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CNN Sunday Morning

Baghdad Car Bombings; Church in Turmoil; Remembering MLK

Aired April 04, 2010 - 08:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, there, everybody. From the CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. This is, of course, Easter Sunday.

Happy Easter to all of you and good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Happy Easter. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. Thanks for starting your day with us, obviously.

The unemployment numbers we're going to start off with are out. And if you haven't seen them, they are a bit dismal. Coming up at this hour, facing unemployment after being in the workforce for 40 years -- of course, that can be difficult. We're going to talk to one man who is trying to cope.

HOLMES: Well, also, of course, Easter Sunday, we're taking a look.

But the Pope addressed millions of Catholic followers, of course, today. We go this video to show you -- but, really, the beautiful ceremony as always this morning on Easter Sunday. The church, of course, in a bit of turmoil right now as well because of some sex scandals, of course, that have been in the news lately. We'll be looking into what the Pope had to say to the faithful today.

Also, we're going to be remembering the life and death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 42 years to the day that an assassin's bullet took his life. We'll take a closer look at the future of the civil rights movement.

But, first, we do want to get some breaking news out of Iraq. Three car bombings this morning, a trio of suicide bombings -- the death toll continues to go up this morning.

Our Mohammed Jamjoom is live for us in Baghdad.

Give us the update. I know the numbers have been changing. But tell us what happened.

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J., according to Iraqi Interior Ministry and police officials, the death toll has risen. Now, we're up 30 people dead and 170 wounded in the attacks that happened today. These three coordinated suicide car bombs went off within five minutes of each other. The first one starting at 11:15 a.m. local time here -- really at a time of high traffic, start of the work week. At a time to maximize casualties.

Also, some new developments to report -- we're told that another car that was laced with suicide bombs was going towards the security headquarters of the people who are tasked with -- it's protecting embassies here -- foreign embassies here. Those bombs were diffused and they did arrest the person who was going to perpetrate that attack -- T.J.

HOLMES: Mohammed, I know you went down to the scene of at least one of these attacks. What are you -- first, what are you seeing at the scene? But, also, what are you hearing from people after these attacks?

JAMJOOM: You know, T.J., when we go to these scenes of these types of coordinated attacks that go on, it's -- a lot of them are eerily similar to the ones before. And you can kind of predict the mood. And it was such the case was today.

And we went there and you see a scene of total chaos and confusion. And then you start speaking to people -- the mood starts shifting to anger. And what we were hearing most from the people we spoke with, even people who are injured, they are saying -- why aren't we being protected?

Look, we voted in the parliamentary elections here in the last three weeks. We voted for leadership, people who promised that we would be secure. But we're seeing that even in fortified compounds like this, in front of embassies, bombs are going off. People are being killed.

They are saying, don't talk to us, go and talk to Iraq's political leaders. Ask them why they can't protect us.

What it boils down to, T.J., is people here, they don't just want services, they don't just want utilities, they want security. And right now, they still feel like this kind of thing could happen at any time. They feel unsafe. They want a government to protect them -- T.J.

HOLMES: And last thing here, wrap this up for me. They want a government to protect them. What is the update on the government getting it together after those parliamentary elections? They have to start getting together and some kind of way trying to find a way to reconcile and come together.

JAMJOOM: That's right. We knew it was going to be a complex process because it is a parliamentary system here and because none of the blocs who won the most number of seats in parliament have enough to form a government on their own. There still need to be negotiations, coalitions need to build.

What you've seen in the last few days, a lot of political jockeying for power has gone on. That will continue. There's no real clarity right now. Really, the next prime minister could be anybody. And there's a lot of predictions as to who it will be.

But unless these parties come together and get enough seats, they can't move forward. Right now, there are still a lot of challenges to the preliminary results. And we don't expect to see any final resolution to this, weeks, could be even months -- T.J.

HOLMES: Goodness gracious. All right.

Mohammed Jamjoom for us in Baghdad -- we appreciate you this morning.

MALVEAUX: An Easter services are also being held across the United States.

Here at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac in Virginia, sunrise services began at 6:15 inside the Memorial Amphitheater. Easter services have been held at Arlington since 1921. It's one of three major services a year that are open to the public; the others on Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

Well, the first family is also observing this holy day. They will attend a service at a church in Washington. The White House, it's not released which church yet, but this is the president at last year's Easter services at St. John's in the capital. And, for you and me, well, it's just -- it's just a block away. But not that way for the first family, they rode just a short distance to the church last year in the presidential motorcade.

