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U.N. Honors Anniversary of Auschwitz Liberation; Hometown Remembers Johnny Carson

Aired January 24, 2005 -   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: At CNN Headquarters here in Atlanta, we are covering the world. And our CNN.com News Desk is also busy tracking terror and security issues. CNN.com's Christina Park has more now on the site's new weekly report.
CHRISTINA PARK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At the CNN.com News Desk, we've been monitoring what you need to know about terrorism. We've done the research, analyzed the data, and now we're launching a brand- new "Special Report" for you. Track terrorism instantly at cnn.com/securitywatch.

This week we're asking you who is the world's most dangerous terrorist? Osama bin Laden? Or Abu Musab al Zarqawi? While CNN senior producer Henry Schuster breaks it down for you in his weekly column. While you're there, you can e-mail right us off the site, who do you think poses the greatest threat to national security? Your thoughts could make it into our next column.

But before you click send, take a journey with us back in time as we take a hard look at Osama bin Laden's taped terror messages, from what he said just after the September 11 attacks to what his most recent message claims. Remember, you've got the power to inform yourself and we've got the tools at cnn.com/securitywatch.

Reporting from the .comdesk, I'm Christina Park.

PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And CNN is on security watch 24 hours a day. Stay with us for breaking news and special reports from correspondents all around the globe.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A New Mexico neighborhood is just bubbling with excitement after seeing a local soldier who is serving in Iraq on the cover of "Time" magazine. This picture of Private First Class Christopher Lujan was taken on January 20th. He and other members of the army's 25th infantry division were on foot patrol in Mosul. His family in Rio Rancho was surprised to see him on cover of the magazine, and, of course, they were relieved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMUEL LUJAN, FATHER: He looks good. He looks healthy. He looks strong. And he looks the way he always looked, determined, with that expression on his face. You'd have to know my son. He's not one that goes around looking to be photographed. We even have a hard time photographing him. He doesn't like pictures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Private Lujan has been in Iraq for a year.

PHILLIPS: News across America now. Gas prices are back on the rise. The Lundberg Survey finds gas prices climbed more than a nickel in the past two weeks. It's the first rise in about three months. The last check of regular self-serve gasoline averaged $1.85 a gallon.

Pathetic and judicial homicide. That's the reaction from Terri Schiavo's father to a Supreme Court ruling today over the fate of his daughter. The high court refused to reinstate a Florida law, passed to keep the brain-damaged woman hooked to a feeding tube. Florida judges will now decide what happens next.

The cold isn't keeping thousands of people from protesting the Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion. Anti-abortion protesters are gathered in Washington for the annual March for Life rally, held days after the 32nd anniversary of Roe vs. Wade.

A Roman Catholic Church near Boulder, Colorado, is facing scrutiny for publicizing a mass burial of aborted fetuses. The church has been quietly burying the cremated remains of aborted fetuses for years. And this year it's scheduled the burial the day after the Roe vs. Wade anniversary. The church says it was merely a coincidence.

HARRIS: Let's check in now with CNN'S Sibila Vargas.

PHILLIPS: Well, she's talking with fans paying tribute to Johnny Carson today. A lot of people out there paying tribute. Hi, Sibila.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT: Hey, you know what? We'll talk about the man and the legend and get reaction from Hollywood when LIVE FROM returns.

HARRIS: And later, paper or plastic? Some of you may soon have to pay for those bags you get at the grocery store. Details when we check back in on Wall Street.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Honoring the victims for the first time in its history, the United Nations General Assembly is holding a commemorative session marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps. Six million people were slaughtered in the camps during World War II.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan noted that the U.N. was born out of the ashes of the Holocaust. Annan also said the evils that happened at Nazi concentration camps must never be allowed to happen again. Not many people survived the horrors of those camps; those who did feel a responsibility to make sure the world remembers.

Our Chris Burns talks with an Auschwitz survivor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Adam Koenig was one of eight siblings in a Jewish family in Frankfurt. A week after World War II began, the Nazis sent him to a concentration camp. He was just 16 years old. The beginning of nearly six years of horror.

ADAM KOENIG, HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR: The first thing I thought, that was the impression maybe like that's the kind hell would look like.

BURNS: Koenig survived Saxenhausen and other death camps as a manual laborer. In October 1942, he was transferred in a cattle car to Auschwitz.

