Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Sunday Morning
Saying Goodbye to a President; Quiet Heathrow
Aired April 18, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, there, everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It's 8:00 a.m. where we sit, 2:00 p.m. in Poland right now, wherever you may be. I'm T.J. Holmes.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kate Bolduan. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.
HOLMES: And we're talking about Poland this morning, and this is the live picture of a mass just getting under way for the late president, Lech Kaczynski, of Poland, also, his wife. They were among the 96 people killed in that plane crash that happened a week ago yesterday in western Russia. But this is inside St. Mary's Basilica there in Krakow.
This is where -- really, outside, some 1.5 million people are expected to gather for this mass. You see the Russian president walking in there, President Medvedev. He is among many leaders who were able to make it in.
Many other world leaders were not able to get there because of that volcanic ash cloud that is really hampering air space all across Europe and even world leaders were not able to fly in for this funeral.
But this is inside. Live picture happening right now. The Russian president among many there to gather to pay their respects.
We will be checking in and showing you more images from the president's funeral throughout the morning.
But, first, we do want to get a check of some other stories that are making headlines.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Tens of thousands of travelers are stranded at airports around the world as the Icelandic volcano continues to spew ash into the air. The cloud is -- pardon me -- the cloud of dust is grounding flights across the world, from New York and Paris, to London and Hong Kong. The ash even stopped President Obama from flying to Krakow to attend today's funeral for Polish President Lech Kaczynski.
HOLMES: The Chinese president has traveled to the earthquake zone there, meeting with survivors who are now leaving in tents, recovering in makeshift hospitals. The death toll now from Wednesday's quake has risen once more. Now, it is up over 1,700 people now confirmed dead in western China.
But earlier today, another sign of hope, a 68-year-old man was pulled from the rubble. Again, that's four days now after the quake.
BOLDUAN: A violent showdown on the street of Los Angeles yesterday. A relatively small group of white supremacists demonstrating against immigration reform faced off against a larger contingent of counter-protestors. Five people described as counter- protestors were arrested on allegations they hurled rocks and bottles at police and the other demonstrators.
HOLMES: And, once again, I'll take you back to this live picture we're seeing inside St. Mary's Basilica. This is where the -- again, St. Mary's Basilica, this is where the state funeral for the Polish president, Lech Kaczynski, and his wife taking place right now -- just now getting underway, the funeral mass.
But outside, there are some 1.5 million people expected to show up and also be a part of saying good-bye to that country's leader -- a country that has been in shock really for the past week and certainly in a state of mourning. A week-long state of mourning was declared for last week after the president was killed.
But he and his wife -- now, their state funeral. Again, just a gorgeous, a majestic, beautiful sight inside this St. Mary's basilica there.
But we want to give you a view of what's happening outside. And for that, we hear from our Phil Black who is out there among, again, some 1.5 million people expected to show up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The coffin of the president and first lady are within St. Mary's Basilica there at the back of the square. But as you can see, within the square itself, tens of thousands of people are here. This place is really packed to capacity right now.
This prayer service has been under way for a short time. And it is a somber, moving scene -- one of many that we've seen over the course of the week.
And we've also spoken a bit over the last week about how not everyone necessarily liked this president nor his policies, but this is yet another example of how the Polish people putting all that to one side and coming together in a time of suffering and really honoring their own fallen head of state, T.J.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Again, we are going to keep an eye on, again, the state funeral just getting underway -- the funeral mass for Lech Kaczynski and his wife, among the 96 killed in that plane crash in western Russia, and also took the lives of some high-ranking military officials and other dignitaries in the Polish government. BOLDUAN: Thousands of European flights have been grounded because of that huge plume of ash. The Icelandic volcano spewed a dust cloud four miles high snarling international travel and stranding air passengers around the world.
CNN's Monita Rajpal joins us live from Heathrow Airport in London with the latest.
So, Monita, KLM, the airline KLM, they conducted a test flight yesterday. Do we know how that went or what they found?
MONITA RAJPAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we understood initial reports, according to KLM officials, that when they sent these two Boeing 737-800s about 41,000 feet, 13 kilometers into the air, that is the maximum height that those kinds of aircraft can travel. And when those planes came back, it didn't show any damage to the engines, which was a significant concern, a real concern to any of these planes -- especially when this volcanic ash story started to break. That you wouldn't want to travel, wouldn't want to send any planes up into the air because it would cause real damage those engines.
What they found would be that there was no damage done to the planes. There are still other tests that are still -- we are still waiting for in terms of the results. And once that -- once those results come in, and if everything goes OK, KLM officials are saying they will perhaps then start to ask for permission to start sending flights periodically. But that, again, is a very tentative "if."