HOLMES: An expected changing of the guard could be close at hand for the U.S. Supreme Court. Longtime liberal justice, John Paul Stevens, is hinting at retirement, telling two newspapers yesterday that he is considering whether to step down after almost 35 years on the bench. And Stevens says he wants to do what's best for the court, says he'll surely depart during President Obama's term. Stevens will turn 90 later this month.

MALVEAUX: And one church's pay off to parishioners to keep them from losing their religion. Well, this is amazing. T.J., you and I have been talking about this all weekend. $2 million in cash and prizes to those who come to church today, but will they come because of God or greed? We're going to find out.

HOLMES: And also, we're going to be retracing the steps some 42 years ago today, the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. We're taking a look back at the civil rights movement and also looking forward.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Who is it?

Easter celebration is going on around the world today. One of the year's holiest Christian holidays comes at a difficult time for the Catholic Church. The top bishops in Belgium and Germany are condemning the church's role on covering up child abuse within its ranks.

Our CNN's Diana Magnay, she is in Rome.

And, Diana, tell us what the Pope's message is today in light of this controversy and this very important holiday.

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, I think there's a lot of disappointment the Pope did not specifically or in any way refer to the widening sex abuse scandal in his Easter message. He spoke about Easter being the salvation of humanity. It is, of course, the day of Christ's resurrection, a time of renewal.

But there was a huge amount of expectation, even from people we spoke to in the square at St. Peter Basilica this morning, that he would come forward and show some leadership on the issue, especially when many other bishops around the world have used the Easter week to address the issue in their homilies.

But he did not address it. He spoke of other current events. He spoke of the suffering of Christians in Iraq and Pakistan. He spoke and prayed for the people of Haiti and Chile in the wake of their earthquakes there. He prayed for peace in the Middle East.

But, Suzanne, he did not touch on the scandal.

MALVEAUX: And we understand that today, the leader of the world's 70 million Anglicans is apologizing for a comment that was made earlier that the church had lost all credibility because of this sex abuse scandal. How is the church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Pope, dealing with that?

MAGNAY: The Vatican has made no comment on that particular issue. It was the archbishop of Canterbury who is, as you said, head of the world's Anglican, Rowan Williams, who made a comment on the radio interview that the church of Ireland had suddenly lost all credibility as a result of this scandal. And there was immediately a great deal of reaction from Irish bishops, especially the archbishop of Dublin, who said he found the news extremely disheartening that for all of those priests, some people within the church who were working so hard in Ireland to overcome the problem of child abuse within the church, this kind of message was extremely unhelpful.

So, what happened then was apparently a phone call between the archbishops of Canterbury and the archbishop of Dublin from the Anglican Church to the Irish Catholic Church in which Rowan Williams expressed his regret for what had happened but not exactly a retraction either. But we spoke to the Vatican this morning and they said that they weren't commenting on that exchange -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And in speaking with the parishioners and the faithful there, do you get a sense that they are ready to move beyond this controversy? Or is this something that is going to be playing out for the weeks and perhaps months to come?

MAGNAY: I think there is very much a sense that this isn't going anywhere any time soon. A lot of people who we spoke to in the square this morning come from the United States and there, they have experienced the scandal back in 2001, 2002 that went on for a few years. And in Europe, the cause of that scandal has really only just begun and a hotline in Germany for abuse victims opened just other day. And it's already had thousands of calls.

So, I think there is no expectation that this is going anywhere, going away. And there is a lot of thought that the Vatican will begin to show more leadership on the issue, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Diana Magnay in Rome on this Easter Sunday -- thank you.

(MUSIC)

HOLMES: The 1960s civil rights certainly was a movement then -- a time when this country was struggling to come to grips with a new definition of freedom. This morning, it's on our minds once again because, in fact, this was the day, 42 years ago, that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed by an assassin's bullet. It seems like a good time right now, always a good time, really, to look back, also look forward.

And joining us for this discussion this morning, a civil rights activist and icon, the Reverend Walter E. Fauntroy, joining us from Washington. Also, Monique Morris, part of the leadership at the NAACP.

Welcome to you both. So good to have you here with us.

I want to start with you if I can, Monique. And you're one of the younger guard, if you will, here, leading the next movement. In 1967, MLK talked about, where do we go from here as a people. And he said, before we can figure out where we're going from here, we need to figure out where we are right now.

