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American Morning

Crowds Continue to Flock to Rome; Tom DeLay's Ethics in Question

Aired April 07, 2005 - 09:30   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Soledad -- you know you're in trouble, Bill, when you mess up your own name. I'm Soledad O'Brien reporting from New York this morning. Bill Hemmer continues his reports from Vatican City. Good morning, Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, listen, from the Vatican, Soledad, I forgive you. And that's as good as I can do at this end. Good morning, everybody, and welcome back.

We are learning more about the will from Pope John Paul II. Some fascinating information, too, learning that early on in his papacy, they considered the possibility of having a funeral in his home country of Poland. Also this issue of whether or not he was tormented back in the year 2000 with a new millennium coming on board and wondering if this could signal the end of his own pontificate.

Also, he has requested to have all of his personal notes burned and in that will, we now know no material possessions have been handed down, as well. So we'll continue to go through these details as we learn more here.

The other big story we're watching, Soledad, from here, is that the mourners continue to come. Late last night, the line was supposed to be cut off. And apparently it was for a while, but earlier today when we were down there, we still found people jumping the line and paying their final respects to pope John Paul II.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER (voice-over): They're still shuffling along the cobblestone pavement, these people among the last of millions to say good-bye. This couple came from Germany.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we've got a special feeling. I cannot explain it.

HEMMER (on camera) The lines are growing thin today and by tomorrow, Friday, this river of humanity will run dry.

(MUSIC)

HEMMER (voice-over): The outpouring of respect has been stunning. More mourners are arriving from the pope's home country of Poland. One city official expects $1.5 million Poles by Friday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For our nation -- especially for our nation, there is no way to express the meaning of the pope.

HEMMER: Another group came with camping gear. They said they'll sleep on the street until Friday's funeral and don't mind for a minute.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just pure pleasure, because you know, just the thought that we are all together, there's a feeling of togetherness among us, you know, not only, the Poles, but all the people of the Catholic faith.

HEMMER: Three college students from California caught a late night train from Florence. They say missing this would leave their Italian education incomplete.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were kind of not sure if we were going to make it in today, but I'm taking the chance to go in and see him.

HEMMER: So many turned out this week, Italian officials broadcast warnings for people not to join the huge line. Still, though, they come.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He wasn't just a pope. I think he had something extra that possibly, obviously, has touched so many people, whether you're Catholic or not.

HEMMER: And the church officially is closing in about six and a half hours from now. They will clean St. Peter's Basilica, then they'll come out and clean St. Peter's Square behind me, as well. Then a giant security sweep takes place overnight, getting ready for the funeral tomorrow. As I mentioned, city officials have 9,000 personnel on crowd control duty for today and tomorrow. They say that will increase to 15,000 before the funeral begins on Friday.

Our live coverage here from Italy begins at 3:00 a.m. Eastern time. We'll have it all for you, live here from the Vatican.

Want to get back to Carol Costello now, watching the other headlines back in New York. And Carol, hello there.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Bill, you know the thing that really strikes me is five million people could be in Rome tomorrow for the pope's funeral. That's more people than live in Rome.

HEMMER: Well, you know, there are text messages going out every day of the week. The message that came out today from the Italian officials was "St. Peter's full." In other words, if you get ideas to come, turn around and forget about it.

COSTELLO: Maybe some people will heed that, but I don't know. Thank you, Bill.

In the news this morning, this just in to CNN, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is being asked to pull the drug Bextra from the market. The Food and Drug Administration making that request, saying the drug increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. The FDA also wants other drugs in the class, such as Celebrex, to carry the strongest safety warning possible. So-called Cox-2 inhibitors have been FDA scrutiny since Merck and Company voluntarily yanked Vioxx from store shelves. Andy Serwer will have more on this story on AMERICAN MORNING.

Iraq's new president Jalal Talabani is promising to create a democratic government in Iraq. Talabani was sworn in during a ceremony earlier this morning in Baghdad. A new candidate has also been named to take over as Iraq's prime minister.

If you're wondering what Brad Pitt is up to now that he's getting divorced, well, we have word. Brad Pitt is teaming up with U2 frontman Bono to fight poverty and AIDS. Pitt is among a group of A- list celebrities to be featured in a new public service announcement. The spot will hit the air on Sunday.

