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President Bush and American Delegation On Way to Rome; Update From Vatican

Aired April 06, 2005 - 07:28   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, everyone. I'm Bill Hemmer again reporting live from Rome, Italy, today. In a moment, we should hear from the Vatican spokesperson and learn more details about the pope's funeral on Friday.
And Soledad is back in New York.

Good morning again to you.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you, Bill.

Lots more to talk about from this side of the globe as well this morning, and something about the pope as well. President Bush, the first lady, Laura Bush, the rest of the American delegation, in fact, are on their way to Rome. CNN's Dana Bash live for us at the White House with more on that. And also, more on why one prominent American will not be attending the pope's funeral.

Let's get right to Dana this morning.

Hey, Dana, good morning to you. A very small delegation, we talked about that yesterday. But who is not attending?

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Soledad.

Well, of course, we do have a very small delegation, very exclusive. And I'll tell you, first perhaps, who is attending. There you see President Bush. He is en route as we speak, just left here moments ago. Who is attending? First, President Bush, the first lady. You see them there. The president's father, George H.W. Bush. President Clinton and the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice. And that is a remarkably high-ranking group.

Just to put it into context, the last time a pope died, Soledad, 1978, then-President Carter sent his mother, Lillian, to attend. So, it just goes to show what a difference it is in terms of times and in terms of how people see this particular pope.

O'BRIEN: It's kind of a surprise, isn't it, that, in fact, President Carter is not going to be part of this delegation going to this funeral for this pope?

BASH: That's right. And essentially, what the White House says, Soledad, is that he was invited, and there was a little bit of a back and forth over the last 24 hours over whether he would come. And then a Carter spokesman said once he realized that it would such an exclusive, such a limited group, he decided to give up his place for somebody else. That, of course, as we saw, it looks like it is Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of State.

Now, President Carter did issue a statement saying that he will always relish the memories -- you see there from 1979 -- of his times with the pope. But both the White House and President Carter's office insist that there was no snub here at all, no hard feelings -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: It sounds incredibly generous, I think it's fair to say, on the part of President Carter. At the same time, when everybody is arguing about space, you think, OK, aren't there like 40 congressmen going on this trip?

BASH: It's true, Soledad. Of course, the official delegation is just those five people we were talking about. But there were a lot of members of Congress who said they, too, wanted to go and pay their respects, despite the fact that the White House said their goal was to really limit it, because of the masses of people who were going to be descending on the Vatican.

But leaders of the House and Senate put together two groups. In the House, about 14 people -- excuse me -- the Senate, 14 people, including the majority leader, the Democrat from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy. On the House side, we have leaders from both parties, in addition to some others, about 26 going from the House.

There was some question about whether or not they would actually get in at all. At this point, we are hearing from Capitol Hill that perhaps the Vatican will try to make some special arrangements for them to get in -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: One would imagine that they are certainly going to try. Dana Bash at the White House for us this morning. Dana, thanks.

It's time to check the headlines now with Carol Costello.

Good morning to you.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad. Good morning to all of you.

"Now in the News."

A shootout in India-controlled Kashmir after suspected rebels forced their way into a government building. Officials say gunshots were fired at more than two dozen passengers, hoping to travel on the first Indian/Pakistan bus across Kashmir. These pictures are just coming in to us at CNN. Four people injured and maybe more. We'll keep you posted.

Monaco is mourning the loss of Prince Rainier. He died today in the hospital, where he was admitted nearly one month ago with lung, heart and kidney problems. The prince was given credit for putting and keeping Monaco on the map. He dies after more than half a century on the throne at the age of 81. His son, Albert, takes over. Iraq has its first democratically-elected president. Just about four hours ago, the 275-member National Assembly chose a Kurdish leader to head the country. The group also elected two vice presidents. The vote took place in a televised session reportedly made available to the ousted president, Saddam Hussein.

Terri Schiavo's name will be heard on Capitol Hill today. Congress is looking at whether the treatment of disabled people should be better defined. Some 800 people remembered Schiavo Tuesday at a funeral mass, arranged by her parents in Gulfport, Florida. Michael Schiavo was not there. He's holding on to his wife's cremated remains and plans to bury them in a separate service in Pennsylvania.

And listen to this very strange story. A Chinese food delivery man is recovering this morning after being trapped in a New York elevator for 80 hours. He was in there for four days. The man spoke through a translator, thanking a group of firefighters who found him in a Bronx high-rise building. He was in the elevator. He had delivered food to that apartment building, got in the elevator and the elevator got stuck. They didn't find him for four days, as I said, even though they had police combing the area. There's a lot of controversy in New York about that this morning.

Let's head back to Rome now, though, to talk more of Pope John Paul and Bill Hemmer.