BOLDUAN: Yes. And, I mean, inconvenience is an understatement here for all the passengers that are stuck and stranded. But the financial impact is also a big issue. British Airways canceled all of its flights for today and tomorrow.
What is the financial impact, do you know, on the airlines that are facing this?
RAJPAL: It is huge. If you look, you know, the runway behind me, it is absolutely quiet. This is the world's busiest runway, the world's busiest airport, I should say. On any given day, there would be planes taking off and landing. And we see how quiet it is right now.
It just personifies basically just how much of an impact this is having. When we talk about the money aspect, we understand that British Airlines and Irish Airlines are affected by about $40 million a day. That's how much they are losing by not being up in the sky, by not being able to take passengers.
Now, in terms of the knock-on effect after that, how are they going to be able to pay back passengers? That's going to be an additional amount that will surpass $40 million, I can only guess.
BOLDUAN: Exactly. And it is really a guess at this point. But you can imagine the financial impact is huge.
So -- I mean, looking forward as we can try to, is there any end in sight, any word when some of these people might be able to go home? I'm sure that's a moving target.
RAJPAL: Well, we -- as you were saying, British Airways has canceled flights for today and for tomorrow. And what airlines are really doing -- they're looking at it from a 12-hour, 12-hour basis, case by case basis, as they wait from the main office and the National Air Traffic Control Services here in the U.K., in terms of how safe it is to send planes back in the air.
There are some reports that are indicating that it could be perhaps sometime this week that they could even start thinking about getting planes back up in the air. But again, that is a guess. No one knows definitively how long this is going to last. It really is up to nature. That's perhaps one of the most frustrated things for passengers and for airlines and for everyone involved because there is no definitive answer as to what would be the safest and best time to send passengers and planes back up into the air.
BOLDUAN: Right, absolutely. Thank you so much, Monita. Monita Rajpal, outside Heathrow Airport in London for us -- thank you.
HOLMES: All right. Let's take a look. We're going to put up a map here and show you the countries affected by the volcanic ash.
Air space has been shut down across much of central and northern Europe. You are seeing it there. That's the red, and that's where air space has been shut down. The yellow -- those are just some places that have severe restrictions and prohibit many flights.
Many of the closures already planned through tomorrow at the very least. Now, the less severe restrictions are in place across the southern part of the continent.
This ash cloud also is disrupting, believe it, of all things, a lot of sporting events, including the Boston marathon, which is supposed to be run tomorrow. It's expected to have, though, a much smaller feel because a number of the contestants are stranded in Europe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUY MORSE, EXEC. DIR., BOSTON ATHLETIC ASSN.: Just when you thought you've dealt with everything, now we add volcanoes to the mix.
GELINDO BORDIN, 1990 BOSTON MARATHON WINNER: I tried to work with that deadline, chatting down (INAUDIBLE) in Boston. I couldn't move the marathon. I couldn't postpone the marathon. And so, they find the last two seats to New York. And so, I went on the flight to New York and then for New York to (INAUDIBLE). It take 24 hours, but lucky enough that I'm here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yes. Really, they have several hundred competitors who are stranded right now in Europe. The 114th running of the Boston marathon slated to get under way tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. BOLDUAN: It is really affecting people all over the world. Millions are stranded unable to get home or get to really important family events in some cases that we've seen.
And our Josh Levs is following those stories and many more as they come in.
John, what are you hearing? What are you seeing?
LEVS: We keep getting stories by the minute. I'm following tweets as well. It's amazing.
And what I want to do now is give you something of a visual tour, folks, around the world, taking a look at just some of the places where people are crowding and waiting to get to go anywhere basically.
Let's zoom into the screen behind me. I want to show you what we have on CNN.com, first of all because this is often the last couple of days. The first shot you see here, this is from inside Bangkok where people were waiting for flights there.
Let's jump over to this photo. This one is people trying to board a ferry at Calais, in northern France.
This one over here is travelers waiting to board Eurostar train that was inside Paris.
Let's do one more. Look at that. These are people waiting at an Air France desk. And we just keep seeing more and more and more photos like this. Either empty places where no one can get anywhere or places that are completely packed like this. This is inside Germany's Frankfurt Airport.
Also, this, while we're on the screen, I want to show you some of the iReports we're getting. Some really powerful stories. Look at this one here. This is from a woman, Kara Helwig, who says her 15- year-old daughter is among the kids who are on a trip to Paris and cannot get back. They are trying to get in touch with their own children and they're trying to find a place for them to stay for quite a while.
