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CNN Live At Daybreak

Pope John Paul II; 'Business Buzz'; Pope's Funeral Will Be Friday

Aired April 04, 2005 - 06:28   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.


KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: And good Monday morning to you. From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Kelly Wallace, in today for Carol Costello.
Here are some stories "Now in the News."

And this just in to CNN. According to the Associated Press, the first session of the meeting of the College of Cardinals has ended. This is the first meeting of the cardinals since the death of Pope John Paul II on Saturday. We are not sure if the cardinals will meet again on this day. The cardinals, of course, were supposed to be discussing a funeral date and a burial place for the pope. CNN has not yet confirmed exactly when the funeral will take place. And you are seeing there the body of Pope John Paul II as dignitaries and other invited guests pay their final respects.

Other stories in the news as well on this day.

Two people remain hospitalized after an Amtrak passenger train derails in Washington State. About two dozen others suffered only minor injuries. The cause of that accident is still under investigation, but workers hope to have the track cleared sometime today.

Michael Jackson's child molestation trial enters its sixth week today. Over the weekend, Jackson spoke via speakerphone to a gathering of his fans at a hotel in Santa Maria, California. He told them -- quote -- "God and truth are on our side."

Well, warm and sunny weather is on tap today in Pennsylvania after yesterday's spring snowstorm. It's hard to believe. Up to 19 inches fell in the northwestern part of the state, and now there is a threat of flooding.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: And now to our top story this morning, the death of Pope John Paul II. And we have now a personal glimpse of the late pope. That's what CNN's Rome bureau chief Alessio Vinci got this morning. He was among a group of reporters invited to view John Paul II's body. Alessio tells us it is an experience that he and his colleagues will never forget.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF: I am one of the junior reporters in the Vatican press corps. Most of the journalists who are part of that group have been covering popes and this pope certainly for the 27 years of his -- 26-something years of his papacy. And even then, even those who are so -- you know, so used to seeing this man in so many different locations, even they were extremely emotional. I saw some reporters crying. I mean, you know, that doesn't happen that often.

You know, last time I saw a colleague crying on a story was on 9/11. So that gives you a little bit of a sense about how powerful this moment is and how powerful the atmosphere in that room is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: That was the voice of our Rome bureau chief, Alessio Vinci. Again, one of several reporters invited in to pay final respects to Pope John Paul II.

Well, the pope's body will be moved a few hours from now to St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, where it could be viewed by as many as two million mourners.

For more now, we go to CNN's Richard Quest in Rome.

Richard, good to see you again. We understand the College of Cardinals, that meeting has broken up. Any idea if they will be meeting again and when we'll learn more about what was discussed?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is one of the great truisms of the Vatican, the secrecy and the release of information only when the Vatican wants the public to know. We don't know when they will meet.

There are a couple of things we can assume that they did so far, Kelly. One can assume that the cardinals took the oath of secrecy. This is one that all cardinals have to take that they will not reveal what takes place during the procedures and the process for the succession of the next pontiff.

We can also assume that they started discussing where the funeral will take place. And the crucial point here is they will have read or they will be preparing to read the last will of John Paul II, any last documents, any last letters that he may have written, a procedure set up by the pope himself in 1996 that basically sets out what are his last wishes and how they should follow them.

And the two places, of course, that we are looking at to see where the burial will take place are St. Peter's Basilica behind me, where most popes are indeed buried, or somewhere in Poland, either in Krakow, where he was the archbishop, or in Wadowice, the village, the town where he was born.

So, the cardinals' congregation has finished for the time being.

One little postscript, we can also perhaps assume that at some point they will have destroyed the Fisherman's Ring that the pope wore and the papal dyes that he would have used for sealing documents. In bygone ages that would have been to stop anybody pretending to be the pope. That's unlikely to happen these days, but it's tradition nonetheless -- Kelly.

