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CNN Live Today

The Pope is Laid to Rest; Gas Prices Hits Record; Jessica Lunsford Alive During Search

Aired April 08, 2005 - 10:00   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan. Let's take a look at what is happening now in the news.
It's being described as the largest gathering of the powerful and humble in modern times. Tens of thousands gathering in St. Peter's Square, millions in front of their TVs to witness the funeral of Pope John Paul II. In one minute, we'll take to you Rome as pilgrims recount an emotional day at the Vatican, and relive some of the pageantry and prayer of today's event.

U.S. troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan will soon be able to wear these new medals reflecting their overseas tours of duty. The Pentagon officials say that more than a million U.S. military service members are qualified for the newly authorized medals.

A judge hears arguments today on whether to release the remainder of a sheriff's report on last month's deadly courthouse shooting in Atlanta. An attorney for suspect Brian Nichols says witness statements in the report could jeopardize Nichols' right to a fair trial. Nichols has yet to be charged with that killed four people, including a judge.

And ouch! Gas prices set yet another new record. The average cost for regular unleaded is now at $2.26 a gallon. The American Automobile Association says for the first time, prices have topped $2 a gallon in all 50 states.

I'm Daryn Kagan. Good morning. I'm at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

We are following the funeral of Pope John Paul II. John Paul II's body has been carried to its final resting place. But many pilgrims who participated in the Mass linger in Vatican City.

Our Aaron Brown joins me now, picking up our coverage from St. Peter's Square.

Aaron, hello and welcome.

AARON BROWN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Thank you, Daryn. Good morning again, everyone. The square behind us, St. Peter's Square, behind me, largely empty now. The streets of Rome packed. The service itself, ancient ritual, and a modern day happening, pin dropping silence, resounding applause, a day of contrast in that respect.

It's impossible to sum up the entire Mass in five or six or seven short minutes. But here's a flavor of what unfolded today as the world said good-bye to Pope John Paul II.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(APPLAUSE)

(CHOIR)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Brothers and sisters, present here in St. Peter's Square is the very spirit of Christ in the waves of silver, in the roads of Rome, especially in this huge crowd, which is silent and in prayer.

From the moment he was a young student, John Paul, Karol Wojtyla was a great lover of literature and poetry. Working in a chemical factory, surrounded by the Nazi terror, he heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Follow me." In 1978, Cardinal Wojtyla, he did once again hear the voice of the Lord. He renewed his dialogue with Peter. And as it says in the Gospel, "Dost thou love me, Simon, John of Peter? In that case, feed my flock."

The archbishop of Krakow asks him the same question in the name of Christ. And Karol Wojtyla replies in exactly the same way as Simon, son of Peter.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The life of Christ was the dominant feature of our beloved Holy Father. And he who has seen him pray and preach knows that full well. And it is thanks to this being profoundly entrenched in Christ, we can be sure that our beloved pope is now at the window of the house of his Father. And he sees us, and he blesses us. He is looking at us, and blessing us.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He is looking at us, and blessing us.

(CHOIR)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Through Him, with Him, in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit let us in the spirit of the resurrected Christ give each other a sign of peace.

(CHOIR)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.

Christ is risen from the dead, destroying death by death. And to those of the tombs, he has given life.

(APPLAUSE) (CHANTING)

(CHOIR)

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The funeral of John Paul II condensed in 10 minutes. If you missed the entirety and want to see it, 7:00 Eastern Time on CNN. All across prime time tonight we'll re-air the funeral that took place here in Rome.

The homily was given by Cardinal Ratzinger. The German cardinal, at 78, considered often the best theological mind in the church, and considered a possible successor to John Paul as well.

We have more coverage here from Rome. We take a break first. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: I am Daryn Kagan. We're going to have other news of the day in just a moment. Right now though, let's continue our coverage of the funeral of Pope John Paul II. Aaron Brown is in Vatican City -- Aaron.

BROWN: Delia Gallagher is with us. Delia has helped us understand all of this over the last days.

Here's a question for you. You have had this unbelievable outpouring, saw signs this morning, sainthood now. Is there in that a kind of problem for the church tomorrow, in this sense. It has to pick someone to follow that.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: I don't think it's a problem, Aaron. I think that it's definitely a mandate for whoever comes after him. He's going to have to be somebody who is able in some way to carry on that great legacy of communication that this pope had.