So, I ask, where are we right now?

MONIQUE MORRIS, NAACP: Right now, we are basically celebrating a number of successes that have occurred since 1968 in the assassination of King. There have been tremendous gains in terms of access to opportunity for African-Americans -- successes that have benefited all people, regardless of racial or ethnic classification.

However, we're also grappling with several severe problems that impact our ability to move forward in this society, including the issue of mass incarceration and the abject poverty that continues to disproportionately affect communities of color around the country.

HOLMES: Well, Reverend Fauntroy, you hear her describe kind of where we are now. So -- and some steps maybe we need to take going forward. So, what would you say is possibly the next civil rights movement or the next civil rights milestone we may see?

REV. WALTER FAUNTROY, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Well, the civil rights movement became the human rights movement by which the urgent problems then are still urgent today. People are tired of the barbarism of war, the decadence of racism and discourage of poverty.

Martin Luther King Jr. will go down in history as the single and the most important man with the most important message was for the most violent century in the history of mankind, his message was simply this: either we learn to live together as brothers and sisters on this planet or we will perish together as fools.

HOLMES: And, sir --

FAUNTROY: And never has that message been more relevant than today.

HOLMES: Than today. You talk about, Reverend, that civil rights turning into a human rights movement. Is it difficult? Do you think, for some people, when they think about the civil rights movement and that was a struggle for that racial equality, is it hard, do you think, for some people now to put it in context of today where maybe it's not so much about racial equality -- still some things need to be done -- but people just always consider just a racial movement and necessarily a human rights movement?

FAUNTROY: Martin Luther King said in his lifetime that the most serious problems confronting mankind in his lifetime was war, racism and poverty, which can create a terrible mix.

Today, at a time when we celebrate spring, the rebirth of the earth, and that is for every race, creed, and color across this planet. We recognize that at the spring equinox, some thing began to happen. And that hope is alive around the world, around the image of Barack Obama who represents hope that maybe this time -- maybe this time -- we're going to change.

HOLMES: Monique, on that question as well. How do you get a younger generation of people who didn't -- who don't today have water hoses turned on them, have dogs unleashed on them, who don't have to sit at the back of the bus -- how do you get them to buy into still work needing to be done and still, yes, in fact, a civil rights and a human rights movement going on today?

MORRIS: Again, while the younger generation may not have experienced that form of overt racial discrimination, we still have experienced mass incarceration at a level that's been unparalleled prior to this point. So, we very much understand the racial disparities that continue to impact us and we very much understand it in a human rights context, partly because of the global economy, partly because of the hip-hop movement that is being global in nature.

But much of our community and much of our generation do get that this is the next phase of the civil rights movement as a human rights phase, that we are deserving of quality services, that we're deserving a quality education, the ability to live and clean in sustainable communities -- and that all of these connect us with other people in this world in a way that deserves our continued attention and dedicated focus.

HOLMES: And, Monique, I'll ask you this question. And, Reverend, I'll let you follow up with it as well.

This idea of a social contract -- describe what that means.

FAUNTROY: Well, the American Dream -- if I may.

HOLMES: Oh, go ahead, Reverend. Go ahead, Reverend.

FAUNTROY: The American Dream for which Dr. King said he was ready to die and he did die for it, says that there ought to be a place somewhere where people of every race and creed and color on a social contract to carefully protect and defend one another beyond race, beyond creed, and beyond color. And he maintained that government ought to be of the people, by the people and for the people, and not of the kings and their corporations who use violence to take lands and then extract income, education, health care, housing and justice from the people.

Now, at this time, young people in this generation more than any generation can't get jobs. Unemployment is endemic. That fact is that you need education, health care, housing and justice -- and that's what I am so excited about, that on Easter Sunday, where everybody of every religious tradition is celebrating the Passover and hope, that we remember that Martin Luther King, Jr. said, if you -- if you don't have anything for which you are ready to die, you're not worth living. He lived and died on this day 42 years ago.

HOLMES: Well, Monique -- well, Monique, I know you wanted to get in there. I'll let you wrap it up here for us quickly.

MORRIS: Yes, a contract is basically an agreement. And what we have to move forward with is a new agreement, a contract that understands the worth and value of human life, one that understands that there have been some systemic issues that have prevented progress in the past, the one that we can renegotiate to redesign the contract moving forward. That by extension, what we're looking to do is elevate the human rights struggle in our communities and develop some core, consistent interventions that will actually make a difference.