WALLACE: All right, Richard, we'll leave it there. Richard Quest reporting from Rome. Again, the first session, the morning session of the meeting of the College of Cardinals has ended. We are not sure if the cardinals will meet again. And as Richard was telling us, we will wait to hear what was discussed and what was decided when the Vatican will announce that information.

Special masses for the pope have been taking place across the globe, and they've been drawing masses of worshipers. In the pope's native Poland, people held vigils in Krakow, Warsaw and other cities. Many credit the pope's sermons with helping to inspire the solidarity movement.

In Jerusalem, people marched by candlelight, many Israelis honoring the pope for his efforts to reach out to Jews.

Songs filled the air in masses across Mexico. The country has the second-largest Catholic population in the world.

And back here in the United States, 2,000 people packed St. Patrick's Cathedral -- excuse me -- in New York City. So many worshipers turned out that not all of them could get inside the church. Speakers had to be set up outside the cathedral so people could hear the mass.

Well, feminists and the church, it's not something we hear a lot about. But our next guest wrote her doctoral dissertation on the topic, and she won a pontifical award for her work. It also won her a personal audience with Pope John Paul II.

Joining us from Washington is Pia de Solenni, the Family Research Council.

I hope I'm pronouncing your name correctly.

PIA DE SOLENNI, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: You are. You are. Good morning.

WALLACE: Good morning. Thank you so much for being here. We appreciate it.

First, give us a sense of what you looked at in your doctoral dissertation, the issue of feminism in the church.

DE SOLENNI: Sure. What I started with was just an overview of feminist and gender theory and really setting up the question, because, as we know, a lot of questions of women and about women haven't been answered. So, I started with that.

And then, I went back to the tradition of the church, because, quite honestly as a Catholic woman, I found that in my personal research that many of the questions that I think a lot of the feminists and gender theorists were raising could actually be answered in the tradition of the church.

And so, I used the thought of the philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas to address this, and to really begin to look at the vocation of women from an intellectual perspective and to be able to develop it in the sense of being complimentary with that of men and to see women as different from men and at the same time equal to men.

WALLACE: Let me jump in here, because it's interesting.

DE SOLENNI: Sure.

WALLACE: CNN, "USA Today" and Gallup conducted a poll after the death of Pope John Paul II. Fifty-five percent of those polled here in America would like to see the next pope allow women priests. Also, 78 percent would like to see the pope allow birth control; 63 percent allow priests to marry.

So, it appears American Catholics, at least on these issues, would like to see a little bit more of a liberal perspective from the next pope.

DE SOLENNI: I think what we're going to see from the next pope is that he's going to be Catholic. And the positions of -- you know, the position of the church on those issues doesn't depend on the pope. Those are Catholic positions.

I think one of the things that really need to take place throughout the world, but particularly in the United States, is kind of a re-examination of these issues. I think far too often people have only been presented these issues in terms of don't, you know, things that you can't do.

What we saw with Pope John Paul II was a reframing of these issues in terms of things that we can do and who we can become. And I think it's particularly this message that resonated with the youth.

And we've seen among young people throughout the world and in the United States a certain resonance with what's viewed as traditional or conservative views. But I think it's because of the light in which the pope has presented them as things that are positive, things that we can do, particularly with regard to the whole question of contraception. I think through his theology of the body, the body has taken on a significance, I think, that resonates with the modern era, which, again, is why young people responded to him.

But also people are beginning to think, well, maybe in a sense contraception is a bit of a lie. If I love someone and I give myself entirely to them but I'm contracepting, I'm holding back part of myself. So, from both a physical perspective and a psychological perspective, maybe that's kind of -- maybe that's impeding a complete union with this person that I love.

And, again, this is something that has resonated with the young people. We've also seen it with religious vocations and vocations to the priesthood. There is a deep resonance amongst young people. And you see the people that are choosing to make these lifestyle choices, and they're happy and they're some of the best examples that we have in the Catholic Church.