And new security concerns ahead of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles walking down the aisle. "The Sun" newspaper, a British tabloid, claims one of its reporters was able to get inside Windsor Castle. He was posing as a delivery truck driver and in the back of that white van, he had a big brown box with a "bomb" written on the front of it in big black letters. Of course it was a fake bomb. British police are now looking into this. CNN, by the way, will have live coverage of the royal wedding this Saturday, beginning at 6:00 a.m. Eastern.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: House Majority Leader Tom DeLay spent part of Wednesday defending himself, his wife and daughter. At issue is this, his family's salary, paid for in part by DeLay's own campaign, and funding for a trip to Russia.

CNN's congressional correspondent Ed Henry picks up the story for this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): House Republicans trotted out a fake barbell to try and promote the heavy lifting they're doing of President Bush's legislative agenda. Instead, they were hit with questions about whether the ethical controversy swirling around their leader, Tom DeLay, are weighing their party down.

REP. ROY BLUNT (R), HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP: The support for the leader is strong. And I don't see any lack, any waning, of the support for the leader.

HENRY: But at a closed door meeting of Republicans, three DeLay allies stood up and urged colleagues to rally around him. Two sources said the applause was good, but not overwhelming, a sign Republicans are nervous the allegations may hurt them in next year's election.

The latest source of angst? A story in "The Washington Post," alleging lobbyists for Russian business interests secretly paid for the majority leader's 1997 trip to Moscow. That would be a clear violation of House rules.

In an exclusive off-camera interview with CNN, DeLay said he thought the trip was paid for by a conservative think tank, which is permissible. DeLay said he was not, quote, "responsible for going into the bowels of researching how the trip was funded." DeLay also said the liberal media is out to get him and added, "what's going on here is a concerted effort and to twist and -- to twist the truth to make it look seedy and it's just not true."

The latest revelation comes on the heels of allegations DeLay allowed lobbyists to improperly bankroll two other overseas trips.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: It's not about a trip, it's about a pattern of behavior.

HENRY: A far more ominous attack came when the conservative "Wall Street Journal" editorialized that there's an "unsavory whiff" of odor around the majority leader. Republican strategists say the red flags being raised by conservatives will make it harder for DeLay to continue to claim the allegations are just a liberal plot to get him.

Ed Henry, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: More from Washington now. Ron Brownstein is CNN's political analyst. He's a writer for "The L.A. Times" as well. Ron, as always, nice to see you. We just heard from Ed Henry setting up what that issue -- is it the problem of the drip, drip, drip of these allegations or is it the allegations that are the problem at this point, do you think?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think it is more the drip, drip, drip, the fact that there are so many of these charges emerging. Right now, there's apprehension among Republicans, as Ed suggested, but not rebellion. Historically, though, these things are fluid.

Members have a relatively low tolerance for being challenged at home about the ethical behavior of their leader, so while I don't think there's any immediate threat to Tom DeLay, as these stories continue, if they do continue, you know, could you have a cumulative effect. Interestingly, I think his political judgment may be as much at issue in time as his ethical judgment.

O'BRIEN: What do you mean by that?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think that in the effort to save himself, or secure his position and defend himself against these charges, DeLay has moved to ingratiate himself with the Republican base in a variety of ways that I think other members may be getting a little nervous about.

Certainly there many who thought that his aggressive intervention in the Terri Schiavo case in part was fueled by the desire to strengthen his ties to the conservative base of the party. That obviously did not play well with the public. After that case was decided, he went out with some very, very sharp language, denouncing federal judges, and even Senate Republicans have felt necessary to distance themselves from that, because again, they felt that that was clearly kind of going to be going over the line in public opinion.

Even the ethics process in the House has essentially been taken off of the rails, in part because of a sense that Ethics Committee was too tough on Tom DeLay last year. So in all of these ways, maneuvering to protect him may put other members in more political danger, and that could be, in the long run, I think a problem for him, perhaps even greater than the ethical issues.

O'BRIEN: But DeLay told CNN yesterday that it's really the liberal media that's out to get him, and he said what's going on here is a concerted effort to twist the truth and make it look seedy. Does he not have some point here, in that there are other politicians certainly whose wives and children work for them. There are certainly other politicians who've had trips funded that were funded that maybe didn't dig deep enough to find out who was ultimately paying the bills?

BROWNSTEIN: And I think, first of all, that's probably why the charges so far are not sufficient to cause Republicans to break from him, because it's more a difference of perhaps degree than of kind with other members. Certainly, the conservatives will feel like DeLay is being singled out by the press.