I got another one for you here, stranded in London. This is from Dr. Marion Ross who wrote us here at CNN. She says there's nothing that she can do. She sent us this iReport. She's going to try to have fun for a while in London.
Let's go to the next one, Alexey Bekin sent us this one from Geneva, Switzerland. His flight home to Moscow was cancelled.
Next one, Aralie Florence (ph) snapped this photo inside Latvia. She has been trying to get home to Nice, France.
The stories keep going and going. And we actually spoke with one family, the Pattersons, who were on a vacation in the Netherlands. And now, they're trying to get back here to the United States, to their four children, all of whom are under the age of 9. They live in Virginia.
Steve Patterson spoke by phone with our Fredricka Whitfield.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE PATTERSON, CAN'T GET HOME TO CHILDREN (via telephone): First off, we really trust and we know that they are being cared for by a couple of friends from our church who think like-mindedly as us but also my wife's mom is en route tomorrow, again, to watch them for the second time. And she's really been a hero. So, those two things. But then, also, just ultimately our hope is in God who's in total control of all this, even though we are not. So, we're hopeful that there will be a way soon for us to get back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: I'm just going to mention, for those of you who followed Twitter, there is a thing called a hash tag on Twitter. While this is now big pun going all over the world, one of the most possible topics on Twitter is now "ash tag" as people all over the world write what they are dealing with because of what's happening with that volcano.
And I want to show you how you can get in touch with me. First of all, you can send your iReports. Also, we're getting use of with the blogs, CNN.com/josh. Facebook.com/JoshLevsCNN. There's actually Facebook groups about this now. And there's my Twitter address.
If you are one of the people who is stranded out there, trying to get somewhere, you have a story, you want to share with us here at CNN, go ahead, keep them coming. I'll be here throughout the day sharing them with you guys.
So, Kate, T.J., literally by the minute, I'm seeing dozens more stories. And I'll tell you, in some cases, it's heartbreaking. People are trying to get to their own families, you know?
BOLDUAN: It seems everyone is taking it in stride. Most people are taking it in stride. They know that --
HOLMES: You can't do anything about this.
BOLDUAN: -- there's nothing you can do about this.
LEVS: What are you going to do?
HOLMES: All right, Josh, thank you.
Everybody is asking, after you see these images, when is this thing going to go away? Also, could it actually impact us in some way here in the U.S.? Reynolds Wolf has those answers. We're going to check in with him in just a bit.
BOLDUAN: Plus, we have video from inside this plane crash. Don't worry. No one was hurt. But you will want to see this video.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (MUSIC)
HOLMES: All right. This is in Australia.
We're going to take you to Australia. This video you are seeing here, the guy behind the wheel, if you will, in the cockpit of this plane, is a race pilot named Adilson Kindlemann.
Now, he crashed. This was in Australia's Swan River. This was on Thursday. This is a practice session for a race that's coming up.
Now, he found himself having to escape a flooded cockpit. And he was upside down in the water. But race organizers say they are trained to do this. And they were standing by and they jumped right in and got him right out quickly.
He had very minor injuries, but a dramatic crash, dramatic scene. And all of this is caught on tape.
But it really does a testament to how they prepare, how they train, and how they are ready for just such things. And as soon as he went into the water, the rescuers weren't far behind and they got him out of there.
Here's another picture, we're going to put this other one up. That's a great still shot.
BOLDUAN: I'm coming!
HOLMES: They got right in and they got right to him and got him out of there. So -- and again --
BOLDUAN: Amazing video.
HOLMES: It is. It is.
BOLDUAN: That's great to see. I'm glad he's feeling OK, probably not feeling so great saying this.
HOLMES: Again, Adilson Kindlemann is his name.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
HOLMES: I'm sure he's a fine pilot. Everybody has a bad turn.
BOLDUAN: He's a wonderful pilot. We'll say he's a wonderful pilot. Everyone has a bad day.
Anyway --
HOLMES: Yes.
BOLDUAN: Its slight dusting of snow in New England this morning gives way to rain later today.
HOLMES: And Reynolds Wolf is with us this morning. REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm still trying to get over that video, guys. Scary stuff. You know, many of us consider a terrifying flight when the beverage cart comes by and doesn't have your beverage of choice. And that can be a scary thing.
BOLDUAN: I take blood soda.
WOLF: Absolutely. Yes, but that was just unreal, lucky to get away from that. My gosh, I mean, just imagine how discombobulated you would have to feel. First, you're flying, twisting, turning and then boom you're submerged. Well, lucky to get away from that thing. No question about it.