Good morning.

HEMMER: Hey, Carol, thank you.

Watching the room here at the Vatican, the spokespeople are now in that room. We've been waiting for this press conference for about an hour now. We may learn new details on when the conclave will begin, and we may learn new details, too, on what is contained in the will of Pope John Paul II.

Let's listen now.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

JOAQUIN NAVARRO-VALLS, VATICAN SPOKESMAN (through translator): ... some diocese, others abroad. In the general congregation of today, the cardinals were informed about the official delegations from throughout the world, and they will be there at the funeral on Friday morning. Likewise, delegations from different Christian denominations and religions.

Tomorrow, we will be able to give the list, because we cannot do this today since some names are still missing. They will attend the funeral. Tomorrow, I hope to give you the full list.

The cardinals considered certain issues, special issues concerning the burial. And, as we said, this, of course, on Friday and then afterwards, there will be nine days. They, too, also considered the different chapels. I add, it's a technical issue, these nine days and nine masses that have to be celebrated. Why are some of the chapels called papal chapels? Because during other masses, some groups are invited, that diocese or that other one. People who work at the Vatican, the papal chapels, these three, will be more open and less specific with regard to the number of participants.

Then, this morning, what was also taken into account was the request, which arrived from different parts, the request to carry the body on Friday the 8th, after the requiem mass and before the burial to the basilica of St. John Lateran. Many requests have been made for this to take place so that the faithful in Rome and outside Rome who have come and were not able to come to pay their respects to St. Peter's. This is not really possible, because technically this really wouldn't be possible to do that, although there have been these requests to move the body. The faithful who will be there will have to follow the ceremony on the screens, which will also be placed there.

This morning, I recall the time of the jubilee for the young. Some crowds had to be in St. Peter's Square, some members of the faithful had to be at St. John Lateran. Therefore, as announced, the burial will be in the crypt of the Vatican immediately after the mass as already forecast yesterday.

Then, the will of the Holy Father was read, and the publication, the full text will be in -- will be given tomorrow. This will be read in public tomorrow in the original text, in Polish, and then in Italian. Of course, one has to prepare all this. There is already a first Italian translation, but it has to be revised.

Then, the beginning of the conclave will be on Monday, 18 of April, in the morning at 10:00, and we'll confirm this. There be a mass in St. Peter's to elect a pope. And then in the afternoon, the cardinals will enter for the conclave until the election of the new pontiff.

Last point, and refers to a certain interest by the public. I can confirm that the Holy Father, before dying, did not give a name for a cardinal, and this was also in 2003.

So, there's no further question on this. These are the points we have today, and I hope that tomorrow we will have a full list either tomorrow morning or tomorrow afternoon.

HEMMER: Listening to the spokesperson there, Joaquin Navarro- Valls. Really three headlines that come out of that. The will has not been read yet. It will be read tomorrow. This time yesterday, we had been told the will had not even been opened yet. Also, the conclave will begin on Monday, April 18. Monday, April 18. There will be a mass there in the morning. The conclave begins at 10:00 a.m. That means there will be one vote that afternoon. And then after that, they'll get two votes in the morning and two votes in the afternoon. We'll all watch that chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel.

And the other bit of news there, there was no secret cardinal appointed by this pope. There were a lot of rumors throughout Rome over the past several days that he had appointed a secret cardinal to be revealed after he dies. But apparently that, however, is not the case.

He has made countless appointments, though, over his 26-year papacy. But the very first appointment he ever made was picking an Irish priest to be his personal secretary.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BISHOP JOHN MAGEE, SECRETARY TO POPE JOHN PAUL II: So my heart is broken. I loved him.

HEMMER (voice over): Bishop John Magee is remembering a man he considered his father. For nine years, Magee was the personal assistant to the pope. Few have seen him so close.

MAGEE: And so, I was in charge of arranging all of that in every country.

HEMMER: In 64 countries, he was at the pontiff's side, planning nearly every stop. There was the line of 10 million in Mexico, the crowd of 5 million for a single mass in Manila.

MAGEE: And the way he did touch them, you know, he had no inhibitions whatsoever about giving a kiss or touching the cheek. He was totally at home.

HEMMER: Bishop Magee found a man with a sense of humor and a love for sports, skiing and swimming among his favorites. But nothing prepared him for this week and the sight of seeing his friend gone from this world.

MAGEE: I was very sad to see the state in which his face was, because I knew him in the years when he was in full health. It shows on his face. It's not the Pope John Paul II that I knew.

HEMMER: He is left with memories and a ring on his finger, given to him by the Holy Father.