HOLMES: Well, Monique Morris and Reverend Fauntroy, it is an absolute pleasure to have you all both here with us this morning. Thank you for taking time out of your Easter. But enjoy your Easter Sunday. Hope to continue this conversation with you all throughout the year.

MORRIS: Thank you.

FAUNTROY: Thank you.

HOLMES: All right. Of course, we're talking about history here. So, it's important to retell that history. And tonight, we will do just that -- with our special report, "Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination," tonight at 8:00 Eastern, 7:00 Central, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MALVEAUX: Top stories now.

In Trenton, New Jersey, more arrests in alleged child prostitution case involving a 7-year-old girl, who was allegedly prostituted by her 15-year-old stepsister. Two men and three teenage boys have been arrested so far. Now, the 15-year-old girl -- she's facing multiple charges, including promoting prostitution.

In South Africa, racial tension is rising after the killing of a white supremacist leader. Eugene Terreblanche was found beaten to death on his farm on Saturday. Now, South African police arrested two employees they say killed him after an argument over wages. President Jacob Zuma is appealing to the public to stay calm.

Now, NASA has given the green light for shuttle Discovery's next mission. Just a little after 6:00 tomorrow morning, Discovery is going to blast off for a meeting, a rendezvous, if you will, in the International Space Station. The 13-day mission is three planned space walks. And they're going to be teaming up with Russian cosmonauts who docked this morning at 1:25 Eastern. Just three more missions are planned before the shuttle fleet is parked permanently.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. Easter egg hunt is going on all over the country today. And you were a little disturbed by this particular Easter egg hunt. You can't really call it a hunt.

MALVEAUX: To say the least.

HOLMES: It's a drop from a helicopter. You are seeing this right. This is in Rochester, New Hampshire. And they were expecting about 2,000 kids to come out.

But, Suzanne, 10,000 came up going after 60,000 eggs.

MALVEAUX: This is one of those things where you just go to ask, what were they thinking? But you see from the video here, kids are scrambling. They're kneeing each other to get something. Some kids kind of stepped on each other.

And we understand there were minor injuries, minor. It looked a little chaotic there from the pictures here and the church says, hey, they just wanted to give some family some fun. You know, there were prizes or Easter eggs. I mean, it's very dramatic dropped from that chopper.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: But, you know, I guess it could be expected that there would be minor injuries if you have things dropped on you.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Guys, that's not Easter. That is a mosh pit in Woodstock of 1969. That's insane without Jimi Hendrix, of course.

HOLMES: Reynolds, would you not let your little ones go to this particular egg drop?

WOLF: Dude, I wouldn't let me in the same area go there. That's insane. I mean, you don't want to stand in the way between a 3-year- old drinking plenty of Kool-Aid and an Easter egg? I mean, you do not.

MALVEAUX: You know, I hope the White House doesn't get any ideas from there.

WOLF: I know.

MALVEAUX: They go to the Easter egg -- you know, the Easter egg roll at the White House tomorrow. You know, they got Marine One there. I hope they don't decide this is a good idea because, you know, a little risky there, a little risky.

WOLF: Absolutely. That's right. It could be tough times. This is a very scary stuff.

Hey, speaking of Easter eggs, there's a chance we could see some Easter egg size hail in parts of Missouri, the Show-Me State. And the reason why is because this area of low pressure and this frontal boundary that we have right here on the map, you see this area where it says severe storms, well, between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00 -- 3:00 this afternoon and 6:00 p.m. this evening, that will be your best chance of getting some strong storms, especially along parts of I-75 or I-70 rather, make that drop on I-70, say, from St. Louis back over to Kansas City later today. Watch out.

You could have strong storms, maybe even a little bit of flash flooding in low-lying areas and some spots of poor drainage, perhaps even some damaging winds and an isolated tornado can't be ruled out either.

For the next 30 seconds, the Eastern Seaboard looks pretty good for you. A mix of sunshine and clouds up in parts of the Northeast. Back out in the west, not rain but snow is the story. The winter's storms continue to roll through parts of Sierra Nevada. Also, some places up near Truckee could see up to a foot. Same thing for Donner Pass, and as we get to the Pacific Northwest, rain in the valleys and in the high elevations, you could see some snowfall.