Hey, anyone flying about today may have a few delays in places like Dallas, Texas. Here's why -- we got some scattered showers, a few thunderstorms that may develop across parts of north Texas and the Red River Valley, eventually moving into places like Arkansas and Louisiana. Meanwhile, you could see some scattered showers in parts of Florida.
But in the Northeast, we are seeing some rain and in some spots, up in New Hampshire, some snowfall.
Take a look at this video that we have for you. The fresh powder come in again in a few spots -- a beautiful thing to see and not that unusual. You can actually get snowfall in that part of the world as late as parts of June -- in highest elevations, at the Green Mountains, sometimes a light dusting even later in the month.
So, go figure. Happy spring. You better believe it.
We're going to talk about a different type of fall, not in terms of snowfall but rather, some of the paraclastic (ph) ash that's been falling from the big volcano, the biggest one we've seen from quite sometime. Let's go right to the video. You see it there.
There's that ash cloud that's been causing all kinds of flight travel to come to a screeching halt across much of Europe and across the Asian continent. It's going to be a very tough time. No question about it, as we continue to see that smoke emanating.
But we may see a break, at least from parts of Europe. Let me show you the reason why that may occur. What we have been seeing with this system, through this volcano, is the ash cloud developing. Upper level winds have been picking it up and just carrying it to the southeast, right across parts of the Baltic Sea and then back into the United Kingdom and then across parts of the channel and affecting places like France and Germany.
Now, what we're going to be seeing is a change in the air pattern. What should happen is that we're expecting an area of high pressure just to move right in and settle over parts of France, the north of France coast, not far from Normandy, and we can expect a change in the pattern to bring a lot of those winds, the winds, a lot of that ash to places more like, say, Finland or back to Norway and eventually into parts of the former Soviet Union. So, good for some people, worse for others. And we can expect these fluctuations to take place in the atmosphere for some time to come. So, kind of feast or famine sort of deal.
Hey, if you're feasting for news, you've come to the right place. You are watching CNN. We've got more coming up in just a few moments. See you then.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Stories that are making headlines this morning.
Both U.S. and Russian officials say there will likely be a delay in tomorrow's scheduled meeting to discuss adoptions, the American adoption of Russian children has been in limbo since a Tennessee woman returned her adopted son to Moscow. You remember this story that set off an international incident, if you will. She said she sent the boy back because he had psychological problem. The likely delay in this meeting, though, is being blamed on volcanic ash that has canceled thousands of international flights.
BOLDUAN: And the youngest daughter of former President Lyndon Johnson is in the hospital this morning. Sixty-two-year-old Lucy Baines Johnson is being treated at the Mayo Clinic for what appears to be a rare autoimmune disorder that affects the nervous system. Her personal physician says she may have Guillain Barre Syndrome.
HOLMES: Well, the space shuttle Discovery is on its way home. It said good-bye to the International Space Station, officially undocked. You're seeing video of one of the spacewalks -- three space walks they did on that 14-day journey.
They are now getting ready -- they are lining up to get everything just right so they can land tomorrow. The first landing opportunity is slated for 8:51 a.m. Eastern tomorrow.
Astronauts on this 14-day mission, they were up there delivering equipment for science experiments and, of course, after this one, there are only three more shuttle launches left before they retire the shuttle program.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Ten thousand kids and 500 robots. This was really something to see here in Atlanta this weekend. But we've seen this happened over the past couple of years. But you had a chance to see this.
BOLDUAN: I watched the live feeds.
HOLMES: You saw that, but also just -- you saw the energy, all the kids, all around.
BOLDUAN: They're so excited. You can really tell. It seemed very, very exciting.
What we're talking about here is, it's called FIRST. And I keep forgetting what it exactly means.
So, Carl Azuz is going to help us.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: Carl, it's For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.
So, 10,000 kids are in town.
CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: That's right.
BOLDUAN: What are they doing?
AZUZ: They're working on a -- basically, they have a project. They're given a certain -- they have to raise a certain amount of money and then they have to construct a robot. And these robots sort of compete against each other in different events.
Now, we wanted to focus on them because we're with CNN Student News, we wanted to talk to these students about a couple of topics we've covered recently on our show. And the first one is the role of women in technology. Women are -- in general, in math and sciences fields, they're generally underrepresented.