WALLACE: All right, we have to leave it there, I'm sorry to say. Pia de Solenni. We didn't have a chance to talk to you about how you asked the pope to autograph your dissertation.

DE SOLENNI: Next time.

WALLACE: Next time hopefully we can do that. Thanks for being with us today on DAYBREAK.

DE SOLENNI: It's been a pleasure.

WALLACE: We appreciate it.

CNN's special coverage of the death of Pope John Paul II, of course, is continuing all day long. And Bill Hemmer joins us now from Rome with a look at what's coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING."

Good morning -- Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Kelly. Another day here. It is day two of the official mourning period for the Vatican. Nine days in total, according to the church law here.

I just had the privilege of returning back from a private viewing of Pope John Paul II. We'll share some of those thoughts coming up here. So, too, has my colleague, Alessio Vinci, our Rome bureau chief. And Alessio will join me at the top of the hour here from Rome.

Also, we're going to talk with Cardinal Roger Mahoney. The College of Cardinals have gotten together now for their first meeting, Kelly. And apparently that meeting, after about two hours, has now ended. At some point today we should get a pretty good idea about where we're going forward in terms of the funeral and more specifics on the burial. Also, this ultimate question, too. When the conclave begins in about two weeks, we're going to put the question to these cardinals about whether or not they have thought about the possibility that they could be chosen to be the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

So, another busy day here in Rome and a lot to talk about in the next three hours. See you at the top of the hour -- Kelly.

WALLACE: All right, Bill. We look forward to that at the top of the hour here on CNN, Bill Hemmer and "AMERICAN MORNING."

We also want to let you know, Italian news agencies are now reporting that the funeral for Pope John Paul II will be held on Friday. CNN, though, has not yet confirmed that. We are working on it, and we'll let you know.

We leave you now with pictures there of the body of Pope John Paul II, as dignitaries, journalists, others pay their final respects before the body is moved to St. Peter's Basilica for the general public. We'll be right back. Much more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: It's time now for a little "Business Buzz." Oil prices are set to rise even more today. Carrie Lee is back with us now to tell us why.

CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: We saw record prices for oil here on Friday, Kelly. Prices are staying pretty close to those levels this morning.

What's happening is this is all seeing -- we're all seeing oil prices rise despite the fact that OPEC agreed to increase output by half-a-million barrels a day, starting next month. But these production increases are factored into prices already, as OPEC is already exceeding its own output guidelines. Prices skyrocketed late last week when Goldman Sachs said oil prices could eventually exceed $100 a barrel, with prices hitting a record, as I said, on Friday.

High prices have a huge impact on everything from the U.S. stock market. That's why we saw the major market indices in the red on Friday.

Of course, the Big Three automakers are also reporting their sales numbers for March. And even the Big Three automakers, Kelly -- General Motors, Daimler Chrysler, Ford -- are all seeing sales of their SUVs decrease a little bit, in part because I think we can assume they cost a lot of money to fill up those gas tanks.

WALLACE: Very briefly, futures today.

LEE: Futures are looking pretty flat right now. We'll see what happens at 9:30. But markets may be taking a breather this week before the Q1 profit reporting season really kicks off next week.

WALLACE: All right, Carrie Lee with the "Business Buzz" on this Monday.

More DAYBREAK in just a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: These are pictures of Central Park here in New York City on this Monday. Your news, money, weather and sports. It's almost 48 minutes after the hour. And here is what is all new this morning.

Later today, the body of Pope John Paul II will be moved to St. Peter's Basilica for public viewing. The church's cardinals have just ended a meeting to plan the pope's funeral.

A U.N. envoy says Syria's president has committed to a complete withdrawal of troops and intelligence personnel from Lebanon by April 30. A U.N. team will oversee compliance with that commitment. In money, the popular artificial sweetener Splenda is going brown. It's called Splenda Brown Sugar Blend. It can be used for baking as a replacement for brown sugar.