Very quickly, 74 is the high in Chicago, 81 in Miami, 82 in Houston. Back into Phoenix, 83 degrees, and 51 in San Francisco.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am Reynolds, and that is a wrap on your forecast. We have more coming up right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Happy Easter!

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: In 1985 I would like to live a long life, longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And he has allowed me to go up to the mountains. And I've looked over and I've seen the Promised Land.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On April 4th, King was felled by an assassin's bullet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. bringing social change to America; 42 years ago today the civil rights leader was assassinated as he stood on the balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

Today, we are looking at that day in history and among the many foot soldiers in the Reverend King's nonviolent army was a young man barely in his 20s, John Lewis. Well, today, we all know him as Congressman Lewis and he joins us here this morning.

Thank you so much. It's good to see you.

REP. JOHN LEWIS (D), GEORGIA: Good to see you and thank you so much for having me.

MALVEAUX: You were in Indianapolis that day. Can you tell me when you -- take us back to that moment when you -- when you heard. What was going on through your head, through your heart?

LEWIS: Well, when I heard that Martin Luther King Jr., my friend, my leader, my hero, my inspiration, had been assassinated, I cried. I cried like so many others did. I was there with Robert Kennedy and it was Robert Kennedy who announced to the crowd that Dr. King had been assassinated.

I felt like something had died within me. And something died in all of us, I think. Something died in America.

Because Dr. King did so much to give me a way out, I grew up very poor in rural Alabama. And I've seen the signs that say white men, colored men, white woman, colored woman; I tasted the bitter fruits of racism.

Dr. King gave me a way to stand up and fight against racism and segregation and racial discrimination.

MALVEAUX: There were people on that day and following that day who quit, who did not move forward and did not recover. Why did you decide and what made you decide that you were going to move forward in some way to continue the movement?

LEWIS: I felt like I had an obligation to pick up where Dr. King left off. And I couldn't give up. I couldn't give in. I couldn't give on. I had to keep my eyes on the prize. I had to keep the faith and I kept going. And I've been going ever since.

MALVEAUX: Dr. King's absence for people who didn't know him, who couldn't feel him, who didn't experience him the way you did, what are we missing? LEWIS: We are missing the moral leader of America who had emerged not just the moral leader of America but of the world. This man gave us hope in a time of hopelessness. He had the ability and the capacity to bring the dirt and the filth from under the American rug out into the open light in order for us to deal with it.

He liberated us. He pushed us. He told us how to stand up and how to fight. I remember him saying on one occasion, soul -- from the depth of his soul that you could stand up and not bend your back. When you stand up straight, no man, no person can ride on your back.

MALVEAUX: What do you think he would think about us today, obviously an African-American in the White House as the President and at the same time you have this kind of violent expressions, even racist expressions during that health care debate over the last couple of weeks?

LEWIS: Well, Dr. King would be very proud that we have come such a distance, that we made so much progress, that we have an African- American in the White House. But he would be very disappointed that we still are so divided as a nation and as a people; that we still have too much violence, too much conflict and schism.

MALVEAUX: I want to bring in someone else into this discussion, Harry Johnson Sr. He is now leading the effort to build a Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington.

Mr. Johnson, thank you for joining us here. I spoke with one of your colleagues, Lisa Anders, who is the senior project manager. And there is very clearly a vision here for this monument that reflects Dr. King's philosophy in terms of what it looks and what it reflects. Can you describe for us what this is about?

HARRY E. JOHNSON SR., MLK JR., NATIONAL MEMORIAL PROJECT FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: Yes. Good morning. Thank you for having me. The memorial to Dr. King is going to be a last memorial set among the other presidents and other icon of this country. And what a visitor will see when he or she walks through, the first piece will be the tantamount -- we call that "The Mountain of Despair", coming from Dr. King's speeches they walk through the "Mountain of Despair".

Once on the other side of the mountain and a crescent-shaped wall about 700 feet long, we have some of Dr. King's quotations. Now, you still have not seen Dr. King until you walk out towards the Jefferson Memorial. On the tidal basin and there standing and looking at Jefferson will be Dr. King's picture. Looking at Jefferson, another stone that looked like it was carved out of the mountain. And we call that "The Stone of Hope". And that's where Dr. King will be standing, looking, talking about the promise of America.

