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Hostage Standoff in Georgia; Chile Elects Female President; Celebrating Martin Luther King Day
Aired January 16, 2006 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get straight to Betty Nguyen in the newsroom, working on a developing story -- Betty.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (AUDIO GAP) a hostage situation in Statesboro, Georgia, which is about 50 miles northwest of Savannah.
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: This is what we have learned so far from affiliate WTOC.
A man and woman, both unidentified, are holding a lawyer hostage at an attorney's office across the street from the Statesboro courthouse. Now, it is believed, according to officials on the scene, that the hostage-takers may have guns and explosives. What we understand from affiliate sources is that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, along with a bomb squad and the FBI, state and local police, are all surrounding this building.
And they are talking with the man inside. Now, what is not known is the relationship between the man and the woman and their hostage, who is believed to be an attorney. It is not known exactly what caused this or if anyone is injured in this hostage situation. What we do know is that there is communication between the authorities on the scene and the man inside the building believed to be holding an attorney hostage.
Again, this is happening in Statesboro, Georgia, which is about 50 miles northwest of Savannah. It took place earlier this morning, so, obviously, it's been going on for some time. And the communication lines, apparently, are open, but officials on the scene are hoping that everyone gets out safely, and they're able to resolve this without any injuries.
We are going to stay on the top of it and bring you the latest as we learn it -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Betty.
For the third time in 10 days, a U.S. military helicopter crashed today in Iraq. The videotape distributed by the Associated Press shows black smoke rising from the area north of Baghdad, where the two-person Apache went down.
Earlier today, before the Pentagon identified the craft as an Apache, an insurgent group claimed to have shot the helicopter down, and that group posted a separate videotape on radical Islamic Web sites, with Arabic script that read, the downing of an Apache.
This videotape we are going to show you now is the other tape that was put out by that Islamic group. CNN cannot tell you, though, if this is, indeed, authentic -- the Pentagon, right now, going through the various process of trying to figure that out.
Right now, though, our Jamie McIntyre telling us the military believes it is a bogus tape. We don't know when or when it was shot, or by whom. The tape appears to show a missile streaking across the sky, then an explosion, and then the crash of an aircraft that appears to be a helicopter.
Former Vice President Al Gore delivered a wide-ranging denunciation of the Bush administration today, accusing the president of breaking the law repeatedly and persistently. Gore, who ran against Mr. Bush in the 2000 presidential election, called for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the president's authorization of warrantless surveillance against U.S. residents suspected of terrorist links.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our founding fathers were adamant that they had established a government of laws, and not men. They recognized that the structure of government they had enshrined in our Constitution, system, of checks and balances, was designed with a central purpose of ensuring that it would govern through the rule of law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: A spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee called Gore's speech a diatribe laden with inaccuracy and anger.
She said -- quote -- "Al Gore's incessant need to insert himself into the headline of the day is almost as glaring as his lack of understanding of the threats facing America.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has postponed its scheduled vote on Judge Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court. A committee aide says the vote, previously scheduled for tomorrow, will be delayed one week. Democrats had been pressing for the postponement. But, despite the delay, the nomination does not appear to be in trouble.
Alito's latest supporter is the usually liberal "Washington Post." And, in a Sunday editorial, "The Post" acknowledged that Alito is a conservative, but has declared that nominees should not be opposed on ideology alone. The editorial said -- quote -- "To go down that road is to believe that there exists a Democratic law and a Republican law, which is repugnant to the ideal of the rule of law."
A new president and hopes for peace in Liberia -- Africa's oldest republic swears in the continent's first elected female head of state of state. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is a former economist, Harvard- educated, who promises to unite her country, torn apart by 14 years of civil war. On hand for the historic inauguration, America's first lady, Laura Bush, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
To the continent of South America now, where Chileans has just been elected president. A former political prisoner, physician and single mother has just been elected president.
CNN's Lucia Newman has more on the celebration in Santiago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michelle Bachelet's presidential victory is not only astonishing because she won in a country as male-dominated as Chile, where divorce was legalized only just last year; it's also a milestone because she's everything socially conservative and Catholic Chile has traditionally frowned on. She's an agnostic, and a single mother of three.