KOENIG: Wasn't able to work. They sent to Berkinow (ph), which meant to be -- to come to the killing factory. It smells like -- like burnt meat, sweet, a certain smell. You -- it's hard to forget it.

BURNS: With Soviet troops advancing on Auschwitz in January 1945, the Nazis moved tens of thousands of prisoners, Koenig included, to other death camps.

KOENIG: Those who couldn't continue, were too weak to continue to march, they were shot.

BURNS: When British troops liberated Koenig at Belkin Besan (ph) April 15, it wasn't a day of joy for him.

KOENIG: Maybe I felt that the damage must have been so much for the family that I couldn't expect any good things.

BURNS: Indeed, Koenig would learn that four of his younger brothers and sisters died in the Holocaust, as well as his parents. His father at Auschwitz.

KOENIG: After 20 years, I decided to talk about it. And if I wouldn't manage to keep my feeling in a certain way, I wouldn't do that. It would be too hard.

BURNS: Koenig's wife, Maria, was also at Auschwitz. They met as they and other survivors searched for loved ones. As retired teachers, they continue to lecture, to keep the Holocaust memory alive. At 82, and a great grandfather, Koenig remains on a mission.

KOENIG: People who have the experience to have to do something, they have a certain responsibility that the things which happened shouldn't be for nothing.

BURNS: Chris Burns, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: He made us cry with laughter. Now fans of Johnny Carson are crying tears of sadness. The king of late night TV died over the weekend. And in Hollywood actors and comedians alike are remembering Carson. CNN entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas joins us live from L.A.

Hi, Sibila.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony. You know, every once in a while you get an entertainer that breaks the mold. That would certainly have to be Johnny Carson. The man had such a great impact, millions of people are feeling the loss. And the outpour from his peers and colleagues has been tremendous.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON RICKLES, COMEDIAN: Johnny was great to me. I miss him terribly. I never realized he would die so quick. God took him real fast.

CARL REINER, ENTERTAINER: Everybody who's ever seen Johnny Carson has always said he's the best. They compared every other talk show host in the history of television to Johnny. And Johnny always comes out ahead. And he will still come out ahead. Now he'll come out way ahead because when you go, you become lauded more than you ever were in life. Now we're applauding him. We hadn't been applauding him for the last few years because he's been off. Now the applause starts again.

KATIE SEGAL, ACTOR: Really sad. Really affected. He's somebody that I grew up watching. And it's sorted of like, you know, it's just another piece of my childhood. And you know, I used to watch him with my mother. I remember she used to stay up late every night and watch Johnny Carson show, and the late, late show. And I used to love to hang out with her. I'd wake up, go watch Johnny Carson with her and then go back to bed. So I was affected, I am affected.

HENRY WINKLER, ACTOR: I was very fortunate that I was able to be on the show a few times. The first time I was really nervous, because I was going on with Johnny Carson. He treated me with warmth and respect.

RAY ROMANO, COMEDIAN: You know, just personally, I feel like he is a big factor in me having any success at all here. I mean, he was an inspiration for me even to get into stand-up. And then just to be on his show, and I got to meet him. I got to meet him about five years ago. I had a lunch with him and two other people. So this was the only time actually since being on his show that I talked to him. And I got to -- for those two hours, kind of see what he was really like. And you know, everything you saw on TV, you know, the professionalism, the style, the class and the humor, it was all there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS: He definitely impacted so many people. And I'm here with honorary Hollywood's mayor, Johnny Grant.

Thank you so much for being with us.

JOHNNY GRANT, HONORARY MAYOR OF HOLLYWOOD: Thank you.

VARGAS: You said that you've been doing this for 25 years.

GRANT: Sad day.

VARGAS: Yes, that this is one of the saddest days for you.

GRANT: Well, it's a sad day. And Hollywood was shocked when this announcement came out. I don't think we've been as shocked since we heard about Marilyn Monroe's demise. And, you know, Bob Hope said that when Johnny retired, it was like removing a face off of Mount Rushmore. Well, this is like the whole mountain vanishing. You just felt that Johnny Carson would be here and be alive forever.

VARGAS: What was it about him that resonated with the millions of people who watched him every night?

GRANT: Well, he never let his success go to his head. He was just an everyday person. And I feel that everybody felt they could communicate with him. If he was out here right now, you could feel that hey, I can walk up to him, and he'll talk to me. He'll sign whatever it is I want signed.