And this week, as more memories come back, Bishop Magee thinks this crowd is exactly what the pope would like to see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, he's at peace with God, and this is -- this river of humanity that is now going towards the basilica to pay their respects to that most beautiful man. I think in the history of the world, I don't think there is any human being that has captured the hearts of so many.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Bishop Magee, so many memories throughout the week here.

Again, the headlines of the Vatican at this hour, the conclave begins on Monday, April 18, and the will will be made public tomorrow, on Thursday, from the Vatican. The cardinals getting a chance to see that in the past several hours. As our coverage continues tomorrow, I want to let you know the people responsible for keeping the Vatican and the pope safe is the Swiss Guard. They have been doing that job for close to 500 years. An exclusive look at their job tomorrow. Back in a moment here live in Italy after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Jack is tackling the wealth gap this morning with the "Question of the Day."

Good morning.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: How are you doing?

O'BRIEN: Never better. And you?

CAFFERTY: Charles Barkley is going to be on in a little while, you said.

O'BRIEN: He is.

CAFFERTY: "Who's Afraid of a Tall Black Man?" That's the name of his book.

O'BRIEN: That's a good title of his book.

CAFFERTY: He's a funny guy.

O'BRIEN: It's a good book, too.

CAFFERTY: African-Americans are falling farther behind when it comes to their economic status. A National Urban League annual report due out today says that African-Americans have achieved only 57 percent of the economic status than whites. The unemployment gap widened last year, 10.8 percent for blacks versus 4.7 percent for whites. The financial progress made by blacks in the 1990s appears to be stalling out.

The question this morning is: What should be done to close the wealth gap between blacks and whites in this country?

Pamela in Michigan: "Start by giving an equal opportunity to learn. Stop leaving children behind, and you'll find a great opportunity for people of all races to close the wealth gap."

D.W. in California: "The black people should do the same thing that women have done to equalize the gap between the pay of men and women -- try to do a better job than the white people, and then raise hell if they don't get equal treatment."

John in Connecticut: "In a world where the black youth are told 'bling bling' is where it's at, the black community has a lot of work to do on its own to change the views of its youth. They can't all be rap or NBA or MLB or NFL stars."

Paul in Pennsylvania: "Perhaps it would help if we educated everyone to the fact that a paycheck and a welfare check are not the same thing."

And Peter in Virginia writes: "People will argue that affirmative action is no longer needed. The fact that this topic is being discussed illustrates that it is."

O'BRIEN: Yes, it's interesting the one writer talks about the black community having to sort of deal with the rap issue and, I think, values issue. And a lot of that, again, is in this book and some of the black leaders talking about that.

CAFFERTY: That's the subject of those controversial speeches Bill Cosby made, too, remember a year or so ago when he said that the black community is not doing its share...

O'BRIEN: I remember...

CAFFERTY: ... to solve the problem.

O'BRIEN: ... how some people were up in arms about that. So maybe that wasn't necessarily the right time for that conversation.

CAFFERTY: Well, if it had been anybody but Bill Cosby making that speech, the repercussions probably would have been a lot worse.

O'BRIEN: Exactly. If you think about it, the repercussions that he faced from that already were pretty strong.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

O'BRIEN: And that was Bill Cosby. You know, talk about a guy who has a right to say that. All right, Jack, thanks. We'll talk more about that.

"90-Second Pop" is straight ahead this morning. So just how is married life treating Britney Spears and her new husband? America is about to find out. Believe it or not, they have got a brand new TV show starring the newlyweds themselves. A look at that is up next on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: I like that song. I like Lisa Marie Presley.

TOURE, CNN POP CULTURE CORRESPONDENT: It's awful, awful.

O'BRIEN: It is not awful. We'll get to that in a moment.

Welcome back, everybody. It's time for another edition of "90- Second Pop." And that means it's time to round up the usual suspects. Andy Borowitz over at Borowitzreport.com. Karyn Bryant, a co-host of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" on HEADLINE NEWS. And Toure, CNN's pop culture correspondent. We'll get back to a moment. And it's not your topic. So you just...

TOURE: Can we skip it?

O'BRIEN: No, we're not going to skip it. I like that song.

This morning, though, we are talking about Britney Spears. It's been so long.

KARYN BRYANT, CNN CO-HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Britney.

O'BRIEN: OK. She's got a new, essentially, the newlyweds.

BRYANT: Basically, she and her husband, Kevin Federline, are going to be putting on a six-episode show on the UPN of their marriage, everything from when they first got together to their wedding.

O'BRIEN: I thought we already knew all of it.

BRYANT: Well, this is from their...

ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Oh, no, a lot of gaps we need to fill in.

BRYANT: Yes. And they filmed all of this themselves. So basically that means that the whole time they were dating, they were filming it, which I find a little bit suspect anyway.

TOURE: It's a little weird.