MALVEAUX: Now, this is a labor of love. It's also really been it's -- a political headache as well. There has been a lot of financing. You have a lot of support for this project now. When do you think we are actually going to be able to see it? When is the public going to be able to see this, on how this memorial open? JOHNSON: Well, thank you, with the help of people such as John Lewis, who's there with you -- thank you, Congressman and others, we have raised a $106 million -- still need to raise $14 million more. However, the public will see this, we hope, late summer 2011.

MALVEAUX: Ok and we anticipate that part of this memorial is about the dream that is unrealized, that it's still moving forward, that there's still a lot of work to do.

We appreciate you, Mr. Johnson, for joining us and obviously Congressman Lewis on this very significant day.

LEWIS: Well, thank you very much. I'm delighted to be with you.

JOHNSON: Thank you, we appreciate you.

MALVEAUX: Ok, thank you.

LEWIS: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: This legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., it is something that we will reflect on throughout this historic day. And you can make sure to watch our CNN Special, "Eyewitness to Murder: the King Assassination". That is tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 7:00 p.m. Central right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIL CORNELIUS, TEXAS MINISTER: Fired up and excited to be able to give to God. So are you guys ready to have an offering?

PEOPLE: Yes.

CORNELIUS: All right, let's do this.

(MUSIC)

CORNELIUS: It's offering.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, offering in my church wasn't quite like that.

MALVEAUX: You have to love the music. You have to love the music.

HOLMES: You've got to love the music.

Well, that on stage you are seeing there, that was Texas Minister, Bill Cornelius, taking off offering up at his church, Bay Area Fellowship is in Corpus Christi. Clearly, he is not a big stickler for tradition but what he is doing for Easter Sunday's service might even top this. We're talking about beamers, bikes, furniture, laptops. You show up to church tomorrow and you're going to get something.

The good reverend joins us this morning live via Skype.

Kind sir, we appreciate you being here. We won't give out the directions to your church, because I'm sure everybody will try to be showing up tomorrow. But tell me, why, why did you want to do this?

CORNELIUS: Well the real heart behind the whole thing is first of all people's generosity. It's just our people stepped up and gave but we're doing it simple because we want to reach people, bring them in and tell them how much God loves them.

HOLMES: Now, a lot of people -- I'm sure you've heard -- would say to you, it is like you're bribing people to come to church. And that's just not the way it is supposed to be.

CORNELIUS: I understand that. But think about it. Most churches back in the day and even still today do Easter egg hunts to draw kids in so that you can tell them about the love of God. And so I just can't find any Easter eggs large enough to put one of our cars in.

HOLMES: Come on now, an Easter egg hunt from a child versus a seven series for an adult, those are two different things, Reverend.

CORNELIUS: Well listen, we are having fun with this. And really it's just our people stepping up and giving things so that we can draw people in. It really is that simple of a purpose.

HOLMES: I assume you're going to -- you're going to preach the word before you start giving out gifts because you don't want the pews to be empty.

CORNELIUS: Absolutely. That's the entire point of this, is that we're giving out gifts so that we can talk about the ultimate giveaway, which is just John 3:16, "That for God so loved the world that he gave his only son -- the greatest giveaway of all time.

HOLMES: What do you expect the attendance to be like next week after this weekend, after this big crowd?

CORNELIUS: I don't know. We're expecting above but we think we're going to still retain quite a few people. That's our goal. And we should have between 15,000 and 20,000 this weekend. And I think we will still have quite a few people coming back the next week as well.

HOLMES: Well, tell me what think about the idea, some people there are probably are going to show up tomorrow, not your regular parishioners, people who just heard about this and want to get their hands on something. What do you think about that idea of some just showing up to take advantage of a giveaway?

CORNELIUS: That's exactly who we want.

HOLMES: That's who you want? CORNELIUS: Because that's the kind of person. That's who we want because they are the person that's thinking about the material side of things and not the spiritual side of things. And it gives us a chance to tell them about God and his love and tell them about heaven and just giving opportunity to receive Christ.

HOLMES: Now, what do you think it says about us these days? These day and time that it takes something like this to bring certain people into church? Just what does this say about us all, the society as a whole?

CORNELIUS: I think it says and frankly we're not heavenly- minded. And so it's funny how we've been giving heaven out for free for thousands of years the churches all around the world and suddenly one church adds a car and a bike to it and the whole world goes crazy.

And so I just figured, you know, this just helps us say, you know what, this car is nice but it's going to rust and it's going to die one day and it's not going to work one day. But heaven is forever. And so, it just points us to a greater opportunity to tell them about the love of God.

