Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Protesters Head to Washington for Schiavo; Pope's Memorable Easter Appearance

Aired March 28, 2005 - 07:00   ET

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

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


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Protesters determined to keep Terri Schiavo alive now turning their anger back to Washington, D.C.
The pope's silent Easter message now seen as more powerful than any words could be.

And skyrocketing gas prices. Is some relief now finally in sight? We'll find out on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

HEMMER: Good morning, everybody, on a rainy day here in New York City. Good morning, I'm Bill Hemmer.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Carol Costello, in for Soledad today.

HEMMER: And all week. Buckle up.

COSTELLO: It's nasty outside.

HEMMER: Yes, it is. Good to have you, by the way.

COSTELLO: Thanks.

HEMMER: Also today, some people are calling today the most important day yet in the Michael Jackson trial. A judge expected to make a very important ruling that could virtually put the singer on trial twice, some say. We'll explain that in a moment here.

COSTELLO: Also, the mystery surrounding a young couple in Philadelphia. They vanished without a trace. Was the couple on the verge of a break-up? And how might that change a nationwide search? We'll talk to the father of the young man about that.

HEMMER: Also on Monday, the day after Easter Sunday. Here's Jack Cafferty. Good morning.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Bill. We're going to tell you about a do-it-yourself border patrol. A group of private citizens who are fed up with the federal government's inability or unwillingness to do anything about the flood of illegal immigration to this country are going to organize and take a shot at it themselves.

COSTELLO: I guess he's done.

HEMMER: This is your cue.

CAFFERTY: Did the microphones go off? See, when I stop talking, that's usually an indication that I don't have anything else.

COSTELLO: I was so involved in what you were saying, I was like -- I had no words.

CAFFERTY: On "DAYBREAK," you're there by yourself. But here, you've got to kind of be aware that there's ensemble that's more than -- you know what I'm saying?

COSTELLO: OK, thanks, Jack.

It has been nearly 10 days now since Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed. An attorney for her parents says she is, quote, "past the point of no return." Even so, supporters of Schiavo's parents are going to Capitol Hill to continue their fight to keep Terri alive.

CNN's Bob Franken live in Pinellas Park at Terri Schiavo's hospice. Good morning, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. They're going, they say, because they are calling on Congress to put its action where its words were. There were some subpoenas that a committee in the Senate had put out to try and prevent Terri Schiavo from going without a feeding tube reconnected, and now they're going to demand that those subpoenas be enforced.

Meanwhile, yesterday, communion was administered to Terri Schiavo. That has taken a considerable amount of negotiation, but a small bit of wine was touched to her lips. No wafer. This was because it was a special occasion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): Easter Sunday, a day of celebration for Christians, but for most here, a day of sadness and defiance.

CROWD: Let Terri live!

FRANKEN: The severely disabled protesters were helped out of their wheelchairs to lay down on the ground at one of the entrances to Terri Schiavo's hospice. Their act of civil disobedience.

UNKNOWN MALE: All Terri needs is a wheelchair and a (INAUDIBLE), and she can live in the (INAUDIBLE) at home with her family like the rest of us.

FRANKEN: The protests intensified, in spite of requests from Terri Schiavo's blood relatives for the demonstrators to stay away.

BOBBY SCHINDLER, TERRI SCHIAVO'S BROTHER: We're not going to solve this problem today by getting arrested. We think we can change the laws, OK? But it's not going to change today. Getting arrested doesn't help.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't disagree. I don't disagree. but the symbolic...

FRANKEN: Another group went to the home of Michael Schiavo to protest his insistence that the time had come for his wife to die.

Back at the hospice, protest leaders try and pressure Governor Jeb Bush.

LARRY KLAYMAN, JUDICIAL WATCH: Now, the governor has said that he wants to err on the side of life. I hope he doesn't decide to err on the side of the polls.

REV. PATRICK MAHONEY, CHRISTIAN DEFENSE COALITION: Terri has fought to be alive until tomorrow. We are going to Washington, D.C. to say to speaker Hastert, enforce the order.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: So, as you can see and hear, the volume is raising here. Meanwhile, inside, the peacefulness of the hospice, life is slipping away for Terri Schiavo -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So, Bob, these protesters go to Washington. Can they really accomplish anything?

FRANKEN: Well, they think so. What happened, of course, is a little over a week ago, Congress had an extraordinary session. There was a massive amount of rhetoric. The people here are saying, OK, it's time to find out if that was just politics or principle.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Bob Franken, live in Florida this morning, Thank you.