So, we talked to some of the young females who are competing in the FIRST championship this week in Atlanta. And here's what they had to say. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Science and technology is important at our school just because it proves we can do one more thing that we can do like all the guys can.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's important just -- just to show that girls can do anything that boys can do and get our names out there as well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It also gives you the chance to really prove yourself, show, stand up for the rest of women, kind of be an example, showing what we can do and that there should be more women in science.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In order to solve what's going on in the present and the future, we need to really focus in on science and technology and really take advantage of it.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
AZUZ: There was a lot of team spirit at the event, as you can probably tell by some of the hats and costumes they were wearing. But these are rising stars in science and technology. And so, these are folks that we're probably going to hear from again in the future in these fields. HOLMES: And we talk about women, of course, being underrepresented. But just getting a sense, when you went over there -- did it look like the girls there were kind of underrepresented? Or did it seem kind of a 50-50? What would you say just looking around the crowd?
AZUZ: I would say they were underrepresented. There were several all-girl groups and many of them talked to me about how, you know, they love taking part of a competition like this. They loved showing they were just as good.
And they said, one of the unique characteristics of the competition was, they would be called over to help, let's say, an all- guys team that they were then competing against. So, the nature of the -- I mean, the whole thing was very, very positive and there's a chance for everyone to help everyone out and they felt that they were very respected out there.
BOLDUAN: It didn't seem -- I mean, I saw just a little bit of it. It seemed like there's a lot of camaraderie. Although they're competing, it seems everyone is very excited about -- you know, if the other team had something cooler or some other gadget or however it worked, it seems they were very excited just to all be there doing this.
AZUZ: They wanted to compete against teams. They said they wanted to compete against teams that had brought their "A" game. And so, they felt that if they were competing against teams that were a man down, if they had a problem with their robot, it wouldn't have been a fair fight. And they wanted a fair fight.
So, there was one other topic I want to tell you guys about. We talked to these students about college. Everyone we talked to said they wanted to go to college.
And we've been talking to students on our blog about what they thought they'd get out of it. Is it going to be just a degree, is it higher education, is it acknowledge -- what's the most important thing you want to get out of college. These students had sort of a theme to their answers.
I want to help you take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm looking for a college experience. I'm just not looking for what's after college. I'm looking for what's in college.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't really look for the end result. I'm kind of more excited about the person I get to become while I'm there kind of learning about myself, learning about what I want to do, what I want to be.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's really about life experiences.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Entire experience overall, it's like having a balance of meeting exciting people, getting a good degree.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The education, probably, because this is something that you can take with you and pass on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's really like a lot about the journey and not just end result. A degree is important, because you need to get a job. But I think that the most important thing is the journey.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
AZUZ: So, while you heard a lot of them talk about the degree --
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: A lot of good perspective from these kids.
AZUZ: Some of them just wanted to get out of the house.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: That's a good one way to do it. That's great. That's really fabulous.
HOLMES: They say, college is where you become the adult you are going to be. And those kids sound like they are looking forward to it.
One kid was talking about education.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Of course, it's important, folks.
All right. Carl, always good to see you, good stuff as always.
BOLDUAN: Thanks, Carl. Thank you so much.
Stay with us. We have more after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We are just getting word that Pope Benedict has met with several victims now of clerical abuse. Of course, it wasn't long ago that the Pope actually issued a letter to Ireland apologizing for abuses there by priests. And then, all these other abuse allegations started popping up across Europe.
But now, the Pope in a two-day meeting in Malta, a two-day visit there is actually met with some abuse victims. Our John Allen, our Vatican analyst is here on the line with us to give us some perspective. And for our viewers, if you can, John, explain first of all exactly who these victims are?
JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALSYT (via telephone): Sure, hey T.J., I mean, here in Malta with the Pope and Malta is one of many nations now that has been rocked by its own local version of the broader Catholic sexual abuse crisis.
The (INAUDIBLE) to have here is there is a group of ten men who have recently come forward to say and this has been acknowledged by the church, that they were sexually abuse to buy a group of priests at a church-run orphanage in the 1980s and 1990s.
This has been a devastating story for the church here in part. Because one of the victims later went on to commit a horrific murder, one of the more spectacular crimes.
HOLMES: Hey, hold on a second -- all right, I think he's still with us and we had an issue there with the phone. But I think you're still with us, John.
Oh, we did lose John Allen. But he's giving us an idea and kind of walked us through it a little bit. But the tiny island nation of Malta is where the Pope is. You're just seeing some video here. But he's in a two-day visit.
And allegations have popped up here in Malta like it popped up in several other places across Europe in the past several weeks and months even after the Pope had actually issue a letter apologizing for abuses over time in Ireland.
All these allegations start to pop up and now after that, Malta and here you're seeing some video of the Pope on this two-day visit. But he has met with eight of these ten abuse victims. These are ten men who apparently and he says, the church has acknowledged these. So not allegations anymore, so the church is acknowledging that, in fact, it did happen.