(AUDIO GAP)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Well, it's deja vu all over again for many unemployed Americans.

HOLMES: Their extended benefits expire tomorrow and the Senate has yet to work out a solution.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Well, is the nation turning the corner when it comes to job creation? And are we turning the page as it applies to U.S. relations with Israel?

HOLMES: Yes. Just a couple of the questions that "STATE OF THE UNION" is going to be tackling and who better to tackle them? The host -- Candy Crowley, she's coming up here in about 15 minutes? Coming up at the top of the hour -- always good to see you, good morning to you Candy.

And did you notice -- what I seemed to notice and maybe certainly you Suzanne notice in covering President Obama how in the campaign trail. He was fired up the other day talking about selling the health care reform. He really seemed like he got his footing, upbeat. He was even cracking some jokes. He seemed really energetic after this big win.

MALVEAUX: Quite confident.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Yes. Well, look, he needs to be at this point because we still see polls with a split American public about whether they think this was the best health care reform package that could have been passed. So he needs to be out there not just because he believes it is and to try to convince the American people but because we have November elections coming up.

It will be a factor, how people feel about that reform, now reform law. And he also promises Democrats that he had to arm twist and cajole into voting for this in the swing districts. And they were a little worried about what would happen in November; that he would be out there.

He, after all, is his own best salesman; that he would out there talking about health care reform and going into their districts when the time comes.

MALVEAUX: And Candy, obviously, there is some concern from the White House whether or not they are going to lose some of those seats or just how bad the damage is going to be, the political damage. But the president is pushing forward and trying to really stay ahead of that. What do we expect to hear from your guests?

CROWLEY: well, we're talking to Larry Summers, who as you know is the top economic adviser to the president because one of the things they do understand is they also have to begin to sell hope, something that the president was good at during the campaign.

But what this White House understands is that a lot of this election is going to pin on how people think the economy is doing. It's why they grabbed on to those employment figures that we saw Friday coming up for the first time at the best rate in more than two years. So they are pushing that.

We want to know but, yes, what about the long-term unemployed, the people whose jobs aren't coming back? What does the administration plan to do with that?

So we want to take a broad look at the economy and push that forward with Larry Summers.

HOLMES: You talk about the economy there. Do they believe, certainly -- I mean it's certainly better than saying you have lost 700,000 jobs in a month. Any addition sounds like positive news. But it just seems like people aren't feeling it. But do they still believe they can sell it. As long as there's a positive number each month, can they sell it?

CROWLEY: Well it has to be -- listen, it's half full. And I think you saw the President start to do that this week. And what they say is it would have been so much worse if we hadn't done something and you saw the President say, you know, we have kind of reached the bottom. We are moving up.

Can he sell it? We'll see. We will tell you that they do know that they are working on a time frame. If they cannot convince people by this summer that things are getting better and one of their biggest impediments is that 9.7 percent unemployment rate. But if they can't convince people that unemployed will come down; that they need to hang on, then it is going to show up in the polls. So they know they have to get the American people to say it is not half empty, it is half full.

MALVEAUX: All right. Candy great seeing you. I will see you back in Washington very shortly.

CROWLEY: Yes. Thank you.

MALVEAUX: But obviously, everybody here for "STATE OF THE UNION WITH CANDY CROWLEY", begins in just 15 minutes at 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific right here on CNN.

Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Extended benefits for many unemployed Americans expire after tomorrow and the Senate failed to extend the deadline before going on break. They aren't due back until April 12th, which means that for one week, more than 200,000 people who rely on those benefits, well, they could be in limbo.

Congressional correspondent, Brianna Keilar has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. TOM COBURN (R), OKLAHOMA: The legitimate debate is whether we borrow and steal from our kids or we get out of town and send the bill to our kids for something that we're going to consume today.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the second time a Republican has blocked a so-called emergency extension of unemployment benefits. Senator Jim Bunning objected to adding to the deficit back in February.

Democrats are furious. Senator Byron Dorgan represents North Dakota which at 4.1 percent has the lowest unemployment rate in the country.

SEN. BYRON DORGAN (D), NORTH DAKOTA: There are a whole lot of people in this country that are unemployed. And if ever there was a need to extend unemployment insurance, it is now. We can't do that to the most vulnerable people in this country.