HEMMER: This morning, Pope John Paul II missed another Easter celebration for the first time in his 26-year papacy. He missed this morning's blessing traditionally marking the end of Holy Week celebrations. The pope did appear yesterday in St. Peter's Square, but he was not able to speak. Here's Alessio Vinci this morning for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As expected, the pope didn't preside over the long Easter mass, which he followed on television from his study. But at the end of it, as a top cardinal was preparing to read the pope's traditional Easter Sunday blessing, the frail figure of the 84-year-old pontiff emerged.

The crowd below broke into a long applause. Some were overwhelmed. The pope sat for almost 15 minutes while the cardinal read his message calling for peace in Africa and the Middle East and for all those suffering from hunger and poverty.

At one point, he tried to utter a few words, but simply couldn't. Unable to bless the crowd with words, he used his hand.

Pilgrims and tourists, including those who hours earlier had only hoped to see him felt rewarded.

ELISE VETZEL, PILGRIM: I just felt completely unified with, like, all the people there and all the people, you know, watching on television. So, it was a very glorious moment, I thought.

KATIE HAMMOND, PILGRIM: The whole thing was beautiful. What I thought was best was just the crowd's reaction to him. You could tell that everyone was so pleased that he was well enough to come and greet everyone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Alessio Vinci reporting from Vatican City.

Our Vatican analyst John Allen is back with us. He's in Rome. John, good morning to you over there, where it's just a bit past noon. What do we know, John, at this point, based on what the Vatican is or is not saying, about the true condition of the pope today?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: Hi, Bill. Well, the truth is the Vatican is not saying very much. Since John Paul returned from Rome's Gemelli Hospital to the Vatican on March 13th, there have been no new medical bulletins. So we're restricted to sort of reading the tea leaves, in terms of pontiff's public appearances, yesterday being the fifth appearance since the return from the hospital.

It did seem, I think, to most observers that the pope looked stronger yesterday in that more than 12-minute appearance at the window than he had the previous Wednesday, when he was there for less than a minute and was obviously in pain. You know, as Alessio's report indicated, he was unable to speak, but he did seem composed, obviously engaged with what was going on. At one point, he was following his message, the text of his message, as Cardinal Sodano read it.

So I think it was a somewhat reassuring appearance yesterday, although obviously leaving open some very big questions about what the pope is going to be capable of in the future. Chief among them, of course, his ability to speak.

HEMMER: And one of those ultimate questions is whether or not we have seen him for the last time or perhaps maybe one of the final times for the pope. Is there much talk about that today in Rome, John?

ALLEN: Oh, there's some talk about that in the papers, Bill, but I mean, I think those of us who follow this pope realize that he has been written off so many times before, that it's never wise to do it. I mean, you know, there's an old saying around town that John Paul keeps outliving predictions of his demise. And so I certainly wouldn't put any money on yesterday being his last public appearance.

HEMMER: What is lost, then, John, as you go forward here, if this is as much as the pope can do, going forward?

ALLEN: Well you know, if you talk to Vatican officials, what they will tell you is that, in terms of routine business of the Vatican, there's not much slippage these days. I mean, the pope has, after all, been running the church for almost 27 years now. His key aides know his mind quite well.

And so when questions that have previously come up come up again, things like the Terri Schiavo case, the pope has provided clear guidance in terms of the culture of life. His aides are very capable of carrying out that advocacy.

What's missing, I think, and what many Vatican officials would say, is the element of surprise. That is, that new direction, that twist, that unanticipatable leap of imagination that only a pope can provide. As one Vatican official put it to me a couple days ago, what will be missing is the papal verve.

HEMMER: And the papal verve is what, then John?

ALLEN: Well, you know, it's that bolt out of the blue that you couldn't see coming. I mean, for example, when John Paul II in 1986 called together the leaders of the world religions with him in Assisi to pray together for peace, stood in a circle with shamans and rabbis and muftis, suggesting a kind of rough equality among them all. I mean, that was something that had just never been done before, in terms of papal protocol. It was a very difficult pill to swallow for some of his own aides.

Or more recently, in 2002, when the pope apologized to the Greek Orthodox for Fourth Crusade and the mistreatment of the Eastern church by the West. That, too, was something that no one saw coming. And increasingly, his capacity to do the unexpected, simply due to his health and his overall energy levels, will, of course, be quite reduced.

HEMMER: John Allen, CNN Vatican analyst from Rome. John, thanks for your time, as always.

ALLEN: Good day, Bill.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Listen, the Final Four is set. And a great set of games over the weekend. Illinois will play Louisville this coming weekend. North Carolina will play Michigan State. All four now headed to St. Louis for the Final Four. Three of the four NCAA regional finals went to overtime. It has never happened like that before. Last night, here's how Kentucky ended the game with a roller from three and they had to, what? Hold the game up for about 10 minutes, make sure he wasn't on the line. The bucket counted.

