April
4 Remembering King

That, and other news, in today's Political Panorama.

On the campaign trail, Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama are marking the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King on the campaign trail. The other night, Harry Belafonte appeared on "The Tavis Smiley Show" to talk about his friendship with King and an initially tenuous relationship with Robert Kennedy. Belafonte also recalled the time in 1964 when he filled in for Johnny Carson as guest host of "The Tonight Show" and convinced King come appear on the show with him.

Belafonte recalls, "By the time we went on air, Dr. King had not arrived. So we made a quick adjustment to fill his slot and how we would cover the spot. About a quarter of the way into the show Dr. King showed up, so we could go back to plan A. And when he came on air, he didn't give me a chance to do very much but hug him and greet him and he sat, and he said, "I must beg your forgiveness for the consternation and the cause of anxiety here," he said, "But I have had my own experience.   

""I left Atlanta late, the plane was late, I got to the airport, I got into the cab, the driver recognized me, and he said, 'What are you doing in town?' And I told him that I was late coming for this broadcast with you. And all he had to hear was that I was late, and that man hit the gas and took me on a drive that was the most nervous experience of my life.

""He zoomed in and out of traffic, and I had to tap him on the shoulder and said, 'Sir, if you don't mind, I appreciate your sense of urgency but I'd rather be known as Martin Luther King late than the late Martin Luther King.'""

Farrow's Protest: Mia Farrow plans to broadcast from a Sudanese refugee camp during the first wek of the Olympics to highlight China's lack of action in the region.

Kirk Douglas, Blogger: Tina Daunt of the Los Angeles Times interviews Kirk Douglas about his MySpace blog, where he is asking presidential candidates to take on the issue of the government making a formal apology to African Americans for slavery.

He's also non-committal on which candidate he supports.

"I don't know yet who I'm supporting," he said. "I'm very excited and I never thought I would live to see the day that both a woman and an African American would be vying and very close for the White House.

"I think we have three good people. I like Sen. John McCain. I know him. I like Hillary, for different reasons. And Obama is coming across like a thunderbolt. We'll see what happens."