In culture, turnabout, you can say, is fair play at the raucous 18th annual Kid's Choice Awards on Nickelodeon. Actor Johnny Depp intended to slime host Ben Stiller, but, as you can see, he got the green goo dumped on himself instead.

And in sports, the seeds have it, I guess you can say. Two No. 1 seeds, Illinois and North Carolina, will battle it out in tonight's title game in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: Some news just in here to CNN. Let's go to Bill Hemmer in Rome for the latest.

Bill -- what do you have?

HEMMER: Kelly, thank you. We want to bring in our Rome bureau chief right now, Alessio Vinci. Alessio has been on the telephone here a few moments ago.

You have gotten the news about the rest of the schedule for this week with regard to the burial and the funeral. And what is that schedule, Alessio?

VINCI: OK. We understand that the funeral will be on Friday at 10:00 a.m. local time here in Rome, 4:00 a.m. Eastern for those who are watching us on the East Coast of the United States. And we also do know, very importantly, that the pope has left instructions indeed that he will be buried here in St. Peter's Basilica, probably the same day.

HEMMER: So that would go along with Vatican tradition, papal tradition.

VINCI: Absolutely. Most popes are buried here in Italy. It has been centuries since a pope was not buried here, or if ever, if I remember. So, you know, on this one, John Paul II stuck with tradition.

HEMMER: The reason we mentioned that is because there were a lot of rumors and reports floating around Rome, as you well know, that he could have been possibly buried in southern Poland, but that will not happen.

VINCI: That is correct. That is correct. Southern Poland was one of the possible locations where the burial could have taken place, but now we know he will be buried, at least for now. There is no reason perhaps that later on he would be moved to Poland. But for the time being, we know the burial is in Rome.

HEMMER: Let's talk again in a couple of minutes. Alessio, thanks. VINCI: OK.

HEMMER: Top of the hour, Kelly, a whole lot more information here coming out of Rome, and all of this coming out now, too, because the cardinals got together for their first meeting here in Rome. It ended about 20 minutes ago. It lasted about two hours. And we'll talk with a number of cardinals who have come here from the U.S. about what was said at that meeting, coming up at the top of the hour.

We'll see you then -- Kelly.

WALLACE: All right, thanks to you, Bill, and to Alessio with that news.

CNN, of course, is confirming by Alessio, the funeral for Pope John Paul II on Friday, 10:00 a.m. local time, 4:00 a.m. Eastern.

Much more ahead on DAYBREAK right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: And if you're just joining us here on CNN, some important information to pass along. Vatican sources are telling CNN that the funeral for Pope John Paul II will be Friday, 10:00 a.m. local time in Rome. That is 4:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Also, the source is saying that the pope will be buried in St. Peter's Basilica. This seems to be putting to rest any speculation that he might defy tradition and be buried in his home country of Poland instead.

You are looking at live pictures of dignitaries and others paying their final respects to Pope John Paul II. At some point on this day, his body will be at St. Peter's Basilica and viewing open to the public.

We also want you know at 7:15 a.m. Eastern, a live news conference with Joaquin Navarro-Walls.

This is DAYBREAK for a Monday morning. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Kelly, it's time to give away the hardest ticket in town, the CNN DAYBREAK coffee mug.

The answers from Friday, "Sin City" and the Washington Monument, from Jessica Alba's and Bruce Willis' new film and the monument that reopened on Friday.

And that winner goes to that mug to Susan Pittman from Annadale, Virginia. Congratulations, Susan. Your mug is in the mail.

Now the questions for today, quickly. What's the name of the new book for the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry? And who got slimed at the Kids' Choice Awards?

Go to CNN.com/daybreak and put your answers in there. WALLACE: All right, Chad, have a good day.

MYERS: You too.

WALLACE: Carol Costello is back tomorrow.

MYERS: Oh, well, thank you for staying with us so long.

WALLACE: It's good to be with you. Kelly Wallace at the Time Warner center in New York. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.