But I think that this pope was so able to do that because of his own personality. And so we'll have to see the next man, how he will be able to rise to the occasion, as it were. And use the legacy of John Paul II. And use the youth and that enthusiasm, and continue it. Carry it forward. It's not a problem. But it is something, which the next pope will have to continue.

BROWN: I was struck by just coming here this morning, as people were filing away, how many were young.

GALLAGHER: Yes.

BROWN: Now, part of that, I think, is young people are the sort of people who come to events, to happenings.

GALLAGHER: Very enthusiastic. They're the most enthusiastic for sure.

BROWN: It's a lot harder for a 70-year-old to make their way through the crowd. At the same time, it's obviously that relationship. Does it suggest, one way or another, that the cardinals might look for a transitional pope, someone older, to get us -- to get the church to the next period, or not?

GALLAGHER: Well, there is a theory that they want a transitional pope in order to allow this great enthusiasm to sort of meld, as it were, you know.

BROWN: It is an almost symbol in an odd way.

GALLAGHER: Yes, because everybody's on a great high from this pope. And it will be very difficult for another man to come in and just sort of change night and day. So it would have to be something gradual with a pope, transitional or not.

And of course, it's difficult to speak of a transitional pope. Because even if he's older, we don't know how long that papacy could last.

BROWN: Absolutely, a 78-year-old man these days could be vigorous for 10, 15 more years.

GALLAGHER: Exactly. Exactly. And I think that the youth element is of course an important element in the church. It always has been. But you know, John Paul II used to say that his charisma is not -- the excitement of youth for him was not about him. It was about his papacy.

And let me just say that, in these days, I have been considering, we have been elegizing this pope and talking in such enthusiastic terms about him. And I wonder at some point, would he really like that?

BROWN: I thought about that a lot.

GALLAGHER: Yes.

BROWN: I've thought about that an awful lot. And in part, I suspect he would find it a bit over the top, the emphasis onto him.

GALLAGHER: Exactly.

BROWN: Lower case him.

GALLAGHER: Exactly.

BROWN: Not capital letter him.

GALLAGHER: Because his point -- his message wasn't about him. It's about something...

BROWN: It's about him. GALLAGHER: ... other than him. And so I think that that's what he means when he says it's not about me. It's about the Chair of Peter. It's about the Catholic Church.

BROWN: But it was in the respect about him.

GALLAGHER: Yes, it was about him insofar as he just had this tremendous charisma. But I do think that he's right in the sense that another cardinal, who becomes pope, can grow into that as well. You know, we're in a media age. And I think that a lot of the cardinals have wonderful characteristics that just will be brought out once they're made pope.

And I don't see any reason why the next pope can't take that enthusiasm that Pope John Paul II had and use it.

BROWN: Well, that story develops in a couple of weeks, 10 days from now. It's nice to see you. We'll see you more this afternoon.

We'll talk to Delia, more coverage here from Rome as the day goes on.

And quite a day it's been -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Aaron, thank you. We're going to have much more coverage from Rome as you were mentioning.

Also, there is a lot of news of the day to get to. We're going to do that, including the gas prices. Is there any relief in sight? We'll have that.

And Gerri Willis stops by with her "Top Five Tips." We'll get to all that after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, if you were with us yesterday, you know we talked about the best way to go about building your dream house. Now, we're going to find a way for how to pay for it.

Today, CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis has the "Top Five Tips" for securing the best mortgage, which is true, even if you're not doing your dream house.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN-FN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: That's right. Any house at all, right, Daryn?

KAGAN: Absolutely.

WILLIS: Happy Friday.

KAGAN: To you, too.

WILLIS: Tip No. 1, fatten your file. You know, Daryn, a lot of people think that as long as I have good credit, everything is wonderful. That's true. But if you have no credit, you're in big trouble. If you're one of those people out there who admirably so, pay all your debts with cash, maybe you have a checking account, no credit cards, you're going to be in trouble when it comes to getting a mortgage.