Kentucky forced the overtime, then another overtime. However, Michigan State prevailed. This was one tough team yesterday. So Michigan State wins the thriller, 94-88 over Kentucky. And as we mentioned, Illinois will play Louisville. Great games for the NCAA this weekend. I don't know how you can script that any better, in terms of sheer excitement, down to the wire.

COSTELLO: So much better than pro basketball.

HEMMER: True.

COSTELLO: I'm telling you. The games were so much more exciting, so much more fan participation.

HEMMER: And we're that much closer to a conclusion this weekend.

COSTELLO: The Michael Jackson trial enters its fifth week today, but a special hearing could make it the most important day of the case yet. We'll take a closer look.

HEMMER: Also, the mysterious disappearance of a young couple. Was there an organized plot to harm them? We'll look at that.

COSTELLO: And a new perspective on the Iraq war. Incredible pictures taken for a unique tribute. Two soldier photographers join us, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Michael Jackson's trial resumes a bit later this morning in California with the judge set to decide on an issue that could go a very long way in determining Jackson's fate. In Santa Maria, here's Ted Rowlands this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In what some say could be the biggest day of the trial thus far, Michael Jackson could find out whether past sexual abuse allegations will be allowed in. Jackson was accused, but never charged, with allegations of abuse in 1993 and '94.

JIM MORET, POOL REPORTER: It's, I believe, do or die for both sides. The material is so potentially prejudicial that even if the groundwork isn't laid sufficiently for this case, if those jurors believe the prior allegations, they may feel Michael Jackson's done this before, he's got to pay now.

MICHAEL JACKSON, ENTERTAINER: I'm totally innocent. And it's just very painful.

ROWLANDS: Over the weekend, Michael Jackson was a guest on Jesse Jackson's radio show, discussing a number of things, including the reason he showed up to court in his pajamas.

JACKSON: I was coming out of the shower, and I fell and all my body weight -- I mean, I'm pretty fragile -- all my body weight fell against my rib cage and I pretty much, I bruised my lung very badly. My lung is on the right. It's very much -- I'm in pain as we speak.

ROWLANDS: Jackson said the pain from his fall is why he was crying one day in court, not the testimony. Jackson also said that news that he may be broke is completely false, and that he finds strength in other African-Americans who he says have been persecuted.

JACKSON: This has been kind of a pattern among black luminaries in this country. I'm handling it by using other people in the past who have gone through this sort of thing. Mandela's story has given me a lot of strength, what he's gone through.

ROWLANDS: Last week in court, a fingerprint expert testified that he found prints from Jackson, the teenage accuser, and the accuser's brother on sexually explicit magazines seized from Jackson's Neverland Ranch. In one instance, a print of Jackson and a print from the accuser was found in this same magazine, but on different pages.

Prosecutors say they plan to call comedian George Lopez as one of their next witnesses. Lopez, who's one of a handful of celebrities that knew and helped raise money for the alleged victim who suffered from cancer.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Santa Maria, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Also, we're told a ruling could come as early as this afternoon. The judge has set aside today's first court session to hear arguments on this matter. We're told he will decide quickly. And some legal analysts say he has likely already made up his mind on this matter -- Carol.

COSTELLO: The unexplained disappearance of a Philadelphia couple has gone on for five weeks now. So far, only dead ends in the search for Richard Petrone, Jr. and Danielle Imbo. They were last seen leaving a bar in Petrone's truck. The truck's not been seen since. The credit cards haven't been used. The cell phones have not been used.

Richard Petrone, Sr., is in Philadelphia this morning.

RICHARD PETRONE, SR., FATHER OF MISSING MAN: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Are there any new leads at all?

PETRONE: Not that I'm aware of. I haven't spoken to the Philadelphia Police today. I will speak to them after 9:00 a.m.

COSTELLO: There's a billboard on 95 asking for information, several Web sites. Any information being garnered from those sources?

PETRONE: There have been tips that come into the crime commission, the Pennsylvania Crime Commission and the police have received tips. But so far, nothing's proved of any help.

COSTELLO: There is new information coming out this morning. According to the Associated Press, Danielle Imbo wanted to break from the relationship with your son. Your reaction to that?

PETRONE: Well, number one, I'm not quite sure who was the source of that story. I don't think it would be fair for me to characterize what Danielle's feelings might have been. The only thing I do know is they had planned to spend the night together at Danielle's apartment. So that's the only fact that I know of.

COSTELLO: Danielle also had an estranged husband. The A.P. reporting that there were threats exchanged between your son and her estranged husband. Do you know anything about that?

PETRONE: Yes, I do.