BRYANT: But it's all their own footage, and then they'll also do sort of wraparounds and new information. But the new deal is that they are not even really staying together right now. Their house in Malibu is being renovated, and the word is that they're using separate rooms in a hotel in Santa Monica.

O'BRIEN: Well, it's been, what, two months. That is way longer than other marriages have lasted in Hollywood.

BRYANT: I mean, it will be like "The Newlyweds," I suppose. It could be car wreck television. I don't know.

TOURE: I don't know if it's going to be like "The Newlyweds." Britney is slowly talking her way out of popularity. America has loved her, but she, like, wants to get rid of that. I mean, it's, like, amazing how relationships change, how people think of you. Like, when Jessica Simpson adds Nick to her life, we love her more. K-Fed comes along, we like her less.

O'BRIEN: It's a little...

TOURE: And this is not going to help.

BOROWITZ: The show sounds boring. I think it would be great if they had a format more like "American Idol," where we at home got to vote one of them out of the marriage.

O'BRIEN: Nice.

BOROWITZ: I think that would roll.

O'BRIEN: That would be very funny actually. Here is what she said about it. I am now going to be expressing my personal life through art.

BRYANT: That's right.

O'BRIEN: I had to read that, like, six times.

BRYANT: Well...

O'BRIEN: Art is your new reality show about yourself?

BRYANT: Well, she says that there has been so much rumor and speculation that they, you know, want to set the record straight.

TOURE: The show is...

O'BRIEN: Is it speculation if it's all true?

TOURE: Well, the show that I want to see is the "Behind-the- Music" 10 years from now, where she's fat, chewing gum, like, divorced, K-Fed has all the money. That's the one I want to see.

BOROWITZ: You don't have to wait 10 years, dude. It's coming.

O'BRIEN: All right, let's move on, because I want to talk about Lisa Marie Presley.

TOURE: Oh!

O'BRIEN: You know what? Ignore you. Let's play a little clip and let the viewers decide.

TOURE: No! My ears!

O'BRIEN: It's not so bad. It kind of fits her style more than things of the past.

TOURE: It's like bad Pet Benatar.

O'BRIEN: No, it's not.

TOURE: It is.

O'BRIEN: What do you think, Andy?

BOROWITZ: Well, you know, it's a question of a like it's that's old song, "Dirty Laundry." And we wonder why remake this song? And she had a reason. She actually pronounces it dirty loundry (ph). So I think that was reason enough.

O'BRIEN: Bring it back. All right.

BOROWITZ: Yes, I think so.

O'BRIEN: The record, you know, she has Linda Perry helping her write, who has written big songs for Pink, and Pink actually appears on the record as well. It's just very so what, I guess, is the thing. It's so it's much better than her last effort is what I'm trying to say.

(CROSSTALK)

TOURE: Better than bad...

O'BRIEN: Yes.

TOURE: ... is not good.

O'BRIEN: Yes, it's not good. It's still OK.

BOROWITZ: Did you see Lisa Marie and Priscilla on "Oprah?"

O'BRIEN: Yes.

BOROWITZ: No, maybe I...

O'BRIEN: Talk about consummating the marriage with Michael Jackson.

BOROWITZ: We're the only one who knows this, but now Priscilla Presley actually now looks younger than Lisa Marie. And if we follow those trend lines, like, in 20 years Lisa Marie is going to look like an old lady and Priscilla will look like an infant.

TOURE: There's an edge in Lisa Marie's eyes, right? It's not in her music at all. It's like Muzak. I mean, like bad Pat Benatar, bad Gwen Stefani. Like, it's just bad.

BRYANT: That is the thing. It seems like it's style without substance and some of the songs are just...

O'BRIEN: Shocking in music today.

BRYANT: It's great for maybe a teenager or a pre-teenager or something like that. But I think anybody over 16...

TOURE: No, no, don't give the kids the bad music.

BRYANT: Well, I...

TOURE: Tell them to listen to Beck.

BRYANT: Right.

TOURE: Good music, Aero, Beck, get that.

O'BRIEN: I don't think it's so bad. I wouldn't necessarily run out and buy it, but I don't think it's so bad. And you know what? The great thing about having a show is you can say, and that's the final word this morning. You guys, as always...

TOURE: That's it?

O'BRIEN: We're out of time. Sorry. We'll see you back here later this week, though. Thank you guys, appreciate it. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," we should mention, with Karyn and her co-host, A.J. Hammer, airs live on Headline News at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Tonight, they've got a behind-the-scenes look at "All My Children." Like Erica Cane herself, the star Susan Lucci.

