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Pope to Address Americans. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired September 23, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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


[08:30:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: High as the Pope. How low could his numbers go, especially among Catholics, but is he enough about the rules? You know, is he enough about the right things for them? They'll see. You know, have they gone back to the pews? Not as much as they've become more enthusiastic. So we'll see what his influence is there. Then his influence in terms of being judged for what he's done so far. Yes, he went to Cuba. Yes, he wants to build the bridge. Yes, that's good. He met with Fidel. He didn't meet with dissidents. That has to matter also, doesn't?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It matters a lot to me. I have to tell you, I love this Pope. I've loved him from hello. But I'm very disappointed and hurt that he found the time, 40 minutes, to go to Fidel's house, which I think is a huge symbolism. And let's remember, Fidel is a dictator. He's been an assassin. He kicked out all the priests and nuns from Cuba, outlawed religion, outlawed Christmas until Pope John Paul II got there. And - and yet this Pope didn't find the time to meet with dissidents. I -

CUOMO: Do you think it was a pre-condition?

NAVARRO: You know, I don't know. I - I don't know. I -

CUOMO: But it was a pretty obvious thing not to do.

NAVARRO: I hope he speaks about freedom. I hope - he did speak against tyranny and against dynasty and against dictatorship before he got there. I wish he had spent some time with the dissidents. It would have been a huge symbol.

I remember when John Paul II went to Nicaragua - you know, I was born in Nicaragua - during the Sandinista Revolution, and you might remember that there was a priest who had gone awry, had joined the revolution. And John Paul II excoriating him at the tarmac of the airport.

CUOMO: Right.

NAVARRO: That meant so much to Nicaraguans who were fighting for freedom and fighting communism then. I wish this Pope had done something more symbolic on that front.

CUOMO: One last quick thing. The - some of the GOP is getting heat. Although the Democrats had a guy who said he's not coming today. That they were saying, he better stick in his lane. He better be about religion. We don't want to hear about global warming. I don't need to be lectured. Chris Christie said he's only infallible on religion, which isn't true, by the way. But the - he's not infallible on religion either except (INAUDIBLE) teaching, but that's in the weeds. Do you think it's fair criticism that they shouldn't have come out and said anything that's potentially hostile to the Pope or is it their right?

NAVARRO: Look, we live in America. We have freedom of speech. I think some Democrats are not going to like what he may say on abortion, what he may say on same-sex marriage. I think some Republicans may not like some of the things he may say on immigration. So, you know, take him - he's the Pope. Don't judge him as a Republican. Don't judge him as a Democrat. Don't judge him as a partisan. For God sakes, this is the first time the man steps foot in America. You know, he's not here to influence our American political system. He's here to influence our spirituality.

CUOMO: Enjoy the day. (INAUDIBLE) for my friend Ana Navarro.

Now, in just minutes, you hear the band getting warmed up. It's about to happen. We're going to have the Pope give a White House address in just minutes. What's he going to say? How he's going to make you feel? We have a preview of what we think he might talk about, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:36:44] CUOMO: All right, it's exciting. Welcome back to NEW DAY.

We're just minutes away from the welcoming ceremony of Pope Francis here on the South Lawn of the White House. You can see just a beautiful scene. About 15,000 packing it in here, but hundreds of thousands lining the streets in the area. That makes security a very big issue. You have POTUS and the Pope.

We have Jim Sciutto and CNN Vatican correspondent Delia Gallagher to kind of give us both sides of the coin here of what we expect to hear and how we keep them safe.

Jim, let's start with you. How have the preparations been going? Has there been anything that has surprised the security agenda this morning yet?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me tell you, Chris, as you know, we know Washington's a pretty secure town on any given day. The White House is a pretty secure place. But I've never seen anything like this. I drove past the papal - rather, the Vatican embassy this morning where the Pope has been staying, which is right across the street from the vice president's residence at the Naval Observatory, already secure, but they've closed off the street. Concrete barriers. More police than I've seen in a long time here in Washington. We've been hearing helicopters hovering overhead.

This gets to the challenge here, keeping him safe. They know, sadly, that the Pope is a target for terrorist groups, but they also know the Pope's nature. He is a pope who wants to get out in the middle of those crowds and connect with people. That presents a challenge. And really the balance here that they're trying to strike throughout is keep him safe certainly, but allow him to be the Pope he wants to be, connect with the American people on his first trip here. It's a real challenge but I've never seen a presence like this before trying to meet that challenge.