COSTELLO: Can you tell us more?

PETRONE: On a number of occasions, Joseph Imbo called my son and threatened him repeatedly.

COSTELLO: Craig Mitnick, the liaison between the Imbo family and your family, says that he's coming to the conclusion that this was an organized plot. Does one have anything to do with the other?

PETRONE: I would want to connect that dot, but it definitely seems as though this was not a random act. It seems to be too well- organized and orchestrated. The facts are you have two adults, reasonably happy, no reason for them to be leaving on their own and a truck that have just disappeared from the face of the Earth.

COSTELLO: Now, I know Danielle's estranged husband took a lie detector test. Do you know anything more about that?

PETRONE: No, I don't. No.

COSTELLO: There's a $50,000 reward out. What can people do to help you now?

PETRONE: Anybody that knows anything that could be of help to us, they need to call the Citizens Crime Commission at 215-546-TIPS. And there is a $15,000 reward for information that would provide us with their whereabouts. And if, as we suspect, they've been the victims of foul play, an additional $35,000 is available for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

COSTELLO: Richard Petrone, thank you for joining AMERICAN MORNING this morning.

PETRONE: Thank you very much.

HEMMER: About 21 minutes now past the hour. Did you fill her up this weekend? Did you take note of the price for a gallon of gasoline? Andy is "MINDING YOUR BUSINESS," back to tell us if there's a chance for a break anytime soon. That's next here, live in New York City on a Monday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. Oil prices starting to ease up a bit. Andy Serwer, fresh off a week of vacation, back here to "Mind Your Business."

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" COLUMNIST: Good to see you, too.

HEMMER: Nice to see you. Good morning.

SERWER: It's nice to be back. Good morning.

HEMMER: We missed you.

SERWER: Well, thanks, nice to hear that.

You know, despite this big explosion, deadly refinery explosion in Texas last week at the B.P. factory, gas prices have been on the rise. Oil prices have been declining, however. And this is partly, though, because OPEC says that it was going to be increasing production by half a million barrels a day. When you increase production, the price falls.

There's a little wrinkle here, though. If you read the fine print, OPEC says, well, now that the price of oil has gone from $57 a barrel to $54, we might not, they're saying, because of the fluctuations, as they're calling them, we might not cut or increase production, as it were. But it probably is true. The price of gas will fall now $2.11 nationwide. So, you always see this lag. The price goes up of oil and then gas follows suit. So it's likely that the price of gasoline should fall.

Now, an interesting point here about R.V. sales, though, not being hurt by higher gas prices at all. Numbers just out from last year, R.V. sales up 15 percent. And in January of this year, up 7 percent. I think General Motors Chairman -- Vice Chairman Bob Lutz put it best when he said, rich people just don't care about higher gas prices. I love Bob Lutz.

HEMMER: We can all...

SERWER: Bob Lutz always says it just the way it is.

CAFFERTY: There's a certain clarity in his speech.

COSTELLO: Does he say rich people buy R.V.s and drive across the country? Oh, come on. They buy jets and fly across the country.

SERWER: Well, and SUVs, he's hoping.

HEMMER: Thank you, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

HEMMER: Welcome back again.

SERWER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Time for "The Cafferty File" now.

CAFFERTY: "Question of the Day," Carol, thanks. A million people try to get into this country illegally every year, and a lot of them succeed. Now comes an outfit called the Civil Homeland Defense Corps, fed up with what they see as government inaction. Chris Simcox is the head of an organization that plans to try to do something about it.

"Time" magazine reports this week that a vigilante group called the Minuteman Project will place volunteers at quarter mile intervals along a 50-mile stretch of the Arizona/Mexican border during April. Their purpose, not to confront migrants, but to monitor and report their locations to the U.S. Border Patrol.

Mexicans crossing into this country illegally are not the only problem. There are also other crossers, which are dubbed OTMs by the immigration service. That stands for Other Than Mexicans. Forty- thousand were allowed into the United States last year. If they're not Mexican, they're simply handed a piece of paper ordering them to appear at an immigration hearing and they're allowed in. They rarely show up at hearings, nobody knows what happens to them once they get here.

So here's the question this morning. Should vigilante groups be allowed to patrol U.S. borders? Since the government seems to have neither the will nor the intention of doing anything to protect the security of this country, as relates to securing our borders, maybe it's time for John Q. Citizen to start looking out for his own security in this country.

COSTELLO: Well, the thing is here, I think they're able to carry guns, the Minutemen.

CAFFERTY: Well, in Arizona, you can carry a gun whether you're on border patrol or not. Those Western states, you can carry the gun to the supermarket if you want to, most of them.

COSTELLO: Kind of scary.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack. We'll check it out.