KEILAR: But Congress went on recess before reaching an agreement, a decision that could affect thousands of unemployed Americans like these.

(on camera): What do you think of what Congress is doing here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These particular Republicans, you will think that we need to look for the future for our children. This is my children they -- for right now they're affected.

KEILAR: So to you, that argument doesn't resonate because --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely, it's got no sense.

KEILAR: Because you feel your kids need the money now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CLOVIA COX, UNEMPLOYED PERSONAL TRAINER: Having people to give up their futures dreams and trying to save money for a better working car or a better career or a better education, that is the future for right now and the future starts now. So -- it's desperate now.

KEILER: Some people say, one week, big deal. But is it a big deal?

MAYBELL WILLIAMS, UNEMPLOYED NURSE: It is a big deal when you don't have groceries and gas, you know, because sometime I use my daughter's car. Sometimes I don't have any gas to go look for a job, you know. I will do almost whatever to make some money until I get my license. I work as waitress or whatever but sometimes I don't have gas.

And that one week -- I'm going to be able to make --

KEILAR: You won't be able to get to whatever side job you have.

WILLIAMS: Right. Exactly right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Democrats say the Senate will pass an extension of those benefits as soon as Congress returns from the recess including retroactively paying those Americans who missed a check.

Brianna Keilar, CNN, Capitol Hill.

HOLMES: Well, some are wondering is there a Supreme Court shakeup in the works? The story right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF: Good morning and welcome back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING to all our friends tuning in from coast to coast. Good Easter to you.

Kind of a damp Easter for our friends in the western half of the Great Lakes in Wisconsin, even into parts of Minnesota where you see some scattered showers. A few of them thunderstorms forming north of Duluth but later on today, it's going to be right here in this section that we have.

There are parts of Missouri where we could see a few issues, and those issues that we're talking about, namely some severe thunderstorms that may pop up by the late afternoon into the early evening hours.

Meanwhile, the Eastern Seaboard, things are pretty nice. Same deal for you in parts of Florida. Nice and muggy, almost feels like early summer for you in parts of the Gulf Coast including Houston, back again to Galveston, even South Padre Island. And across the Rockies, heavy snowfall continues to fall. We could see some of that forming in places like Steamboat Springs, perhaps even into Aspen and then when you get back over to California, the high spikes (ph) in the Sierra Nevada may see some heavy snowfall, Mount Shasta too, but along the coast mainly a rain event.

Same deal for you up towards Bend, Oregon and when you get up towards Seattle rain can be expected out along the water. But again, high spikes, not like some (INAUDIBLE) but high up on the hills, you might see a (INAUDIBLE) snowfall.

In terms of temperatures, very quickly 78 degrees in Kansas City, 84 in Memphis, 73 in Boston, 81 in Houston and 83 in Phoenix, 63 in Los Angeles.

Ok. That is a wrap on the forecast. Let's pitch it from me, toss it over to the anchor desk. I'm sure you guys have a little bit more to talk about, don't you.

HOLMES: Not really. We're about -- we're just about out.

MALVEAUX: We have one more minute.

HOLMES: We do want to say -- well, all I can say is (INAUDIBLE) -- good having you. You haven't been down here to play with us in quite some time. Glad he's been down.

MALVEAUX: It's nice to be here. I had a good time.

HOLMES: Hope we didn't scare you off.

MALVEAUX: I may come back.

HOLMES: Ok. I might come back next weekend too. But thank you for being here.

All right. "STATE OF THE UNION WITH CANDY CROWLEY" coming up at the top of the hour. But first we have quick check of the morning's headlines for you.

Some conflicting casualty counts are coming out of Baghdad this morning after a trio of coordinated car bombs ripped through the Iraqi capital. Authorities say the blast happened within minutes of each other and close to the embassy buildings. Baghdad's operational command puts the casualties at 17 dead, 141 injured. That's a stark contrast to what the Iraqi interior ministry is saying which says at least 30 people have died, another 65 have been wounded.

Pope Benedict this morning giving his annual Easter blessing to the world from the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square -- you can see that it was raining on the folks there. Easter sunrise service celebrated all across the U.S. this morning as well.

And also the U.S. Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens hinting at retirement possible, telling 2 newspapers yesterday that he is considering whether to step down after almost 35 years on the bench. He will turn 90 later this month.

That's it for us here. "STATE OF THE UNION WITH CANDY CROWLEY" starts right now.