CUOMO: All right, Jim, and as you were talking, we just want to show you a live picture here. You see that we have an honor guard setting up. They're getting ready for the presentation of the colors. That could only mean one thing, the ceremony is getting ready to begin. We're going to hear from the president, of course. We're also going to hear from Pope Francis in English. Now that matters for two reasons. One, that the American audience, they'll be able to understand him better given some language, you know, some limitations in English for the Pope. Also it may be a limitation on how much he goes off message.

Let's bring in Delia Gallagher to get some perspective on that.

English is not his first language. He's not as comfortable doing it. Why do you think it was so important for him to speak in English today and do you think it will be a limitation?

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, you know, the fact that only four out of the 18 speeches he'll be giving in the United States are in English, certainly the opening address. It was right that it would be in English. It is not necessarily a limitation in the sense that if he wants to go off speech, he'll do it anyway. But this might not be the occasion in which he'll do that. The opening speech probably he will stick close to the text because it's not the kind of environment. I mean with 15,000 people there, it's not a sort of intimate place where maybe the Pope would feel that he could go off message.

CUOMO: OK. OK, Delia, we have just a little bit of time left. They're getting ready with the ceremony behind us. Quickly, there's a little criticism coming at the Pope for who - what he didn't get done in Cuba. He didn't meet with dissidents. How sensitive is the Vatican to that and will they make sure that they check boxes here in America that they didn't in Cuba in terms of making strong statements?

GALLAGHER: Well, Chris, I do want to mention that in the press conference that the Pope gave coming over to the United States, he said that there had been an arrangement that he would at least greet some dissidents that then didn't show up. And the reporter had asked the question, there had been some reports that dissidents had been arrested outside of the (INAUDIBLE) that were trying to greet the Pope. So there actually is something that needs to be cleared up there about what happened. The Pope claims that the phone calls were made from (INAUDIBLE) to invite dissidents to greet him. So I think that's important that we say that. And then that meeting didn't happen.

[08:40:30] CUOMO: Right. Right. And it's also important that we say that that explanation wasn't satisfying to everybody. And there will be similar criticism going forward here, but that's part of the experience.

Delia Gallagher, thank you very much. Jim Sciutto, we'll keep checking in with you as the security situation here progresses. Let's take a quick break because the ceremony is getting ready to

start. We want to be able to show that to you. So stay with us. NEW DAY is going to have more of our live coverage of the Pope coming to Washington right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: All right, live pictures here. The band is playing. We're getting ready for the ceremony as the president and the White House welcome Pope Francis. They're both going to speak. What will the Pope say? We know it will be in English for the American audience. This crowd, about 15,000, but hundreds of thousands lining the streets in this area because the Pope is going to drive the streets of Washington D.C.

(INAUDIBLE) Carol Costello is in the National Mall.

Carol, can you hear us? What it's like?

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, it's just - I mean the excitement is building, Chris. There are literally thousands and thousands of people lining Constitution Avenue waiting for the Popemobile to pass by, although it won't pass buy for a couple of hours yet, 11:00. The Pope will come down 17th, turn on Constitution, turn on 15th, then make its way back to the White House, where he'll then go to St. Matthews.

[08:45:13] But take a look behind me. All of these people behind. The mood here is just joyous. You'll hear people break into song, a lot of people are praying. I walked through a crowd just a short time ago, a lot of people were saying their rosaries.

And of course, security is very tight. As the morning has progressed we have noticed more and more National Guardsmen, Secret Service people, FBI agents and also local D.C. police. And as you can see people are being kept behind barricades so even if the Pope does get outside of his Popemobile people will not be able to run up beside it. And of course, as you know, there is a good reason for that because there is a great effort to keep the Pope safe today.

CUOMO: That Jeep Wrangler and layers of security to keep the Pope safe. I see that they have you. You look like you are in a little bit of a cage there. But they cannot contain your enthusiasm. We'll check back with you in a little bit.

Let's take a quick break. CNN is going to have special coverage of the ceremony at the White House. It's coming up in just moments. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:07] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: It is an honor usually given to kings, queens, presidents and prime ministers.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN ANCHOR: But for only the third time in U.S. history the White House rolls out the red carpet for a pope. COOPER: A day, a first for Washington, American Catholics and Pope

Francis. His first trip to the White House. His first trip to America ever. Why did he wait so long? And what will he say when he meets President Obama? They see eye-to-eye on many issues but are still far apart on others. And when this pontiff talks he's often frank because with him, nothing is ever off the table.