More to come here on AMERICAN MORNING, right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired March 28, 2005 - 07:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Protesters determined to keep Terri Schiavo alive now turning their anger back to Washington, D.C.
The pope's silent Easter message now seen as more powerful than any words could be.

And skyrocketing gas prices. Is some relief now finally in sight? We'll find out on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

HEMMER: Good morning, everybody, on a rainy day here in New York City. Good morning, I'm Bill Hemmer.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Carol Costello, in for Soledad today.

HEMMER: And all week. Buckle up.

COSTELLO: It's nasty outside.

HEMMER: Yes, it is. Good to have you, by the way.

COSTELLO: Thanks.

HEMMER: Also today, some people are calling today the most important day yet in the Michael Jackson trial. A judge expected to make a very important ruling that could virtually put the singer on trial twice, some say. We'll explain that in a moment here.

COSTELLO: Also, the mystery surrounding a young couple in Philadelphia. They vanished without a trace. Was the couple on the verge of a break-up? And how might that change a nationwide search? We'll talk to the father of the young man about that.

HEMMER: Also on Monday, the day after Easter Sunday. Here's Jack Cafferty. Good morning.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Bill. We're going to tell you about a do-it-yourself border patrol. A group of private citizens who are fed up with the federal government's inability or unwillingness to do anything about the flood of illegal immigration to this country are going to organize and take a shot at it themselves.

COSTELLO: I guess he's done.

HEMMER: This is your cue.

CAFFERTY: Did the microphones go off? See, when I stop talking, that's usually an indication that I don't have anything else.

COSTELLO: I was so involved in what you were saying, I was like -- I had no words.

CAFFERTY: On "DAYBREAK," you're there by yourself. But here, you've got to kind of be aware that there's ensemble that's more than -- you know what I'm saying?

COSTELLO: OK, thanks, Jack.

It has been nearly 10 days now since Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed. An attorney for her parents says she is, quote, "past the point of no return." Even so, supporters of Schiavo's parents are going to Capitol Hill to continue their fight to keep Terri alive.

CNN's Bob Franken live in Pinellas Park at Terri Schiavo's hospice. Good morning, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. They're going, they say, because they are calling on Congress to put its action where its words were. There were some subpoenas that a committee in the Senate had put out to try and prevent Terri Schiavo from going without a feeding tube reconnected, and now they're going to demand that those subpoenas be enforced.

Meanwhile, yesterday, communion was administered to Terri Schiavo. That has taken a considerable amount of negotiation, but a small bit of wine was touched to her lips. No wafer. This was because it was a special occasion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): Easter Sunday, a day of celebration for Christians, but for most here, a day of sadness and defiance.

CROWD: Let Terri live!

FRANKEN: The severely disabled protesters were helped out of their wheelchairs to lay down on the ground at one of the entrances to Terri Schiavo's hospice. Their act of civil disobedience.

UNKNOWN MALE: All Terri needs is a wheelchair and a (INAUDIBLE), and she can live in the (INAUDIBLE) at home with her family like the rest of us.

FRANKEN: The protests intensified, in spite of requests from Terri Schiavo's blood relatives for the demonstrators to stay away.

BOBBY SCHINDLER, TERRI SCHIAVO'S BROTHER: We're not going to solve this problem today by getting arrested. We think we can change the laws, OK? But it's not going to change today. Getting arrested doesn't help.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't disagree. I don't disagree. but the symbolic...

FRANKEN: Another group went to the home of Michael Schiavo to protest his insistence that the time had come for his wife to die.

Back at the hospice, protest leaders try and pressure Governor Jeb Bush.

LARRY KLAYMAN, JUDICIAL WATCH: Now, the governor has said that he wants to err on the side of life. I hope he doesn't decide to err on the side of the polls.

REV. PATRICK MAHONEY, CHRISTIAN DEFENSE COALITION: Terri has fought to be alive until tomorrow. We are going to Washington, D.C. to say to speaker Hastert, enforce the order.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: So, as you can see and hear, the volume is raising here. Meanwhile, inside, the peacefulness of the hospice, life is slipping away for Terri Schiavo -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So, Bob, these protesters go to Washington. Can they really accomplish anything?

FRANKEN: Well, they think so. What happened, of course, is a little over a week ago, Congress had an extraordinary session. There was a massive amount of rhetoric. The people here are saying, OK, it's time to find out if that was just politics or principle.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Bob Franken, live in Florida this morning, Thank you.