I would say there's one other factor here, and that's sort of traditional issue in Washington, is that the backdrop affects the foreground. Once you have questions being raised about Tom DeLay's ethics, new issues, new allegations that might not be considered front page and newsworthy for someone else become newsworthy for him. It's sort of like Bill Clinton and personal issues, or Dan Quayle and, you know, whether he could spell potato. For someone else, it might not have been a problem. But given the history of this individual, and especially his powerful position, it becomes an issue in a way that it might not for another politician.

O'BRIEN: Ethically he's now under this big old microscope.

Ron Brownstein joining from us Washington. Ron, thanks a lot.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, more from Vatican City. We're going to bring that to you this morning.

Also Andy's got more on the FDA's safety ruling about two painkillers, which are prescribed to millions of Americans. He's "Minding Your Business," An we've got more on Rome. As we mentioned, we're back in just a moment on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: We're back, everybody. Let's begin with Mr. Cafferty, a look at the Question of the Day.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I love that (INAUDIBLE) music, don't you? It's my favorite. I'm so old waiting for this.

The question is, should it be legal for Florida residents to open fire when they perceive a threat? They've passed a new law liberalizing the use of lethal force if you perceive you are under attack. Some of you people are not taking this seriously. Tony in Arizona, "Only time will tell if the new law will promote a gunslinger mentality. It could also be a step in the right direction as far as telling the bad guy to think twice before attacking an innocent victim."

Colin in Washington, "Yes, I think it should be legal. Given that state's recent history, I'd say the more Floridians who shoot each other the better."

And Joe in Florida writes, yes, Big Pine Key, Florida, "My 80- year-old neighbor just renewed his driver's license by mail, without a vision test or competency screening. I perceive that as a threat. Can I shoot him?" No, you can't.

O'BRIEN: That's not funny. It's kind of funny.

CAFFERTY: Well, it is funny actually.

O'BRIEN: But you're right, they're not taking this question very seriously.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: They did in the beginning of the morning...

O'BRIEN: Yes, and then it just...

CAFFERTY: Actually a lot of them are; I chose to not take it seriously by 9:30. I read all of the serious philosophizing about gun laws. Time to get the yucks and get out of here.

O'BRIEN: Oh, selective editing. OK, thank you, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Well, I did the editing -- I picked the silly ones.

SERWER: That's scary, isn't it, that he's in charge of...

O'BRIEN: That's tomorrow's Question of the Day, how afraid are you?

Let's talk about the FDA, got some new warnings about some pain medications.

SERWER: That's right, Soledad. Big news this morning in the pharmaceutical business and for millions of patients out there. The FDA has announced that Pfizer needs to pull the drug Bextra off of the shelves and also put the strongest warning possible on Celebrex, these the two pain relievers, Cox-2 inhibitors. And you remember this controversy goes back to last September, when Merck pulled Vioxx off the shelves. These are blockbuster drugs -- Bextra, 13 million prescriptions last year, Celebrex 24 million prescriptions. Celebrex, $3.3 billion in sales, Bextra, $1.3 billion. And this is bad news for Pfizer, and we were sort of waiting for this. It's additional risk of cardiovascular disease, and these drugs have been studied for quite awhile now, and this is the FDA's word.

Let's's talk about the stock market a bit, Soledad. Obviously this is not good stuff for Pfizer, which is in the Dow. The Dow is up a little bit more, but now Pfizer is pulling it down. So it's only got up 3. Wal-Mart also down a little bit, because it's saying its sales were weak because of the weather. It says the weather was unseasonable. The weather varies, you know. It's sometimes it's a little warmer.

CAFFERTY: Why do they always do that? They do it every time one of these reports comes out, that isn't up to snuff -- it's the weather.

SERWER: And Wal-Marts all across the country. Some parts of the country warm, some parts were cold. Anyway, lastly here, just quickly, we told you about that big gasoline report coming out. In fact it did. Demand supposed to be up 1.8 percent. Here's the bottom line, though, they said the price of gas should be about $2.29 this summer as opposed to $1.91 last summer.

CAFFERTY: It already is that high over there in New Jersey.

SERWER: We have some place in California near Big Sir (ph) where it's $3.37 a gallon Ted Fine discovered -- $3.79, was it? $3.79, excuse me, didn't mean to sell them short.

CAFFERTY: That's like European prices.

