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CNN Sunday Morning
Freed American Hostage Jill Carroll Heads Home; Close Friends of Pope John Paul II to Share Memories in Special; Singer Sean McDonald Gives Insight on His Road to Recovery
Aired April 02, 2006 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Home-bound. Freed hostage Jill Carroll is on a plane at this hour, headed to the U.S. and she's speaking freely. Now that she's out of Iraq, Carroll says she was repeatedly threatened while captive. Carroll released a statement through her employer the "Christian Science Monitor." The Washington bureau chief for the "Monitor" David Cook joins us in just a minute, he's kept close ties with the Carroll family.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British foreign secretary Jack Straw are in Baghdad this morning. Rice said the unannounced trip is to urge Iraq to get a new government in place.
Pope Benedict remembers. The Catholics around the world are attending special masses marking the first anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II. He's already being considered for sainthood. In our next half hour, CNN's "FAITH & VALUES" correspondent Delia Gallagher joins us to talk about John Paul II's lasting presence. And take a look at your clock right now, right now, right now!
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Look at that! It's a little bit earlier than you thought.
HARRIS: Make sure it is set for daylight saving time. The annual push forward officially occurred at 2:00 a.m. Daylight saving time happens in almost every U.S. state with the exceptions of Arizona and Hawaii. Indiana made the change this year in an effort to end decades of confusion over who was ahead and who stayed behind.
And then there were two. March madness gives way to April sadness. If you picked LSU in your office pool final four, you lost. That was nice.
NGUYEN: That was nice.
HARRIS: UCLA triumphs and Cinderella's time is up at the big dance, upstart George Mason just couldn't get past Florida.
NGUYEN: Look at that score, 73-58.
HARRIS: They weren't particularly good games. Florida and UCLA meet in college basketball's championship game on Monday.
From the CNN Center, this is CNN...
NGUYEN: You know we did move forward an hour, missed that hour of sleep apparently?
HARRIS: April 2nd, 7:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, and 3:00 p.m. in Baghdad. Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen, we want to thank you for being with us today.
Former hostage Jill Carroll is on her way to Boston right now, she spent yesterday in Germany and once outside of Iraq Carroll was free to talk. She condemned her captors for killing her interpreter and said she was forced to say things on videotape which she didn't believe. In a statement posted on her employer's Web site the "Christian Science Monitor," Carroll says, "The people who kidnapped me and murdered Alan Enwiya are criminals, at best. They robbed Alan of his life and devastated his family. They put me, my family and my friends, and all of those around the world, who have prayed so fervently for my release through a horrific experience. I was and remain deeply angry with the people who did this."
Joining me now is David Cook, he is the Washington bureau chief for the "Christian Science Monitor," he's been with the Carroll family for the past few days. David, we want to appreciate you getting up so early to talk to us this morning.
DAVID COOK, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Glad to be here.
NGUYEN: Well it's wonderful that you are here. You've been with the family, you've spoken with the Carroll family, I imagine this anticipation is just building by the minute, as she is flying home right now.
COOK: We're looking forward to it. She's in the air. The colleagues who are with her say that she's in good spirits and we're looking forward to seeing her later today.
NGUYEN: Have you spoken with Jill personally?
COOK: No, the people at the "Monitor" dealing with Jill are the two Baghdad correspondents for the "Monitor", Scott Peterson and Dan Murphy. They worked tirelessly for her release and they're flying back with her today.
NGUYEN: Talk to us a little bit about what the "Christian Science Monitor" did to help secure this release. Did they do anything, was there any money exchanged? What was done?
COOK: Well first on the money question, there was no money exchanged. There were no negotiations. We didn't pay. We were informed that the family didn't pay and the U.S. ambassador in Iraq says that the government didn't pay. So money wasn't part of it. But we did a full court press obviously, we talked to a lot of officials both of our government and other governments, our folks in Baghdad did public service announcements so that the people in the region would see Jill and feel that she was a sympathetic character. Lots of people prayed and we really don't know what single thing triggered her release but we're certainly happy it happened. NGUYEN: Well we have seen, though, upon her release video of her saying things to support her captors, also criticizing her government. Now, Jill has made a statement on your Web site saying that this was propaganda that she was forced to say. Tell us a little bit about that.
COOK: Well, yes. Jill was held captive for 82 days. She went into captivity watching her translator, Alan Enwiya be shot and killed so she obviously was concerned about her safety. On the way out they asked her to make a propaganda video and then when she was released still not knowing what her situation was, she was asked to do a second video and our feeling is that it was a propaganda video and if you're under duress it really doesn't say what she thinks. If you're holding a gun at my head and tell me to say that the moon is made of bleu cheese it really doesn't tell you anything about what I really think about astronomy and that was the case with Jill. This was a propaganda video.
NGUYEN: So do you think it was a condition of her release, she had to make this in order to be released?
COOK: Well, Jill was saying that she felt she had to make these videos in order to be released. We'll know the full story when Jill gets to tell it and that to us would sort of be unfair thing about some of the criticism of Jill that's been taking place. Which is, nobody gave her a chance to even speak before they began criticizing, so, that's why she made the statement, we're looking forward to having her full story in the "Monitor" soon.
NGUYEN: Well I will say, some of our analysts took note of it and stepped back and said, you know, wait a minute, we don't know if she was being forced to say these things under duress and that was a condition of the release. But I have to ask you, you've been speaking with the family, they saw the video. What was their first reaction to it?
COOK: They didn't like the videos very much, and they obviously -- we've seen a number of videos, the videos that were done in captivity and the videos that were done as she was coming out and they both had the same kind of feel to them, which was somebody being coerced. So, very tough for the Carrolls to see their daughter being put in this kind of position. On the other hand, they were just thrilled that she was released.
NGUYEN: And we all are but in the video she talks about how she wasn't threatened, she was not hit, turns out that things did happen. What do you know about that? What happened to her while she was held in captivity?
COOK: All we know now is what she said in her statement, which was that she was threatened several times. In terms of physical conditions, she came out of captivity at least well-fed and they said that you know they let her use a bathroom and she had a private room and a shower, but obviously she was a prisoner for 82 days. At several points she was hauled in front of television cameras with armed men, but that's about all we know at the moment. As I say, we're looking forward to talking to Jill today and the week ahead and finding out more of what happened.