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 4, 2005 - 06:28   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: And good Monday morning to you. From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Kelly Wallace, in today for Carol Costello.
Here are some stories "Now in the News."

And this just in to CNN. According to the Associated Press, the first session of the meeting of the College of Cardinals has ended. This is the first meeting of the cardinals since the death of Pope John Paul II on Saturday. We are not sure if the cardinals will meet again on this day. The cardinals, of course, were supposed to be discussing a funeral date and a burial place for the pope. CNN has not yet confirmed exactly when the funeral will take place. And you are seeing there the body of Pope John Paul II as dignitaries and other invited guests pay their final respects.

Other stories in the news as well on this day.

Two people remain hospitalized after an Amtrak passenger train derails in Washington State. About two dozen others suffered only minor injuries. The cause of that accident is still under investigation, but workers hope to have the track cleared sometime today.

Michael Jackson's child molestation trial enters its sixth week today. Over the weekend, Jackson spoke via speakerphone to a gathering of his fans at a hotel in Santa Maria, California. He told them -- quote -- "God and truth are on our side."

Well, warm and sunny weather is on tap today in Pennsylvania after yesterday's spring snowstorm. It's hard to believe. Up to 19 inches fell in the northwestern part of the state, and now there is a threat of flooding.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: And now to our top story this morning, the death of Pope John Paul II. And we have now a personal glimpse of the late pope. That's what CNN's Rome bureau chief Alessio Vinci got this morning. He was among a group of reporters invited to view John Paul II's body. Alessio tells us it is an experience that he and his colleagues will never forget.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF: I am one of the junior reporters in the Vatican press corps. Most of the journalists who are part of that group have been covering popes and this pope certainly for the 27 years of his -- 26-something years of his papacy. And even then, even those who are so -- you know, so used to seeing this man in so many different locations, even they were extremely emotional. I saw some reporters crying. I mean, you know, that doesn't happen that often.

You know, last time I saw a colleague crying on a story was on 9/11. So that gives you a little bit of a sense about how powerful this moment is and how powerful the atmosphere in that room is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: That was the voice of our Rome bureau chief, Alessio Vinci. Again, one of several reporters invited in to pay final respects to Pope John Paul II.

Well, the pope's body will be moved a few hours from now to St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, where it could be viewed by as many as two million mourners.

For more now, we go to CNN's Richard Quest in Rome.

Richard, good to see you again. We understand the College of Cardinals, that meeting has broken up. Any idea if they will be meeting again and when we'll learn more about what was discussed?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is one of the great truisms of the Vatican, the secrecy and the release of information only when the Vatican wants the public to know. We don't know when they will meet.

There are a couple of things we can assume that they did so far, Kelly. One can assume that the cardinals took the oath of secrecy. This is one that all cardinals have to take that they will not reveal what takes place during the procedures and the process for the succession of the next pontiff.

We can also assume that they started discussing where the funeral will take place. And the crucial point here is they will have read or they will be preparing to read the last will of John Paul II, any last documents, any last letters that he may have written, a procedure set up by the pope himself in 1996 that basically sets out what are his last wishes and how they should follow them.

And the two places, of course, that we are looking at to see where the burial will take place are St. Peter's Basilica behind me, where most popes are indeed buried, or somewhere in Poland, either in Krakow, where he was the archbishop, or in Wadowice, the village, the town where he was born.

So, the cardinals' congregation has finished for the time being.

One little postscript, we can also perhaps assume that at some point they will have destroyed the Fisherman's Ring that the pope wore and the papal dyes that he would have used for sealing documents. In bygone ages that would have been to stop anybody pretending to be the pope. That's unlikely to happen these days, but it's tradition nonetheless -- Kelly.

WALLACE: All right, Richard, we'll leave it there. Richard Quest reporting from Rome. Again, the first session, the morning session of the meeting of the College of Cardinals has ended. We are not sure if the cardinals will meet again. And as Richard was telling us, we will wait to hear what was discussed and what was decided when the Vatican will announce that information.