You actually have to have a credit file. The institutions that issue credit have to know about you and have seen a track record. So if you don't already have two credit cards, you should go get two. And pay them off over time so they know they can trust you when it comes to a big loan.

KAGAN: And Gerri, there's people out there talking about the credit bureaus. We need to know what they're saying about us.

WILLIS: That's right. Absolutely right, Daryn. You know, you've got check on your credit report. I talk about this all time. Experian, TransUnion, Equifax, they're the big credit bureaus out there that gather up information on you and keep an eye on just how good you are paying your bills.

They take all of this information and synthesize it to one number. You need this as well, your credit score. Because this is what a lender is going to use to tell you exactly how much money you can borrow and at what rate.

KAGAN: And I like this idea, if you want to clean up your house, your credit house, get someone else to pay for it.

WILLIS: Exactly. Here's the deal. Once you get this credit report, like it as not, I'm telling you, this happens all the time. You'll find some mistake that is not n your favor on your credit report. It makes you look bad. You got to get rid of it.

But if you're already in the process of buying a home and trying to get everything done, the T's crossed and the I's dotted, you want to get it fixed quickly. It's difficult to do on your own. A mortgage broker or even a lender can help you find a reseller. Now, that's somebody who is a professional at fixing up these reports quickly.

Now, be careful not to use a reseller on your own. Find somebody by yourself in the Yellow Pages or somewhere else. It could be a problem. You want expert help at figuring out this problem. Go to your mortgage broker first.

KAGAN: So Gerri, that credit score number you were talking about, that's not an absolute score. There's some wiggle room in there.

WILLIS: Well, you bet. You know, here's the deal. At the end of the day, your lending officer is going to decide exactly how much money he or she will lend you, and at what rate. So it pays to understand exactly what rate of interest your score translates into.

And there's a handy-dandy Web site, myfico.com has something called a Loan Savings Calculator that will actually tell you probably what you're going to get. KAGAN: Ha!

WILLIS: Now, if you're not getting that rate, you can start negotiating. If you don't even like that rate, you can still negotiate. Because at end of the day, there's a little wiggle room in everything.

KAGAN: All right. And then the final tip, something we -- most of us like to do, shop, shop, shop!

WILLIS: Yes, it's not as much fun when you're shopping for loans unfortunately.

KAGAN: Not like a great purse or good pair of shoes.

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIS: Exactly, but a half percent rate difference on a $100,000 loan will cost you $360 a year.

KAGAN: Wow!

WILLIS: Think about it. You could be going shopping for something else really fun, if only you get the lowest rate and the best deal. Talk to lots of mortgage lenders. Use the web as your tool to find out where the best deals are. And then negotiate, Daryn.

KAGAN: Gerri Willis, I bet there's a lot of folks planning on going and looking at houses this weekend, and you gave them some good tips as they head out the door.

WILLIS: Hope so.

KAGAN: Thank you. Have a great weekend.

WILLIS: You, too. Thanks.

KAGAN: Let's move on and take a look at what's happening now in the news.

You're listening to sounds of pilgrims clapping and chanting, "Santo, Santo," at the funeral of Pope John Paul II today. More than 100,000 people packed St. Peter's Square. That chant of "Santo" was a call for John II to be canonized. The crowd also cheered as the pope's coffin was turned to them one final time. John Paul's body was then carried inside St. Peter's Basilica for burial.

Here in the U.S., Jessica Lunsford may have been alive when officers visited a home where her alleged killer was staying. Deputies made two trips to John Couey's half sister's home after the Florida girl disappeared. According to court papers, Couey told investigators he was hiding in the house during the second visit.

Investigators say Couey denied that anyone else in the house knew he kidnapped the girl and held her there. Gas prices set yet another record in the U.S. The American Automobile Association says the price for unleaded regular now averages $2.26 a gallon. And for the first time, prices topped $2 a gallon in all 50 states.

And NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue faces a deadline today. The House Government Reform Committee wants Tagliabue to provide information on the league's steroid testing policy. The panel also wants to know how many players have tested positive for banned substances. Last month, the committee questioned Major League Baseball players about steroid abuse.

A pilgrimage to see the pope. Two students who traveled from Belgium to the pope's funeral. They were there this morning in the square. They're going to join me and share their thoughts with us when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.