I mean, he could be a good businessman. He could be firm. But when he was on stage -- and he could laugh at everything. We did an event, a beauty pageant, before he was on "The Tonight Show." And just as we were going to announce the winner, the stage collapsed. And we started laughing because it was in the Carpenter's Union Hall. And he never forgot that. Every time I saw him, he said, "is the stage safe tonight?" He had a way of communicating with you to let you know he remembered.

VARGAS: Yes, and you know, he was such a genius and he was so well versed in everything. You would think that he was a city slicker, you know. But he really wasn't.

GRANT: No. Yes, I think he called himself a bumpkin from Nebraska, somewhere out there, it was Nebraska. But he was a smart bumpkin. And he studied a lot, I'm told. I envied Ed McMahon, not for his money and all that, but just the fact that he got to sit there every night and watch Johnny Carson work. I mean, that's like going through Harvard, Yale and Duke University, you know. You've got them all.

VARGAS: What do you think his legacy will be?

GRANT: A good guy, a great performer and he did it his way.

VARGAS: All right. Well, thank you so much.

GRANT: Thank you.

VARGAS: And he made people smile.

GRANT: Yes, he did. Not smile, laugh. And you keep your smile.

VARGAS: Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Back to you, Tony. HARRIS: Wow, Sibila, OK, thank you very much.

PHILLIPS: I think Sibila's going to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

HARRIS: From the mayor, yes, nice.

PHILLIPS: Well, Carson's Midwest roots ran deep. He was born in Iowa and raised in Nebraska, and folks in his hometown say his death is like losing a member of the family. Randi Petersen with our affiliate KETV talks to residents in Norfolk where Carson grew up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI PETERSEN, KETV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's late night all the time at the Johnny Carson exhibit in Norfolk, Nebraska. This is the town where Carson grew up. Now a town in mourning. The entertainment icon died Sunday morning in California.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it's going to get home because I think everybody in this town felt that he was kind of their favorite son.

PETERSEN: For decades, Carson was the late-night king with his stand-up, his skits as the great carnac (ph), his interviews with celebrities like Bob Hope. But for people in Norfolk, Carson's legacy extends beyond the number of Emmys he won or how many laughs he gave people across the country. It was how he remembered and treated people back home.

RON STAUFFER, NORFOLK RESIDENT: He was always looking out for us. He always kept in touch with what was going on in town, despite his celebrity.

PETERSEN: Carson donated millions to, among other things, a cancer center and a state of the art theater for Norfolk High School. City leaders say he helped build this town.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you would want to hand out a check for $1 million. You'd think the person was going to be there and want to get the recognition. Mr. Carson did. He made some very large donations, totally anonymously.

PETERSEN: People say when Carson did come home, he gave his hometown even more reason to love him.

BETTY BOMAC, NORFOLK RESIDENT: He was so generous with his handshakes. It just made you feel like you were just part of him.

PETERSEN: Now that part of Norfolk, of American history, is gone forever.

DAN MAUK, NORFOLK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: It's like when you lose a parent. You know it's coming, but when it happens, it's -- when it happens it kind of hits home.

(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: Once again, that was Brandy Petersen with our affiliate KETV.

And CNN viewers are sharing their special memories of Johnny Carson on their website. Log on to CNN.com/entertainment and e-mail us your stories about the TV legend. You can also see an interactive photo gallery of images from his life and career.

HARRIS: When they ask you if you want paper or plastic at the grocery checkout, it could actually eat into your bill. Charging for grocery bags. Find out what it's going to cost you.

PHILLIPS: Also ahead, the oldest altar boy in the world. Or maybe we should say altar man.

HARRIS: And a secret spy unit revealed. Who does it work for? We're live from the Pentagon next hour with details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: News around the world now. Signs of progress. The U.N. says tens of thousands of tsunami refugees in Indonesia have left the relief camps. Many of them have moved in with relatives. The number of relief camps in the devastated Aceh province has dropped from almost 400 to less than 100 now.

Nothing formal, but a truce of sorts is emerging in the Middle East. Two of the largest Palestinian militant groups have tentatively agreed to a period of calm. It's to give Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas time to persuade Israel to stop targeting militants. Israel says it will halt incursions into Gaza as long as militants stop attacks.

