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Remembering Coretta Scott King; Using Hunches To Solve Crimes; Chemical Plant Explodes In North Carolina, Sending Several Employees To Hospital

Aired January 31, 2006 - 01:35   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Straight to Betty Nguyen again in the news room following a story, the chemical plant explosion, but also some fires taking place.
What do we know, Betty?

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I just got off the phone, Kyra, with the mayor of Morganton, North Carolina where this plant explosion took place around 11:30 this morning, and here's what we know. You can look at pictures right now of the thick black smoke billowing into the air. This fire is contained, but firefighters are letting some of the chemicals burn out. This is an older chemical building. It's been in business for about 35 years. And unlike earlier when we said two people have been flown to the hospital, we understand from the mayor that that has increased.

Now several employees have been taken by helicopter to local hospitals. Synthron is the name of the company, and they have about fewer than 50 employees. But the immediate area has been evacuated. Those living nearby are just asked to stay indoor, shut the window, shut the door, don't go outside until all the fumes and smoke has left the area. Synthron Incorporated is a French-owned company.

And to give you a better idea of what they make so we can understand what's burning right now, they make detergents, perfumes, air fresheners, fertilizers, cosmetics. They make all kinds of items there.

And we're told that the fire crews on scene, many of them are not wearing respirators, so that gives us a little bit of a clue as to how toxic these fumes may be.

But the good news is the fire is contained. And as part of the plan right now, as we see the smoke billowing into the air, they're letting a lot of these chemicals just simply burn out. We're going to stay on top of this, Kyra, and bring you the latest as there are developments.

PHILLIPS: Betty Nguyen, thank you.

Well, America marks the passing of a civil rights icon, Coretta Scott King. Among her many distinctions and accomplishments are one of the nation's recognized earlier this month and every January for that matter. Mrs. King lobbied Congress for years to create a national holiday honoring her husband. The first Martin Luther King Day was observed in 1986.

Xernona Clayton was a close friend of Mrs. King. She just saw her last week, matter of fact. From what I understand, you were doing a lot of laughing.

XERNONA CLAYTON, FRIEND OF CORETTA SCOTT KING: We were. But that was the way our relationship just ran all the time. We've been friends for over 40 years, and we always got together and laughed. And when she got stricken with the stroke, I went to see her in the hospital, and she couldn't talk. And my birthday was coming up, and she'd be talking about this big birthday celebration, she said, I'll be there.

PHILLIPS: She never forgot your birthday, right?

CLAYTON: Never, ever.

And this particular day, she had not spoken at all. And in that bed, she grabbed me, my hand with her left hand, because she was paralyzed on the right side. She held me tightly and tried to sing happy birthday. And in fact, they said it was the first words she uttered, so I was thrilled by that.

PHILLIPS: And you mentioned she tried to sing to you. You two did musical tours together. This was her background, it was music. That's what she was studying. She had a beautiful voice when she met her husband. Tell me about the musical side and how you two shared that.

CLAYTON: Well, she met her husband while she was at the New England Conservatory, and wanted very much to use her voice and her talent, but was not able to do it because she had children after the marriage and all that. And finally, she found an opportunity to sing, that she could go and raise money, do concerts and raise money for ACLC. So I accompanied her on her trip. And the story she likes to tell all the time is one tour took us on the road for 11 days and 11 nights, so here we are sleeping together for 11 nights. And she said to somebody, you know what, if two women can sleep together for 11 days and 11 nights and never argue, they must be real good friends. So that was a test of our friendship.

PHILLIPS: It's the whole you don't live with your roommate type of thing; your best friend is your roommate.

CLAYTON: Yes. Yes.

PHILLIPS: Did she have a favorite song? Did the two of you have favorite music that you liked to sing together?

CLAYTON: No, but you know what's interesting, is he liked music, too, he was kind of trained in music, and so at home we did a lot of singing together, Martin Luther King and Coretta King, and I would play the piano and we'd sing.

As a matter of fact, the last time he was here in March, before he went to Memphis, we had a sing-along at their home. She was recuperating from a surgical procedure she had had and was confined, and we sang and, oh, just had the best afternoon. That was the last time she saw him as a matter of fact, singing, before he went to Memphis.

PHILLIPS: You bring up an interesting point about Memphis. But before we bring up that, we just recently heard from Reverend Joseph Lowery talking about when they met.

Let's listen to this for a minute, and then I want to ask you a question.

CLAYTON: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. JOSEPH LOWERY, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: But when she met Martin, a dashing young Baptist preacher, she did what the Bible said women supposed to do, and in a word -- hello. In the words of -- you read the book of rules? Thy people shall be my people. And where you go, I'll go. And where you lodge, I'll lodge. And where you cook, I eat. And so where you make your bed, I'll sleep.

