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Public Flocks to St. Peter's to View Pope

Aired April 04, 2005 - 14:30   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Live pictures once again from inside St. Peter's Basilica. Pope John Paul II, his body now on public display there inside the basilica. Tens of thousands of pilgrims and mourners, disciples. They were packed outside in the square; now, one-by-one, they're getting a chance to come inside, view the body of the man that inspired them 26 years. Our Bill Hemmer is one of them, and he's outside of St. Peter's Basilica to give us a feel for how it's moving along. Hi, Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm near the front of the line, Kyra. Hello, again. It's about 8:30 in the evening here in Vatican City. The doors have been opened for about 45 minutes. At some point very soon, we expect this line to start moving again. It's been frozen for almost five and a half hours now.

And I should remind you again that most of the people here in line are from Italy, so we're going to use a translator again with Laura to talk to some of the people who have come here tonight. And this woman has been so patient for so long. I'm just curious to know from her, now that the line is actually moving -- it looks like there might be progress for a point now, and how does that make her feel?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): She's very emotional, and at the same time, she's very happy to see him because for her represent like a member of her family, and so she's very to get in there. At the same time, emotion, and she's almost about to cry.

But she followed this pope since the beginning because she told me as though before because he spent the last night, while it was a cardinal, on the (INAUDIBLE) little village outside Rome in a little church, little convent outside.

HEMMER: So she has a story, just like everyone else in Italy.

TRANSLATOR: Yes, exactly.

HEMMER: Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): And she was very happy because this pope was one of the first pope, actually, to get into the prison and talk to prisoners, so she was like -- he was a very good pope. HEMMER: Thank you. Moto grazi (ph). That gives you a sense, Kyra and Betty, about some of the emotion and some of the feeling that we've been picking up on here for the several hours. The viewing is open to the public and we expect vast numbers for the next four and a half days here at the Vatican. Back to you now. BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: No doubt there. We do want to shift gears just slightly now, because we are covering other news of the day.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

NGUYEN: Of course, we invite you to stay tuned for more coverage right here on CNN's LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: History continues to play out in Rome, where it is 8:30 at night there. Millions have come from all walks of life, all across the globe, to pay their final respects, their final good-byes to the beloved pope. John Paul II. He touched many lives in his frequent travels. Some people have been sharing their experiences about meeting the pope with us.

And Paul Del Piero was just three years old when he met the pope in California back in 1987. He is now a college student at Pomona College and joins us from Los Angeles to talk about that meeting. Paul, you were just three years old. Do you actually remember it?

PAUL DEL PIERO, STUDENT, POMONA COLLEGE: I do. Actually, Betty, that is one of my earliest memories from childhood. At the time, the pope came in to visit the grave site of Father Uniporo Serra (ph), who was the founder of the California Missions. And my father was actually county supervisor back then and that was the time when Clint Eastwood was actually the mayor of Carmel, a city in the Monterey County.

And I remember he met all the dignitaries, the state senators, the Congressmen, and then he walked over to a crowd of us and I was standing with my mother, who was then pregnant with my younger brother, and the pope came over and he knelt down and kissed me on my left cheek and then looked up and blessed my mother's stomach, which was -- she was then pregnant with my younger brother.

What I learned later on was that when he knelt down, his guards, the secret service, thought that he had somehow been hurt or fallen down. And he waved them off, apparently. But what I remember most is the tingling feeling on my cheek when he kissed me and, quite frankly, that's my earliest memory.

NGUYEN: You know, I'm really surprised about that, because like you said, just three years old. Why is it, do you think, that this was your earliest memory?

DEL PIERO: Well, you know, at the time, I don't think I could have comprehended that the pope was the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church, but I knew that he was an important man because my parents got me up early, they had made a big deal. I was dressed up, and I knew that this man, wherever he went, brang (sic) joy and compassion and I think, you know, that really sums up what the pope was. Yes, he was the leader of the Catholic Church, but he was also a peacemaker for people around the world, and even I, as a 3-year-old, knew that.

NGUYEN: What do you think it is about Pope John Paul II that touched so many people, especially young people like yourself?