(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 April 8, 2005 - 10:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan. Let's take a look at what is happening now in the news.
It's being described as the largest gathering of the powerful and humble in modern times. Tens of thousands gathering in St. Peter's Square, millions in front of their TVs to witness the funeral of Pope John Paul II. In one minute, we'll take to you Rome as pilgrims recount an emotional day at the Vatican, and relive some of the pageantry and prayer of today's event.

U.S. troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan will soon be able to wear these new medals reflecting their overseas tours of duty. The Pentagon officials say that more than a million U.S. military service members are qualified for the newly authorized medals.

A judge hears arguments today on whether to release the remainder of a sheriff's report on last month's deadly courthouse shooting in Atlanta. An attorney for suspect Brian Nichols says witness statements in the report could jeopardize Nichols' right to a fair trial. Nichols has yet to be charged with that killed four people, including a judge.

And ouch! Gas prices set yet another new record. The average cost for regular unleaded is now at $2.26 a gallon. The American Automobile Association says for the first time, prices have topped $2 a gallon in all 50 states.

I'm Daryn Kagan. Good morning. I'm at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

We are following the funeral of Pope John Paul II. John Paul II's body has been carried to its final resting place. But many pilgrims who participated in the Mass linger in Vatican City.

Our Aaron Brown joins me now, picking up our coverage from St. Peter's Square.

Aaron, hello and welcome.

AARON BROWN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Thank you, Daryn. Good morning again, everyone. The square behind us, St. Peter's Square, behind me, largely empty now. The streets of Rome packed. The service itself, ancient ritual, and a modern day happening, pin dropping silence, resounding applause, a day of contrast in that respect.

It's impossible to sum up the entire Mass in five or six or seven short minutes. But here's a flavor of what unfolded today as the world said good-bye to Pope John Paul II.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(APPLAUSE)

(CHOIR)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Brothers and sisters, present here in St. Peter's Square is the very spirit of Christ in the waves of silver, in the roads of Rome, especially in this huge crowd, which is silent and in prayer.

From the moment he was a young student, John Paul, Karol Wojtyla was a great lover of literature and poetry. Working in a chemical factory, surrounded by the Nazi terror, he heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Follow me." In 1978, Cardinal Wojtyla, he did once again hear the voice of the Lord. He renewed his dialogue with Peter. And as it says in the Gospel, "Dost thou love me, Simon, John of Peter? In that case, feed my flock."

The archbishop of Krakow asks him the same question in the name of Christ. And Karol Wojtyla replies in exactly the same way as Simon, son of Peter.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The life of Christ was the dominant feature of our beloved Holy Father. And he who has seen him pray and preach knows that full well. And it is thanks to this being profoundly entrenched in Christ, we can be sure that our beloved pope is now at the window of the house of his Father. And he sees us, and he blesses us. He is looking at us, and blessing us.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He is looking at us, and blessing us.

(CHOIR)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Through Him, with Him, in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit let us in the spirit of the resurrected Christ give each other a sign of peace.

(CHOIR)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.

Christ is risen from the dead, destroying death by death. And to those of the tombs, he has given life.

(APPLAUSE) (CHANTING)

(CHOIR)

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The funeral of John Paul II condensed in 10 minutes. If you missed the entirety and want to see it, 7:00 Eastern Time on CNN. All across prime time tonight we'll re-air the funeral that took place here in Rome.

The homily was given by Cardinal Ratzinger. The German cardinal, at 78, considered often the best theological mind in the church, and considered a possible successor to John Paul as well.

We have more coverage here from Rome. We take a break first. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: I am Daryn Kagan. We're going to have other news of the day in just a moment. Right now though, let's continue our coverage of the funeral of Pope John Paul II. Aaron Brown is in Vatican City -- Aaron.

BROWN: Delia Gallagher is with us. Delia has helped us understand all of this over the last days.

Here's a question for you. You have had this unbelievable outpouring, saw signs this morning, sainthood now. Is there in that a kind of problem for the church tomorrow, in this sense. It has to pick someone to follow that.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: I don't think it's a problem, Aaron. I think that it's definitely a mandate for whoever comes after him. He's going to have to be somebody who is able in some way to carry on that great legacy of communication that this pope had.