And in England, an altar boy for the record books. Peter Staley has been serving St. Peter's Church for 82 years. The Vatican honored him with a papal blessing, of course. The 89-year-old is headed for the "Guinness Book of Records" for his devoted service, but we think having his name in the good book probably rates higher with him.

Grocery shoppers in San Francisco might soon have one more thing on their list, grocery bags.

HARRIS: What? Susan Lisovicz joins us from the New York Stock Exchange with more on this story. Hi, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Tony and Kyra. We've actually seen in other parts of the world, like Australia, China, Ireland, South Africa, and now San Francisco might become the first U.S. city to charge for grocery bags. The city's environmental commission is expected to ask the mayor to consider a 17-cent per bag charge on paper and plastic grocery bags. The goal -- reducing plastic bag pollution and saving forests.

Environmentalists say the bags litter streets, pollute waterways, and endanger marine mammals. But critics call the plan an unfair and regressive tax on shoppers. Grocers and bag manufacturers argue many that people already reuse their plastic bags and that the use of plastic won't go down because people will purchase plastic trash bags to use instead.

Kyra and Tony, back to you.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well the good news is one of America's biggest airports is open again. The bad news, well, there's been a power outage.

HARRIS: Yes. We're live from Boston next hour with an update on snow conditions.

PHILLIPS: And upping the reward for Osama bin Laden. The U.S. may double the bounty on his head now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: "Now in the News," passions collide. Hundreds of people rally outside the Supreme Court, some of them to protest, others to support the high court's decision 32 years ago to legalize abortion. From Camp David, President Bush phoned in his support of anti-abortion activists.

A final farewell. Attorney General John Ashcroft says so long to employees of the Justice Department. He's going back to private life. President Bush has nominated White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales to take Ashcroft's place. The Senate Judiciary Committee is to vote on that Wednesday.

Another post to fill. Asa Hutchinson is taking his leave of the Homeland Security department. The undersecretary, in charge of border and transportation security, was passed over twice for the secretary's job in the past two months.

And a fence-mending mission. Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko is in Moscow, trying to soothe relations with Vladimir Putin. The Russian president had been an outspoken supporter Yushchenko's opponent in last month's bitter elections.

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Aired January 24, 2005 - News; International   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: At CNN Headquarters here in Atlanta, we are covering the world. And our CNN.com News Desk is also busy tracking terror and security issues. CNN.com's Christina Park has more now on the site's new weekly report.
CHRISTINA PARK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At the CNN.com News Desk, we've been monitoring what you need to know about terrorism. We've done the research, analyzed the data, and now we're launching a brand- new "Special Report" for you. Track terrorism instantly at cnn.com/securitywatch.

This week we're asking you who is the world's most dangerous terrorist? Osama bin Laden? Or Abu Musab al Zarqawi? While CNN senior producer Henry Schuster breaks it down for you in his weekly column. While you're there, you can e-mail right us off the site, who do you think poses the greatest threat to national security? Your thoughts could make it into our next column.

But before you click send, take a journey with us back in time as we take a hard look at Osama bin Laden's taped terror messages, from what he said just after the September 11 attacks to what his most recent message claims. Remember, you've got the power to inform yourself and we've got the tools at cnn.com/securitywatch.

Reporting from the .comdesk, I'm Christina Park.

PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And CNN is on security watch 24 hours a day. Stay with us for breaking news and special reports from correspondents all around the globe.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A New Mexico neighborhood is just bubbling with excitement after seeing a local soldier who is serving in Iraq on the cover of "Time" magazine. This picture of Private First Class Christopher Lujan was taken on January 20th. He and other members of the army's 25th infantry division were on foot patrol in Mosul. His family in Rio Rancho was surprised to see him on cover of the magazine, and, of course, they were relieved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMUEL LUJAN, FATHER: He looks good. He looks healthy. He looks strong. And he looks the way he always looked, determined, with that expression on his face. You'd have to know my son. He's not one that goes around looking to be photographed. We even have a hard time photographing him. He doesn't like pictures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Private Lujan has been in Iraq for a year.

PHILLIPS: News across America now. Gas prices are back on the rise. The Lundberg Survey finds gas prices climbed more than a nickel in the past two weeks. It's the first rise in about three months. The last check of regular self-serve gasoline averaged $1.85 a gallon.