DEL PIERO: Well, as a young person, I know that Pope John Paul meant a great deal to us in the Catholic Church. He was the leader of our church. He was like a father to all of us, quite frankly, and it's just -- I celebrate his life today and his passing.

NGUYEN: Since your meeting with him, so many years ago when you were just three years old, how has he influenced your life?

DEL PIERO: Well, like I said, I'm a pretty devout Catholic and I've decided to go on in the faith. I was recently confirmed in the same California mission that the pope came to visit. And I attend mass on a regular basis. And since the meeting with the pope, my family really has come together spiritually as Catholics with the community to celebrate the Catholic values that we have.

NGUYEN: As we watch pictures of St. Peter's Basilica, people filing by the thousands -- we're expecting some two million to come and pay their final respects, what will you remember the most about this pope and can he be replaced, in your eyes?

DEL PIERO: What I will remember the most about the pope was that he truly was a peacemaker. This man reached out to everyone around the globe, regardless of their creed, their race, their religion. It didn't matter. This man cared about people, and not just Catholics. He cared about people around the globe, and his compassion, I don't think can ever be matched. He is, quite frankly, one of the greatest men of the 20th century.

NGUYEN: And he obviously touched you very deeply. Paul Del Piero. Thank you so much for sharing that experience with us.

DEL PIERO: Thank you, Betty.

NGUYEN: Kyra.

PHILLIPS: The eyes of the world transfixed on the Vatican today. Just a few hours ago, the body of the pontiff was transferred from the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican through a throng of people in St. Peter's Square, into the basilica, where a public viewing is now underway. We'll talk with the editor of the magazine "Inside the Vatican" on this day of mourning, when LIVE FROM returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures, once again, inside St. Peter's Basilica, where the general public is getting its first chance to pay respects to the remains of Pope John Paul II, nearly two days after he passed away. A steady flow of people, we are being told, continuing to file past the body of the late pontiff. Some of them, we're told, crossing themselves or using their cell phones and cameras to take pictures as they walked alongside the red, waist-high barrier that's set up about ten feet from Pope John Paul II's body. The doors opened shortly before 8:00 p.m., more than an hour before the Vatican had said the doors would open. Onlookers have come in from a crowd outside the basilica there. The Vatican saying about 70,000 people stood in the square outside the basilica, waiting to get inside. We're going to continue our live coverage.

NGUYEN: And they're still standing outside, waiting to get inside to pay their final respects. The body of Pope John Paul II lies in state in St. Peter's Basilica, where people from all over the world and all walks of life are paying their respects to their beloved pontiff.

Robert Moynihan, editor of "Inside the Vatican," is there. And in fact, Robert, you got a moment to spend with the pope in a private viewing. Tell us about that.

ROBERT MOYNIHAN, EDITOR, "INSIDE THE VATICAN": Well, it wasn't entirely private. There were groups of special people, like journalists, who were covering the Vatican, invited to join several hundred people and then eventually, it became hundreds of people, over a thousand people, crowding up the stairways. We walked in through the St. Anne gate and then up through the Vatican bank stairway and then through the Cortille Sandomazo (ph) and up to the segondo logue (ph), the second floor of the Vatican Palace, which is the palace directly behind me.

And the hall, the wide marble stairways, 20 feet wide, were crowded with people, and then we became four abreast as we entered the Sala Clementina (ph), the Clementine Hall, which is about the size of a basketball court. And there were three great windows on each side and the very end of the hall was the pope's body, lying in state.

And we moved forward slowly. Some people would kneel down, some people would bless themselves. Some people would stand there, bow their heads for a moment. And the pope -- there are stages in grief and stages in recognition of what has happened and for me, it was a moment when I said, well, he's not here. His spirit is gone. There's his body.

His mortal remains, and those will be buried on Friday, near the mortal remains of St. Peter and of many other popes under the main altar of St. Peter's Basilica. For three and a half more days, thousands and tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of people will get a chance to see him one last time.

NGUYEN: Just like you did. The ceremony is very ornate. It's very beautiful, yet very solemn. Talk to us a little bit about the garments that the pope is wearing, because that is also steeped in rich history.

MOYNIHAN: Well, the papal garments date back to the early centuries, the Roman Empire, but I'm not really very well-informed about the clothing the pope is wearing and I think someone else would be better to talk about that.