SERWER: Yes, per liter.

Andy, thank you, "Minding Our Business" this morning.

O'BRIEN: We're going to get you right back out to Rome right after our break. Bono called John Paul II the best frontman the Catholic Church ever had. Our look at how the pope, who was sometimes at odds with the secular world, could also embrace it. That's coming up next, on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Just about 4:00 in the afternoon here in Rome, Italy, and what a stunning day it is again today here.

One thing you come to learn quickly about this pope as you follow him through life, is how he understood the power and the reality of global communications.

Sibila Vargas reporting on how this pope became more than just a religious icon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER (voice over): He was as comfortable on the world stage as any rock star.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He could pack an audience. He could pack any coliseum. And I think he's the first pope that really understood the power of media events.

VARGAS: In fact, he was the first multimedia pope. He wrote eight books and several CDs. In 1982, he launched the Vatican TV Center to broadcast religious material worldwide. Media coverage of his global travels helped turn John Paul II into a pop icon.

And this pope seemed to have an affinity for other pop icons. He asked Bob Dillon to play for him, and he met with U2 front man, Bono, who was working to help reduce debt in poor countries.

BONO, SINGER: He put my glasses on, made a very, very devilish face, and he was funny. I think this pope accomplished a lot in his going out to the world.

VARGAS: In 1987, he met with members of the Hollywood community and urged them to create positive and uplifting content. While at ease with entertainers, he sometimes found himself at odds with them.

Offended by Madonna's "Like a Prayer" video, the Vatican sought to ban her from performing in Italy.

Singer Sinead O'Connor infamously tore up a picture of the pope on "Saturday Night Live."

Despite his occasional conflicts with the secular world, he was also someone who could take delight in break dances.

Once he filled cathedrals and was compelling enough to become the subject of a comic book.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Talk about a story. Talk about a hero. Talk about a drama. I mean, talk about life without editing it, this man just captures a lot of attention in his life and even now in his death.

VARGAS: Sibila Vargas, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Also coming up here, five queens, four kings, and countless heads of state in attendance for the funeral on Friday. You can imagine the security challenge is immense. Rick and Daryn take a closer look at that next hour on "CNN LIVE TODAY."

And AMERICAN MORNING is back in a moment, right after this.

(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 7, 2005 - 09:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Soledad -- you know you're in trouble, Bill, when you mess up your own name. I'm Soledad O'Brien reporting from New York this morning. Bill Hemmer continues his reports from Vatican City. Good morning, Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, listen, from the Vatican, Soledad, I forgive you. And that's as good as I can do at this end. Good morning, everybody, and welcome back.

We are learning more about the will from Pope John Paul II. Some fascinating information, too, learning that early on in his papacy, they considered the possibility of having a funeral in his home country of Poland. Also this issue of whether or not he was tormented back in the year 2000 with a new millennium coming on board and wondering if this could signal the end of his own pontificate.

Also, he has requested to have all of his personal notes burned and in that will, we now know no material possessions have been handed down, as well. So we'll continue to go through these details as we learn more here.

The other big story we're watching, Soledad, from here, is that the mourners continue to come. Late last night, the line was supposed to be cut off. And apparently it was for a while, but earlier today when we were down there, we still found people jumping the line and paying their final respects to pope John Paul II.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER (voice-over): They're still shuffling along the cobblestone pavement, these people among the last of millions to say good-bye. This couple came from Germany.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we've got a special feeling. I cannot explain it.

HEMMER (on camera) The lines are growing thin today and by tomorrow, Friday, this river of humanity will run dry.

(MUSIC)

HEMMER (voice-over): The outpouring of respect has been stunning. More mourners are arriving from the pope's home country of Poland. One city official expects $1.5 million Poles by Friday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For our nation -- especially for our nation, there is no way to express the meaning of the pope.

HEMMER: Another group came with camping gear. They said they'll sleep on the street until Friday's funeral and don't mind for a minute.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just pure pleasure, because you know, just the thought that we are all together, there's a feeling of togetherness among us, you know, not only, the Poles, but all the people of the Catholic faith.

HEMMER: Three college students from California caught a late night train from Florence. They say missing this would leave their Italian education incomplete.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were kind of not sure if we were going to make it in today, but I'm taking the chance to go in and see him.

HEMMER: So many turned out this week, Italian officials broadcast warnings for people not to join the huge line. Still, though, they come.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He wasn't just a pope. I think he had something extra that possibly, obviously, has touched so many people, whether you're Catholic or not.