These ten men during the '80s and '90s who are in an orphanage were abused by priests. And the Pope has met with eight of the ten.
Our John Allen, we're trying to establish the line, but maybe we'll get him back. But again, the Pope, significant -- this has happened before, of course, the Pope meeting with victims but now we are hearing once again that it's happening and this time happening in Malta.
That word just coming to us, we appreciate our John Allen hopping on the line for us.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And we also want to take you back now to Poland, to Krakow, Poland, where there is a funeral mass going on right now for Polish President, Lech Kaczynski and his wife. They were, as you will remember, among 96 people killed in that plane crash over western Russia last week.
Now, this is -- as you can see, this beautiful Basilica, St. Mary's Basilica in Krakow, it's going on right now. And our Phil Black has been there. He's really outside. But he has told us that he's expected that there will be 1.5 million people that will be gathering outside that basilica really to honor and to commemorate this moment. This is really one of the last events on in a time and it's a very difficult period for Poland, a time of mourning and a time of reflection.
And this is all going on right now. And then after this the -- after this ceremony at the basilica, the funeral procession will then proceed where the presidential couple will be laid to rest.
We'll have much more of this. You're looking at live pictures right now.
HOLMES: Yes and we are seeing in these live pictures as well, we have seen several world leaders who are there. The Russian President Medvedev is there. But several other world leaders were not able to make it, including the President of the United States.
President Obama had planned to be there, but he along with a German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, were not able to make it. Also the French President, Nicholas Sarkozy, was not able to make it because of that volcanic ash cloud, because of that volcano in Iceland that has been spewing for, now it seems like about a week and continues to shoot ash into the air, now ash cloud shooting some four miles high.
If this continues -- you're seeing some iReport pictures -- the impact of it is stretching worldwide. Add Spain now to the list of countries with closed airports. That now means, airports have no ground to a halt, have ground to a halt, in at least 15 countries, tens of thousands of passengers stranded all over the world.
Experts say air travel will likely be paralyzed until the middle of the week if not longer. And from the business side of things, the cost of this standstill, check this out, one airline industry trade group estimates the massive disruption is costing at least $200 million a day.
Europe's biggest airline has seen its stock price plunge more than four percent. British Airways, Air France have also seen drops in their share prices of more than three percent.
BOLDUAN: And here is a quick look at the countries really affected by the volcanic ash. We take a look at this map. Air space has been shut down across much of central and northern Europe. That's where you see the countries in red.
Airports are shut down in 15 countries and counting. Less severe restrictions are in place across the southern part of the continent.
We'll have much more of this and other news coming up right after the break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, science and religion, sometimes they seem to be at odds, but what if one actually inspires the other. Your brain, hardwired to believe in a higher power. A research indicates that's true. And our very own, Dr. Sanjay Gupta tackles that in this morning's "Faces of Faith".
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Generations of people believing in God, generations of skeptics trying to figure out why. Now, hard science is taking a hard look exploring the brain to see whether human beings are hard-wired for faith. And astoundingly, the answer may be yes.
DR. ANDREW NEWBERG, NEUROSCIENTIST, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: The brain is set up in such a way that it's very easy for us to have religious and spiritual beliefs and experiences and make religion and spirituality a part of our lives.
GUPTA: Dr. Andrew Newberg is a pioneer in a new field called neuro-theology, conducting ground-breaking studies of brain activity during prayer.
NEWBERG: It's become a wonderful window so to speak into understanding how religion and spirituality affect human beings.
GUPTA: Using spec-imaging, a brain scanning technology, Newberg has examined nuns deep in prayers, Tibetan Buddhists meditating, Pentecostal Christians speaking in tongues. No matter what the religion, no matter what the form of worship, prayer makes certain regions of the brain light up in a special and unique way, like this, the frontal lobe, right behind the forehead, focuses concentration.
The limbic system, deep in the center, triggers feelings of awe and joy, the parietal lobe at the back of the brain, brings on that feeling of becoming part of something greater than one's self.
Dr. Newberg says the faithful see this is confirmation that God has designed us to believe.
NEWBERG: The nuns took a look at those scans and said, "This is great." It makes sense to them, if God is up there and we are down here, obviously, there has to be some conduit through which we understand God.
GUPTA: Perhaps, but secular critics say the new research leaves many unanswered questions.
SCOTT ATRAN, ANTHROPOLOGIST, UNIV. OF MICHIGAN: The terms of understanding the fundamental nature of religious beliefs, why people have them, to what purpose they serve, I don't think it's going to give us very much insight.