NGUYEN: And let me ask you, just very quickly f you would.
COOK: Sure.
NGUYEN: When do you think we're going to get the full story from Jill. Do you guys have the exclusive on that?
COOK: We hope we have the exclusive on it, since she works for us.
NGUYEN: You know we're going to try, right?
COOK: We know you're going to try. We've been in touch with the folks at CNN who have by the way been extremely helpful to us in securing her release. We're grateful to you folks very much.
NGUYEN: Well we thank you so much for spending some time and speaking with us today, David Cook, the Washington bureau chief with the "Christian Science Monitor," thank you so much.
COOK: Thank you.
HARRIS: Betty as we reported, right now Jill Carroll is flying from Frankfurt Germany to Boston. CNN's Paula Hancocks is on the plane with Carroll and she joins us by phone with more. Wow, Paula, what can you tell us?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, I just had a couple of words with Jill and she looks very relaxed and very happy, as you should imagine. She's just counting down the hours until she touches down and gets to see her family again. I also had a quick word with Scott Peterson, her colleague, and he seemed extremely happy, too. They just seemed to be sitting their giggling and chatting away, while looking through the in flight magazine, a very relaxed scene.
Now I did chat with her just briefly and she said that she was happy with how things had gone since her release. She said the people at the Ramstein Air Base had been fantastic. She said they'd been extremely helpful, so obviously the U.S. military helping her out a great deal, and she said they were all incredibly friendly as well. She said that the focus now is just on getting home.
We checked about how long it was until the plane actually lands and she jumped in instantly with the exact amount of hours that it would take until it was going to land. So obviously she's counting down. She was also saying that she couldn't really think about anything else, any other questions I asked her. All she wanted to do was just get home and see her family. Tony?
HARRIS: Paula, I have to ask you, in her statement yesterday she said she wanted a little bit of time to be left alone to regroup with family. How is she dealing with the likes of you, your crew and my guess is some other representatives of the media on the flight with her? HANCOCKS: That's right, yes. She said to everyone that she's not going to do any interviews for the time being. She didn't want any photos taken. All she wanted to do really was just get home and see her family. But I went and just said hello to her and she was incredibly friendly and she was very happy that people, journalists particularly were coming up to her and saying, "I'm absolutely delighted that you're okay." She thanked us for our concern, she thanked CNN for their concern. So in that respect she was just very pleased that people are taking an interest, and obviously wanted to say what she said in the statement as well, that it was amazing that so many people had taken an interest and so many people had worked to try and secure her release as well.
We also briefly talked a little bit about the three more hostages that were released a couple of weeks ago from Christian Peacemakers Team and she had said that that was fantastic news as well and they were very good, there was a good run of good news from Iraq recently.
HARRIS: CNN's Paula Hancocks on the plane right now from Frankfurt to Boston, with Jill Carroll. Paula, we appreciate it, thank you.
NGUYEN: Turning now to diplomacy in Baghdad, secretary of state Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Iraq overnight. She made the trip with her British counterpart, foreign secretary Jack Straw. They both hope to prod Iraqi leaders to end months of bickering and form a new government. Let's check in now with CNN'S Nic Robertson in Baghdad.
I'm surprised. I guess I should not as surprised. This was a trip that -- was it on the schedule or was it something that she just showed up in Iraq and you guys are caught off guard?
NIC ROBERTSON, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This was a trip that was closely guarded. The information surrounding this was very closely guarded. When the pair of them arrived, they arrived in a massive thunderstorm, which would make the security of their journey into downtown Baghdad for the international airport very challenging. They held their first meeting with the president of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, they thanked him for all his efforts trying to form a new government and stressed the importance that whoever it was who leads the new government needs to be able to bring all Iraqis into the fold. And we are told they did discuss in that meeting Prime Minister Ibrahim Al Jaafari, who is currently regarded as the stumbling block to forming that new government. He says he's popular and he should get the job of prime minister. A lot of other politicians here differ and really that log jam is what Condoleezza Rice and Jack Straw are here to break. Betty?
NGUYEN: There's been a sense of impatience. Talk to us a little bit about who they're speaking with and what they're trying to do there to get this process moving, Nic.
ROBERTSON: Well they're meeting with the Prime Minister, Ibrahim Al Jaafari himself, and taken along the ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, who's had meetings with Mr. Jaafari before and the terms of international diplomacy. They're unlikely to come out publicly and say it's time for you to drop your nomination and let's move forward, let's form the government. One would expect, and we've been told that they're going to stress the importance of forming that government, the fact that if they don't then that allows sectarian violence and the insurgency to really get a stronger foothold here.
They'll meet with probably the most powerful Shia politician in the country, Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim the head of the SCIRI, Supreme Council Islamic Revolution in Iraq. They'll meet with Sunni politician Tarek al Ashimi who is a Sunni politician who helped Jill Carroll get her freedom. They will also meet with some of the other politicians here, but it really is Mr. Jaafari, is perhaps the one where that's the meeting that's going to count the most, Betty.
NGUYEN: We'll be watching that, Nic Robertson in Baghdad for us, thank you, Nic.
HARRIS: A few stories making news back here in the states. The streets of New York, see this yesterday, jam-packed with thousands of people united by one voice. Marchers say they work, pay taxes and want their part of the American dream. Yesterday's rally was one of several across the country in opposition to illegal immigration legislation.
A trip in the Florida Everglades ends in tragedy. An air boat flipped killing the only person onboard, a 26-year-old Ft. Myers man. Florida Fish & Wildlife officials are still trying to determine what caused the accident.
And somebody is making it quite clear they want giant slugger Barry Bonds to go. The person who paid for the billboard hasn't come forward. Bonds faces allegations of alleged steroid use, which he denies. His fans are still sticking behind him though, hoping he'll break Hank Aaron's career home run record.
NGUYEN: That person making it loud and clear what they want. Well what started as a drug deal -- turned out to be a life-changing moment. Coming up how Sean McDonald used a guitar to turn his life around.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have the fly swatter with the clean pots and pans.
That is a no-no.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Yeah, I think so.