But, then, as current socialist President Ricardo Lagos boasted, Chile is changing.
"To have a woman shows that we're a freer, more just, more diverse, more prosperous and more modern country," he said.
Bachelet, too, is a socialist, the latest in a long list of leftist leaders elected to govern South America.
MICHELLE BACHELET, CHILEAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I want our government to be remembered as a government by everyone and for everyone.
NEWMAN: But, in comparison to Eva Morales in neighboring Bolivia, or Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, Bachelet is a moderate socialist, who continued to lead Chile's governing coalition of center- to center-left parties.
Soft-spoken, but tough, she and her mother were tortured and sent into exile by the Pinochet dictatorship after her father was arrested and killed in 1974.
A pediatrician by profession, she vows to bridge the enormous gap between the haves and have-nots. Chile boasts the best macroeconomic performance in Latin America, yet, distribution of income is one of the most unequal in the world.
Bachelet's rival, Sebastian Pinera, a billionaire entrepreneur and moderate conservative, conceded defeat shortly after polls closed.
"I want to congratulate Michelle Bachelet for her triumph," he said.
Bachelet will have until March to organize her new government, which, she promises, will include a cabinet of at least 50 percent women.
Lucia Newman, CNN, reporting. (END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Questions and controversy are growing in Florida, after a troubled teen is shot at school and dies.
Christopher Penley was shot at this Orlando-area middle school Friday by police, who believed his was brandishing a .9-millimeter gun. It turns out it was a pellet gun painted to look like the real thing. Penley's father, according to his attorney, says the death could have been prevented had police allowed him to talk to his son.
Penley had been clinically brain-dead since Saturday. He was taken off life support yesterday. His organs -- his organs have been donated. Afterwards, mourners held a candlelight service in his memory.
Two South Florida teenagers are in custody, suspected of savagely beating three homeless men in Florida, one fatally. The story captured headlines last week, after one of the beatings, caught on tape, was shown nationwide. Authorities say that the tape generated more than 100 tips, and ultimately led to the suspects' surrender yesterday.
The suspects are 17-year-old Thomas Daugherty and 18-year-old Brian Hooks. Police say that the two will face murder charges in the death of Norris Gaynor and aggravated charges in a second beating. The teens are suspected in a third beating. That case is now under investigation.
The sole survivor of the Sago Mine blast continues to improve two weeks after the tragedy. Over the weekend, doctors upgraded Randal McCloy's condition from critical to serious. But he's still in a coma, and he faces major medical problems, including impaired kidney function.
Doctors also believe he suffered some brain damage during the 41 hours that he was trapped in that mine. McCloy's wife attended a memorial service for his 12 colleagues yesterday.
The news keeps coming. We will keep bringing it to you -- more LIVE FROM right after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Faith and commitment, triumph and tribulation, strife and division all come together in the 20th anniversary of the national holiday honoring the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
Here in Atlanta, ceremonies at King's home church took place against the unsettling backdrop of a rift in King's own family, a rift concerning the stewardship and future of the King Center For Nonviolent Social Change, established by King's widow shortly after his murder in 1968. Coretta Scott King's stature is diminished this year as well by illness.
It won't come to -- well, it won't come as news that a racial divide still exists in 21st century America, just as it does in a new poll on racial divisions in general and MLK Day in particular. A survey conducted by Ipsos for the Associated Press found 60 percent of African-Americans plan to mark the holiday in one way or another, vs. 15 percent of whites.
There's also a partisan divide, 30 percent of Democrats saying they would observe King Day, 14 percent of Republicans. Should there be a holiday for Martin Luther King at all? Ninety-six percent of African-Americans say yes. Two-thirds of white agree.
Overall, people under 50, college grads and Democrats are most likely to support an official national observance. As for civil rights, 78 percent of whites say they perceive significant progress towards racial equality, while only 66 percent of blacks do. Republicans see progress in somewhat greater numbers, 84 percent, compared with 72 percent of Democrats.
Well, you may have heard this year, it marks the 20th anniversary of the national MLK holiday and the 77th anniversary of Dr. King's birth here in Atlanta.