Special masses for the pope have been taking place across the globe, and they've been drawing masses of worshipers. In the pope's native Poland, people held vigils in Krakow, Warsaw and other cities. Many credit the pope's sermons with helping to inspire the solidarity movement.

In Jerusalem, people marched by candlelight, many Israelis honoring the pope for his efforts to reach out to Jews.

Songs filled the air in masses across Mexico. The country has the second-largest Catholic population in the world.

And back here in the United States, 2,000 people packed St. Patrick's Cathedral -- excuse me -- in New York City. So many worshipers turned out that not all of them could get inside the church. Speakers had to be set up outside the cathedral so people could hear the mass.

Well, feminists and the church, it's not something we hear a lot about. But our next guest wrote her doctoral dissertation on the topic, and she won a pontifical award for her work. It also won her a personal audience with Pope John Paul II.

Joining us from Washington is Pia de Solenni, the Family Research Council.

I hope I'm pronouncing your name correctly.

PIA DE SOLENNI, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: You are. You are. Good morning.

WALLACE: Good morning. Thank you so much for being here. We appreciate it.

First, give us a sense of what you looked at in your doctoral dissertation, the issue of feminism in the church.

DE SOLENNI: Sure. What I started with was just an overview of feminist and gender theory and really setting up the question, because, as we know, a lot of questions of women and about women haven't been answered. So, I started with that.

And then, I went back to the tradition of the church, because, quite honestly as a Catholic woman, I found that in my personal research that many of the questions that I think a lot of the feminists and gender theorists were raising could actually be answered in the tradition of the church.

And so, I used the thought of the philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas to address this, and to really begin to look at the vocation of women from an intellectual perspective and to be able to develop it in the sense of being complimentary with that of men and to see women as different from men and at the same time equal to men.

WALLACE: Let me jump in here, because it's interesting.

DE SOLENNI: Sure.

WALLACE: CNN, "USA Today" and Gallup conducted a poll after the death of Pope John Paul II. Fifty-five percent of those polled here in America would like to see the next pope allow women priests. Also, 78 percent would like to see the pope allow birth control; 63 percent allow priests to marry.

So, it appears American Catholics, at least on these issues, would like to see a little bit more of a liberal perspective from the next pope.

DE SOLENNI: I think what we're going to see from the next pope is that he's going to be Catholic. And the positions of -- you know, the position of the church on those issues doesn't depend on the pope. Those are Catholic positions.

I think one of the things that really need to take place throughout the world, but particularly in the United States, is kind of a re-examination of these issues. I think far too often people have only been presented these issues in terms of don't, you know, things that you can't do.

What we saw with Pope John Paul II was a reframing of these issues in terms of things that we can do and who we can become. And I think it's particularly this message that resonated with the youth.

And we've seen among young people throughout the world and in the United States a certain resonance with what's viewed as traditional or conservative views. But I think it's because of the light in which the pope has presented them as things that are positive, things that we can do, particularly with regard to the whole question of contraception. I think through his theology of the body, the body has taken on a significance, I think, that resonates with the modern era, which, again, is why young people responded to him.

But also people are beginning to think, well, maybe in a sense contraception is a bit of a lie. If I love someone and I give myself entirely to them but I'm contracepting, I'm holding back part of myself. So, from both a physical perspective and a psychological perspective, maybe that's kind of -- maybe that's impeding a complete union with this person that I love.

And, again, this is something that has resonated with the young people. We've also seen it with religious vocations and vocations to the priesthood. There is a deep resonance amongst young people. And you see the people that are choosing to make these lifestyle choices, and they're happy and they're some of the best examples that we have in the Catholic Church.

WALLACE: All right, we have to leave it there, I'm sorry to say. Pia de Solenni. We didn't have a chance to talk to you about how you asked the pope to autograph your dissertation.