NGUYEN: OK. MOYNIHAN: But I can tell -- I can tell you that I did pick up a piece of information from Moscow just a few -- just an hour ago, that Kiril, the foreign minister of the Russian Orthodox Church, will be coming on Friday to the funeral, and I take this as a very significant gesture from the Russian Orthodox Church, which never invited this pope to come to Russia, but they are coming at a very high level to show their last respects. I think it's important.

NGUYEN: And many dignitaries from all over the world will be attending that funeral on Friday. I understand that you got to speak with a cardinal a little bit earlier today, as they think about the future of who will be at the forefront of this church. What did that person tell you?

MOYNIHAN: Well, this was Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Germany, of Cologne, Germany. He was the cardinal that had spoken three or four weeks ago that the pope would be still living this summer to come to the great World Youth Day Festival, which will be held in Cologne in August. And Cardinal Meisner was very frank with me in general terms, without being specific, but he said that he was looking for a man to take the place of John Paul II, to be the pope, who would display a great sense of joy in his faith.

He said -- fromicheit (ph), in the German, joyousness. And he said he felt that had not given thought to who that man might be until yesterday. He hadn't given a single thought to it while the pope was still alive, but when he knew the pope had passed away, he started to think about it, and he started to pray and he felt that he knew there was one other man who had that joyousness in faith and other qualities, which would make him a good successor to this pope. And he felt that he would vote for that man and that he would talk to the other cardinals about that man.

NGUYEN: Robert, quickly, I want to ask you this. As we look forward, do you think Pope John Paul II will be made a saint?

MOYNIHAN: Some people here are saying not only that he will be made a saint, which they think will happen in the due process of the Vatican, where they would find the example of someone who prayed for his help from heaven for the intercession of him with God that some miracle would occur. They want two miracles. One is to beatify and then to canonize, to prove, as it were, physically prove that he is a saint, that he is in heaven.

But some people are saying this college of cardinals, the next two weeks, might possibly consider breaking that rule and acclaiming him a saint because of the miraculous way he lived his life and led the church and fought for human dignity. It probably won't happen, but there is a rumor that they could consider doing that.

NGUYEN: Well, millions will be watching to see if, indeed, it will happen. Robert Moynihan, editor of "Inside the Vatican." Thank you.

PHILLIPS: The public paying its respects now to Pope John Paul II. About an hour ago, the doors of St. Peter's Basilica were opened, and the crowd began pouring in. Stay with us. Our coverage continues in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live inside St. Peter's Basilica, he was called the pope of the people, and now it's the people who are filling St. Peter's Square and the basilica inside to pay their respects to Pope John Paul II. As his body, lying there inside the basilica, where hundreds of thousands of mourners and those inspired by the pope are expected to come visit him by this Friday. Friday, of course, will be his funeral.

NGUYEN: We'll continue our coverage of the pope in just a moment.

But first, oil prices keep hitting new highs and that is going to have an impact at the gas pump. A lot of us already feeling it. Susan Lisovicz joins us now live from New York Stock Exchange for that report. Hi, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Betty. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but crude oil prices topped $58 a barrel for the first time today, but now have turned a little bit lower. OPEC has indicated it may increase output by another 500,000 barrels a day. But concerns about tight supplies are pushing prices to those to record highs. And those soaring prices are certainly trickling down to the corner gas station.

According to government reports, retail gasoline in the U.S. is averaging $2.15 a gallon and some analysts predict a gallon of regular unleaded could hit $2.50 by Memorial Day. Of course, that is the beginning of the summer driving season. Drivers in California getting hit the hardest, with prices about 30 cents per gallon higher than the national average. Time to dig out that rusty old Schwinn bicycle, Betty.