A look at today's top stories are straight ahead as well. Also, former basketball star Charles Barkley talks about racism, steroids and the state of the NBA. He's got a new book out. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

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 April 6, 2005 - 07:28   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, everyone. I'm Bill Hemmer again reporting live from Rome, Italy, today. In a moment, we should hear from the Vatican spokesperson and learn more details about the pope's funeral on Friday.
And Soledad is back in New York.

Good morning again to you.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you, Bill.

Lots more to talk about from this side of the globe as well this morning, and something about the pope as well. President Bush, the first lady, Laura Bush, the rest of the American delegation, in fact, are on their way to Rome. CNN's Dana Bash live for us at the White House with more on that. And also, more on why one prominent American will not be attending the pope's funeral.

Let's get right to Dana this morning.

Hey, Dana, good morning to you. A very small delegation, we talked about that yesterday. But who is not attending?

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Soledad.

Well, of course, we do have a very small delegation, very exclusive. And I'll tell you, first perhaps, who is attending. There you see President Bush. He is en route as we speak, just left here moments ago. Who is attending? First, President Bush, the first lady. You see them there. The president's father, George H.W. Bush. President Clinton and the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice. And that is a remarkably high-ranking group.

Just to put it into context, the last time a pope died, Soledad, 1978, then-President Carter sent his mother, Lillian, to attend. So, it just goes to show what a difference it is in terms of times and in terms of how people see this particular pope.

O'BRIEN: It's kind of a surprise, isn't it, that, in fact, President Carter is not going to be part of this delegation going to this funeral for this pope?

BASH: That's right. And essentially, what the White House says, Soledad, is that he was invited, and there was a little bit of a back and forth over the last 24 hours over whether he would come. And then a Carter spokesman said once he realized that it would such an exclusive, such a limited group, he decided to give up his place for somebody else. That, of course, as we saw, it looks like it is Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of State.

Now, President Carter did issue a statement saying that he will always relish the memories -- you see there from 1979 -- of his times with the pope. But both the White House and President Carter's office insist that there was no snub here at all, no hard feelings -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: It sounds incredibly generous, I think it's fair to say, on the part of President Carter. At the same time, when everybody is arguing about space, you think, OK, aren't there like 40 congressmen going on this trip?

BASH: It's true, Soledad. Of course, the official delegation is just those five people we were talking about. But there were a lot of members of Congress who said they, too, wanted to go and pay their respects, despite the fact that the White House said their goal was to really limit it, because of the masses of people who were going to be descending on the Vatican.

But leaders of the House and Senate put together two groups. In the House, about 14 people -- excuse me -- the Senate, 14 people, including the majority leader, the Democrat from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy. On the House side, we have leaders from both parties, in addition to some others, about 26 going from the House.

There was some question about whether or not they would actually get in at all. At this point, we are hearing from Capitol Hill that perhaps the Vatican will try to make some special arrangements for them to get in -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: One would imagine that they are certainly going to try. Dana Bash at the White House for us this morning. Dana, thanks.

It's time to check the headlines now with Carol Costello.

Good morning to you.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad. Good morning to all of you.

"Now in the News."

A shootout in India-controlled Kashmir after suspected rebels forced their way into a government building. Officials say gunshots were fired at more than two dozen passengers, hoping to travel on the first Indian/Pakistan bus across Kashmir. These pictures are just coming in to us at CNN. Four people injured and maybe more. We'll keep you posted.

Monaco is mourning the loss of Prince Rainier. He died today in the hospital, where he was admitted nearly one month ago with lung, heart and kidney problems. The prince was given credit for putting and keeping Monaco on the map. He dies after more than half a century on the throne at the age of 81. His son, Albert, takes over. Iraq has its first democratically-elected president. Just about four hours ago, the 275-member National Assembly chose a Kurdish leader to head the country. The group also elected two vice presidents. The vote took place in a televised session reportedly made available to the ousted president, Saddam Hussein.

Terri Schiavo's name will be heard on Capitol Hill today. Congress is looking at whether the treatment of disabled people should be better defined. Some 800 people remembered Schiavo Tuesday at a funeral mass, arranged by her parents in Gulfport, Florida. Michael Schiavo was not there. He's holding on to his wife's cremated remains and plans to bury them in a separate service in Pennsylvania.

And listen to this very strange story. A Chinese food delivery man is recovering this morning after being trapped in a New York elevator for 80 hours. He was in there for four days. The man spoke through a translator, thanking a group of firefighters who found him in a Bronx high-rise building. He was in the elevator. He had delivered food to that apartment building, got in the elevator and the elevator got stuck. They didn't find him for four days, as I said, even though they had police combing the area. There's a lot of controversy in New York about that this morning.

Let's head back to Rome now, though, to talk more of Pope John Paul and Bill Hemmer.

Good morning.