DE SOLENNI: Next time.

WALLACE: Next time hopefully we can do that. Thanks for being with us today on DAYBREAK.

DE SOLENNI: It's been a pleasure.

WALLACE: We appreciate it.

CNN's special coverage of the death of Pope John Paul II, of course, is continuing all day long. And Bill Hemmer joins us now from Rome with a look at what's coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING."

Good morning -- Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Kelly. Another day here. It is day two of the official mourning period for the Vatican. Nine days in total, according to the church law here.

I just had the privilege of returning back from a private viewing of Pope John Paul II. We'll share some of those thoughts coming up here. So, too, has my colleague, Alessio Vinci, our Rome bureau chief. And Alessio will join me at the top of the hour here from Rome.

Also, we're going to talk with Cardinal Roger Mahoney. The College of Cardinals have gotten together now for their first meeting, Kelly. And apparently that meeting, after about two hours, has now ended. At some point today we should get a pretty good idea about where we're going forward in terms of the funeral and more specifics on the burial. Also, this ultimate question, too. When the conclave begins in about two weeks, we're going to put the question to these cardinals about whether or not they have thought about the possibility that they could be chosen to be the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

So, another busy day here in Rome and a lot to talk about in the next three hours. See you at the top of the hour -- Kelly.

WALLACE: All right, Bill. We look forward to that at the top of the hour here on CNN, Bill Hemmer and "AMERICAN MORNING."

We also want to let you know, Italian news agencies are now reporting that the funeral for Pope John Paul II will be held on Friday. CNN, though, has not yet confirmed that. We are working on it, and we'll let you know.

We leave you now with pictures there of the body of Pope John Paul II, as dignitaries, journalists, others pay their final respects before the body is moved to St. Peter's Basilica for the general public. We'll be right back. Much more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: It's time now for a little "Business Buzz." Oil prices are set to rise even more today. Carrie Lee is back with us now to tell us why.

CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: We saw record prices for oil here on Friday, Kelly. Prices are staying pretty close to those levels this morning.

What's happening is this is all seeing -- we're all seeing oil prices rise despite the fact that OPEC agreed to increase output by half-a-million barrels a day, starting next month. But these production increases are factored into prices already, as OPEC is already exceeding its own output guidelines. Prices skyrocketed late last week when Goldman Sachs said oil prices could eventually exceed $100 a barrel, with prices hitting a record, as I said, on Friday.

High prices have a huge impact on everything from the U.S. stock market. That's why we saw the major market indices in the red on Friday.

Of course, the Big Three automakers are also reporting their sales numbers for March. And even the Big Three automakers, Kelly -- General Motors, Daimler Chrysler, Ford -- are all seeing sales of their SUVs decrease a little bit, in part because I think we can assume they cost a lot of money to fill up those gas tanks.

WALLACE: Very briefly, futures today.

LEE: Futures are looking pretty flat right now. We'll see what happens at 9:30. But markets may be taking a breather this week before the Q1 profit reporting season really kicks off next week.

WALLACE: All right, Carrie Lee with the "Business Buzz" on this Monday.

More DAYBREAK in just a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: These are pictures of Central Park here in New York City on this Monday. Your news, money, weather and sports. It's almost 48 minutes after the hour. And here is what is all new this morning.

Later today, the body of Pope John Paul II will be moved to St. Peter's Basilica for public viewing. The church's cardinals have just ended a meeting to plan the pope's funeral.

A U.N. envoy says Syria's president has committed to a complete withdrawal of troops and intelligence personnel from Lebanon by April 30. A U.N. team will oversee compliance with that commitment. In money, the popular artificial sweetener Splenda is going brown. It's called Splenda Brown Sugar Blend. It can be used for baking as a replacement for brown sugar.