HEMMER: And the church officially is closing in about six and a half hours from now. They will clean St. Peter's Basilica, then they'll come out and clean St. Peter's Square behind me, as well. Then a giant security sweep takes place overnight, getting ready for the funeral tomorrow. As I mentioned, city officials have 9,000 personnel on crowd control duty for today and tomorrow. They say that will increase to 15,000 before the funeral begins on Friday.

Our live coverage here from Italy begins at 3:00 a.m. Eastern time. We'll have it all for you, live here from the Vatican.

Want to get back to Carol Costello now, watching the other headlines back in New York. And Carol, hello there.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Bill, you know the thing that really strikes me is five million people could be in Rome tomorrow for the pope's funeral. That's more people than live in Rome.

HEMMER: Well, you know, there are text messages going out every day of the week. The message that came out today from the Italian officials was "St. Peter's full." In other words, if you get ideas to come, turn around and forget about it.

COSTELLO: Maybe some people will heed that, but I don't know. Thank you, Bill.

In the news this morning, this just in to CNN, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is being asked to pull the drug Bextra from the market. The Food and Drug Administration making that request, saying the drug increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. The FDA also wants other drugs in the class, such as Celebrex, to carry the strongest safety warning possible. So-called Cox-2 inhibitors have been FDA scrutiny since Merck and Company voluntarily yanked Vioxx from store shelves. Andy Serwer will have more on this story on AMERICAN MORNING.

Iraq's new president Jalal Talabani is promising to create a democratic government in Iraq. Talabani was sworn in during a ceremony earlier this morning in Baghdad. A new candidate has also been named to take over as Iraq's prime minister.

If you're wondering what Brad Pitt is up to now that he's getting divorced, well, we have word. Brad Pitt is teaming up with U2 frontman Bono to fight poverty and AIDS. Pitt is among a group of A- list celebrities to be featured in a new public service announcement. The spot will hit the air on Sunday.

And new security concerns ahead of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles walking down the aisle. "The Sun" newspaper, a British tabloid, claims one of its reporters was able to get inside Windsor Castle. He was posing as a delivery truck driver and in the back of that white van, he had a big brown box with a "bomb" written on the front of it in big black letters. Of course it was a fake bomb. British police are now looking into this. CNN, by the way, will have live coverage of the royal wedding this Saturday, beginning at 6:00 a.m. Eastern.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: House Majority Leader Tom DeLay spent part of Wednesday defending himself, his wife and daughter. At issue is this, his family's salary, paid for in part by DeLay's own campaign, and funding for a trip to Russia.

CNN's congressional correspondent Ed Henry picks up the story for this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): House Republicans trotted out a fake barbell to try and promote the heavy lifting they're doing of President Bush's legislative agenda. Instead, they were hit with questions about whether the ethical controversy swirling around their leader, Tom DeLay, are weighing their party down.

REP. ROY BLUNT (R), HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP: The support for the leader is strong. And I don't see any lack, any waning, of the support for the leader.

HENRY: But at a closed door meeting of Republicans, three DeLay allies stood up and urged colleagues to rally around him. Two sources said the applause was good, but not overwhelming, a sign Republicans are nervous the allegations may hurt them in next year's election.

The latest source of angst? A story in "The Washington Post," alleging lobbyists for Russian business interests secretly paid for the majority leader's 1997 trip to Moscow. That would be a clear violation of House rules.

In an exclusive off-camera interview with CNN, DeLay said he thought the trip was paid for by a conservative think tank, which is permissible. DeLay said he was not, quote, "responsible for going into the bowels of researching how the trip was funded." DeLay also said the liberal media is out to get him and added, "what's going on here is a concerted effort and to twist and -- to twist the truth to make it look seedy and it's just not true."

The latest revelation comes on the heels of allegations DeLay allowed lobbyists to improperly bankroll two other overseas trips.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: It's not about a trip, it's about a pattern of behavior.

HENRY: A far more ominous attack came when the conservative "Wall Street Journal" editorialized that there's an "unsavory whiff" of odor around the majority leader. Republican strategists say the red flags being raised by conservatives will make it harder for DeLay to continue to claim the allegations are just a liberal plot to get him.