It also marks the centennial of another piece of Atlanta history, a grisly and virtually forgotten event from September 1906. For four days, whites and blacks attacked each other in the downtown streets, a spectacle of carnage that "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution" calls the closest things to a race war the city ever saw.
It started with a vicious rumors that blacks were attacking white women and ended up in newspapers and magazines as far away as Europe. No one will ever know many Atlantans were killed. Estimates range from 12 to 50, but the riots themselves will not be allowed to fade into history. A grassroots coalition is launching public events and exhibitions aimed not only at reopening old wounds, but opening lines of communication among the races.
There's already progress. Starting next year, Georgia public school students will study the riots in eighth grade.
Straight to Betty Nguyen now in the CNN newsroom -- some news coming out of New Orleans -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes, talking about New Orleans, Martin Luther King and Mayor Ray Nagin, Mayor Ray Nagin today did observe the holiday. He laid a wreath at the King Memorial there in the city.
It was recently cleaned up after Katrina. There was new landscape and whatnot. He was surrounded by others who were honoring today. But, earlier, before he went to this wreath-laying, he promised, in a speech before a crowd, that New Orleans will be -- quote -- "chocolate again," meaning that it will be a majority African-American city.
Take a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RAY NAGIN (D), MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS: It's time for us to come together. It's time for us to rebuild a New Orleans, the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans.
And I don't care what people are saying uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the end of the day.
(APPLAUSE)
NAGIN: This city will be a majority African-American city. It's the way God wants it to be. You can't have New Orleans no other way. It wouldn't be New Orleans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Now, looking at the numbers, New Orleans proper was more than 60 percent African-American before Hurricane Katrina hit, causing three-quarters of its population, obviously, to evacuate.
While Nagin promised that New Orleans will be -- quote -- "chocolate again," he also talked about the need to clean up the violence in the city, especially black-on-black crime. And he referred to what you're looking at now, a parade yesterday in the city. It was intended to show unity and support of the rebuilding process.
Well, shots rang out, fired into the crowd, those in the second- line parade. Three people were injured. One is still in guarded condition -- so, again, Mayor Ray Nagin urging the city to clean up the violence and promising that New Orleans will be -- quote -- "chocolate again," meaning that it will be a majority African-American city, once all is said and done -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Ray Nagin, he has always got a way with words, doesn't he, Betty?
NGUYEN: He sure does.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: All right.
Well, we're expecting to hear from President Bush this hour, honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We are going to bring you his remarks live.
The news keeps coming. We will keep bringing it to you -- more LIVE FROM right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: It is a very sad thing that, nowadays, there's so little useless information. Our thanks to Irish playwright Oscar Wilde for giving us the perfect introduction to a new LIVE FROM feature, "Fumera" (ph), news that you may not need to know, but, hey, it's news you are going to want to know. Well, like this, many people have sought to dethrone Christopher Columbus as the person who discovered America, including the Irish, the Norse, and various others -- now alleged proof of China's "We got there first" claim. An antique map unfurled today in Beijing, China, clearly shows Africa, Europe and the Americas. This map is reportedly dated 1763, but it's said to be a copy of a map from 1418.
That would be 74 -- 74 years, rather, before Columbus sailed the ocean blue. And if it's proven to be authentic, well, it would bolster claims that a Chinese eunuch -- oh, boy, I'm not even going to attempt his name -- will beat Columbus to the new world. Since we're so wild about Wilde today, he had an appropriate comment on the topic: "America had often been discovered before Columbus, but has always been hushed up."
Well, one of the year's biggest parties is just hours away. The Golden Globes will be given out tonight in Hollywood. It's an awards ceremony with a bit of wacky reputation. And, this year, it's also honoring a wacky film.
CNN entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas spoke with the man behind "The Producers."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From "Blazing Saddles..."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "BLAZING SADDLES")
MEL BROOKS, ACTOR/WRITER/PRODUCER: These things are defective.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: "... Spaceballs..."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SPACEBALLS")
RICK MORANIS, ACTOR: I can't breathe in this thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: ... to "Young Frankenstein..."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN")
GENE WILDER, ACTOR: It's alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: ... writer/producer/director Mel Brooks has been making audiences laugh for decades.