HEMMER: Hey, Carol, thank you.

Watching the room here at the Vatican, the spokespeople are now in that room. We've been waiting for this press conference for about an hour now. We may learn new details on when the conclave will begin, and we may learn new details, too, on what is contained in the will of Pope John Paul II.

Let's listen now.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

JOAQUIN NAVARRO-VALLS, VATICAN SPOKESMAN (through translator): ... some diocese, others abroad. In the general congregation of today, the cardinals were informed about the official delegations from throughout the world, and they will be there at the funeral on Friday morning. Likewise, delegations from different Christian denominations and religions.

Tomorrow, we will be able to give the list, because we cannot do this today since some names are still missing. They will attend the funeral. Tomorrow, I hope to give you the full list.

The cardinals considered certain issues, special issues concerning the burial. And, as we said, this, of course, on Friday and then afterwards, there will be nine days. They, too, also considered the different chapels. I add, it's a technical issue, these nine days and nine masses that have to be celebrated. Why are some of the chapels called papal chapels? Because during other masses, some groups are invited, that diocese or that other one. People who work at the Vatican, the papal chapels, these three, will be more open and less specific with regard to the number of participants.

Then, this morning, what was also taken into account was the request, which arrived from different parts, the request to carry the body on Friday the 8th, after the requiem mass and before the burial to the basilica of St. John Lateran. Many requests have been made for this to take place so that the faithful in Rome and outside Rome who have come and were not able to come to pay their respects to St. Peter's. This is not really possible, because technically this really wouldn't be possible to do that, although there have been these requests to move the body. The faithful who will be there will have to follow the ceremony on the screens, which will also be placed there.

This morning, I recall the time of the jubilee for the young. Some crowds had to be in St. Peter's Square, some members of the faithful had to be at St. John Lateran. Therefore, as announced, the burial will be in the crypt of the Vatican immediately after the mass as already forecast yesterday.

Then, the will of the Holy Father was read, and the publication, the full text will be in -- will be given tomorrow. This will be read in public tomorrow in the original text, in Polish, and then in Italian. Of course, one has to prepare all this. There is already a first Italian translation, but it has to be revised.

Then, the beginning of the conclave will be on Monday, 18 of April, in the morning at 10:00, and we'll confirm this. There be a mass in St. Peter's to elect a pope. And then in the afternoon, the cardinals will enter for the conclave until the election of the new pontiff.

Last point, and refers to a certain interest by the public. I can confirm that the Holy Father, before dying, did not give a name for a cardinal, and this was also in 2003.

So, there's no further question on this. These are the points we have today, and I hope that tomorrow we will have a full list either tomorrow morning or tomorrow afternoon.

HEMMER: Listening to the spokesperson there, Joaquin Navarro- Valls. Really three headlines that come out of that. The will has not been read yet. It will be read tomorrow. This time yesterday, we had been told the will had not even been opened yet. Also, the conclave will begin on Monday, April 18. Monday, April 18. There will be a mass there in the morning. The conclave begins at 10:00 a.m. That means there will be one vote that afternoon. And then after that, they'll get two votes in the morning and two votes in the afternoon. We'll all watch that chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel.

And the other bit of news there, there was no secret cardinal appointed by this pope. There were a lot of rumors throughout Rome over the past several days that he had appointed a secret cardinal to be revealed after he dies. But apparently that, however, is not the case.

He has made countless appointments, though, over his 26-year papacy. But the very first appointment he ever made was picking an Irish priest to be his personal secretary.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BISHOP JOHN MAGEE, SECRETARY TO POPE JOHN PAUL II: So my heart is broken. I loved him.

HEMMER (voice over): Bishop John Magee is remembering a man he considered his father. For nine years, Magee was the personal assistant to the pope. Few have seen him so close.

MAGEE: And so, I was in charge of arranging all of that in every country.

HEMMER: In 64 countries, he was at the pontiff's side, planning nearly every stop. There was the line of 10 million in Mexico, the crowd of 5 million for a single mass in Manila.

MAGEE: And the way he did touch them, you know, he had no inhibitions whatsoever about giving a kiss or touching the cheek. He was totally at home.

HEMMER: Bishop Magee found a man with a sense of humor and a love for sports, skiing and swimming among his favorites. But nothing prepared him for this week and the sight of seeing his friend gone from this world.

MAGEE: I was very sad to see the state in which his face was, because I knew him in the years when he was in full health. It shows on his face. It's not the Pope John Paul II that I knew.

HEMMER: He is left with memories and a ring on his finger, given to him by the Holy Father.