HEMMER: This morning, Pope John Paul II missed another Easter celebration for the first time in his 26-year papacy. He missed this morning's blessing traditionally marking the end of Holy Week celebrations. The pope did appear yesterday in St. Peter's Square, but he was not able to speak. Here's Alessio Vinci this morning for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As expected, the pope didn't preside over the long Easter mass, which he followed on television from his study. But at the end of it, as a top cardinal was preparing to read the pope's traditional Easter Sunday blessing, the frail figure of the 84-year-old pontiff emerged.

The crowd below broke into a long applause. Some were overwhelmed. The pope sat for almost 15 minutes while the cardinal read his message calling for peace in Africa and the Middle East and for all those suffering from hunger and poverty.

At one point, he tried to utter a few words, but simply couldn't. Unable to bless the crowd with words, he used his hand.

Pilgrims and tourists, including those who hours earlier had only hoped to see him felt rewarded.

ELISE VETZEL, PILGRIM: I just felt completely unified with, like, all the people there and all the people, you know, watching on television. So, it was a very glorious moment, I thought.

KATIE HAMMOND, PILGRIM: The whole thing was beautiful. What I thought was best was just the crowd's reaction to him. You could tell that everyone was so pleased that he was well enough to come and greet everyone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Alessio Vinci reporting from Vatican City.

Our Vatican analyst John Allen is back with us. He's in Rome. John, good morning to you over there, where it's just a bit past noon. What do we know, John, at this point, based on what the Vatican is or is not saying, about the true condition of the pope today?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: Hi, Bill. Well, the truth is the Vatican is not saying very much. Since John Paul returned from Rome's Gemelli Hospital to the Vatican on March 13th, there have been no new medical bulletins. So we're restricted to sort of reading the tea leaves, in terms of pontiff's public appearances, yesterday being the fifth appearance since the return from the hospital.

It did seem, I think, to most observers that the pope looked stronger yesterday in that more than 12-minute appearance at the window than he had the previous Wednesday, when he was there for less than a minute and was obviously in pain. You know, as Alessio's report indicated, he was unable to speak, but he did seem composed, obviously engaged with what was going on. At one point, he was following his message, the text of his message, as Cardinal Sodano read it.

So I think it was a somewhat reassuring appearance yesterday, although obviously leaving open some very big questions about what the pope is going to be capable of in the future. Chief among them, of course, his ability to speak.

HEMMER: And one of those ultimate questions is whether or not we have seen him for the last time or perhaps maybe one of the final times for the pope. Is there much talk about that today in Rome, John?

ALLEN: Oh, there's some talk about that in the papers, Bill, but I mean, I think those of us who follow this pope realize that he has been written off so many times before, that it's never wise to do it. I mean, you know, there's an old saying around town that John Paul keeps outliving predictions of his demise. And so I certainly wouldn't put any money on yesterday being his last public appearance.

HEMMER: What is lost, then, John, as you go forward here, if this is as much as the pope can do, going forward?

ALLEN: Well you know, if you talk to Vatican officials, what they will tell you is that, in terms of routine business of the Vatican, there's not much slippage these days. I mean, the pope has, after all, been running the church for almost 27 years now. His key aides know his mind quite well.

And so when questions that have previously come up come up again, things like the Terri Schiavo case, the pope has provided clear guidance in terms of the culture of life. His aides are very capable of carrying out that advocacy.

What's missing, I think, and what many Vatican officials would say, is the element of surprise. That is, that new direction, that twist, that unanticipatable leap of imagination that only a pope can provide. As one Vatican official put it to me a couple days ago, what will be missing is the papal verve.

HEMMER: And the papal verve is what, then John?

ALLEN: Well, you know, it's that bolt out of the blue that you couldn't see coming. I mean, for example, when John Paul II in 1986 called together the leaders of the world religions with him in Assisi to pray together for peace, stood in a circle with shamans and rabbis and muftis, suggesting a kind of rough equality among them all. I mean, that was something that had just never been done before, in terms of papal protocol. It was a very difficult pill to swallow for some of his own aides.

Or more recently, in 2002, when the pope apologized to the Greek Orthodox for Fourth Crusade and the mistreatment of the Eastern church by the West. That, too, was something that no one saw coming. And increasingly, his capacity to do the unexpected, simply due to his health and his overall energy levels, will, of course, be quite reduced.

HEMMER: John Allen, CNN Vatican analyst from Rome. John, thanks for your time, as always.

ALLEN: Good day, Bill.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Listen, the Final Four is set. And a great set of games over the weekend. Illinois will play Louisville this coming weekend. North Carolina will play Michigan State. All four now headed to St. Louis for the Final Four. Three of the four NCAA regional finals went to overtime. It has never happened like that before. Last night, here's how Kentucky ended the game with a roller from three and they had to, what? Hold the game up for about 10 minutes, make sure he wasn't on the line. The bucket counted.