(on camera): How old were you when you realized, you know, comedy is my thing; I really like to do this; I want to be in show business? BROOKS: I was about three-and-a-half weeks old.
(LAUGHTER)
VARGAS: Really?
BROOKS: Really. I opened my eyes, and people were looking down at my crib, and they were screaming hysterically.
VARGAS (voice-over): I caught up with the funny man at his office in Culver City.
(on camera): What are you most proud up?
BROOKS: I think I'm most proud of "The Producers," because it's my first (INAUDIBLE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE PRODUCERS")
WILDER: My blanket. My blue blanket. Give me my blue blanket.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKS: I made that movie -- I made a movie in 1968, "The Producers." And I made this -- this -- I worked on this fabulous musical, staged directed by Susan Stroman on Broadway. I think that's the -- I think it used the most of me.
VARGAS (voice-over): The musical Broadway version of "The Producers" forced Brooks to take his talents to new heights.
(on camera): Did you know you had it in you, though, I mean, to -- to -- to write these lyrics and...
(CROSSTALK)
BROOKS: Yes, I know I did. I knew I did. And I was encouraged by my late wife. You know, she -- she kept saying, do that, do that. Write songs. You're a songwriter. Keep writing songs. So...
VARGAS: She was wonderful.
BROOKS: So, I did. She was the best.
VARGAS (voice-over): Mel Brooks, of course, is referring to his wife of 40 years, actress Anne Bancroft, who lost her battle to cancer last year.
Despite the apparent void, this year, there is so much to celebrate.
BROOKS: If only my mother had lived past 93, if she could only have lived to 112, I could have said, ma, I got every award they make.
VARGAS: If fact, Brooks has got quite a stash of awards, a couple of Oscars and Emmys, three Tonys and three Grammys. And now his life's pride of joy, "The Producers," is up for four Golden Globes.
(on camera): If you can go back 50 years...
(CROSSTALK)
VARGAS: ... what would you tell a younger Mel Brooks?
BROOKS: Don't please. Don't worry. There are no critics. There are no critics. There's only you and the audience.
VARGAS: But you have cared about what the critics say.
BROOKS: I -- you know, everybody does, because the critics are your mother. The critics are your superego. The critics are God. The critics are your -- the other you way in the back of your head that is saying, you stink. You're no good. You never were good.
I would say to a younger Mel Brooks, don't worry about the critics, and don't even worry about pleasing the audience. If -- if -- if you please yourself, they will go along with you. They will like it. They will like it. Don't worry about taste. Taste is for cowards. You just break the rules. If you break the rules, you will live forever.
VARGAS (voice-over): Sibila Vargas, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. -- President Bush expected to pay tribute to the civil rights leader this hour in Washington, D.C. We will bring you that speech live from the Kennedy Performing Arts Center.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Let's go straight to the newsroom now -- Betty Nguyen standing by with developing news.
Two stories that you're working on right now.
NGUYEN: Actually, we're going to add one to that. We have got three stories.
Let's start with the host an standoff in Statesboro, Georgia, which is about 50 miles northwest of Savannah. Here's a map of it.
We have learned from affiliate sources, WTOC, that a man and a woman are holding a lawyer hostage at an attorney's office across the street from the Statesboro courthouse -- also believe, according to police and WTOC, that the hostage-takers may have guns and explosives.
Now, the Associated Press is also on this story. And they're getting conflicting information, saying not really sure how many people are being held hostage. They wouldn't confirm anything. So, what we know at this point, that negotiations are under way, a hostage situation is under way. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, along with the FBI and a bomb squad, all on the scene -- this took place early this morning.
So, it's at least five hours into the hostage situation. And we're following it very closely. Hopefully, it will come to a peaceful ending.
All right, story number two, the search is still under way for two murder suspects who escaped from an Alabama jail. Here's a picture of them, 17-year-old Johnny Earl Jones, charged with murdering a 2-year-old girl he was baby-sitting, and 19-year-old Lamar Elan (ph) Benton, charged with raping and murdering a 9 -- 39-year-old mother of three -- not really known exactly how they were able to make their escape, but they are still on the run.