And so she took those vows seriously and joined her husband, and yet she did not completely forsake her artistry, for when we were passing in Mobile, where her brother Martly (ph) was born...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, we know how much she loved Martin, but we also know how much Martin loved Coretta. And you talked about a very interesting moment, when he sent her roses before he left to Memphis. Tell us that story again.

CLAYTON: Well, every year, he gave her roses for her birthday. Her birthday's in April. April 27 is her birthday. And somehow, we'll never know why -- she keeps wondering, why did he do this? -- before he left, the end of March, which was just before April 4th, he had flowers ordered, but they were artificial flowers.

The first time he had ever given her artificial roses. So she kept those a long time and she said he must have known he wouldn't be here on my birthday, which was a very poignant moment.

PHILLIPS: Wow, and the fact that he just always wanted her to have that last batch of roses. Which leads me to my next question. She passed away in this holistic -- was it a spa or a clinic in Mexico? What type of holistic center was this?

CLAYTON: Well, it was a place where you go for therapy and for relaxation. And she's been there before. After the King holiday celebration, she's usually so tired she'd go some place to rest. And she liked this place, as well as another place she went to in Florida.

She had just been to Florida not too too long ago and this time they said let's go to Mexico, which she loved, and I think maybe hoping that she'd feel better. And it's kind of ironic that the peace she was seeking in life, she ended up maybe finding the peace in death at that point.

PHILLIPS: Do you think -- that's what I was wondering. Maybe she knew, possibly it was her time. She was having her conversation with God, she was talking to Martin and this was the place where she wanted to finally rest peacefully.

CLAYTON: Well, you know, I'm not sure. Of course, we'll never know that. But one of the things that I always liked about her -- people are asking today, what does she want her legacy to be? And I can tell you this. We talked so many times. We spent so many wonderful times together. I would consider her my closest friend and people said she considered me hers. But over the yeas, we've spent so many wonderful moments together.

And she never talked about a legacy for herself. And people ask about carrying on her husband's dream. She considered the work he was doing as her work as well. So she's not carrying on his work, she's doing her work. And she would often say, you know, people ask me about a legacy. She said, but, I'm living for today. I want today to count. So she was doing everything today to make these moments count.

And she cared about everybody everywhere. Young people, old people, black people, white people, international. You know, she just felt like we were neighbors and we were all God's children wherever we lived.

PHILLIPS: You know, that makes sense. She and Martin Luther King loved Gandhi so much, spent so much time with him. And how she lived her life is exactly what Gandhi preached.

CLAYTON: Yes, all the time. And she did practice what she preached. She really loved everybody. And I remember she always had some soup she'd call Coretta Soup, it will kill whatever ails you. And all you had to do is cough and she'd say, oh, I got just the thing for you, and she'll call and send her some soup. But she would do that for lots of people.

She just loved doing things for people. And as I said, never forgetting a birthday, just never, ever. And I travelled a lot and she'd call my office and say -- find out if I'm here or wherever I was. Wherever I was, she would see to it that I heard from her.

PHILLIPS: Well, the two of you had a beautiful friendship. Xernona Clayton, thanks for sharing just a little bit of that friendship with us. Thank you.

CLAYTON: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, Coretta Scott King, worldwide spokeswoman for the cause of freedom. We found some interesting snapshots that we wanted to share. I bet you remember some of these.

Here she is, meeting with the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her visit to Washington in 1971.

And here, less than a year after her husband's death, doing something no other woman had done. Mrs. King was the first woman ever invited to preach at a regular service at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

And she championed controversial causes. Here she is arm in arm with anti-war clergy members in 1969. They were at the Justice Department calling for amnesty for draft dodgers.

Our live coverage continues right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Seven people are dead. One big question remains after last night's rampage at a mail plant in California. It happened last night near Santa Barbara, one of the deadliest postal shootings in years.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Investigators say a former employee of this postal processing plant, just north of Santa Barbara, started a shooting rampage about 9:15 last night. When investigators first arrived, they found four victims. Three were fatal, one was critically injured; a woman who suffered a gunshot wound to her head. She is still in critical condition here this morning.

At the time they first arrived, investigators did not know who the shooter was or where the shooter was and it took five hours for them to finally go through the entire 20,000-plus plant and find not only the shooter, but four more bodies. In all, seven people dead, including the female former employee, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

They say the bodies were found in separate areas within the plant here. They say she used one weapon, a semiautomatic pistol. They do not at this point have a motive.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Goleta, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And the Santa Barbara County sheriff and U.S. Postal Service are schedule to hold a news conference at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. CNN will bring that to you live.