NGUYEN: I know. I'm going to start riding my book to school -- or maybe even walking.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right. Live pictures now from the White House. As you're about to see in the next hour, pretty incredible ceremony. We're talking about the medal of honor. He was outnumbered and exposed and now 33-year-old Army Sergeant First Class Paul Ray (ph) will receive the first medal of honor in the Iraq War, saving at least 100 of his comrades. We're going to hear about his story as his 11- year-old son receives that award in his honor.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(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 4, 2005 - 14:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Live pictures once again from inside St. Peter's Basilica. Pope John Paul II, his body now on public display there inside the basilica. Tens of thousands of pilgrims and mourners, disciples. They were packed outside in the square; now, one-by-one, they're getting a chance to come inside, view the body of the man that inspired them 26 years. Our Bill Hemmer is one of them, and he's outside of St. Peter's Basilica to give us a feel for how it's moving along. Hi, Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm near the front of the line, Kyra. Hello, again. It's about 8:30 in the evening here in Vatican City. The doors have been opened for about 45 minutes. At some point very soon, we expect this line to start moving again. It's been frozen for almost five and a half hours now.

And I should remind you again that most of the people here in line are from Italy, so we're going to use a translator again with Laura to talk to some of the people who have come here tonight. And this woman has been so patient for so long. I'm just curious to know from her, now that the line is actually moving -- it looks like there might be progress for a point now, and how does that make her feel?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): She's very emotional, and at the same time, she's very happy to see him because for her represent like a member of her family, and so she's very to get in there. At the same time, emotion, and she's almost about to cry.

But she followed this pope since the beginning because she told me as though before because he spent the last night, while it was a cardinal, on the (INAUDIBLE) little village outside Rome in a little church, little convent outside.

HEMMER: So she has a story, just like everyone else in Italy.

TRANSLATOR: Yes, exactly.

HEMMER: Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): And she was very happy because this pope was one of the first pope, actually, to get into the prison and talk to prisoners, so she was like -- he was a very good pope. HEMMER: Thank you. Moto grazi (ph). That gives you a sense, Kyra and Betty, about some of the emotion and some of the feeling that we've been picking up on here for the several hours. The viewing is open to the public and we expect vast numbers for the next four and a half days here at the Vatican. Back to you now. BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: No doubt there. We do want to shift gears just slightly now, because we are covering other news of the day.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

NGUYEN: Of course, we invite you to stay tuned for more coverage right here on CNN's LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: History continues to play out in Rome, where it is 8:30 at night there. Millions have come from all walks of life, all across the globe, to pay their final respects, their final good-byes to the beloved pope. John Paul II. He touched many lives in his frequent travels. Some people have been sharing their experiences about meeting the pope with us.

And Paul Del Piero was just three years old when he met the pope in California back in 1987. He is now a college student at Pomona College and joins us from Los Angeles to talk about that meeting. Paul, you were just three years old. Do you actually remember it?

PAUL DEL PIERO, STUDENT, POMONA COLLEGE: I do. Actually, Betty, that is one of my earliest memories from childhood. At the time, the pope came in to visit the grave site of Father Uniporo Serra (ph), who was the founder of the California Missions. And my father was actually county supervisor back then and that was the time when Clint Eastwood was actually the mayor of Carmel, a city in the Monterey County.

And I remember he met all the dignitaries, the state senators, the Congressmen, and then he walked over to a crowd of us and I was standing with my mother, who was then pregnant with my younger brother, and the pope came over and he knelt down and kissed me on my left cheek and then looked up and blessed my mother's stomach, which was -- she was then pregnant with my younger brother.

What I learned later on was that when he knelt down, his guards, the secret service, thought that he had somehow been hurt or fallen down. And he waved them off, apparently. But what I remember most is the tingling feeling on my cheek when he kissed me and, quite frankly, that's my earliest memory.

NGUYEN: You know, I'm really surprised about that, because like you said, just three years old. Why is it, do you think, that this was your earliest memory?

DEL PIERO: Well, you know, at the time, I don't think I could have comprehended that the pope was the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church, but I knew that he was an important man because my parents got me up early, they had made a big deal. I was dressed up, and I knew that this man, wherever he went, brang (sic) joy and compassion and I think, you know, that really sums up what the pope was. Yes, he was the leader of the Catholic Church, but he was also a peacemaker for people around the world, and even I, as a 3-year-old, knew that.

NGUYEN: What do you think it is about Pope John Paul II that touched so many people, especially young people like yourself?

DEL PIERO: Well, as a young person, I know that Pope John Paul meant a great deal to us in the Catholic Church. He was the leader of our church. He was like a father to all of us, quite frankly, and it's just -- I celebrate his life today and his passing.