Ed Henry, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: More from Washington now. Ron Brownstein is CNN's political analyst. He's a writer for "The L.A. Times" as well. Ron, as always, nice to see you. We just heard from Ed Henry setting up what that issue -- is it the problem of the drip, drip, drip of these allegations or is it the allegations that are the problem at this point, do you think?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think it is more the drip, drip, drip, the fact that there are so many of these charges emerging. Right now, there's apprehension among Republicans, as Ed suggested, but not rebellion. Historically, though, these things are fluid.

Members have a relatively low tolerance for being challenged at home about the ethical behavior of their leader, so while I don't think there's any immediate threat to Tom DeLay, as these stories continue, if they do continue, you know, could you have a cumulative effect. Interestingly, I think his political judgment may be as much at issue in time as his ethical judgment.

O'BRIEN: What do you mean by that?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think that in the effort to save himself, or secure his position and defend himself against these charges, DeLay has moved to ingratiate himself with the Republican base in a variety of ways that I think other members may be getting a little nervous about.

Certainly there many who thought that his aggressive intervention in the Terri Schiavo case in part was fueled by the desire to strengthen his ties to the conservative base of the party. That obviously did not play well with the public. After that case was decided, he went out with some very, very sharp language, denouncing federal judges, and even Senate Republicans have felt necessary to distance themselves from that, because again, they felt that that was clearly kind of going to be going over the line in public opinion.

Even the ethics process in the House has essentially been taken off of the rails, in part because of a sense that Ethics Committee was too tough on Tom DeLay last year. So in all of these ways, maneuvering to protect him may put other members in more political danger, and that could be, in the long run, I think a problem for him, perhaps even greater than the ethical issues.

O'BRIEN: But DeLay told CNN yesterday that it's really the liberal media that's out to get him, and he said what's going on here is a concerted effort to twist the truth and make it look seedy. Does he not have some point here, in that there are other politicians certainly whose wives and children work for them. There are certainly other politicians who've had trips funded that were funded that maybe didn't dig deep enough to find out who was ultimately paying the bills?

BROWNSTEIN: And I think, first of all, that's probably why the charges so far are not sufficient to cause Republicans to break from him, because it's more a difference of perhaps degree than of kind with other members. Certainly, the conservatives will feel like DeLay is being singled out by the press.

I would say there's one other factor here, and that's sort of traditional issue in Washington, is that the backdrop affects the foreground. Once you have questions being raised about Tom DeLay's ethics, new issues, new allegations that might not be considered front page and newsworthy for someone else become newsworthy for him. It's sort of like Bill Clinton and personal issues, or Dan Quayle and, you know, whether he could spell potato. For someone else, it might not have been a problem. But given the history of this individual, and especially his powerful position, it becomes an issue in a way that it might not for another politician.

O'BRIEN: Ethically he's now under this big old microscope.

Ron Brownstein joining from us Washington. Ron, thanks a lot.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, more from Vatican City. We're going to bring that to you this morning.

Also Andy's got more on the FDA's safety ruling about two painkillers, which are prescribed to millions of Americans. He's "Minding Your Business," An we've got more on Rome. As we mentioned, we're back in just a moment on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: We're back, everybody. Let's begin with Mr. Cafferty, a look at the Question of the Day.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I love that (INAUDIBLE) music, don't you? It's my favorite. I'm so old waiting for this.

The question is, should it be legal for Florida residents to open fire when they perceive a threat? They've passed a new law liberalizing the use of lethal force if you perceive you are under attack. Some of you people are not taking this seriously. Tony in Arizona, "Only time will tell if the new law will promote a gunslinger mentality. It could also be a step in the right direction as far as telling the bad guy to think twice before attacking an innocent victim."

Colin in Washington, "Yes, I think it should be legal. Given that state's recent history, I'd say the more Floridians who shoot each other the better."

And Joe in Florida writes, yes, Big Pine Key, Florida, "My 80- year-old neighbor just renewed his driver's license by mail, without a vision test or competency screening. I perceive that as a threat. Can I shoot him?" No, you can't.

O'BRIEN: That's not funny. It's kind of funny.

CAFFERTY: Well, it is funny actually.

O'BRIEN: But you're right, they're not taking this question very seriously.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: They did in the beginning of the morning...

O'BRIEN: Yes, and then it just...

CAFFERTY: Actually a lot of them are; I chose to not take it seriously by 9:30. I read all of the serious philosophizing about gun laws. Time to get the yucks and get out of here.