GUPTA: For scientists, the question of why we believe, still remains a mystery. The answer perhaps an eternity away.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BOLDUAN: One step closer to equality. Big supporters of President Obama speak out on how he is helping the gay and lesbian community with visitation rights in hospitals. Stay with us after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, Kate, this is your first weekend here with us on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. You will quickly learn that we serve as the warm-up act for 9:00 a.m. Eastern time and that lady right there --
BOLDUAN: I'm a proud warm-up act to Candy.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Smooth talker, smooth talking.
HOLMES: Good morning to you Candy.
CROWLEY: Good morning.
HOLMES: Good to see you as always. What's going -- there is always something going on. What's going to be the fight this week? You can talk about financial reform possibly. You can talk -- you know we still have a Supreme Court pick we need to deal with here coming up soon.
CROWLEY: All of the above. You know, this week, this past week and this coming week is about financial reform. And really, this is at the heart of what caused the meltdown.
Right now, we do have Republicans on one side and Democrats on the other talking about what this bill would actually do and what it won't do. So we have the head of the Republican party, Mitch McConnell, we also have Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, himself a former businessman to talk about: a, what is in this financial reform bill. What will it take to get a bipartisan deal.
And we are also going to kind of take a look at the state of the economy because you all know that like every day, some new figure comes out. You think, ok, is it recovery or isn't it recovery? We are going to talk to some experts about what's really happening out there.
BOLDUAN: So you are going to be speaking with the senate minority leader -- the Republican leader, Mitch Mcconnell on this. And President Obama, Candy -- I know you are going to touch on it, in his weekly address, he took a pretty clear jab at Senator Mcconnell, using the words cynical and deceptive.
So what are the politics at play here? That's what we're going to be getting into. Do Republicans really want to fight financial reform or are they looking for a campaign issue?
CROWLEY: Well, listen, you know you can play politics both ways, as you know. What Democrats are saying, they would so much rather try to frame this bill. Republicans would rather frame this bill as, oh, it will be perpetual bailouts for banks and take it to the poll but Mitch Mcconnell is not interested in any kind of compromise.
But then the Republicans say, well wait a second they really don't want Republicans on this bill because the Democrats want to go to the polls and say, see, they are on the side of Wall Street. So two can play this game and two do play this game.
HOLMES: All right. The other game is always the fun one to play. Before the Supreme Court nominee is announced, you get on to the president for who he should pick. After he picks that nominee, you get on to him for who he did pick. How is the game playing out right now?
CROWLEY: Well, we have seen some talk about what the Republicans will and won't accept. We have seen talk from the White House about here is short of the short list being sent out to reporters in sort of administrative sources form. So, this is jockeying right now.
In the end, everybody wants to kind of put their ducks in a row here. It really doesn't get started until we know who it is. Everybody is kind of elbowing for position right now.
It looks like you have a great show coming up, Candy. We are really looking forward to it.
CROWLEY: Thanks, Kate.
HOLMES: We will keep it warm here for you, like we say.
The warm-up act for that lady and that show, "STATE OF THE UNION WITH CANDY CROWLEY" starts at the top of the hour, 09:00 a.m. Eastern, 6:00 a.m. Pacific so keep it right here.
Of course, the other big story we are keeping an eye on that big plume of ash that's been in the air for the past week it seems. It is all over Europe causing all kinds of issues.
The volcano is still erupting in Iceland. So we don't know how long this ash is going to stick around -- this huge cloud. And also how much more ash is going to be put up into the air by this volcano.
It is impacting a lot of people. A lot of people stranded like Steve and Jen Patterson. They are visiting family members in the Netherlands and are trying to get back home to the U.S.
They would like to see their four kids. If their four kids are watching, there is mom and dad right now here on live television. They are joining us via Skype.
So, guys, what are your hopes right now? I know you are stuck. When does it look like you might be able to get home?
STEVE PATTERSON, STRANDED IN THE NETHERLANDS: Well, we actually just got off the phone a couple minutes ago with United and they were actually able to get us out on a flight on Friday from Madrid to Dulles and so the next challenge is getting to Madrid, whether by plane or by car. We are in the midst of kind of cycling through those options. We kind of set up a room here to just do different options that we -- as many others, I know, want to just get home.
HOLMES: You said Friday, it is Sunday. I guess you are kind of hunkered down there. But how do you go about it and help us who don't really understand how long it is going take for you to try to drive to Madrid, I believe you said.
So what is the challenge now? Are you going to try to find a ride to Madrid? How long of a ride is that? And how much longer can you survive without the kids? What are they up to as well? Who is keeping an eye on these kids all the time?
JEN PATTERSON, STRANDED PASSENGER: Well, it is a 16 or more hour drive. We are looking into renting a car. We are here with my sister and their husband and they are helping us all the time trying to figure out how to help us get there. We have lots of support from them.
