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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Pope Visiting Students At Harlem School. Aired 4:30-5p ET

Aired September 25, 2015 - 16:30   ET

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

UNIDENTIFIED TRANSLATOR: Thank you so much, sir. What is your favorite team? Thank you. Mine is Real Madrid. Thank you. It's a pleasure. Can I take a picture with you, please? Thank you. You're welcome. Holy Father, welcome.

We are migrants. We're united workers, the work here hard in this country. We are proud to receive you at this time together with our families. Thank you for taking the time to come here and visit us on behalf of united workers here in New York and on behalf of all the immigrants we have this present for you.

And also this other present for you, we're from Yonkers. This is a present on behalf of all of the workers who work here in the city of New York and who day after day build the city. We are helping out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We hope -- despair in our families and the common good for our neighbor. Please accept this of our diverse stories and dreams more than a thousand people have offered greetings to welcome you in New York and -- on behalf. Please accept this as our gift. Thank you.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: So just to explain what's going on here, this was a scheduled part of the event. The pope is receiving gifts from different groups that make up this community. These are stories from a group called American Dreamers and Seekers.

UNIDENTIFIED TRANSLATOR: What's your name? Fernanda. Can I give you a kiss?

TAPPER: The pope receiving presents from different groups. He first got a soccer ball from unaccompanied refugee children. Then he received some tools from day laborers. Now he's blessing a group called American Dreamers and Seekers who gave him a collection of stories, their own stories.

UNIDENTIFIED TRANSLATOR: We're a group of mothers that got together to exchange ideas and support each other. And this is our present. It is a table cloth. It's a replica of the tablecloths that are going to be used today at mass. So it's a tablecloth for the mass. Welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I would like for you to bless this bracelet. My mother gave it to me for her disabled daughter. Thank you and bless the mother as well. Thank you.

TAPPER: Those were altar linens obviously given to Pope Francis from a mother's group. As the pope makes his way throughout this school, our Lady Queen of Angels School in East Harlem, crowds are amassing in Central Park.

[16:35:04] There to watch the pope drive through on his tour through Central Park. Security's very tight. Let's bring in Jim Sciutto to tell us more about this crowd while we keep an eye on what Pope Francis is doing on the right side of our screen -- Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Jake, I'll tell you, we've been watching these crowds lineup for hours now about 100,000 expected in the park. As you noted these will be people who just get to see him go by really, catch a glimpse of him. But that for many is enough.

He'll be driving through the park in his pope mobile. Doesn't have the intimacy like we're seeing right now in East Harlem where the pope is really in his element. I was thinking just then he couldn't be more in his element one, be with kids, two, be speaking Spanish, and three get to talk about soccer. He's a huge soccer fan in Brazil.

But this crowd in Central Park it's going to be a big welcome and it's going to be as you mentioned a security challenge. But I'll tell you the NYPD make the point that this is 100,000 people in Central Park on New Year's Eve every year they deal with about a million people.

So this is a challenge that they're up to, that they're used to, and I bet a lot of cops today they're excited about this mission.

TAPPER: A teeming sea of humanity out there in Central Park waiting for a glimpse of Pope Francis as he drives through in just minutes. He's obviously still in East Harlem as you see live on the right side of your screen as he accepts gifts from members of the community there. Let's take a listen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come, you who are blessed by my father. Take your inheritance the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me to eat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was thirsty and you gave me to drink.

TAPPER: We're going to take a very quick break. Stay with us. We'll be right back with more of Pope Francis' trip to New York City. Crowds are amassing in Central Park. We'll be right back after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back. The pope has started speaking. Let's listen.

POPE FRANCIS (through translator): Some of the students here, some of you, come from other places, and many from other countries.

[16:40:10] And that is nice. Even though I know that it is not always easy to have to move and find a new home, new neighbors and new friends, it is not easy but one has to begin. In the beginning it can be hard and tiring, right? Oftentimes you have to learn a new language, adjust to a new culture, even a new climate. There is so much to learn. And not just the work at school, but also many other things, like for example you were playing with your ball, very well.

The good thing is that we also make new friends and this is very important. The good friends that we find only people who open doors for us to show their kindness to us, their friendship to us, their understanding.

They try to help us so that we do not feel like strangers, like foreigners. It is work that is being done by people who help us feel at home although sometimes our imagination takes us back to our homeland, but we find good people that help us feel at home.

How nice it is to feel that school, that meeting places are a second home. This is not only important for you, but also for your families. So school ends up being one big family for all.

One where together with our mothers and fathers and grandparents, teachers and friends, we learn to help one another, to share our good qualities to give the best of ourselves to work as a team to play as a team that's very important as well and to pursue our goals.

Very near here, quite near here there is a very important street named after a person who did a lot for other people. I would like to recall this person with you. I'm talking about Reverend Martin Luther King.

One day he said, I have a dream. He dreamt that many children, many people could have equal opportunities. His dream was that many children like you could have access to education. He dreamt that many men and women like you could keep their head high with the dignity of those who can earn their keep.

It is beautiful to have dreams. It is beautiful also to be able to fight for those dreams. Don't forget about that. Today, we want to keep dreaming. We celebrate all opportunities, which enable you and us adults not to lose the hope of a better world with greater possibilities.

So many here that I have greeted and that I've been introduced to they also dream with you. They dream about this and that is why they become involved in this kind of work. They get involved in your lives to go with you along this path. We all dream.

[16:45:05] I always know that one of the dreams of your parents and teachers and of all those that help you and also Cardinal Dolan as well, he's a very good man, the dream is that you can grow up and live with happiness.

Here I see you smiling. Keep smiling. And help bring joy to everyone you meet. It is not always easy. There are problems in all households. There are difficult situations. There is sickness, but keep dreaming about living with joy.