We have a hunch you might like this next story. If you ever have the feeling that something or someone just isn't right, well, maybe it isn't. LIVE FROM trusts its instincts, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And this fits into our medical news today. It's time to wax eloquent about wax -- more specifically, ear wax. Now, wait. Before you click away, just hear me out on this one. There are two forms of ear wax: wet and dry. Japanese scientists have isolated the gene that determines which one you have.

The wet form predominates in Europe and Africa. The dry in East Asians. Scientists have made a connection between ear wax and body odor. The same gene that makes ear wax dry also makes your body produce less sweat. And if you've got wet wax, well, you'll sweat more and, well, smell more. Why are scientists studying this? We have no idea.

Now, when a woman saw a certain little girl in a convenience store, she thought something wasn't right. We told you about this story last week. And she was right. And now the girl's alleged molester is in jail. But is it always safe to trust your intuition?

CNN's Miles O'Brien muses on that topic with some help from a couple of detectives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER FALK, ACTOR: Oh, listen. Just one more thing ...

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Remember "Columbo"?

FALK: At least I've convinced my superiors that Jennifer Wells was murdered. It was not a suicide.

O'BRIEN: Peter Falk always had a haunch and quick as he could wheel around and scratch his head, he had his quarry. Come on, that's just Hollywood, right?

Not so, says the real thing. Retired New York homicide detective Vernon Geberth remembers a real case that seemed like a suicide.

DET. VERNON GEBERTH, NEW YORK POLICE (RET.): The whole scene was set up perfectly: the body in the tub, the empty bottle of pills, and everyone bought into it.

O'BRIEN: But his sixth sense told him something wasn't right.

GEBERTH: And I told the sergeant to clear the room. I bent down, I folded the woman's eyelids back and I saw petechial hemorrhage. Petechial hemorrhage is presumpted evidence of the throttling of strangulation.

O'BRIEN: Case closed. Geberth collared the husband, just one of 8,000 homicide cases he worked where, in many cases, his gut was more important than his shoe leather.

(on camera): So how would you define a hunch then? Is it instinct, or is it learned or is it a combination?

GEBERTH: Well, the technology of intuition is based on instinct, then we enhance it with learned experiences. As a murder cop, when I walk into a room, I promise you that I'm going to follow my instinct because many times my brain is working faster subconsciously than I, in the conscious world. O'BRIEN (voice-over): Scientists have confirmed this. A hunch is what happens when our conscious rational, and subconscious reflexive side of our brains converge. Judgment, meet instinct.

It's what happened when Ted Kaczynski's brother read the "Unibomber Manifesto" in 1995. It is what helped a pair of cops in New York reunite a man and his stolen Corvette after 37 years.

And it's what happened to Tracy Lee Dean when she saw a sad, little girl alone in an Alabama convenience store two weeks ago. After four days of persistent calling, she got police to arrest the couple who allegedly molested her.

(on camera): So what's the advice to people? If you see something out there, what should you do?

GEBERTH: My advice is that fear is good. If you're body's telling you watch out, pay attention. That's how those animals stay alive out there in the woods. You don't see deer hanging around, do you?

O'BRIEN: But, I mean, how many people are going to do that? Four days of calls?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, wake up with Miles O'Brien and Soledad O'Brien weekdays starting at 6:00 a.m. Eastern, only here on CNN.

The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you. The second hour of LIVE FROM is straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: It's the top of the hour. We're straight to the news room. Betty Nguyen, working a story. Still that chemical explosion, raging fire taking place.

NGUYEN: Yes, this chemical plant exploded around 11:30 this morning. You've got to take a look at these pictures. You can see big, black smoke billowing into the air. You can see fire still coming from what's left of the building. And to tell you how big of an explosion this is, a man living nearby, just about 200 yards away, said he saw a mushroom cloud. But, again, looking at these pictures, you can see there is not much left.

Let me tell you a little bit about what kind of a chemical plant this is. It's called Synthron, Incorporated. It's French-owned, and this is an area of Morganton, North Carolina, which is about an hour northwest of Charlotte.

This plant makes detergents, perfumes, air fresheners, fertilizers, cosmetics, glue -- you name it. It really runs the gamut, and you can see why this was so explosive today and why there's so much smoke billowing into the air. Now, the mayor of Morganton told me just a few minutes ago that several employees have been taken to the hospital by helicopter. He didn't know the exact number, but he said it was several of them.

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