HARRIS: Why your kitchen might be making you sick. The fly swatter in close proximity to the pots and pans. Yeah, yeah, germs, lots of them, may be lurking nearly any and everywhere. What is she doing with a flashlight there? We'll show you what our germ detective found and we warn you, it isn't pretty. Reynolds, good morning, sir.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Okay, you have to take a look at this. It was a tornado that struck part of central Indiana Friday night. That's from the National Weather Service. The twister had winds up to 120 miles per hour, and damaged dozens of homes along a 17-mile path southeast of Indianapolis.
The red river is wider than it should be in North Dakota. Volunteers are out sandbagging on both sides of the river. Fargo is preparing for a river crest of 37 feet early next week. Flood stage in the city is 18 feet so that gives you a good idea of how that situation is.
HARRIS: Reynolds, can't we just sort of ease into the spring?
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Still ahead abandoned as a child he became a teenage drug dealer and addict. Singer Sean McDonald seemed destined to a life of crime and desperation. That is, until one deal changed his life. We'll meet one of Christian music's hottest new faces. Actually heard one of his songs last night on the radio, yeah that's a good one, but there's another song called "Free." We'll need to ask him can he play it.
NGUYEN: I'm going to get him to play a little something, something for you Tony.
HARRIS: "FACES OF FAITH" coming up later this hour.
NGUYEN: A terrific story, you want to stay tuned for that.
First though, a down and dirty report, we are not kidding, about kitchen cleanliness, that hits a little too close to home. We took the test, too, we'll let you know how we did, especially Tony.
HARRIS: Oh, man.
NGUYEN: CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, this next story might leave you a little queasy. We're talking about bacteria, the germs, can be lurking in your own kitchen, even if it looks spotless. CNN's Randi Kaye reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hector de la Cruz, an inspector with the Los Angeles Health Department prowls through pantries, raids refrigerators and scopes out sinks, he's knocking on bacteria's door. With 76 million people in this country suffering from food borne illnesses each year, De la Cruz and the LA Health Department are looking to clean up California kitchens. So they've developed an at- home test similar to those used in restaurants around the country. We asked if he would tag along as we checked out three Los Angeles area kitchens and what may be lurking inside them.
Our test kitchens belong to Ari and Vera Miller and their two children. Jack Smiler and his cat and Suzy Wells and her family. De la Cruz and his assistant Cathy, get right to it, checking refrigerator temperature and inspecting the food. On the surface, the Miller's kitchen is spotless.
ARI MILLER, TEST KITCHEN OWNER: Like a good marriage, we never go to bed angry, we never leave dishes in the sink.
KAYE: But De la Cruz has concerns about the sponge, the dish towel and mom's chicken barley soup. At first he was just slightly concerned, but then Ari Miller revealed the soup was still hot when it was put in the fridge.
HECTOR DE LA CRUZ, HEALTH INSPECTOR: You got any other dark, deep secrets in there?
KAYE: That increases the possibility bacteria will grow where the soup didn't cool properly.
DE LA CRUZ: This is what we consider a potentially hazardous food product, meaning that it could at the proper temperatures and the right amount of time start to support the growth of micro-organisms that could get you sick.
KAYE: If De la Cruz was concerned, we thought maybe we should be, too. So we took a sample of mom's homemade soup to send to the lab. Please forgive me, if we find something in your soup, mom. We grabbed the sponge and the dish towel for testing, too. Then we were off to Venice Beach to Jack Smiler's house. While De la Cruz went to work inspecting the kitchen, Smiler went online to take the health department's food safety test.
JACK SMILER, HOME OWNER: A "C," a score of 72 points.
KAYE: But Smiler took it all in stride.
SMILER: I don't think that your personal kitchen needs to be held to the same standards that a public kitchen should be held to.
KAYE: But would a restaurant chef hang his fly swatter with his pots and pans?
DE LA CRUZ: You have the fly swatter with the clean pots and pans.
KAYE: That is a no-no. So we decided to help Smiler out, we sent his fly swatter to the lab. We also took some leftover steak and a sample from the floor around his cat's litter box to see what she may be dragging around the house and into the kitchen. Now it was time to visit Suzy Wells' house in Los Angeles. Our final kitchen impressed even our meticulous inspector.
DE LA CRUZ: You received an "A."
SUSIE WELLS, HOME OWNER: Oh, thank you!
KAYE: But De la Cruz's test only captured what the eye could see. What the eye couldn't see was sent off to this New Jersey lab, and the results were surprising. While the health inspectors gave the Millers' kitchen an "A", Ron Schnitzer the lab director who tested our samples had a different grade in mind.
RON SCHNITZER, SANI-FOOD PURE LABORATORIES: Microbiologically it was a horror.
KAYE: The Millers' sponge turned up over 1 million bacteria per milliliter, that's a lot of bacteria. In just about one-fifth of a teaspoon, which means when the Millers thought they were cleaning up, they were actually spreading bacteria. Same story on the dish towel. But the worst offender? Mom's homemade chicken barley soup.
DE LA CRUZ: The soup sometimes stays out and my mom's soup is a mixture of old things that she just throws in, some of the stuff in there might be suspect.
KAYE: The soup surprised even our lab director. It had more than 50 times the amount of bacteria than is expected in prepared foods. It had 5 million bacteria in less than a teaspoon of soup.
SCHNITZER: Probably started out with bad ingredients to start with, with very high bacteria counts, probably improperly cooked, and transferred into non-clean -- with non-clean utensils into a non- sterile container. So just one problem after another.
KAYE: And remember Jack Smiler's home? The health inspectors gave him a "C" but in the lab he came out ahead and so did his cat. The sample from his kitty's litter box had less bacteria than anything we tested in the Miller's kitchen. So is it really possible to keep our kitchens that clean or will bacteria continue to get the best of us?
SCHNITZER: Bacteria doesn't care whether or not it's growing in Jack's kitchen, Suzie's kitchen or Ari's kitchen or the restaurant down the street. They just want a place to grow.
KAYE: Bottom line, inspector De la Cruz can't visit everyone's home, so you'll have to be your own inspector. Let foods cool before refrigerating them. Change your sponges often. Wash your dish towels and clean, clean, clean. Randi Kaye, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Did you take the test?