Kentucky forced the overtime, then another overtime. However, Michigan State prevailed. This was one tough team yesterday. So Michigan State wins the thriller, 94-88 over Kentucky. And as we mentioned, Illinois will play Louisville. Great games for the NCAA this weekend. I don't know how you can script that any better, in terms of sheer excitement, down to the wire.

COSTELLO: So much better than pro basketball.

HEMMER: True.

COSTELLO: I'm telling you. The games were so much more exciting, so much more fan participation.

HEMMER: And we're that much closer to a conclusion this weekend.

COSTELLO: The Michael Jackson trial enters its fifth week today, but a special hearing could make it the most important day of the case yet. We'll take a closer look.

HEMMER: Also, the mysterious disappearance of a young couple. Was there an organized plot to harm them? We'll look at that.

COSTELLO: And a new perspective on the Iraq war. Incredible pictures taken for a unique tribute. Two soldier photographers join us, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Michael Jackson's trial resumes a bit later this morning in California with the judge set to decide on an issue that could go a very long way in determining Jackson's fate. In Santa Maria, here's Ted Rowlands this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In what some say could be the biggest day of the trial thus far, Michael Jackson could find out whether past sexual abuse allegations will be allowed in. Jackson was accused, but never charged, with allegations of abuse in 1993 and '94.

JIM MORET, POOL REPORTER: It's, I believe, do or die for both sides. The material is so potentially prejudicial that even if the groundwork isn't laid sufficiently for this case, if those jurors believe the prior allegations, they may feel Michael Jackson's done this before, he's got to pay now.

MICHAEL JACKSON, ENTERTAINER: I'm totally innocent. And it's just very painful.

ROWLANDS: Over the weekend, Michael Jackson was a guest on Jesse Jackson's radio show, discussing a number of things, including the reason he showed up to court in his pajamas.

JACKSON: I was coming out of the shower, and I fell and all my body weight -- I mean, I'm pretty fragile -- all my body weight fell against my rib cage and I pretty much, I bruised my lung very badly. My lung is on the right. It's very much -- I'm in pain as we speak.

ROWLANDS: Jackson said the pain from his fall is why he was crying one day in court, not the testimony. Jackson also said that news that he may be broke is completely false, and that he finds strength in other African-Americans who he says have been persecuted.

JACKSON: This has been kind of a pattern among black luminaries in this country. I'm handling it by using other people in the past who have gone through this sort of thing. Mandela's story has given me a lot of strength, what he's gone through.

ROWLANDS: Last week in court, a fingerprint expert testified that he found prints from Jackson, the teenage accuser, and the accuser's brother on sexually explicit magazines seized from Jackson's Neverland Ranch. In one instance, a print of Jackson and a print from the accuser was found in this same magazine, but on different pages.

Prosecutors say they plan to call comedian George Lopez as one of their next witnesses. Lopez, who's one of a handful of celebrities that knew and helped raise money for the alleged victim who suffered from cancer.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Santa Maria, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Also, we're told a ruling could come as early as this afternoon. The judge has set aside today's first court session to hear arguments on this matter. We're told he will decide quickly. And some legal analysts say he has likely already made up his mind on this matter -- Carol.

COSTELLO: The unexplained disappearance of a Philadelphia couple has gone on for five weeks now. So far, only dead ends in the search for Richard Petrone, Jr. and Danielle Imbo. They were last seen leaving a bar in Petrone's truck. The truck's not been seen since. The credit cards haven't been used. The cell phones have not been used.

Richard Petrone, Sr., is in Philadelphia this morning.

RICHARD PETRONE, SR., FATHER OF MISSING MAN: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Are there any new leads at all?

PETRONE: Not that I'm aware of. I haven't spoken to the Philadelphia Police today. I will speak to them after 9:00 a.m.

COSTELLO: There's a billboard on 95 asking for information, several Web sites. Any information being garnered from those sources?

PETRONE: There have been tips that come into the crime commission, the Pennsylvania Crime Commission and the police have received tips. But so far, nothing's proved of any help.

COSTELLO: There is new information coming out this morning. According to the Associated Press, Danielle Imbo wanted to break from the relationship with your son. Your reaction to that?

PETRONE: Well, number one, I'm not quite sure who was the source of that story. I don't think it would be fair for me to characterize what Danielle's feelings might have been. The only thing I do know is they had planned to spend the night together at Danielle's apartment. So that's the only fact that I know of.

COSTELLO: Danielle also had an estranged husband. The A.P. reporting that there were threats exchanged between your son and her estranged husband. Do you know anything about that?

PETRONE: Yes, I do.

COSTELLO: Can you tell us more?