And this week, as more memories come back, Bishop Magee thinks this crowd is exactly what the pope would like to see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, he's at peace with God, and this is -- this river of humanity that is now going towards the basilica to pay their respects to that most beautiful man. I think in the history of the world, I don't think there is any human being that has captured the hearts of so many.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Bishop Magee, so many memories throughout the week here.

Again, the headlines of the Vatican at this hour, the conclave begins on Monday, April 18, and the will will be made public tomorrow, on Thursday, from the Vatican. The cardinals getting a chance to see that in the past several hours. As our coverage continues tomorrow, I want to let you know the people responsible for keeping the Vatican and the pope safe is the Swiss Guard. They have been doing that job for close to 500 years. An exclusive look at their job tomorrow. Back in a moment here live in Italy after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Jack is tackling the wealth gap this morning with the "Question of the Day."

Good morning.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: How are you doing?

O'BRIEN: Never better. And you?

CAFFERTY: Charles Barkley is going to be on in a little while, you said.

O'BRIEN: He is.

CAFFERTY: "Who's Afraid of a Tall Black Man?" That's the name of his book.

O'BRIEN: That's a good title of his book.

CAFFERTY: He's a funny guy.

O'BRIEN: It's a good book, too.

CAFFERTY: African-Americans are falling farther behind when it comes to their economic status. A National Urban League annual report due out today says that African-Americans have achieved only 57 percent of the economic status than whites. The unemployment gap widened last year, 10.8 percent for blacks versus 4.7 percent for whites. The financial progress made by blacks in the 1990s appears to be stalling out.

The question this morning is: What should be done to close the wealth gap between blacks and whites in this country?

Pamela in Michigan: "Start by giving an equal opportunity to learn. Stop leaving children behind, and you'll find a great opportunity for people of all races to close the wealth gap."

D.W. in California: "The black people should do the same thing that women have done to equalize the gap between the pay of men and women -- try to do a better job than the white people, and then raise hell if they don't get equal treatment."

John in Connecticut: "In a world where the black youth are told 'bling bling' is where it's at, the black community has a lot of work to do on its own to change the views of its youth. They can't all be rap or NBA or MLB or NFL stars."

Paul in Pennsylvania: "Perhaps it would help if we educated everyone to the fact that a paycheck and a welfare check are not the same thing."

And Peter in Virginia writes: "People will argue that affirmative action is no longer needed. The fact that this topic is being discussed illustrates that it is."

O'BRIEN: Yes, it's interesting the one writer talks about the black community having to sort of deal with the rap issue and, I think, values issue. And a lot of that, again, is in this book and some of the black leaders talking about that.

CAFFERTY: That's the subject of those controversial speeches Bill Cosby made, too, remember a year or so ago when he said that the black community is not doing its share...

O'BRIEN: I remember...

CAFFERTY: ... to solve the problem.

O'BRIEN: ... how some people were up in arms about that. So maybe that wasn't necessarily the right time for that conversation.

CAFFERTY: Well, if it had been anybody but Bill Cosby making that speech, the repercussions probably would have been a lot worse.

O'BRIEN: Exactly. If you think about it, the repercussions that he faced from that already were pretty strong.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

O'BRIEN: And that was Bill Cosby. You know, talk about a guy who has a right to say that. All right, Jack, thanks. We'll talk more about that.

"90-Second Pop" is straight ahead this morning. So just how is married life treating Britney Spears and her new husband? America is about to find out. Believe it or not, they have got a brand new TV show starring the newlyweds themselves. A look at that is up next on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: I like that song. I like Lisa Marie Presley.

TOURE, CNN POP CULTURE CORRESPONDENT: It's awful, awful.

O'BRIEN: It is not awful. We'll get to that in a moment.

Welcome back, everybody. It's time for another edition of "90- Second Pop." And that means it's time to round up the usual suspects. Andy Borowitz over at Borowitzreport.com. Karyn Bryant, a co-host of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" on HEADLINE NEWS. And Toure, CNN's pop culture correspondent. We'll get back to a moment. And it's not your topic. So you just...

TOURE: Can we skip it?

O'BRIEN: No, we're not going to skip it. I like that song.

This morning, though, we are talking about Britney Spears. It's been so long.

KARYN BRYANT, CNN CO-HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Britney.

O'BRIEN: OK. She's got a new, essentially, the newlyweds.

BRYANT: Basically, she and her husband, Kevin Federline, are going to be putting on a six-episode show on the UPN of their marriage, everything from when they first got together to their wedding.

O'BRIEN: I thought we already knew all of it.

BRYANT: Well, this is from their...

ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Oh, no, a lot of gaps we need to fill in.

BRYANT: Yes. And they filmed all of this themselves. So basically that means that the whole time they were dating, they were filming it, which I find a little bit suspect anyway.

TOURE: It's a little weird.