But I think that this pope was so able to do that because of his own personality. And so we'll have to see the next man, how he will be able to rise to the occasion, as it were. And use the legacy of John Paul II. And use the youth and that enthusiasm, and continue it. Carry it forward. It's not a problem. But it is something, which the next pope will have to continue.

BROWN: I was struck by just coming here this morning, as people were filing away, how many were young.

GALLAGHER: Yes.

BROWN: Now, part of that, I think, is young people are the sort of people who come to events, to happenings.

GALLAGHER: Very enthusiastic. They're the most enthusiastic for sure.

BROWN: It's a lot harder for a 70-year-old to make their way through the crowd. At the same time, it's obviously that relationship. Does it suggest, one way or another, that the cardinals might look for a transitional pope, someone older, to get us -- to get the church to the next period, or not?

GALLAGHER: Well, there is a theory that they want a transitional pope in order to allow this great enthusiasm to sort of meld, as it were, you know.

BROWN: It is an almost symbol in an odd way.

GALLAGHER: Yes, because everybody's on a great high from this pope. And it will be very difficult for another man to come in and just sort of change night and day. So it would have to be something gradual with a pope, transitional or not.

And of course, it's difficult to speak of a transitional pope. Because even if he's older, we don't know how long that papacy could last.

BROWN: Absolutely, a 78-year-old man these days could be vigorous for 10, 15 more years.

GALLAGHER: Exactly. Exactly. And I think that the youth element is of course an important element in the church. It always has been. But you know, John Paul II used to say that his charisma is not -- the excitement of youth for him was not about him. It was about his papacy.

And let me just say that, in these days, I have been considering, we have been elegizing this pope and talking in such enthusiastic terms about him. And I wonder at some point, would he really like that?

BROWN: I thought about that a lot.

GALLAGHER: Yes.

BROWN: I've thought about that an awful lot. And in part, I suspect he would find it a bit over the top, the emphasis onto him.

GALLAGHER: Exactly.

BROWN: Lower case him.

GALLAGHER: Exactly.

BROWN: Not capital letter him.

GALLAGHER: Because his point -- his message wasn't about him. It's about something...

BROWN: It's about him. GALLAGHER: ... other than him. And so I think that that's what he means when he says it's not about me. It's about the Chair of Peter. It's about the Catholic Church.

BROWN: But it was in the respect about him.

GALLAGHER: Yes, it was about him insofar as he just had this tremendous charisma. But I do think that he's right in the sense that another cardinal, who becomes pope, can grow into that as well. You know, we're in a media age. And I think that a lot of the cardinals have wonderful characteristics that just will be brought out once they're made pope.

And I don't see any reason why the next pope can't take that enthusiasm that Pope John Paul II had and use it.

BROWN: Well, that story develops in a couple of weeks, 10 days from now. It's nice to see you. We'll see you more this afternoon.

We'll talk to Delia, more coverage here from Rome as the day goes on.

And quite a day it's been -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Aaron, thank you. We're going to have much more coverage from Rome as you were mentioning.

Also, there is a lot of news of the day to get to. We're going to do that, including the gas prices. Is there any relief in sight? We'll have that.

And Gerri Willis stops by with her "Top Five Tips." We'll get to all that after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, if you were with us yesterday, you know we talked about the best way to go about building your dream house. Now, we're going to find a way for how to pay for it.

Today, CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis has the "Top Five Tips" for securing the best mortgage, which is true, even if you're not doing your dream house.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN-FN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: That's right. Any house at all, right, Daryn?

KAGAN: Absolutely.

WILLIS: Happy Friday.

KAGAN: To you, too.

WILLIS: Tip No. 1, fatten your file. You know, Daryn, a lot of people think that as long as I have good credit, everything is wonderful. That's true. But if you have no credit, you're in big trouble. If you're one of those people out there who admirably so, pay all your debts with cash, maybe you have a checking account, no credit cards, you're going to be in trouble when it comes to getting a mortgage.

You actually have to have a credit file. The institutions that issue credit have to know about you and have seen a track record. So if you don't already have two credit cards, you should go get two. And pay them off over time so they know they can trust you when it comes to a big loan.