NGUYEN: Let me just tell you, if you were ready for breakfast you may want to think again. If you want to find more about this -- we took this test and we'll tell you our results in a minute. But you can take the test as well, see if your kitchen would past the white glove test, click on www.lapublichealth.org and click Inspector Home Kitchen. I did this last night.
HARRIS: You did?
NGUYEN: I thought I was doing great. Every one of the answers, "I got this, no problem."
HARRIS: Right, right.
NGUYEN: Came up with a B plus. I thought for sure I had aced it.
HARRIS: Really?
NGUYEN: It was the sponges. I don't throw them out often enough.
HARRIS: And here's the thing. I got bored with the test.
NGUYEN: Oh, no!
HARRIS: I ended up with a C? I ended up with a -- but I don't know this stuff. I don't cook in the house. And look, I mean, you know, the bacteria in the sink, what's a little back tier why? That's not going to hurt you.
NGUYEN: Doesn't that help you? I mean, doesn't your body need that so you can build up...?
HARRIS: It's called an immune system.
NGUYEN: Immune system, see? So come eat in our kitchen. Yes, we may not have made an A, but it's A-okay, right?
HARRIS: I got a c, right?
NGUYEN: I'm not eating in yours.
HARRIS: Yes, come on over to our house!
NGUYEN: You made a c, you're still passing. Right?
HARRIS: Cooking up something...
NGUYEN: That's a good idea.
HARRIS: I'm cooking up something really special for you.
NGUYEN: I bet you are. I'm scared of you now. All right. We're going to take a break so we can all recover from that.
HARRIS: Kind of like "Sling Blade" there for a second there.
NGUYEN: A little Billy Bob Thornton for you.
HARRIS: We'll be right back.
NGUYEN: Get some mustard.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Now in the news, freed hostage Jill Carroll left Germany about three hours ago. She is on her way to Boston. While in Germany, Carroll posted a statement online, saying she was forced to take part in a propaganda video in Iraq. Carroll also condemned her captors, calling them criminals who put her and her family through a horrific experience.
The top U.S. and British diplomats have made an unscheduled visit to Iraq. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will try to nudge Iraqi leaders to finish forming a new government.
Back here in the U.S., we hope you remember to bump that clock up 60 minutes during the wee hours. Not even folks in Arizona or Hawaii but for everyone else, including you guys in Indiana.
Well, they certainly know what time it is in D.C. Folks go bananas over these cherries. The annual Cherry Blossom Festival is happening in Washington. This year marks the 94th celebration of the original gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Tokyo to the people of Washington back in 1912.
HARRIS: Roman Catholics around -- good morning, everyone. Roman Catholics around the world today are remembering Pope John Paul II. The 84-year-old pope died a year ago, ending a papacy that spanned decades. Thousands of pilgrims have descended on the Vatican for ceremonies marking the anniversary of his death. A short time ago, Pope Benedict spoke to the crowds in St. Peter's Square.
Tonight at 7 Eastern, "CNN PRESENTS" takes a look at the pope's last days. Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For nearly 40 years, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz and Pope John Paul II were inseparable.
CARDINAL STANISLAW DZIWISZ, ARCHBISHOP OF KRAKOW (through translator): I didn't have a private place. His schedule, his work, became my work, my schedule.
GALLAGHER: Dziwisz was the pope's personal secretary, a job he started when John Paul was still Karol Wojtyla, the young archbishop of Krakow.
DZIWISZ (through translator): He asked me, "Can you come and help me with my work?"
And I said, "When?"
He said, "Today." I told him I'd come tomorrow, and tomorrow lasted for more than 39 years.
GALLAGHER: Today, one year after his friend's death, Dziwisz is back home in Krakow, working the same job, living in the same home, and praying in the same private chapel, where his mentor once prayed.
DZIWISZ (through translator): After breakfast, he'd come here, lock himself in here and pray by himself until 11. No one else was allowed in. He'd be here alone with Christ.
And not only did he pray; he also worked here.
A men said he was (ph) curious about what he was doing. We'd peek through the window and see him prostrate on the floor. That was his way of praying. So this chapel was very close to his heart.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Delia -- I'm sorry, I'm talking to Delia as we -- thanks for coming out of the piece. Delia Gallagher is here with us now.
Good to see you, lady.
GALLAGHER: Thank you.
HARRIS: I have to first ask you about the pope's, wow! His personal secretary, of all those years.
GALLAGHER: Yes.
HARRIS: What an amazing man. And one of the things I'm curious to know is where does he go? What does he do next with his life?
GALLAGHER: Yes, that's the man you just saw in the video, of course.
HARRIS: Yes.
GALLAGHER: And as you say, he was beside the pope for 40 years. You can imagine, I mean, he absolutely dedicated his life to him. He is now cardinal in Krakow, where John Paul II started out as archbishop. And...
HARRIS: Full circle, in a sense.
GALLAGHER: Full circle for him, because he went to Rome. He even says it, you know: "John Paul II took me by the hand to Rome, and I feel like he's come back with me spiritually."
So he's obviously a very important figure in Poland now, because John Paul II's gone.
HARRIS: And he was -- he was the man who orchestrated a lot of the events around the final days.
GALLAGHER: Yes. Well, and orchestrated a lot of events throughout the pontificate. HARRIS: Yes.
GALLAGHER: Because if you wanted to get in to see the pope, if you wanted an appointment with the pope, he was the man you had to ask.
HARRIS: Yes.
GALLAGHER: And -- and he was certainly in charge of those last few days, as we see in our piece. Yes.
HARRIS: He doesn't talk. I mean, he...
GALLAGHER: Yes. He never spoke to the press on record.
HARRIS: That's right.
GALLAGHER: So it was very exciting for me to be able to go back and have a sit-down interview with him and listen to exactly what happened in those final hours of the pope's life.
HARRIS: Well, this interview speaks to the kind of access that people can anticipate and see in this two-hour special, doesn't it?
GALLAGHER: Yes. It was amazing to go back and be able to talk to some of these people who are really the closest to the pope, and that, as you said, they usually don't speak. And so for them to speak, A, and for them to speak about such a personal time, the time around the bedside of a dying pope, I think that's some very, very personal stories. And they were very moving interviews. They were difficult to conduct in some senses. I mean, they were tearful, as well.
HARRIS: We look back over the course of last year, March, April, and those tremendous events.
GALLAGHER: Yes.
HARRIS: You were right there this in the center of all of this.
GALLAGHER: Oh, yes, well, me and sort of a million other people.
HARRIS: Sure, sure, sure. But what are some of the lasting impressions that you'll keep with you?
GALLAGHER: Well, I think one has to be, and Pope Benedict mentioned it this morning from Rome, when he was speaking to the crowds. The last time John Paul II appeared at the window and tried to speak...
HARRIS: Yes.
GALLAGHER: First on Easter Sunday and then he tried again two days later on the Wednesday, and that was the last time we saw him, because he died on Saturday. And he tried to speak. And his private secretary tells us that they had actually practiced that before and he was able to speak into the microphone. But when he went to the window to do it in front of the crowd...
HARRIS: Yes.
GALLAGHER: ... the private secretary says he thinks he was just overcome by emotion and he wasn't able to get those words out, and it was very painful images to watch, actually. A lot of people have mentioned that in particular to me as a moment that stands out.
HARRIS: Help me here. Is that the moment where he kind of at point, is frustrating -- seems a bit frustrated and kind of moves the microphone away? Or...
GALLAGHER: The microphone was moved away from him.
HARRIS: Got you.
GALLAGHER: And he wasn't very happy about that, but they made that judgment call. Yes, those are the doves when he was trying to get them out the window, and they flew right back in.
HARRIS: You also learned some of the kind of interesting secrets about the conclave to elect Pope John Paul II's successor, didn't you?
GALLAGHER: Yes, yes, it's a very secret, secret process. And of course, you know, once the doors of the Sistine Chapel close, we're all waiting outside and we just have to look at the chimney...
HARRIS: Right.
GALLAGHER: ... of the Sistine Chapel for any kind of information. So we were able to go back and talk to the cardinals, who were in there. Of course, they are bound by secrecy for a lot of the things, but they told us lots of great stories about what was going on inside and why there was a delay when they actually did elect the pope.
For us on the outside, to watch the smoke come up and hear the bells, which was going to be the sign that the pope was elected.
HARRIS: Yes.
GALLAGHER: But there was a delay between the smoke coming out and the bells.
HARRIS: Who has the keys? Who has the keys?
GALLAGHER: Yes.
HARRIS: Who has the keys?
GALLAGHER: And so there was a man inside with the keys and he forgot.
HARRIS: He forgot to do it.
GALLAGHER: He forgot to ring the bell. So we were all outside waiting.
HARRIS: Well, this is fascinating, and it airs tonight. And boy, if you didn't get a chance to see it last night, check it out this evening. What a great special. It really is a sort of last hour of the two-hour special this morning, as I was getting ready to come in here this morning. It's great work, Delia. Good to see you.
GALLAGHER: Thank you. Good to see you. Thanks for having me.
HARRIS: And once again, get a rare insight into the last days of Pope John Paul II, tonight, 7 Eastern and Pacific. That's when "CNN PRESENTS" a two-hour special, "THE LAST DAYS OF POPE JOHN PAUL II." We'll take you inside the Vatican secret world, and you'll meet the people who are (sic) with John Paul during his final hours, with Delia Gallagher.
Opposition parties in Thailand are looking to kick their prime minister out of office? But it's looking more like a constitutional mess, Betty.
HARRIS: Yes, it is. For more on this, our Danielle Elias joins us now from the international desk.
Hi, Danielle.
DANIELLE ELIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Betty.
As you said, three polling stations in Thailand's troubled southern region were bombed just as the votes closed. Meanwhile, vote counting is underway in a snap election called by their prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra. The controversial Thai leader asked for the vote three years early. He's trying to end increasing anti- government protests that want his resignation.
Now, Mr. Thaksin pledges to step down if his party receives less than 50 percent of the vote. No exit poll results are available so far.
An entire city in Pakistan is going to be moved. This after the information minister says the earthquake-prone city of Balakot won't be rebuilt. Last October, Balakot was destroyed by the massive South Asia earthquake which killed thousands of people and left others homeless. Many of Balakot's 300,000 residents are still living in tents. Experts say any new construction is just too dangerous.
And it's graduation day for three young pandas in China. On Saturday, these fuzzy creatures moved to a new, more public home. One year ago, Wong-Wong, Hung-Hung, and Ya-Ya (ph) were moved from a breeding center to their home at Shanghai's Wild Animal Zoo. They were well taken care of. Zoo staff, as you can see here, prepared bamboo, apples and water for the young ones during the journey. Now, these pandas have some time to rest before making their first appearance to the visitors and tourists at the zoo.
HARRIS: What were the names again?
NGUYEN: Wong-Wong (ph)...
ELIAS: Wong-Wong, Ya-Ya (ph).
NGUYEN: And Hung-Hung (ph) or something like that. Are these a rare breed?
ELIAS: They are -- well, you know... these are three pandas, of course, and there are about 1,000 pandas living in southwest China and only about 110 living in captivity. So it's a pretty big deal that these pandas are now making their new home.
NGUYEN: All right, Danielle. Everyone loves to see those cute little pandas.
HARRIS: Danielle, so long.
ELIAS: Thank you.
NGUYEN: What was that?
ELIAS: New panda name.
NGUYEN: Oh, the new panda name. Leave the naming up to the folks -- the experts. Leave it to the experts.
NGUYEN: Danielle Elias, ignore him.
HARRIS: Still ahead, the winding road to recovery. That's a long one for me.
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HARRIS: From drug dealer to a Christian singer, Sean McDonald turned his life around in an amazing way. His story, straight ahead.
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NGUYEN: The music you hear is from a young man who was once so troubled, so angry and so bitter that everyone who knew him, wrote him off. Six years ago, though, Sean McDonald made and sold drugs like crank and LSD. He once spent two months in jail on drug charges. And today McDonald is a chart-topping Christian rocker, singing songs of redemption on his second CD.
And he's joining us now live from Nashville, bright and early.
Thanks for being with us, Sean.
SEAN MCDONALD, CHRISTIAN MUSIC SINGER: Thanks for having me.
NGUYEN: You have a hit on the Billboard Christian chart, you know, but you weren't always singing praise. You used to be a drug dealer, of all things. What hooked you into that world?
MCDONALD: Well, I had an encounter when I was in college, and I would say I had an encounter with Christ, and it just kind of changed my life around and picked up the guitar, started writing music. And I mean, it's a lot longer of a story than that, but it's kind of it in a nutshell.
NGUYEN: Yes, you had an encounter with Christ. But take me back before that. Your life was in turmoil. You were on the streets; you were selling drugs. You actually were facing, what, nine felony charges. What was going on in your world at that time?
MCDONALD: Well, yes, I mean I got busted for selling a couple different substances, and I was living in an apartment complex, and I was dealing out on the streets. And -- and just kind of -- yes, I got in trouble.
NGUYEN: It was quite a time for you, I imagine, something that, something that you talk about in your songs, and you sing of redemption. You sing of meeting Christ and having Christ in your life. Was there a moment when it all just snapped for you? It happened, you woke up, you realized, "I got to change this"?
MCDONALD: Kind of, I guess. I was sitting in my apartment one evening, and I had this Bible just kind of collecting dust up on my shelf, and I opened it up. And I kind of just was like God, if you're real, then show up, and I remember just kind of opening it up and just kind of stuck my finger in and I expected if God was out there, that he was going to show up and talk to me.
And so I started reading, and the scripture that I happened to read was talking about cleaning the demons out of my house. And all I could think of is the drugs were my demons and I just felt like God was saying, you know, you need to stop this life.
And so I cleaned it. I got everything out of my apartment and got rid of everything. And a couple days later, cops showed up at my door search warrant, came in and searched and couldn't find anything. And I just kind of took it as a sign. I took it as God was kind of speaking to me.
NGUYEN: I imagine. Boy, what a transformation. How did you go from there, though? I mean, it's one thing to see the light, but how do you take that and move into the world that you're now in? You're making hits. You're living your dream.
MCDONALD: Well, it's an odd place to be, because I wouldn't have told you I'd been here. I mean, the fact that I'm sitting here talking to you, it's just -- it's an odd thing for me to really think about it. But it came from a place of -- I think songs are a beautiful way to express your heart towards whatever. I think that you can convey your feelings really well in a song, and for emotion and what not. And so for me, that's how I like, that's how I like -- that's how I share my own feelings with God, and with people, and whatnot. And so I kind of, I don't know. I had this old guitar that I'd actually gotten from a drug deal.
NGUYEN: Really?
MCDONALD: And I just started kind of beating around on it, and learning songs. And I eventually started writing my own, and I don't know. I just -- I really don't even know how I got here. I just kind of...
NGUYEN: Well, some people would say it is the power of faith.
MCDONALD: Yes.
NGUYEN: The joy of faith, and your life has definitely turned around.
Let's get to what you do best, singing. You've got a song called "Free" that's great. We've been listening it to all morning long. Tony Harris has wanted you to sing it today, I know. But you want to play a song called "Home". This is something you're going to be releasing pretty soon, isn't it?
MCDONALD: Yes, yes.
NGUYEN: If you would, go ahead; pick up that guitar and play for us this morning.
MCDONALD: All right.
NGUYEN: Thanks for talking to us.
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REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: If you get up this morning and you happen to be within driving distance of Washington, D.C., and you're wondering what to do, hey, here's a no-brainer. Go to the nation's capital. It's going to be beautiful there. They've got all of the cherry blossoms are out. Everything's looking good.
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HARRIS: Good morning, everyone. Now in the news, freed hostage Jill Carroll is home ward bound. She left Germany about three hours ago on a commercial flight heading for Boston. "The Christian Science Monitor" reporter was released by her captors in Iraq Thursday. We have a report on Carroll's trip and her homecoming coming up in just a couple of minutes.
Top U.S. and British diplomats are in Baghdad this morning. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw made the unannounced trip. Rice says they're visit is to jump- start talks over forming a new Iraqi government.
At the Vatican Pope Benedict recalled the legacy of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II. He died one year ago today, tens of thousands packed St. Peter's Square waving the red and white flags of the late Pope's native home.
NGUYEN: Well, if you didn't change your clock, it's earlier than you might think. Supposed to hear the cuckoo clocks here. We don't have it. We're working on it, OK.
While you were sleeping, most of the nation sprang ahead one hour to daylight saving time, and for the first time in more than 30 years, all of Indiana -- there's that cuckoo clock -- is on daylight -- obviously the cuckoo clock didn't set its time.
HARRIS: A little late.
NGUYEN: Welcome to the club, Indiana.
Well, it is election time in Thailand. Remote controlled bombs exploded today near three polling stations. Fortunately, the polls had closed. The country's prime minister called the elections three years early. Persistent anti government protests have demanded his resignation. All three opposition parties in parliament boycotted the election.
And then there were two. College basketball's championship is whittled down to UCLA and Florida. The Bruins ousted LSU 59-45 last night, and Florida ended George Mason's Cinderella streak 73-58. The championship game is tomorrow night.
NGUYEN: Good morning, good morning from the CNN Center. This is CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
HARRIS: Good morning Betty. Good morning.
NGUYEN: A lot earlier than you think. April 2nd. Hope you set the clocks right. 8:00 a.m. At the headquarters here in Atlanta, Eastern Time, 7:00 a.m. in the heartland. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HARRIS: I'm Tony Harris. Thank you for being with us this morning.
NGUYEN: Going to give you a quick look at some of the stories coming up right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
Some call it the epicenter of terror, not Iraq, not Afghanistan, this is Uganda. We'll talk to a man who says the international community must get involved to avert a humanitarian crisis.
Also ahead, from the Vatican to your city, Catholics around the world are remembering Pope John Paul II one year after his death.
Then next hour African-Americans may be preeminent in college basketball now, but it wasn't always that way. Find out more about the player who integrated the big ten nearly 60 years ago.
HARRIS: Freed hostage Jill Carroll is getting closer to home. The American journalist boarded a plane in Germany about three hours ago. She's expected to arrive in Boston at midday. CNN's Paula Hancocks is on the flight with her. We talked with her on the phone last hour.