The kids are being cared for by lots of friends from our church, staying with them around the clock and my mom is coming again today. She was with them for the first part of our trip. We were supposed to be here for just a week. That was hard enough for this mom.
So another week without them is really unimaginable. My heart is aching.
HOLMES: So many people, Jen -- and I'm staying with you here for a second -- so many people talk about how much of a struggle and inconvenience and so on and so forth. We have stories of people actually missing weddings and things like that because of this but this sounds like it is beginning to take.
It is one thing, the strain and stress and one thing just to be tired and worn out by it. You talk a little bit more about -- you sound like a week was tough enough to be without your kids. You are hoping maybe you can get back in another week but that's not a sure thing either.
J. PATTERSON: Right, right. I cried when I left them. I was excited to be here with my sister. We were having fun but I was counting the days to get back to them. Mothers wear their hearts on the outside. So my heart longs to be home and with them.
They are happy. They are doing much better than mom is. We get to Skype with them and see them on the Internet but I would do anything to be home with them. I do believe that God never wastes our pain, so there is beauty beyond these ashes that we can't see yet although, this is definitely the hardest thing that I have ever walked through, being without them for this long.
HOLMES: Again, I think I heard you say the kids sound like they are doing better than mom at least. But I assume some strain on them as well. Steve, how are you dealing, yourself? I assume you are missing the kids as well. But you are certainly there trying to get all these plans worked out and trying to keep your wife in good spirits there as well.
S. PATTERSON: Yes, trying to definitely do those two things is my job right now. Trying on one hand to trust God, who we know is in control, but also be faithful and just chasing down every option while also trying to make sure that Jen is doing okay and coordinating child care back home, which we have taken care of.
On this end, just the logistics this morning, been several points where it is just really overwhelming, just a tough thing. You know, I know there is a lot of people that have significantly more trials than us out there who are sleeping at the airport or other things. So we're definitely grateful that we have a place to stay right now but all the other stuff is challenging.
HOLMES: Well, Steve and Jen Patterson, I hope -- I don't know if you will be able to get a-hold of your kids and let them know you will be on this morning. So hopefully family members and the kids go to see your face; you said you'd been able to Skype with them. Good luck to you guys.
We are going to keep up with you and hopefully, you all get back certainly sooner than later. But great to have you all on and thank you for giving us, quite frankly, some good perspective about the whole situation. You have to do what you have to do and hunker down and maybe like you said, Jen, you said it beautifully, that maybe there is some kind of silver lining or something beyond this ash cloud.
So, guys, thank you so much. Good luck and hang in there, all right.
S. PATTERSON: Thank you.
J. PATTERSON: Thank you.
HOLMES: All right. Just one of the many stories we are seeing. Glad we could bring that one to you at least and really kind of button it up and give some perspective. Add some emotion to exactly what so many people around the world are literally going through right now trying to get back home to family members and, in that case, four kids.
We are right back after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We have a live picture here. We've been watching this all morning with the funeral mass that's been going on for about an hour now for the late president -- the fallen president of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, and his wife who were killed in that plane crash a week ago yesterday. The state funeral going on now at St. Mary's basilica; inside and outside right now some 1.5 million people also expected to be out there to pay their respects to the fallen Polish president.
A quick break; we're right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. We have to hand this over to Candy Crowley for "STATE OF THE UNION" but we need to thank Kate for coming to play with us.
BOLDUAN: My name is Kate.
HOLMES: You're up on Capitol Hill. But thank you Kate Bolduan. Good to have you here with us this weekend. Hope you'll come back.
BOLDUAN: Thanks. I will try.
HOLMES: Most people don't but we hope you come back. No, good to have you here.
But before we hand it over, we need to let you know some breaking news we did get this morning out of Malta where Pope Benedict met with eight men who said they were abused by priests while they were in the church orphanage in the '80s and '90s. The Pope was in Malta there for an open-air mass.
The Vatican says the Pope expressed his shame and sorrow at the pain the men and their families suffered. It was the first time the Pope had met with abuse victims since the clerical abuse scandal hit the Vatican.
Also keeping an eye on the live picture you've been seeing all morning here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. A funeral mass going on right now for the Polish president, Lech Kaczynski, also his wife; they were two among the 96 killed in last week end's plane crash that happened in western Russia that also killed many other members -- high-ranking members of the Polish government.
But we've been keeping an eye -- we'll continue to keep an eye on that throughout the day.
But for now, time for us to hand it over to Candy Crowley and "STATE OF THE UNION".