In fact, they escaped with a third person, but that man, 33-year- old Brent Edward (ph) Martin, as you're seeing there, was captured. These two gentlemen who are still on the loose are considered armed and dangerous, and the search is under way right now through several states to recapture them.
All right. Now the last story, this is really kind of a shocking one, a -- very unfortunate. Out West, a person standing near a Boeing 737 at El Paso International Airport was sucked into the engine and killed -- just an awful thought.
Continental Airlines Flight 1515 was parked at a gate at the terminal around 10:00 this morning when the engine was fired up for maintenance testing. The person standing near it was sucked into that engine, and, of course, is dead. Not sure if there were anyone on board the plane, but we are learning that the plane was not moving at the time -- just a really unfortunate situation.
And the National Transportation -- Transportation Safety Board is investigating -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Betty Nguyen, thanks so much.
Now overseas -- Iran's newly resumed nuclear activities have sparked a tense global standoff. And it seems to be mushrooming day by day. The issue tops the agenda today in London, where diplomats from the U.S. and other global powers are meeting. The session drew some anti-nuclear protesters. It also drew an urgent call from the U.S., who wants the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency to meet as soon as possible on Iran.
But other nations are more cautious. Britain and Russia are warning against a rush to sanctions. The U.S. fears that Iran is on the path to building a nuclear weapon.
Iran says that it's simply trying to develop nuclear energy. Now, just last month Iran's president called the Holocaust a myth. And came under worldwide fire.
Now Iran's foreign ministry says it plans to hold a conference on that matter. The purpose to take a close look at the scientific evidence surrounding the massacre of Jews during World War II. No word on when that conference would take place or who would take part in it.
In his comments last month, Iran's president also called for the destruction of Israel. His words further inflamed the international standoff over Iran's nuclear program.
Well, we found living proof that you never know what you're capable of until you're challenged to try.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RALPH GREEN, PARALYMPIAN: I ain't going skiing. Needless to say I went skiing. That feeling that skiing offered me was something that I never forgot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And listen to this, he had never tried skiing until he lost his leg in a drive-by shooting. Now he's set to make history at Paralympic Games. Meet Ralph Green ahead on LIVE FROM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Ralph Green has had his share of spills and thrills. At 16 he was victim of a random drive-by shooting, and for nearly two months, his family didn't know if he would make it. He lost a lot of blood. His pelvis was shattered, and his left leg had to be amputated.
But during his recovery, he never focused on what he couldn't do. His mother wouldn't let him. Now at 28, he's set his sights on the slopes of Italy in a competition that takes place only once every four years.
Ralph Green joins me from New York.
Ralph, great to see you.
GREEN: Thanks, great to have me here. Thank you very much.
PHILLIPS: Well, of course, I want to get to all the positive, but I'm curious about what happened. Take me back to when you were 16 and where were you? And how did you get your injury?
GREEN: Well, obviously I lost my leg due to a gunshot wound. I was walking a friend of mine to go see his girlfriend, which was my cousin. We didn't know that we were being followed to her house, and on our way coming back we were being followed as well.
And by the time I looked back to see who was following us, the gun was out, and I heard two shots with me being shot first, and my friend being shot second.
PHILLIPS: Did your friend make it?
GREEN: Yes, he did. We both were shot in the back. And the bullet came out his stomach, but, you know, obviously the bullet hit my pelvis and ricocheted off my pelvis into my intestines. So I suffered a little bit more than he did. But yes, he's alive and well.
PHILLIPS: Ralph, did you know these guys? Did you know the shooters? And were they held accountable?
GREEN: No, I did not know the guy who shot us, but, you know, I found out that he was pretty much a menace to society. And he was caught for the crime that he committed.
PHILLIPS: Wow. Do you know if he ever found out what he had done to you, and what you are doing now?
GREEN: Well, I'm not sure if he knows the level I've taken my life to, but he does know that I lost my leg due to the gunshot wound, because I had the chance, I had the opportunity, to see him when they were sentencing him.
PHILLIPS: Really?