Everyone here children and adults you'll have the right to dream. And I am very happy that you whether at school or here you can find in your teachers and friends and everyone that comes near you to provide assistance you can find it with saying the support you need to do it.

Wherever there are dreams, wherever there is joy, Jesus is always present, always. Now, who sows sadness? Who sows distrust and envy and evil desires, what's the name of that?

The devil, the devil, the devil sows sadness because he does not want to see us happy, doesn't want us to dream. Where there is joy, Jesus is always present because Jesus is joy. And he wants to help us to feel that joy every day of our lives.

Before going I would like to give you some homework. Can I do that? It is a simple request but very important. Please don't forget to pray for me so that I can share with many people the joy of Jesus.

Let us also pray so that many people can share the joy like yours, like when you feel accompanied, assisted, when you feel that you're getting advice although there are problems, of course, there may be problems, but you have peace in your hearts because Jesus will never abandon you.

May God bless you and every one of you and our Lady protect you. Thank you.

TAPPER: The pope just finished his remarks at our Lady Queen of Angels School. John Allen --

POPE FRANCIS: Now, can you sing me something? Do you know how to sing?

TAPPER: Let's take a listen.

AUDIENCE: Yes, we do.

POPE FRANCIS (through translator): Who's the boldest one?

(SINGING)

[16:50:26]

POPE FRANCIS: Thank you very much.

(through translator): Altogether one song and then we're all going to pray to the Lord. We're going to say our Lord's Prayer. Sing something, yes.

(SINGING)

POPE FRANCIS (through translator): Thank you. Now we're going to pray. Altogether, we're going to say the Lord's Prayer. Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen. God almighty, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Pray for me. TAPPER: As Pope Francis begins to have these more quiet conversations that we can't listen to, let's bring back our senior Vatican analyst, John Allen. John, a very classic Pope Francis event where before the prayer he asks the crowd to pray for him, another telltale moment of humility.

JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST (via telephone): Yes, Jake. I think I told you at the top of our broadcast that you would probably have to use a crowbar to get Pope Francis out of this space. And that's exactly what we saw. He obviously does not want to leave.

You know, that bit at the end when he asked the kids to sing a couple songs for him and then to recite the Our Father that was all spontaneous. That was not part of the tick tock for this event. But he just loves these kinds of moments.

He loves the contact with ordinary people, particularly young people, particularly who come from disadvantaged and immigrant backgrounds. And that bit about please don't forget to pray for me, that's actually his kind of signature tag line.

That's how he ends all of his wind state general audiences in Rome. That's how he ends all of his Sunday addresses. If you notice when he spoke at the White House and when he spoke in other venues where he knew that there would be a lot of non-Christians or nonreligious believers present, he amended it a little bit.

He said please don't forget to pray for me and if you don't pray, please send me good wishes. It's how he always likes to say good-bye to crowds. As you say, it's a typical gesture of the man's humility. He's not here just to impart his blessing on others. He wants them to bless him too.

TAPPER: A way of empowering his flock by noting and underlying that he relies on them as much as they rely on him.

ALLEN: Remember, Jake, that's how he began his papacy. When he stepped out onto that balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square, before he administered the traditional blessing on the crowd, he asked them to pray for him and then a moment of silence he knelt on the balcony and waited for the crowd to bless him before he then rose and blessed them. It was the whole spirit of his papacy in miniature. And you saw it again today with these kids.

[16:55:10] TAPPER: Exactly. Classic Pope Francis. Huge crowds up to 100,000 people if not more are gathering in Central Park waiting to catch a glimpse of the pope.

Carol Costello is among the masses. Carol, some of the people that have been waiting have been waiting for hours and hours I would imagine.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hours and hours, but you won't believe this, Jake because nobody believed it, but there is a rainbow that suddenly appeared in the sky. No one knows why. The camera probably wouldn't be able to pick it up, but just moments ago all of these people were looking up into the sky to take pictures of the rainbow.

And of course, they attributed it to Pope Francis. As you said tens of thousands of people have been waiting in line just at this location. You're seeing the tail end of the line right now. But those people still have to go through security to get into Central Park to see Pope Francis. They're hoping they can.

A lot of people simply gave up and they were very angry. They said the city didn't organize this very well. But other people standing in line said, you know what, if we don't get in, it's OK. It's a beautiful day. We came here out of love and it doesn't really matter to us. So I guess you could call it the Pope Francis effect, right?

TAPPER: I guess so. Carol, stay with us. We're going to take a very quick break. Right back with more coverage live of Pope Francis in New York City. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: You're looking live at Pope Francis exiting our Lady Queen of Angels on his way to Central Park. John Allen is with us. John, next on the agenda the pope will be driving through Central Park where huge crowds have gathered just to catch a glimpse of him.

ALLEN: Yes, that's right and of course ultimately making his way to Madison Square Garden where he'll say a mass tonight. It's actually a mass for justice and peace, which is quite consistent with the themes he's been trying to stress throughout this trip.

But that swing through Central Park of course is going to be one of the few opportunities that ordinary New Yorkers have to sort of lay eyes on the pope. And this is always a very important part of the itinerary for any pope, but this pope in particular.

I think popes when they travel even though they move in something of a bubble, you know, they are conscious of the sacrifices that ordinary people, you know, who can't move by chopper and don't have police escorts and so on, you know, have to make to try to get close to him.

So they want to try to show him some love and that is in effect what Francis is going to be doing. Remember, Jake, this is the first time he's been in the United States. He's never seen Central Park before and presumably that will be of interest to him too.

TAPPER: That's it for THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. I'll be with you live tomorrow in Philadelphia. Right now, I turn you over to Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM."