature. And she was as big as they could get. But what I think it is, is that everyone felt close to her. If you met her for five minutes, you felt she was part of your family. And she made everyone feel comfortable and loved. And it shows by everyone being here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HINOJOSA: So, here you go.

In 1988, when I had first met Celia Cruz, when I was a cub reporter, I was a no one. And, all of a sudden, I started getting these postcards in the mail from Celia Cruz, this star, telling me: Hi, how are you? Her trademark, azucar, or sugar chant, Celia Cruz.

And this one actually a birthday card, "Amiga Maria," which I just love, like we were best friends. And I had met her once to do an interview. And then she says (SPEAKING IN SPANISH), 1989. There are a lot of people, Kyra and Miles, who have postcards like this, photographs like this. That's why their family says that she has such a love, because she treated people with love. A lot life lessons we're learning from Celia Cruz, (SPEAKING IN SPANISH)

O'BRIEN: Wow. That's wonderful.

PHILLIPS: Oh, Maria, yes, total equality, no barriers at all.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: You can only imagine. How did she find the time to do even that? You have to wonder.

HINOJOSA: I was actually speaking to one of her co-performers, Johnny Pacheco. And he said that, for about two hours before her performances, she would separate herself from everybody and sit there and write postcards to all of the people that she had met.

This is a woman who really didn't need to do this. And it came from her heart. She never forget her humility. And, again, those are the life lessons that we're learning from La Gran Celia Cruz.

O'BRIEN: Wow. Wonderful.

PHILLIPS: And from what I hear, Maria Hinojosa is quite the salsa queen herself.

O'BRIEN: Oh, really?

PHILLIPS: Oh, yes.

We should play a little Celia.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: There we go. Let's go Maria. Let's go.

HINOJOSA: We don't have any music. No one is playing music, unfortunately.

(CROSSTALK)

HINOJOSA: But in tribute to Celia, I will definitely dance for you, as a tribute to Celia.

O'BRIEN: I'll tell you what. Maria, dance us to break, will you?

PHILLIPS: Dance us to break. We have got the music playing right now.

OLBERMANN: LIVE FROM is back in a bit.

PHILLIPS: There she goes. There she goes.

All right, Maria.

(CROSSTALK)

HINOJOSA: But this is what Celia would do. That was her move. And azucar. We loved Celia. We all learned from her. That's why we do it.

PHILLIPS: That's the perfect way to wrap this segment up.

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 July 21, 2003 - 14:51   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, New Yorkers are paying special tribute to the queen of salsa, Celia Cruz.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Her send-off is just about as flamboyant as her life. Our Maria Hinojosa had her own personal experiences with her.

And Maria is here to share that with us -- hello, Maria.

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, it's so hard to kind of encapsulate the life of Celia Cruz. From the people who don't know anything about her, I think now is the chance when they're getting a chance to peer into the life of Celia Cruz.

But you can get of sense of what she was like when you see her videos of her performing. One of the musicologists that I met said that Celia Cruz became known to the mainstream American audiences when she was already -- quote, unquote -- "an elderly woman." Well, this is a woman that continued to perform for decades after that.

I want to give you a sense, though, of the crowds that have been gathering here since 6:00 last night. They have come out now by the thousands. We have heard estimates of up to 30,000 people who have been able to make their way here to the Upper East Side of Manhattan. This will be their chance to pay tribute to Celia Cruz that they know so well.

And you think about what it was about Celia that was so special. She really crossed all kind of boundaries, racial boundaries. She was one of the first black Latinas to have such a stardom. She was a Latina that was Cuban, but really became known to so many Latinos across the board. She was a performer who -- there were little kids out here with signs out that said (SPEAKING IN SPANISH), the children also love Celia Cruz. And people are here in their wheelchairs.

We have heard, also -- get this -- in true to Celia Cruz style, four costume changes for her viewings in the funeral homes, here in New York, in Miami, in Saint Patrick's Cathedral, so a real extraordinary -- an extraordinary end to an extraordinary life of Celia Cruz.

And I know you wanted me to talk a little bit about my personal stories. Well, the thing about Celia is that, even though she was this icon, this legend, she treated you -- well, let's hear actually what her niece had to say and then I'll share my stories. This is what her niece had to say about Celia Cruz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CELIA MARIA CODY, NIECE OF CELIA CRUZ: Of course, there were artists of her stature. And she was as big as they could get. But what I think it is, is that everyone felt close to her. If you met her for five minutes, you felt she was part of your family. And she made everyone feel comfortable and loved. And it shows by everyone being here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HINOJOSA: So, here you go.

In 1988, when I had first met Celia Cruz, when I was a cub reporter, I was a no one. And, all of a sudden, I started getting these postcards in the mail from Celia Cruz, this star, telling me: Hi, how are you? Her trademark, azucar, or sugar chant, Celia Cruz.

And this one actually a birthday card, "Amiga Maria," which I just love, like we were best friends. And I had met her once to do an interview. And then she says (SPEAKING IN SPANISH), 1989. There are a lot of people, Kyra and Miles, who have postcards like this, photographs like this. That's why their family says that she has such a love, because she treated people with love. A lot life lessons we're learning from Celia Cruz, (SPEAKING IN SPANISH)

O'BRIEN: Wow. That's wonderful.

PHILLIPS: Oh, Maria, yes, total equality, no barriers at all.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: You can only imagine. How did she find the time to do even that? You have to wonder.

HINOJOSA: I was actually speaking to one of her co-performers, Johnny Pacheco. And he said that, for about two hours before her performances, she would separate herself from everybody and sit there and write postcards to all of the people that she had met.

This is a woman who really didn't need to do this. And it came from her heart. She never forget her humility. And, again, those are the life lessons that we're learning from La Gran Celia Cruz.

O'BRIEN: Wow. Wonderful.

PHILLIPS: And from what I hear, Maria Hinojosa is quite the salsa queen herself.

O'BRIEN: Oh, really?

PHILLIPS: Oh, yes.

We should play a little Celia.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: There we go. Let's go Maria. Let's go.

HINOJOSA: We don't have any music. No one is playing music, unfortunately.

(CROSSTALK)

HINOJOSA: But in tribute to Celia, I will definitely dance for you, as a tribute to Celia.

O'BRIEN: I'll tell you what. Maria, dance us to break, will you?

PHILLIPS: Dance us to break. We have got the music playing right now.

OLBERMANN: LIVE FROM is back in a bit.

PHILLIPS: There she goes. There she goes.

All right, Maria.

(CROSSTALK)

HINOJOSA: But this is what Celia would do. That was her move. And azucar. We loved Celia. We all learned from her. That's why we do it.

PHILLIPS: That's the perfect way to wrap this segment up.

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