GREEN: But at that point I was young, and I couldn't really express verbally the way that I felt. So if I had a chance to speak to him now, you know, I would try to talk to him about his childhood and, you know, things that went wrong. Because I know that a lot of things probably went wrong in his life to make him want to shoot someone or shoot a couple people for nothing.
PHILLIPS: Well, you have just led an incredible life since that happened. I hope he does eventually figure out who you are and what you're doing, because you've even said that your disability has helped you live life to the fullest. And not everyone takes that attitude.
Tell me where that comes from, and how you have taken this disability and said to yourself, it doesn't matter, I'm still going to be great.
GREEN: Absolutely. Well, first of all, it comes from a strong family and friends. And second of all, it comes from the a lot of opportunities that presented to me. One, being able to work with the Home Depot, with the Olympic job opportunity program where athletes can work 20 hours a week, but get paid full time with salary and benefits and everything.
And other with various other opportunities being presented to me. I know that I have a lot, and I know I'm thankful to be alive. So I just take what I have and I continue to strive for excellence.
PHILLIPS: Well, it's pretty awesome what Home Depot does in just hiring athletes like yourself while off-season to earn money. It's a great program.
But I want to get to your goals as a skier for a moment and what you've been able to achieve, but also as a kid, you were a pretty awesome athlete. Weren't you? I've seen the pictures. I have heard the stories.
GREEN: You know, growing up I was very athletic. But, you know, I never really gave thanks for my blessings, how athletic I was. You know, I was the kid that was dunking at 14 years old.
And now I have a different appreciation for it being that I'm on the U.S. Ski Team and training for the Paralympics in Torino, Italy. I have a totally different appreciation for it because of a lot of the blessings that I am receiving. I am focused, and, you know, like I said, I want to strive to be one of the best skiers, period.
PHILLIPS: Well, let me ask you this. You were quite the basketball player. Like you said, you were dunking at a pretty young age. Why didn't you pursue, say, basketball or another one of the athletics that you could still do even with the loss of your leg? Why did you pick skiing?
GREEN: Well, after I was introduced to disabled sports by Patty Rossback, who was the competition director of Aspire, I did partake in summer sports, as well as winter sports. I used to do the high jump, the shot put, and I tried playing wheelchair basketball.
But when I tried skiing, it was a feeling of freedom that I hadn't experienced after I lost my leg. So I knew that there was some type of fun. And, you know, it was--to be able to do something different for me at that time was a plus.
So that's like one of the main reasons why I decided to ski was, number one, to be a different person, and number two, to be able to push myself to the limits.
PHILLIPS: What are your top events?
GREEN: We have the downhill. We have the super-g, the slalom and the giant slalom. And I'm currently on the world cup ranked within the top 15 in the world in slalom, overall world cup standings.
PHILLIPS: So I look at this pictures, and I love some of the expressions on your face. Just kind of tell me, I mean, does your heart just get pumping? What's going through your mind? How do you get yourself revved up for an event like this?
GREEN: You know, I put my music on.
PHILLIPS: What kind of music?
GREEN: I usually listen to Jay-Z when I'm about to start a race. You know, I get my music. I get into my vibe, and I just think about the course. After the course inspection, we kind of get a good memorization of the terrain and the pivotal parts of the course, and I just get into my zone.
And, you know, when I'm in the course, it's me against the hill, and we get going at speeds up to 70 miles an hour in our downhill races. So, you know, you really, really, have to be focused in order to be able to be a lead ski racer in the world.
PHILLIPS: I can just imagine a lot of people come up to you -- kids, even women, guys your age -- looking for inspiration or advice or just encouragement. Does that happen a lot, and what do you say? GREEN: It does happen a lot and I'm very thankful to be in the position I am, to be able to give them inspiration or tell them some words that can possibly alter their life. People come up to me and say the weirdest things. Like I had one guy ask me, was I ice-skating in Alaska? So I get asked some of the craziest questions.
But just for people to know that the awareness and the promotion of disabled sports is expanding, I feel good about that. You know, I feel that I'm a forerunner in disabled sports and you know, hopefully we'll be able to take it to a whole 'nother level with the U.S. Paralympics and the United States Disabled Ski Team.