Pathetic and judicial homicide. That's the reaction from Terri Schiavo's father to a Supreme Court ruling today over the fate of his daughter. The high court refused to reinstate a Florida law, passed to keep the brain-damaged woman hooked to a feeding tube. Florida judges will now decide what happens next.

The cold isn't keeping thousands of people from protesting the Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion. Anti-abortion protesters are gathered in Washington for the annual March for Life rally, held days after the 32nd anniversary of Roe vs. Wade.

A Roman Catholic Church near Boulder, Colorado, is facing scrutiny for publicizing a mass burial of aborted fetuses. The church has been quietly burying the cremated remains of aborted fetuses for years. And this year it's scheduled the burial the day after the Roe vs. Wade anniversary. The church says it was merely a coincidence.

HARRIS: Let's check in now with CNN'S Sibila Vargas.

PHILLIPS: Well, she's talking with fans paying tribute to Johnny Carson today. A lot of people out there paying tribute. Hi, Sibila.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT: Hey, you know what? We'll talk about the man and the legend and get reaction from Hollywood when LIVE FROM returns.

HARRIS: And later, paper or plastic? Some of you may soon have to pay for those bags you get at the grocery store. Details when we check back in on Wall Street.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Honoring the victims for the first time in its history, the United Nations General Assembly is holding a commemorative session marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps. Six million people were slaughtered in the camps during World War II.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan noted that the U.N. was born out of the ashes of the Holocaust. Annan also said the evils that happened at Nazi concentration camps must never be allowed to happen again. Not many people survived the horrors of those camps; those who did feel a responsibility to make sure the world remembers.

Our Chris Burns talks with an Auschwitz survivor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Adam Koenig was one of eight siblings in a Jewish family in Frankfurt. A week after World War II began, the Nazis sent him to a concentration camp. He was just 16 years old. The beginning of nearly six years of horror.

ADAM KOENIG, HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR: The first thing I thought, that was the impression maybe like that's the kind hell would look like.

BURNS: Koenig survived Saxenhausen and other death camps as a manual laborer. In October 1942, he was transferred in a cattle car to Auschwitz.

KOENIG: Wasn't able to work. They sent to Berkinow (ph), which meant to be -- to come to the killing factory. It smells like -- like burnt meat, sweet, a certain smell. You -- it's hard to forget it.

BURNS: With Soviet troops advancing on Auschwitz in January 1945, the Nazis moved tens of thousands of prisoners, Koenig included, to other death camps.

KOENIG: Those who couldn't continue, were too weak to continue to march, they were shot.

BURNS: When British troops liberated Koenig at Belkin Besan (ph) April 15, it wasn't a day of joy for him.

KOENIG: Maybe I felt that the damage must have been so much for the family that I couldn't expect any good things.

BURNS: Indeed, Koenig would learn that four of his younger brothers and sisters died in the Holocaust, as well as his parents. His father at Auschwitz.

KOENIG: After 20 years, I decided to talk about it. And if I wouldn't manage to keep my feeling in a certain way, I wouldn't do that. It would be too hard.

BURNS: Koenig's wife, Maria, was also at Auschwitz. They met as they and other survivors searched for loved ones. As retired teachers, they continue to lecture, to keep the Holocaust memory alive. At 82, and a great grandfather, Koenig remains on a mission.

KOENIG: People who have the experience to have to do something, they have a certain responsibility that the things which happened shouldn't be for nothing.

BURNS: Chris Burns, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: He made us cry with laughter. Now fans of Johnny Carson are crying tears of sadness. The king of late night TV died over the weekend. And in Hollywood actors and comedians alike are remembering Carson. CNN entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas joins us live from L.A.

Hi, Sibila.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony. You know, every once in a while you get an entertainer that breaks the mold. That would certainly have to be Johnny Carson. The man had such a great impact, millions of people are feeling the loss. And the outpour from his peers and colleagues has been tremendous.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON RICKLES, COMEDIAN: Johnny was great to me. I miss him terribly. I never realized he would die so quick. God took him real fast.

CARL REINER, ENTERTAINER: Everybody who's ever seen Johnny Carson has always said he's the best. They compared every other talk show host in the history of television to Johnny. And Johnny always comes out ahead. And he will still come out ahead. Now he'll come out way ahead because when you go, you become lauded more than you ever were in life. Now we're applauding him. We hadn't been applauding him for the last few years because he's been off. Now the applause starts again.