PETRONE: On a number of occasions, Joseph Imbo called my son and threatened him repeatedly.

COSTELLO: Craig Mitnick, the liaison between the Imbo family and your family, says that he's coming to the conclusion that this was an organized plot. Does one have anything to do with the other?

PETRONE: I would want to connect that dot, but it definitely seems as though this was not a random act. It seems to be too well- organized and orchestrated. The facts are you have two adults, reasonably happy, no reason for them to be leaving on their own and a truck that have just disappeared from the face of the Earth.

COSTELLO: Now, I know Danielle's estranged husband took a lie detector test. Do you know anything more about that?

PETRONE: No, I don't. No.

COSTELLO: There's a $50,000 reward out. What can people do to help you now?

PETRONE: Anybody that knows anything that could be of help to us, they need to call the Citizens Crime Commission at 215-546-TIPS. And there is a $15,000 reward for information that would provide us with their whereabouts. And if, as we suspect, they've been the victims of foul play, an additional $35,000 is available for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

COSTELLO: Richard Petrone, thank you for joining AMERICAN MORNING this morning.

PETRONE: Thank you very much.

HEMMER: About 21 minutes now past the hour. Did you fill her up this weekend? Did you take note of the price for a gallon of gasoline? Andy is "MINDING YOUR BUSINESS," back to tell us if there's a chance for a break anytime soon. That's next here, live in New York City on a Monday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. Oil prices starting to ease up a bit. Andy Serwer, fresh off a week of vacation, back here to "Mind Your Business."

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" COLUMNIST: Good to see you, too.

HEMMER: Nice to see you. Good morning.

SERWER: It's nice to be back. Good morning.

HEMMER: We missed you.

SERWER: Well, thanks, nice to hear that.

You know, despite this big explosion, deadly refinery explosion in Texas last week at the B.P. factory, gas prices have been on the rise. Oil prices have been declining, however. And this is partly, though, because OPEC says that it was going to be increasing production by half a million barrels a day. When you increase production, the price falls.

There's a little wrinkle here, though. If you read the fine print, OPEC says, well, now that the price of oil has gone from $57 a barrel to $54, we might not, they're saying, because of the fluctuations, as they're calling them, we might not cut or increase production, as it were. But it probably is true. The price of gas will fall now $2.11 nationwide. So, you always see this lag. The price goes up of oil and then gas follows suit. So it's likely that the price of gasoline should fall.

Now, an interesting point here about R.V. sales, though, not being hurt by higher gas prices at all. Numbers just out from last year, R.V. sales up 15 percent. And in January of this year, up 7 percent. I think General Motors Chairman -- Vice Chairman Bob Lutz put it best when he said, rich people just don't care about higher gas prices. I love Bob Lutz.

HEMMER: We can all...

SERWER: Bob Lutz always says it just the way it is.

CAFFERTY: There's a certain clarity in his speech.

COSTELLO: Does he say rich people buy R.V.s and drive across the country? Oh, come on. They buy jets and fly across the country.

SERWER: Well, and SUVs, he's hoping.

HEMMER: Thank you, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

HEMMER: Welcome back again.

SERWER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Time for "The Cafferty File" now.

CAFFERTY: "Question of the Day," Carol, thanks. A million people try to get into this country illegally every year, and a lot of them succeed. Now comes an outfit called the Civil Homeland Defense Corps, fed up with what they see as government inaction. Chris Simcox is the head of an organization that plans to try to do something about it.

"Time" magazine reports this week that a vigilante group called the Minuteman Project will place volunteers at quarter mile intervals along a 50-mile stretch of the Arizona/Mexican border during April. Their purpose, not to confront migrants, but to monitor and report their locations to the U.S. Border Patrol.

Mexicans crossing into this country illegally are not the only problem. There are also other crossers, which are dubbed OTMs by the immigration service. That stands for Other Than Mexicans. Forty- thousand were allowed into the United States last year. If they're not Mexican, they're simply handed a piece of paper ordering them to appear at an immigration hearing and they're allowed in. They rarely show up at hearings, nobody knows what happens to them once they get here.

So here's the question this morning. Should vigilante groups be allowed to patrol U.S. borders? Since the government seems to have neither the will nor the intention of doing anything to protect the security of this country, as relates to securing our borders, maybe it's time for John Q. Citizen to start looking out for his own security in this country.

COSTELLO: Well, the thing is here, I think they're able to carry guns, the Minutemen.

CAFFERTY: Well, in Arizona, you can carry a gun whether you're on border patrol or not. Those Western states, you can carry the gun to the supermarket if you want to, most of them.

COSTELLO: Kind of scary.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack. We'll check it out.

More to come here on AMERICAN MORNING, right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com