PHILLIPS: Ralph, we're going to be watching you.
GREEN: Thank you very much. And hopefully it will be some great things with me and the United States Disabled Ski Team. And we look forward to going to Torino (sic) and competing to the best of our ability and maintaining our status as the number one team in the world out of 28 nations.
PHILLIPS: I tell you what, I hope we're bringing you back to do the second interview, Ralph Green. Thanks so much for your time.
GREEN: Thanks for having me here.
PHILLIPS: My pleasure and honor.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Martin Luther King Day 2006. Disciples gather in big cities and small towns all across America, celebrating unity over division, action over inaction, stewardship over neglect. But those opposing forces are more apparent than ever right here in Atlanta, King's hometown, where his children are taking sides over his legacy, specifically the King Center for Non-Violent Social Change, founded by Coretta Scott King after her husband's assassination in 1968.
Today two of the King's children are threatening the other two to block the center's sale to the National Parks Service. The views of the family's matriarch aren't know publicly and maybe not even privately. Mrs. King has been sidelined and silenced by a stroke that she suffered last summer.
Live pictures now from the Kennedy Performing Arts Center, where President Bush is expected to pay tribute to the civil rights leader this hour. We're going to bring you that speech live. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, she hasn't competed in months, but today injured figure skater Michelle Kwan has a coveted spot on the U.S. Olympic team. She says she'll be ready to compete, but the decision to give her the primo spot is sparking controversy.
Our Carol Costello looks at the debate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): They took to the ice this weekend, America's top figure skaters vying for a shot on the U.S. Olympic team. And when the announcement came, a slip of the tongue.
BOB HOREN, U.S. FIGURE SKATING INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE: And the nomination for the U.S. Olympic team for ladies is Emily -- Sasha Cohen, Kimmie Meissner and Michelle Kwan. The alternates are Emily Hughes and Katie Taylor.
COSTELLO: That slip underscored the controversies surrounding the selection of the women's team. U.S. Olympic officials punched Michelle Kwan's ticket to Torin, even though she missed this weekend's national championships due to injury. Kwan had petitioned the skating committee for a spot on the team. Kwan, a nine-time national champion and a five-time world champion was effectively granted a medical by.
HOREN: The committee felt that Michelle probably would have a better chance for a medal at the Olympics. Again, you know, the mission of the International Committee is to win medals.
COSTELLO: The Kwan decision meant Emily Hughes would be an alternate. She's the younger sister of Sarah Hughes, who won the Olympics gold medal four years ago in Salt Lake City. Kwan took the bronze.
Kwan will have to prove she's healthy enough to compete. She'll perform before a five-member panel sometime before January 27th, just shy of the roster deadline. Despite not having competed in 10 months, Kwan is confident.
MICHELLE KWAN, U.S. FIGURE SKATER: I went through a difficult, you know, last couple of months and it's been frustrating, but I believe that I will get better and I can be in fit form for the Olympics.
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PHILLIPS: An Olympic gold medalist is defending the decision to put Kwan to on the U.S. team. Earlier today, former Olympic skater Peggy Fleming spoke on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PEGGY FLEMING, 1968 OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: She didn't skate her best at the national championships and that was part of, I think, the committee's decision -- is that, you know, Michelle on a bad year comes in fourth place in the world. So they are judging on the last 11 months of her competitive season and they feel that she has a better shot at getting a medal or at least placing higher than what the younger people will.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And you can start your morning off right now -- or right -- start your morning off right. Join Soledad O'Brien, Miles O'Brien and Carol Costello on AMERICAN MORNING. Now it's at a new time, 6:00 a.m. Eastern.
Once again, live pictures now from the Kennedy Performing Arts Center, where we're expecting President Bush to pay tribute to civil rights leader this hour. We're going to bring that speech to you live.
Right now Elaine Steele, who founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Center, is receiving an award in honor of MLK Day. And her work, of course, to further civil rights. We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM right after this.
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PHILLIPS: The president of the United States now speaking live at the Kennedy Performing Arts Center. This will probably take us straight to "THE SITUATION ROOM." So thanks for joining us. Let's listen to the president.