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HANCOCKS: She looks very relaxed and very happy, as you should imagine. She's just counting down the hours until she gets to see her family again. Also, her colleague seems extremely happy too. They're giggling and chatting away. A very relaxed scene. Now, I did chat with her just briefly, and she said that she was happy how things had gone since the release. She said the people at the Ramstein Air Base have been fantastic. She said they've been extremely helpful, obviously the U.S. military helping her out a great deal, and she said they were all incredibly friendly.
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HARRIS: Paula Hancocks with Jill Carroll.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterpart British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw are in Baghdad this morning. The trip wasn't on their agenda at first, but they're hoping a visit will give a push to Iraqis trying to form a national unity government. Elise Labott is in Baghdad, and she joins us by phone. Elise, tell us about this trip. What did you find out that the dignitaries were actually in country?
ELISE LABOTT, CNN STATE DEPT. PRODUCER (via telephone): Well, Tony, it's interesting. We were having more of a relaxed weekend in Liverpool the home of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw when they told us at the last minute we're going to Baghdad. This trip, we've been told, was planned for a couple of weeks, but they -- you know, they obviously didn't want to announce it because of security reasons.
The reason Secretary Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw are here is to really push the Iraqi government to put together a national unity government. As you know, there have been delays for several months, a lot of which are about the holdup about the prime minister. The Kurds and Sunnis parties are really against the Sunni candidate al Jaafari. Secretary Rice is here to say listen I understand this is a real difficult time for you, these are difficult choices, but you really need to put together a government that can help establish security in the country and move the country forward, Tony.
HARRIS: Elise, could one take this as a sign of growing impatience with the process? LABOTT: Well, yes. Secretary Straw said that he was here not five weeks ago, and Iraqi leaders assured him that this national unity government was going to be put together very quickly, and he said, obviously, that is not the case, and there's a lot of growing international concern and as far as Secretary Rice is concerned, she really hasn't been pushing the Iraqis very publicly. She has been working with the party very closely, but you really haven't seen a lot of public U.S. pressure on the Iraqis, but you have sectarian violence that's boiling over and has been increasing over the last month, and one of the major reasons the U.S. feels is because there isn't a government that can establish security.
There's a power vacuum, and that really leads to sectarian tensions, and that's why it's the most important thing right now is for this government to be put together for the country to move forward.
HARRIS: OK, CNN producer Elise Labott for us in Baghdad. Elise thank you, we appreciate it.
NGUYEN: Also in Iraq insurgents blew up a small Shiite mosque northeast of Baghdad, and Iraqi police reported finding 40 bodies in neighborhoods surrounding the capital city. The U.S. military reported the deaths of three U.S. soldiers. Two of them died in the roadside bomb attack late Saturday. Also, military officials are still waiting to hear word on the status of a crew on a U.S. helicopter that crashed on Saturday southwest of Baghdad. We will keep on top of that.
As we mentioned just a little bit earlier Jill Carroll is on her way home to Boston. She was a freelance reporter when she was kidnapped in Iraq. She was working for the "Christian Science Monitor" now her translator was killed during that abduction. Last hour I talked with the newspaper's Washington Bureau chief about Carroll's release.
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DAVID COOK, "CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR:" There was no money exchanged. There were no negotiations. We didn't pay. We're informed that the family didn't pay, and the U.S. Ambassador in Iraq says that the government didn't pay. Money wasn't part of it. We did a full if-court press, obviously. We talked to a lot of officials, both in our government and other governments. Our folk in Baghdad, public service announcements so that the people in the region would see Jill and feel that she was a sympathetic character. Lots of people prayed, and we really don't know what single thing triggered her release, but we're certainly happy it happened.
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NGUYEN: No doubt about that. CNN's Allan Chernoff joins us live from the "Christian Science Monitor" headquarters in Boston. What's the latest there?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Betty people still wondering exactly how did Jill Carroll gain her freedom. We don't know the full story yet, but we certainly do know that Jill Carroll pretty much played her cards right, especially at the end of her captivity. The last night of her captivity the kidnappers asked her to do a video interview. She complied. In that interview, it turned out to be a propaganda interview, she said the U.S. was going to lose in Iraq, the insurgents would win. She criticized the U.S. and denounced the lies that the United States was telling. Was this Jill Carroll's true sentiment? Absolutely not.
In a statement that was released yesterday from Jill Carroll, she said she had been forced to do this interview, and, also, that she remained very angry with her captors. She said they were criminals, at best. She well knew that they had murdered her interpreter. She said she remained extremely angry about that, and she said she basically just did what she need to do to gain freedom.
Even after she was released and she was released at a branch office of the Iraqi Islamic party, she didn't feel safe even then. She was asked to do another interview at that party's office, and she complied again, and in that interview she said she had been treated well and that she had not been threatened. The truth, in fact, she said she had been threatened numerous times. She is expected to come back to Boston and arrive here at about 12:30 Eastern Time.
Betty.
NGUYEN: All right, Allan. Thank you so much. We'll keep watching all of that as well. Stay tuned. There's more CNN SUNDAY MORNING coming up right after this break.
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BARON BAPTISTE, YOGA TRAINER: Good job.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Yoga is fun, but it also teaches children valuable life lessons. That according to yoga trainer to the stars Baron Baptiste. It was he is passion for kids that inspired him to write the book, "My Daddy is a Pretzel."
BAPTISTE: I'm the daddy. I'm the pretzel.
Yoga is a wonderful tool, a wonderful process to really learn about our own bodies, to learn about our thoughts, to learn about our feelings.
COSTELLO: He says kids lead busy, stressful lives, and yoga is a great way for them to experience inner calmness.
BAPTISTE: It teaches about how we react to stress and how we can even hold that stress in our bodies and also a way to undo the stress, to rinse our bodies out like a sponge.
MARTHA HALL, MEGAN KELLIHER'S MOTHER: I think it's really teaching her to relax with her body and that there is really kind of a mind-body connection.
COSTELLO: And Megan's favorite part?
MEGAN KELLIHER: Exercising.
COSTELLO: How about relaxing?
KELLIHER: Yes.
COSTELLO: A relaxed child.