BRYANT: But it's all their own footage, and then they'll also do sort of wraparounds and new information. But the new deal is that they are not even really staying together right now. Their house in Malibu is being renovated, and the word is that they're using separate rooms in a hotel in Santa Monica.

O'BRIEN: Well, it's been, what, two months. That is way longer than other marriages have lasted in Hollywood.

BRYANT: I mean, it will be like "The Newlyweds," I suppose. It could be car wreck television. I don't know.

TOURE: I don't know if it's going to be like "The Newlyweds." Britney is slowly talking her way out of popularity. America has loved her, but she, like, wants to get rid of that. I mean, it's, like, amazing how relationships change, how people think of you. Like, when Jessica Simpson adds Nick to her life, we love her more. K-Fed comes along, we like her less.

O'BRIEN: It's a little...

TOURE: And this is not going to help.

BOROWITZ: The show sounds boring. I think it would be great if they had a format more like "American Idol," where we at home got to vote one of them out of the marriage.

O'BRIEN: Nice.

BOROWITZ: I think that would roll.

O'BRIEN: That would be very funny actually. Here is what she said about it. I am now going to be expressing my personal life through art.

BRYANT: That's right.

O'BRIEN: I had to read that, like, six times.

BRYANT: Well...

O'BRIEN: Art is your new reality show about yourself?

BRYANT: Well, she says that there has been so much rumor and speculation that they, you know, want to set the record straight.

TOURE: The show is...

O'BRIEN: Is it speculation if it's all true?

TOURE: Well, the show that I want to see is the "Behind-the- Music" 10 years from now, where she's fat, chewing gum, like, divorced, K-Fed has all the money. That's the one I want to see.

BOROWITZ: You don't have to wait 10 years, dude. It's coming.

O'BRIEN: All right, let's move on, because I want to talk about Lisa Marie Presley.

TOURE: Oh!

O'BRIEN: You know what? Ignore you. Let's play a little clip and let the viewers decide.

TOURE: No! My ears!

O'BRIEN: It's not so bad. It kind of fits her style more than things of the past.

TOURE: It's like bad Pet Benatar.

O'BRIEN: No, it's not.

TOURE: It is.

O'BRIEN: What do you think, Andy?

BOROWITZ: Well, you know, it's a question of a like it's that's old song, "Dirty Laundry." And we wonder why remake this song? And she had a reason. She actually pronounces it dirty loundry (ph). So I think that was reason enough.

O'BRIEN: Bring it back. All right.

BOROWITZ: Yes, I think so.

O'BRIEN: The record, you know, she has Linda Perry helping her write, who has written big songs for Pink, and Pink actually appears on the record as well. It's just very so what, I guess, is the thing. It's so it's much better than her last effort is what I'm trying to say.

(CROSSTALK)

TOURE: Better than bad...

O'BRIEN: Yes.

TOURE: ... is not good.

O'BRIEN: Yes, it's not good. It's still OK.

BOROWITZ: Did you see Lisa Marie and Priscilla on "Oprah?"

O'BRIEN: Yes.

BOROWITZ: No, maybe I...

O'BRIEN: Talk about consummating the marriage with Michael Jackson.

BOROWITZ: We're the only one who knows this, but now Priscilla Presley actually now looks younger than Lisa Marie. And if we follow those trend lines, like, in 20 years Lisa Marie is going to look like an old lady and Priscilla will look like an infant.

TOURE: There's an edge in Lisa Marie's eyes, right? It's not in her music at all. It's like Muzak. I mean, like bad Pat Benatar, bad Gwen Stefani. Like, it's just bad.

BRYANT: That is the thing. It seems like it's style without substance and some of the songs are just...

O'BRIEN: Shocking in music today.

BRYANT: It's great for maybe a teenager or a pre-teenager or something like that. But I think anybody over 16...

TOURE: No, no, don't give the kids the bad music.

BRYANT: Well, I...

TOURE: Tell them to listen to Beck.

BRYANT: Right.

TOURE: Good music, Aero, Beck, get that.

O'BRIEN: I don't think it's so bad. I wouldn't necessarily run out and buy it, but I don't think it's so bad. And you know what? The great thing about having a show is you can say, and that's the final word this morning. You guys, as always...

TOURE: That's it?

O'BRIEN: We're out of time. Sorry. We'll see you back here later this week, though. Thank you guys, appreciate it. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," we should mention, with Karyn and her co-host, A.J. Hammer, airs live on Headline News at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Tonight, they've got a behind-the-scenes look at "All My Children." Like Erica Cane herself, the star Susan Lucci.

A look at today's top stories are straight ahead as well. Also, former basketball star Charles Barkley talks about racism, steroids and the state of the NBA. He's got a new book out. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

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