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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm sorry Laura is not with me. She's leading a delegation to Liberia for the swearing in of President Johnson-Sirleaf. Who, by the way, is the first elected woman president on the continent of Africa.
I want to thank Dr. DeGioia and the good folks at Georgetown University.
I want to thank the members of my Cabinet who are here. By the way, Condoleezza Rice is not here because she's with Laura.
I want to thank Majority Leader Bill Frist and his wife Karen, other members of Congress who are here.
I appreciate Bruce Gordon, the president of the NAACP, for his strong leadership.
It is such an honor always to be in the presence of Dorothy Hite.
And I want to thank Tiffany Thompson (ph) for being here to represent her good dad. I was wondering where your brother was. DeGioia hired him; he's working.
Thank you all for being here.
When our founders declared America's independence, they invoked the self-evident truth that all men are created equal.
Our Constitution was written to put the principles of a free and equal society into practice. It is a living document. It required amendment to make sure that promise was fulfilled -- amendments like the abolishment of slavery, the guarantee of equal protection and the right to vote for all Americans. Dr. King called these documents "America's great charters of freedom." And he continued to trust in their power even when the practice of America did not live up to their promise.
As children of the South, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks both came to the civil rights movement with long personal experience of the evils of discrimination and segregation.
Dr. King called the daily humiliations endured by black Americans "the jangling discords of our nation." And Rosa Parks famously experienced it when that bus driver had her arrested for refusing his order to give up her seat to a white man.
But Mrs. Parks and Dr. King shared a deep belief in a hopeful future. They strongly believed that segregation could not stand once it was held up to the light in all its ugliness.
And because of their spirit and their work, the cruelty and humiliation of Jim Crow is a thing of the past.
As well, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mrs. Parks' faith in the future reflected their faith in a higher being. Martin Luther King and Mrs. Parks both believed that the answer to hate and discrimination was love.
Dr. King once wrote: "It is quite easy for me to think of a God of love, mainly because I grew up in a family where love was central and where lovely relationships were ever-present."
Mrs. Parks was a devout member all her life of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and a woman who saw the face of God in every human being.
These two leaders knew that freedom was not a grant of government, but a gift from the author of all life.
So when they made their appeal to equal rights, they aimed straight for America's soul and they roused the dozing conscience of a complacent nation.
By calling us to be true to our founding promise of equality, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mrs. Parks helped African-Americans gain their God-given rights.
As leaders, Martin Luther King and Mrs. Parks believed their calling was to be involved, to be active, to work for change. Long before Mrs. Parks refused to move from her bus seat, she had been active in community efforts to advance opportunities for African- Americans and to register them to vote.
At the dawn of this new century, American can be proud of the progress we have made toward equality. But we all must recognize we have more to do.
The reason to honor Martin Luther King is to remember his strength of character and his leadership but also to remember the remaining work.
The reason to honor Mrs. Parks is not only to pay homage to her strength of character but to remember the ideal of active citizenship.
Active citizens in the 1960s struggles hard to convince Congress to pass civil right legislation that ensured the rights of all, including the right to vote.
And Congress must renew the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Martin Luther King did not live to celebrate his 40th birthday. Yet, in the short time he walked upon this earth, he preached that all the powers of evil are ultimately no match for one individual armed with eternal truths.
And one evening on a bus ride home from work, a tired but brave woman named Rosa Parks proved that Dr. King was right. And so today we honor Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks.
We ask for God's blessings on their legacy. And we ask for God's blessings on our great nation. Thank you.
PHILLIPS: The president of the United States at the Kennedy Performing Arts Center right now at a tribute to the civil rights leader. Short and sweet words about how Martin Luther King made such a difference in this country when it came to freedom and celebrating the rights of all diversities.
We're going to continue, of course, to follow the president's itinerary as he goes to various events to celebrate this day and, you know, whatever the historical significance designating a federal holiday to commemorate a person's life or an event doesn't happen overnight. We're going to take a closer look in the next hour of how Martin Luther King Day even came about.
But right now, we want to go to "THE SITUATION ROOM." Wolf Blitzer standing by to take it over from here. Great to see you, Wolf.
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