This is CNN's coverage of "The People's Pope: Francis Comes to America."

And a very exciting morning here in Washington. You're looking at live pictures of the Residence, the Vatican Ambassador to the United States. This is where Pope Francis is staying while he's here in Washington. In just - really, any moment now, we expect the Pope to be leaving to take the five minute drive to the White House.

Meanwhile there you see the South Lawn and the shadow of the famed Truman Balcony. An estimated 15,000 invited guests eagerly awaiting his first ever greeting to America. One of the few - few the son of Argentina will give in English.

We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Anderson Cooper joined this morning by my CNN colleague, Christiane Amanpour.

AMANPOUR: And Anderson, if the outpouring of support in Cuba is any indication of what's to come here, we're going to see some spectacular scenes while the Pope is in America. And CNN will be with you all day covering his events, including a canonization that is somewhat controversial to some. And if there is anything predictable about this Pope, it is that he is unpredictable.

COOPER: What he does and says during the next five days he's in America will give us a lot to talk about with out guests.

But first, let's take you to the White House. Our Chris Cuomo is standing by.

Chris, an exciting morning here in Washington and certainly on the South Lawn where you are.

CUOMO: Boy, Anderson, I will tell you, people have been lining up for hours. The excitement is palpable. About 15,000 people here. There was just a round of applause as the U.S. contingent just came walking out. We saw Secretary Kerry just sitting down now behind us.

So you have what is the man, Pope Francis and P.O.T.U.S., you have the moment, which is what's going on in our country right now as Pope Francis comes here, both politically and culturally, and then the message. What is he going to say today? We do know that the Pope is going to give very few speeches in English but this will be one today as will the joint session of Congress speech tomorrow.

For all the pomp and circumstance here there's been an equal concern of the practicalities, specifically security. So let's bring in Jim Sciutto and also we're going to have Michelle Kosinski also to figure out what's going on.

Let's deal with the politics first with Michelle Kosinski. What are we expecting from the president and the Pope this morning?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Chris. Well the president can go into this with a sense of eagerness. This is great timing for the White House because the Pope largely agrees with many of the things President Obama is trying to accomplish. Aside from those big differences in stance on things like gay marriage and abortion, we expect the Pope to really hit the subject of climate change, immigration, income inequality. He may even go to violence and gun control. As the White House puts it, Pope Francis likes to speak his mind. So it will be interesting to see what he commends the U.S. for doing and what he might even spell out that the U.S. could do better, Chris.

CUOMO: Right. And a big function of this will be how. How does the Pope say it? That was a big part of the examination in Cuba with what he did both positively and negatively.

OK, Michelle, so we have the politics. We also have the practicalities. How do you keep this situation safe, even in Washington D.C., which is known for having a lot of security for obvious reasons? Let's get to Jim Sciutto with that about how they feel the status of the plan is going and what the expectations are.

SCIUTTO: They feel confident, Chris. They have been doing their work on this. They have kept all members of the Secret Service from taking any vacations since August because of this enormous focus. You are not seeing a lot of the efforts here. You are seeing some of them. We've been hearing the helicopters overhead. I drove past the Pope's Residence this morning. I've never seen security like that and it is right across the street from the vice president's house.

But it's also what you don't see behind the scenes, the cast of thousands, to keep this Pope safe, and particularly a pope who does not like to stay behind closed doors, does not like to stay behind bulletproof glass in his Popemobile. He wants to connect with the people. He has said, if you are going to make a trip like this you need, in his words, "human communication or don't make it at all." So this is going to be the tension between that security effort. They know, sadly, that the Pope is a target of terrorists. Tension between that and between the need, the desire of this Pope to get out there and connect on his first visit to the U.S.

[08:54:58]COOPER: And there you see Pope Francis emerging from the Ambassador's Residence, greeting the crowds who have been waiting quite some time this morning to see him, Christiane.

AMANPOUR: This is the moment, really, and it comes at a very pivotal moment for the Catholic church. Apart from all the things that we expect him to say on the big issues, the really big pastoral issue is to get Catholics back into the church and onto the pews because the church has been losing some members over the last seven or so years and this is his pastoral mission is to get them back indoors. And he is not only so popular amongst Catholics, but also amongst people of other religions, even atheists and agnostics. What he has done has sort of fired up people's imaginations.