In culture, turnabout, you can say, is fair play at the raucous 18th annual Kid's Choice Awards on Nickelodeon. Actor Johnny Depp intended to slime host Ben Stiller, but, as you can see, he got the green goo dumped on himself instead.

And in sports, the seeds have it, I guess you can say. Two No. 1 seeds, Illinois and North Carolina, will battle it out in tonight's title game in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

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WALLACE: Some news just in here to CNN. Let's go to Bill Hemmer in Rome for the latest.

Bill -- what do you have?

HEMMER: Kelly, thank you. We want to bring in our Rome bureau chief right now, Alessio Vinci. Alessio has been on the telephone here a few moments ago.

You have gotten the news about the rest of the schedule for this week with regard to the burial and the funeral. And what is that schedule, Alessio?

VINCI: OK. We understand that the funeral will be on Friday at 10:00 a.m. local time here in Rome, 4:00 a.m. Eastern for those who are watching us on the East Coast of the United States. And we also do know, very importantly, that the pope has left instructions indeed that he will be buried here in St. Peter's Basilica, probably the same day.

HEMMER: So that would go along with Vatican tradition, papal tradition.

VINCI: Absolutely. Most popes are buried here in Italy. It has been centuries since a pope was not buried here, or if ever, if I remember. So, you know, on this one, John Paul II stuck with tradition.

HEMMER: The reason we mentioned that is because there were a lot of rumors and reports floating around Rome, as you well know, that he could have been possibly buried in southern Poland, but that will not happen.

VINCI: That is correct. That is correct. Southern Poland was one of the possible locations where the burial could have taken place, but now we know he will be buried, at least for now. There is no reason perhaps that later on he would be moved to Poland. But for the time being, we know the burial is in Rome.

HEMMER: Let's talk again in a couple of minutes. Alessio, thanks. VINCI: OK.

HEMMER: Top of the hour, Kelly, a whole lot more information here coming out of Rome, and all of this coming out now, too, because the cardinals got together for their first meeting here in Rome. It ended about 20 minutes ago. It lasted about two hours. And we'll talk with a number of cardinals who have come here from the U.S. about what was said at that meeting, coming up at the top of the hour.

We'll see you then -- Kelly.

WALLACE: All right, thanks to you, Bill, and to Alessio with that news.

CNN, of course, is confirming by Alessio, the funeral for Pope John Paul II on Friday, 10:00 a.m. local time, 4:00 a.m. Eastern.

Much more ahead on DAYBREAK right after this.

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WALLACE: And if you're just joining us here on CNN, some important information to pass along. Vatican sources are telling CNN that the funeral for Pope John Paul II will be Friday, 10:00 a.m. local time in Rome. That is 4:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Also, the source is saying that the pope will be buried in St. Peter's Basilica. This seems to be putting to rest any speculation that he might defy tradition and be buried in his home country of Poland instead.

You are looking at live pictures of dignitaries and others paying their final respects to Pope John Paul II. At some point on this day, his body will be at St. Peter's Basilica and viewing open to the public.

We also want you know at 7:15 a.m. Eastern, a live news conference with Joaquin Navarro-Walls.

This is DAYBREAK for a Monday morning. We'll be right back.

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CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Kelly, it's time to give away the hardest ticket in town, the CNN DAYBREAK coffee mug.

The answers from Friday, "Sin City" and the Washington Monument, from Jessica Alba's and Bruce Willis' new film and the monument that reopened on Friday.

And that winner goes to that mug to Susan Pittman from Annadale, Virginia. Congratulations, Susan. Your mug is in the mail.

Now the questions for today, quickly. What's the name of the new book for the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry? And who got slimed at the Kids' Choice Awards?

Go to CNN.com/daybreak and put your answers in there. WALLACE: All right, Chad, have a good day.

MYERS: You too.

WALLACE: Carol Costello is back tomorrow.

MYERS: Oh, well, thank you for staying with us so long.

WALLACE: It's good to be with you. Kelly Wallace at the Time Warner center in New York. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.

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