KATIE SEGAL, ACTOR: Really sad. Really affected. He's somebody that I grew up watching. And it's sorted of like, you know, it's just another piece of my childhood. And you know, I used to watch him with my mother. I remember she used to stay up late every night and watch Johnny Carson show, and the late, late show. And I used to love to hang out with her. I'd wake up, go watch Johnny Carson with her and then go back to bed. So I was affected, I am affected.

HENRY WINKLER, ACTOR: I was very fortunate that I was able to be on the show a few times. The first time I was really nervous, because I was going on with Johnny Carson. He treated me with warmth and respect.

RAY ROMANO, COMEDIAN: You know, just personally, I feel like he is a big factor in me having any success at all here. I mean, he was an inspiration for me even to get into stand-up. And then just to be on his show, and I got to meet him. I got to meet him about five years ago. I had a lunch with him and two other people. So this was the only time actually since being on his show that I talked to him. And I got to -- for those two hours, kind of see what he was really like. And you know, everything you saw on TV, you know, the professionalism, the style, the class and the humor, it was all there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS: He definitely impacted so many people. And I'm here with honorary Hollywood's mayor, Johnny Grant.

Thank you so much for being with us.

JOHNNY GRANT, HONORARY MAYOR OF HOLLYWOOD: Thank you.

VARGAS: You said that you've been doing this for 25 years.

GRANT: Sad day.

VARGAS: Yes, that this is one of the saddest days for you.

GRANT: Well, it's a sad day. And Hollywood was shocked when this announcement came out. I don't think we've been as shocked since we heard about Marilyn Monroe's demise. And, you know, Bob Hope said that when Johnny retired, it was like removing a face off of Mount Rushmore. Well, this is like the whole mountain vanishing. You just felt that Johnny Carson would be here and be alive forever.

VARGAS: What was it about him that resonated with the millions of people who watched him every night?

GRANT: Well, he never let his success go to his head. He was just an everyday person. And I feel that everybody felt they could communicate with him. If he was out here right now, you could feel that hey, I can walk up to him, and he'll talk to me. He'll sign whatever it is I want signed.

I mean, he could be a good businessman. He could be firm. But when he was on stage -- and he could laugh at everything. We did an event, a beauty pageant, before he was on "The Tonight Show." And just as we were going to announce the winner, the stage collapsed. And we started laughing because it was in the Carpenter's Union Hall. And he never forgot that. Every time I saw him, he said, "is the stage safe tonight?" He had a way of communicating with you to let you know he remembered.

VARGAS: Yes, and you know, he was such a genius and he was so well versed in everything. You would think that he was a city slicker, you know. But he really wasn't.

GRANT: No. Yes, I think he called himself a bumpkin from Nebraska, somewhere out there, it was Nebraska. But he was a smart bumpkin. And he studied a lot, I'm told. I envied Ed McMahon, not for his money and all that, but just the fact that he got to sit there every night and watch Johnny Carson work. I mean, that's like going through Harvard, Yale and Duke University, you know. You've got them all.

VARGAS: What do you think his legacy will be?

GRANT: A good guy, a great performer and he did it his way.

VARGAS: All right. Well, thank you so much.

GRANT: Thank you.

VARGAS: And he made people smile.

GRANT: Yes, he did. Not smile, laugh. And you keep your smile.

VARGAS: Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Back to you, Tony. HARRIS: Wow, Sibila, OK, thank you very much.

PHILLIPS: I think Sibila's going to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

HARRIS: From the mayor, yes, nice.

PHILLIPS: Well, Carson's Midwest roots ran deep. He was born in Iowa and raised in Nebraska, and folks in his hometown say his death is like losing a member of the family. Randi Petersen with our affiliate KETV talks to residents in Norfolk where Carson grew up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI PETERSEN, KETV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's late night all the time at the Johnny Carson exhibit in Norfolk, Nebraska. This is the town where Carson grew up. Now a town in mourning. The entertainment icon died Sunday morning in California.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it's going to get home because I think everybody in this town felt that he was kind of their favorite son.

PETERSEN: For decades, Carson was the late-night king with his stand-up, his skits as the great carnac (ph), his interviews with celebrities like Bob Hope. But for people in Norfolk, Carson's legacy extends beyond the number of Emmys he won or how many laughs he gave people across the country. It was how he remembered and treated people back home.