So let's bring in our panel. Bishop Christopher Coyne of the Deities of Burlington, Vermont, is the incoming communications chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, so sort of the Pope's press man on this trip. And Delia Gallagher is CNN's Vatican correspondent.

Welcome to you both.

What, Bishop Coyne, do you expect to be the real highlight of this visit? We all talk about some of the controversies, some of the politics. What is the pastoral mission?

BISHOP CHRISTOPHER COYNE, BURLINGTON, VERMONT: I think the highlight is going to be the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia because that is the original reason why he came to the United States. So he was coming originally on a pastoral visit and now when he comes to the U.S., he comes to D.C. and comes to New York, he's actually going into that more diplomatic side, at this time at least.

COOPER: Delia, certainly though for Pope Francis, who is known for deviating from the schedule to want to actually go out and meet people, this, moments like this is what he looks forward to the most. And if we know when he meets in front of a joint meeting on Capitol Hill tomorrow, he's not going to be having lunch with senators, with Congress people after making his speech. He's going to be going to Catholic charities, meeting with homeless people, the mentally ill.

GALLAGHER: Yeah. In fact, I was going to say, this is one of the highlights right now. See how he's talking to people there. I mean, he's taking his time. You wouldn't think he's got to get to the White House. That is what he likes to do, that is where he wants to be, with the people, and on a larger scale his message is you are a rich country, you are a privileged country and it is your obligation therefore to help others and to bring that to others.

COOPER: It is extraordinary as we see these images to see his willingness to not only reach out to people, but to allow people to reach out to him, to touch him, to hold onto him.

GALLAGHER: Well, and the Vatican security is very aware that that's what he wants to do. So you notice that they allow him complete liberty to do that. It almost seems like there isn't a whole lot of security going on. But, of course, behind the scenes --

AMANPOUR: But of course there is and it's apparently, according to everybody talking about Washington, the biggest security operation in history. At least in recorded memory. But he is obviously someone who likes to reach out. In Brazil he was in his little car, he turned down the window, he put his hand out and there were practically scenes of pandemonium as people rushed to him. And afterwards he had to apologize to the security detail. But he also said very clearly, I'm here to meet people. I'm not here to be in a bubble. What is the point if making a trip if I'm not to meet people? How much of a complication is that for the security and (INAUDIBLE)?

COYNE: Well, he made that decision very early on from the moment he was made Pope that he wasn't going to be hiding behind bulletproof glass or anything like that, that he wanted to reach out to people and just be there for people. So yes, it does cause some kind of upset within the security people, but the Holy Father has said this is who I am, this is what I'm all about, this is what I want to do.

AMANPOUR: And he is going to give his opening remarks at the White House in English. We have not heard him do that in the past. It's obviously he's doing that for the American audience, for the people who he's trying to the talk to on this particular trip. How much of an effort has that been for him to actually learn or practice and get it out in English?

COYNE: He only took three months of English in Dublin in 1980. So I'm interested to hear whether he's going to speak English with an Irish accent. But he has been practicing his speeches, we've been told, and he's very concerned about making sure that he conveys the message that he wants to bring forward to the people of the United States.

COOPER: And that's also one of the questions. One of the - Oftentimes he makes news the most is when he sort of gives off-the-cuff remarks -- will in English he'd be a little bit more practiced in what he says and less likely to give off-the-cuff remarks. He will be doing a number of events in Spanish as well. But he's really taking time -- by the way, we're anticipating President Obama coming out to the South Lawn of the White House at any moment as well. It's been a five minute drive from the Vatican -- Ambassador's Residence to the South Lawn of the White House where some 15,000 invited guests are a assembled there. You see the White House ready to greet this pontiff who shows no sign of being rushed.

AMANPOUR: Indeed. And by my watch, he's already a little late.

GALLAGHER: The problem is that nobody can tell him. He's got decide. So nobody taps him on the shoulder and says hey, we need to get going.

AMANPOUR: Which actually brings up a whole other issue as we're waiting for him to get into the car, as we can see right now.

But there is a little bit of -- I've read and I've been to the Vatican and I've sort of felt it myself. Anything from adulation to serious paranoia amongst people who just don't know