NGUYEN: Since your meeting with him, so many years ago when you were just three years old, how has he influenced your life?

DEL PIERO: Well, like I said, I'm a pretty devout Catholic and I've decided to go on in the faith. I was recently confirmed in the same California mission that the pope came to visit. And I attend mass on a regular basis. And since the meeting with the pope, my family really has come together spiritually as Catholics with the community to celebrate the Catholic values that we have.

NGUYEN: As we watch pictures of St. Peter's Basilica, people filing by the thousands -- we're expecting some two million to come and pay their final respects, what will you remember the most about this pope and can he be replaced, in your eyes?

DEL PIERO: What I will remember the most about the pope was that he truly was a peacemaker. This man reached out to everyone around the globe, regardless of their creed, their race, their religion. It didn't matter. This man cared about people, and not just Catholics. He cared about people around the globe, and his compassion, I don't think can ever be matched. He is, quite frankly, one of the greatest men of the 20th century.

NGUYEN: And he obviously touched you very deeply. Paul Del Piero. Thank you so much for sharing that experience with us.

DEL PIERO: Thank you, Betty.

NGUYEN: Kyra.

PHILLIPS: The eyes of the world transfixed on the Vatican today. Just a few hours ago, the body of the pontiff was transferred from the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican through a throng of people in St. Peter's Square, into the basilica, where a public viewing is now underway. We'll talk with the editor of the magazine "Inside the Vatican" on this day of mourning, when LIVE FROM returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures, once again, inside St. Peter's Basilica, where the general public is getting its first chance to pay respects to the remains of Pope John Paul II, nearly two days after he passed away. A steady flow of people, we are being told, continuing to file past the body of the late pontiff. Some of them, we're told, crossing themselves or using their cell phones and cameras to take pictures as they walked alongside the red, waist-high barrier that's set up about ten feet from Pope John Paul II's body. The doors opened shortly before 8:00 p.m., more than an hour before the Vatican had said the doors would open. Onlookers have come in from a crowd outside the basilica there. The Vatican saying about 70,000 people stood in the square outside the basilica, waiting to get inside. We're going to continue our live coverage.

NGUYEN: And they're still standing outside, waiting to get inside to pay their final respects. The body of Pope John Paul II lies in state in St. Peter's Basilica, where people from all over the world and all walks of life are paying their respects to their beloved pontiff.

Robert Moynihan, editor of "Inside the Vatican," is there. And in fact, Robert, you got a moment to spend with the pope in a private viewing. Tell us about that.

ROBERT MOYNIHAN, EDITOR, "INSIDE THE VATICAN": Well, it wasn't entirely private. There were groups of special people, like journalists, who were covering the Vatican, invited to join several hundred people and then eventually, it became hundreds of people, over a thousand people, crowding up the stairways. We walked in through the St. Anne gate and then up through the Vatican bank stairway and then through the Cortille Sandomazo (ph) and up to the segondo logue (ph), the second floor of the Vatican Palace, which is the palace directly behind me.

And the hall, the wide marble stairways, 20 feet wide, were crowded with people, and then we became four abreast as we entered the Sala Clementina (ph), the Clementine Hall, which is about the size of a basketball court. And there were three great windows on each side and the very end of the hall was the pope's body, lying in state.

And we moved forward slowly. Some people would kneel down, some people would bless themselves. Some people would stand there, bow their heads for a moment. And the pope -- there are stages in grief and stages in recognition of what has happened and for me, it was a moment when I said, well, he's not here. His spirit is gone. There's his body.

His mortal remains, and those will be buried on Friday, near the mortal remains of St. Peter and of many other popes under the main altar of St. Peter's Basilica. For three and a half more days, thousands and tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of people will get a chance to see him one last time.

NGUYEN: Just like you did. The ceremony is very ornate. It's very beautiful, yet very solemn. Talk to us a little bit about the garments that the pope is wearing, because that is also steeped in rich history.

MOYNIHAN: Well, the papal garments date back to the early centuries, the Roman Empire, but I'm not really very well-informed about the clothing the pope is wearing and I think someone else would be better to talk about that.