KAGAN: And Gerri, there's people out there talking about the credit bureaus. We need to know what they're saying about us.

WILLIS: That's right. Absolutely right, Daryn. You know, you've got check on your credit report. I talk about this all time. Experian, TransUnion, Equifax, they're the big credit bureaus out there that gather up information on you and keep an eye on just how good you are paying your bills.

They take all of this information and synthesize it to one number. You need this as well, your credit score. Because this is what a lender is going to use to tell you exactly how much money you can borrow and at what rate.

KAGAN: And I like this idea, if you want to clean up your house, your credit house, get someone else to pay for it.

WILLIS: Exactly. Here's the deal. Once you get this credit report, like it as not, I'm telling you, this happens all the time. You'll find some mistake that is not n your favor on your credit report. It makes you look bad. You got to get rid of it.

But if you're already in the process of buying a home and trying to get everything done, the T's crossed and the I's dotted, you want to get it fixed quickly. It's difficult to do on your own. A mortgage broker or even a lender can help you find a reseller. Now, that's somebody who is a professional at fixing up these reports quickly.

Now, be careful not to use a reseller on your own. Find somebody by yourself in the Yellow Pages or somewhere else. It could be a problem. You want expert help at figuring out this problem. Go to your mortgage broker first.

KAGAN: So Gerri, that credit score number you were talking about, that's not an absolute score. There's some wiggle room in there.

WILLIS: Well, you bet. You know, here's the deal. At the end of the day, your lending officer is going to decide exactly how much money he or she will lend you, and at what rate. So it pays to understand exactly what rate of interest your score translates into.

And there's a handy-dandy Web site, myfico.com has something called a Loan Savings Calculator that will actually tell you probably what you're going to get. KAGAN: Ha!

WILLIS: Now, if you're not getting that rate, you can start negotiating. If you don't even like that rate, you can still negotiate. Because at end of the day, there's a little wiggle room in everything.

KAGAN: All right. And then the final tip, something we -- most of us like to do, shop, shop, shop!

WILLIS: Yes, it's not as much fun when you're shopping for loans unfortunately.

KAGAN: Not like a great purse or good pair of shoes.

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIS: Exactly, but a half percent rate difference on a $100,000 loan will cost you $360 a year.

KAGAN: Wow!

WILLIS: Think about it. You could be going shopping for something else really fun, if only you get the lowest rate and the best deal. Talk to lots of mortgage lenders. Use the web as your tool to find out where the best deals are. And then negotiate, Daryn.

KAGAN: Gerri Willis, I bet there's a lot of folks planning on going and looking at houses this weekend, and you gave them some good tips as they head out the door.

WILLIS: Hope so.

KAGAN: Thank you. Have a great weekend.

WILLIS: You, too. Thanks.

KAGAN: Let's move on and take a look at what's happening now in the news.

You're listening to sounds of pilgrims clapping and chanting, "Santo, Santo," at the funeral of Pope John Paul II today. More than 100,000 people packed St. Peter's Square. That chant of "Santo" was a call for John II to be canonized. The crowd also cheered as the pope's coffin was turned to them one final time. John Paul's body was then carried inside St. Peter's Basilica for burial.

Here in the U.S., Jessica Lunsford may have been alive when officers visited a home where her alleged killer was staying. Deputies made two trips to John Couey's half sister's home after the Florida girl disappeared. According to court papers, Couey told investigators he was hiding in the house during the second visit.

Investigators say Couey denied that anyone else in the house knew he kidnapped the girl and held her there. Gas prices set yet another record in the U.S. The American Automobile Association says the price for unleaded regular now averages $2.26 a gallon. And for the first time, prices topped $2 a gallon in all 50 states.

And NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue faces a deadline today. The House Government Reform Committee wants Tagliabue to provide information on the league's steroid testing policy. The panel also wants to know how many players have tested positive for banned substances. Last month, the committee questioned Major League Baseball players about steroid abuse.

A pilgrimage to see the pope. Two students who traveled from Belgium to the pope's funeral. They were there this morning in the square. They're going to join me and share their thoughts with us when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.

(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