RON STAUFFER, NORFOLK RESIDENT: He was always looking out for us. He always kept in touch with what was going on in town, despite his celebrity.

PETERSEN: Carson donated millions to, among other things, a cancer center and a state of the art theater for Norfolk High School. City leaders say he helped build this town.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you would want to hand out a check for $1 million. You'd think the person was going to be there and want to get the recognition. Mr. Carson did. He made some very large donations, totally anonymously.

PETERSEN: People say when Carson did come home, he gave his hometown even more reason to love him.

BETTY BOMAC, NORFOLK RESIDENT: He was so generous with his handshakes. It just made you feel like you were just part of him.

PETERSEN: Now that part of Norfolk, of American history, is gone forever.

DAN MAUK, NORFOLK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: It's like when you lose a parent. You know it's coming, but when it happens, it's -- when it happens it kind of hits home.

(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: Once again, that was Brandy Petersen with our affiliate KETV.

And CNN viewers are sharing their special memories of Johnny Carson on their website. Log on to CNN.com/entertainment and e-mail us your stories about the TV legend. You can also see an interactive photo gallery of images from his life and career.

HARRIS: When they ask you if you want paper or plastic at the grocery checkout, it could actually eat into your bill. Charging for grocery bags. Find out what it's going to cost you.

PHILLIPS: Also ahead, the oldest altar boy in the world. Or maybe we should say altar man.

HARRIS: And a secret spy unit revealed. Who does it work for? We're live from the Pentagon next hour with details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: News around the world now. Signs of progress. The U.N. says tens of thousands of tsunami refugees in Indonesia have left the relief camps. Many of them have moved in with relatives. The number of relief camps in the devastated Aceh province has dropped from almost 400 to less than 100 now.

Nothing formal, but a truce of sorts is emerging in the Middle East. Two of the largest Palestinian militant groups have tentatively agreed to a period of calm. It's to give Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas time to persuade Israel to stop targeting militants. Israel says it will halt incursions into Gaza as long as militants stop attacks.

And in England, an altar boy for the record books. Peter Staley has been serving St. Peter's Church for 82 years. The Vatican honored him with a papal blessing, of course. The 89-year-old is headed for the "Guinness Book of Records" for his devoted service, but we think having his name in the good book probably rates higher with him.

Grocery shoppers in San Francisco might soon have one more thing on their list, grocery bags.

HARRIS: What? Susan Lisovicz joins us from the New York Stock Exchange with more on this story. Hi, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Tony and Kyra. We've actually seen in other parts of the world, like Australia, China, Ireland, South Africa, and now San Francisco might become the first U.S. city to charge for grocery bags. The city's environmental commission is expected to ask the mayor to consider a 17-cent per bag charge on paper and plastic grocery bags. The goal -- reducing plastic bag pollution and saving forests.

Environmentalists say the bags litter streets, pollute waterways, and endanger marine mammals. But critics call the plan an unfair and regressive tax on shoppers. Grocers and bag manufacturers argue many that people already reuse their plastic bags and that the use of plastic won't go down because people will purchase plastic trash bags to use instead.

Kyra and Tony, back to you.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well the good news is one of America's biggest airports is open again. The bad news, well, there's been a power outage.

HARRIS: Yes. We're live from Boston next hour with an update on snow conditions.

PHILLIPS: And upping the reward for Osama bin Laden. The U.S. may double the bounty on his head now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: "Now in the News," passions collide. Hundreds of people rally outside the Supreme Court, some of them to protest, others to support the high court's decision 32 years ago to legalize abortion. From Camp David, President Bush phoned in his support of anti-abortion activists.

A final farewell. Attorney General John Ashcroft says so long to employees of the Justice Department. He's going back to private life. President Bush has nominated White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales to take Ashcroft's place. The Senate Judiciary Committee is to vote on that Wednesday.

Another post to fill. Asa Hutchinson is taking his leave of the Homeland Security department. The undersecretary, in charge of border and transportation security, was passed over twice for the secretary's job in the past two months.

And a fence-mending mission. Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko is in Moscow, trying to soothe relations with Vladimir Putin. The Russian president had been an outspoken supporter Yushchenko's opponent in last month's bitter elections.

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