NGUYEN: OK. MOYNIHAN: But I can tell -- I can tell you that I did pick up a piece of information from Moscow just a few -- just an hour ago, that Kiril, the foreign minister of the Russian Orthodox Church, will be coming on Friday to the funeral, and I take this as a very significant gesture from the Russian Orthodox Church, which never invited this pope to come to Russia, but they are coming at a very high level to show their last respects. I think it's important.

NGUYEN: And many dignitaries from all over the world will be attending that funeral on Friday. I understand that you got to speak with a cardinal a little bit earlier today, as they think about the future of who will be at the forefront of this church. What did that person tell you?

MOYNIHAN: Well, this was Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Germany, of Cologne, Germany. He was the cardinal that had spoken three or four weeks ago that the pope would be still living this summer to come to the great World Youth Day Festival, which will be held in Cologne in August. And Cardinal Meisner was very frank with me in general terms, without being specific, but he said that he was looking for a man to take the place of John Paul II, to be the pope, who would display a great sense of joy in his faith.

He said -- fromicheit (ph), in the German, joyousness. And he said he felt that had not given thought to who that man might be until yesterday. He hadn't given a single thought to it while the pope was still alive, but when he knew the pope had passed away, he started to think about it, and he started to pray and he felt that he knew there was one other man who had that joyousness in faith and other qualities, which would make him a good successor to this pope. And he felt that he would vote for that man and that he would talk to the other cardinals about that man.

NGUYEN: Robert, quickly, I want to ask you this. As we look forward, do you think Pope John Paul II will be made a saint?

MOYNIHAN: Some people here are saying not only that he will be made a saint, which they think will happen in the due process of the Vatican, where they would find the example of someone who prayed for his help from heaven for the intercession of him with God that some miracle would occur. They want two miracles. One is to beatify and then to canonize, to prove, as it were, physically prove that he is a saint, that he is in heaven.

But some people are saying this college of cardinals, the next two weeks, might possibly consider breaking that rule and acclaiming him a saint because of the miraculous way he lived his life and led the church and fought for human dignity. It probably won't happen, but there is a rumor that they could consider doing that.

NGUYEN: Well, millions will be watching to see if, indeed, it will happen. Robert Moynihan, editor of "Inside the Vatican." Thank you.

PHILLIPS: The public paying its respects now to Pope John Paul II. About an hour ago, the doors of St. Peter's Basilica were opened, and the crowd began pouring in. Stay with us. Our coverage continues in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live inside St. Peter's Basilica, he was called the pope of the people, and now it's the people who are filling St. Peter's Square and the basilica inside to pay their respects to Pope John Paul II. As his body, lying there inside the basilica, where hundreds of thousands of mourners and those inspired by the pope are expected to come visit him by this Friday. Friday, of course, will be his funeral.

NGUYEN: We'll continue our coverage of the pope in just a moment.

But first, oil prices keep hitting new highs and that is going to have an impact at the gas pump. A lot of us already feeling it. Susan Lisovicz joins us now live from New York Stock Exchange for that report. Hi, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Betty. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but crude oil prices topped $58 a barrel for the first time today, but now have turned a little bit lower. OPEC has indicated it may increase output by another 500,000 barrels a day. But concerns about tight supplies are pushing prices to those to record highs. And those soaring prices are certainly trickling down to the corner gas station.

According to government reports, retail gasoline in the U.S. is averaging $2.15 a gallon and some analysts predict a gallon of regular unleaded could hit $2.50 by Memorial Day. Of course, that is the beginning of the summer driving season. Drivers in California getting hit the hardest, with prices about 30 cents per gallon higher than the national average. Time to dig out that rusty old Schwinn bicycle, Betty.

NGUYEN: I know. I'm going to start riding my book to school -- or maybe even walking.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right. Live pictures now from the White House. As you're about to see in the next hour, pretty incredible ceremony. We're talking about the medal of honor. He was outnumbered and exposed and now 33-year-old Army Sergeant First Class Paul Ray (ph) will receive the first medal of honor in the Iraq War, saving at least 100 of his comrades. We're going to hear about his story as his 11- year-old son receives that award in his honor.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(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