Carol Costello, CNN.
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NGUYEN: Hi there. My time.
Check what's going on across America this morning.
HARRIS: A boat ride turns deadly in the Everglades. An airboat flipped killing its driver. A man from Fort Myers was the only one on board. Investigators aren't sure what caused the crash.
NGUYEN: A final good-bye to one of country music's biggest legends. Funeral services for Buck Owens will be held this afternoon in Bakersfield, California. Nearly 6,000 people lined up yesterday for a public viewing. Owens died one week ago at the age of 76.
HARRIS: Consumer alert. The wetter than usual spring in California is doing more than soaking the ground. It's damaging plants, and that means down the line it could soak you in the pocketbook. The rain is hurting rice and fruit growers.
NGUYEN: It's been rain, rain, and more rain in so many areas, it seems Hawaii on top of that getting record-breaking fall.
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NGUYEN: The United Nations humanitarian relief effort is calling conditions intolerable in refugee camps in northern Uganda. For two decades the region has been a battleground between government troops and rebels calling themselves the lord's resistance army.
HARRIS: Boy the rebels have terrorized civilians and they're blamed for forcing millions of people from their homes. The U.N.'s humanitarian relief coordinator calls condition in the region the worst pool of terrorism. Kevin Fitzcharles with the aid agency Care International is familiar with the situation in northern Uganda. He joins us on the line from the Uganda capital of Campala. And Kevin good to talk to you.
KEVIN FITZCHARLES, CARE INTERNATIONAL: Hi Tony. Hi Betty. How are you?
HARRIS: Well it is good to talk to you sir. We're well. Thank you.
The new U.N. report on the 20-year civil war in northern Uganda is disturbing, to say the least. Kevin, what are the headlines that catches your eye right away reads the current rate of death from the war in northern Uganda is three times higher than in Iraq following the invasion. Put this into some kind of context for us.
FITZCHARLES: Well, these are statistics by the government of Uganda themselves, so there's really not statistics that we gather. What we've got, Tony, as you said, is over a million and a half people in internally people displaced camps. These camps are overcrowded and there's poor sanitation. Many have been living in the camps for up to 10 years.
Recent studies have found that there are over 900 excess deaths per week. That means excess deaths means above and beyond the normal average death rate that prevails in Uganda. What we're looking at is over 900 people a week dying from preventable causes.
HARRIS: Twenty five thousand children have been abducted during the course of this Civil War. Help us understand that.
FITZCHARLES: Well, the Lord Resistance Army is a terrorist organization, by most respects. One of the favorite tactics is to abduct young children, anywhere from the age of 3 to 10, and press them into their gorilla army. They use these child troops on the frontlines. They use the girls, they take them as wives or slaves in some ways, and they use children to fight. They brutalize the children so they can't go back to their families. They often make them kill a colleague or kill someone as soon as they abduct them so they can really never go back to their homes.
HARRIS: The LRA, Lord's Resistance Army that you just referred to, what are they fighting for?
FITZCHARLES: Well, the root of this conflict goes back 20 years so, they're very complex. They're fighting for more say by the people of the north in the current government. The current government has been in place for 20 years, and the previous government was comprised mainly of northerners. Now, when the northerners lost power to the present government, some of them went into the bush and started this guerrilla warfare, and it's difficult because there are no real demands, per se, by the lord's resistance army.
HARRIS: The United States, what role cans it plays in this?
FITZCHARLES: Well, the United States has tremendous influence in Uganda and elsewhere, as you know. So far we in Uganda, the civil society organizations working here, have been disappointed by the lackluster U.S. interest in what's happening in the north. There's a small amount of money going in from the U.S. government, but they're also giving nonmilitary assistance to the government of Uganda, which sends a signal that, well, we won't fund the war part, but we will continue to fund your military.
We think that's also the wrong message. The other thing the U.S. government is putting very little money into the humanitarian need in fact this year the bill in front of Congress cut humanitarian funding from $12 million to $3 million for northern Uganda.
HARRIS: Kevin thanks for your time this morning. Kevin Fitzcharles is with the Aid Agency Care International. Kevin is following the situation in Uganda. We appreciate it, Kevin. Thanks for your time.
NGUYEN: In other news, Catholics in St. Peter's Square and around the world remember Pope John Paul II. He died today one year ago. Do you remember that? We were right here. The Vatican commemorates its 264th pope. That's straight ahead on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
HARRIS: At the bottom of the hour "House Call" with CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Today's topic, addiction, and ways to break it. We'll be right back.
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NGUYEN: So pretty. That time of year, yes, the cherry blossoms in Washington. Beautiful sight.
HARRIS: Can you take those in without sneezing?
NGUYEN: From this distance I can.
HARRIS: Still ahead, what a splash. In Park City, Utah, take a look at this. Hundreds of skiers and snowboarders turned out for the ninth annual ponds. Nice. This is the pond-skimming contest at the Canyons Resort this weekend.
NGUYEN: Look. It's way too cold for that out there. Where's the belly flopper? You know that is going to happen. The springtime event attracts skiers and borders that dress in wild costumes. Some don't have much on. The contestants are judged on their costumes and, of course, the performance. I give that one a five.
HARRIS: Ouch.
HARRIS: That one looked like it hurt.
HARRIS: Yes.
NGUYEN: Let alone, the fact that it's freezing out there. Well, we are going to shift gears now.
It has been one year since the death of Pope John Paul II. At the Vatican Pope Benedict recalled his legacy. Thousands packed St. Peter's Square waving the red and white flags of John Paul's native Poland. In Poland there are masses and other ceremonies. A church tribunal has been working on possible sainthood for John Paul.
HARRIS: Tonight "CNN Presents" a special two hour look at the last days of Pope John Paul II. You'll meet the people who were with the Pope as he died, and you'll hear from the secret team that searched for his successor. Watch "CNN Presents" tonight at 7:00 Eastern and Pacific.
At the top of the hour, we'll be talking to Tom Graham, the author "Of Getting Open, The Unknown Story of Bill Garrett, and the Integration of College Basketball."
NGUYEN: Plus, Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes on addiction today. "House Call" looks at the causes and new treatments, and real life steps to help overcome addiction. That's in just a few minutes.
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