O'BRIEN: Oh, selective editing. OK, thank you, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Well, I did the editing -- I picked the silly ones.

SERWER: That's scary, isn't it, that he's in charge of...

O'BRIEN: That's tomorrow's Question of the Day, how afraid are you?

Let's talk about the FDA, got some new warnings about some pain medications.

SERWER: That's right, Soledad. Big news this morning in the pharmaceutical business and for millions of patients out there. The FDA has announced that Pfizer needs to pull the drug Bextra off of the shelves and also put the strongest warning possible on Celebrex, these the two pain relievers, Cox-2 inhibitors. And you remember this controversy goes back to last September, when Merck pulled Vioxx off the shelves. These are blockbuster drugs -- Bextra, 13 million prescriptions last year, Celebrex 24 million prescriptions. Celebrex, $3.3 billion in sales, Bextra, $1.3 billion. And this is bad news for Pfizer, and we were sort of waiting for this. It's additional risk of cardiovascular disease, and these drugs have been studied for quite awhile now, and this is the FDA's word.

Let's's talk about the stock market a bit, Soledad. Obviously this is not good stuff for Pfizer, which is in the Dow. The Dow is up a little bit more, but now Pfizer is pulling it down. So it's only got up 3. Wal-Mart also down a little bit, because it's saying its sales were weak because of the weather. It says the weather was unseasonable. The weather varies, you know. It's sometimes it's a little warmer.

CAFFERTY: Why do they always do that? They do it every time one of these reports comes out, that isn't up to snuff -- it's the weather.

SERWER: And Wal-Marts all across the country. Some parts of the country warm, some parts were cold. Anyway, lastly here, just quickly, we told you about that big gasoline report coming out. In fact it did. Demand supposed to be up 1.8 percent. Here's the bottom line, though, they said the price of gas should be about $2.29 this summer as opposed to $1.91 last summer.

CAFFERTY: It already is that high over there in New Jersey.

SERWER: We have some place in California near Big Sir (ph) where it's $3.37 a gallon Ted Fine discovered -- $3.79, was it? $3.79, excuse me, didn't mean to sell them short.

CAFFERTY: That's like European prices.

SERWER: Yes, per liter.

Andy, thank you, "Minding Our Business" this morning.

O'BRIEN: We're going to get you right back out to Rome right after our break. Bono called John Paul II the best frontman the Catholic Church ever had. Our look at how the pope, who was sometimes at odds with the secular world, could also embrace it. That's coming up next, on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Just about 4:00 in the afternoon here in Rome, Italy, and what a stunning day it is again today here.

One thing you come to learn quickly about this pope as you follow him through life, is how he understood the power and the reality of global communications.

Sibila Vargas reporting on how this pope became more than just a religious icon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER (voice over): He was as comfortable on the world stage as any rock star.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He could pack an audience. He could pack any coliseum. And I think he's the first pope that really understood the power of media events.

VARGAS: In fact, he was the first multimedia pope. He wrote eight books and several CDs. In 1982, he launched the Vatican TV Center to broadcast religious material worldwide. Media coverage of his global travels helped turn John Paul II into a pop icon.

And this pope seemed to have an affinity for other pop icons. He asked Bob Dillon to play for him, and he met with U2 front man, Bono, who was working to help reduce debt in poor countries.

BONO, SINGER: He put my glasses on, made a very, very devilish face, and he was funny. I think this pope accomplished a lot in his going out to the world.

VARGAS: In 1987, he met with members of the Hollywood community and urged them to create positive and uplifting content. While at ease with entertainers, he sometimes found himself at odds with them.

Offended by Madonna's "Like a Prayer" video, the Vatican sought to ban her from performing in Italy.

Singer Sinead O'Connor infamously tore up a picture of the pope on "Saturday Night Live."

Despite his occasional conflicts with the secular world, he was also someone who could take delight in break dances.

Once he filled cathedrals and was compelling enough to become the subject of a comic book.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Talk about a story. Talk about a hero. Talk about a drama. I mean, talk about life without editing it, this man just captures a lot of attention in his life and even now in his death.

VARGAS: Sibila Vargas, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Also coming up here, five queens, four kings, and countless heads of state in attendance for the funeral on Friday. You can imagine the security challenge is immense. Rick and Daryn take a closer look at that next hour on "CNN LIVE TODAY."

And AMERICAN MORNING is back in a moment, right after this.

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