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CNN Saturday Morning News
Pope Begins Two-Day Visit to Spain
Aired May 03, 2003 - 07:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Pope John Paul II is on the road again. The pope touched down in Madrid just an hour ago, beginning a two-day visit to Spain.
And our Jim Bittermann joins us from Madrid with the latest -- Jim.
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Anderson.
I'm at the Plaza de Colon (ph), the Columbus Plaza, here in the center of Madrid, where the major event's going to take place tomorrow morning. The pope, meanwhile, has arrived at the airport, about an hour ago, as you mentioned. He's now making his way into central Madrid. He's going to go to the Nuncio, that's the papal ambassador's residence here in Rome, where he is going to have lunch.
And that'll be followed by a meeting with the prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, and then a big youth rally this evening out at a military airport on the western outskirts of Madrid.
The pope here officially to make some saints, to create some saints, canonize five Spanish saints. There'll be two priests and three nuns who will be proclaimed saints at that mass tomorrow.
Now, earlier, when he arrived here, he was greeted by Juan Carlos, the king of Spain, and the Queen Sofia, as well as other government dignitaries. The king in his speech mentioned the fact that he was quite happy the way the pope had addressed the idea of terrorism. He said that the pope made some important points against terrorism. Of course, terrorism a big issue here, because of the terrorist attacks in Basque country.
The pope, on the other hand, mentioned in his opening remarks peace five different times, that being a big issue, because the Spanish people were much against the war in Iraq, as was the pope, but the Spanish prime minister was on the side of the United States. Only 48 hours ago, in fact, Colin Powell was here congratulating the Spanish prime minister for his stand on the Iraq war, Anderson.
COOPER: Jim, how (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- how is the pope looking, in terms of his health?
BITTERMANN: Well, I think much better. He's been performing much better since the beginning of the year here. It's not quite clear what's changed. Some people think there's been a change in medication, although the Vatican denies that. They say it's just a better exercise routine.
He did, however, have to be taken off the plane with some kind of a lift. It was out of sight of cameras. A lift as he arrived today and was rolled up the red carpet in this rolling throne that he's been using, Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Jim Bittermann in Madrid, thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 3, 2003 - 07:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Pope John Paul II is on the road again. The pope touched down in Madrid just an hour ago, beginning a two-day visit to Spain.
And our Jim Bittermann joins us from Madrid with the latest -- Jim.
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Anderson.
I'm at the Plaza de Colon (ph), the Columbus Plaza, here in the center of Madrid, where the major event's going to take place tomorrow morning. The pope, meanwhile, has arrived at the airport, about an hour ago, as you mentioned. He's now making his way into central Madrid. He's going to go to the Nuncio, that's the papal ambassador's residence here in Rome, where he is going to have lunch.
And that'll be followed by a meeting with the prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, and then a big youth rally this evening out at a military airport on the western outskirts of Madrid.
The pope here officially to make some saints, to create some saints, canonize five Spanish saints. There'll be two priests and three nuns who will be proclaimed saints at that mass tomorrow.
Now, earlier, when he arrived here, he was greeted by Juan Carlos, the king of Spain, and the Queen Sofia, as well as other government dignitaries. The king in his speech mentioned the fact that he was quite happy the way the pope had addressed the idea of terrorism. He said that the pope made some important points against terrorism. Of course, terrorism a big issue here, because of the terrorist attacks in Basque country.
The pope, on the other hand, mentioned in his opening remarks peace five different times, that being a big issue, because the Spanish people were much against the war in Iraq, as was the pope, but the Spanish prime minister was on the side of the United States. Only 48 hours ago, in fact, Colin Powell was here congratulating the Spanish prime minister for his stand on the Iraq war, Anderson.
COOPER: Jim, how (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- how is the pope looking, in terms of his health?
BITTERMANN: Well, I think much better. He's been performing much better since the beginning of the year here. It's not quite clear what's changed. Some people think there's been a change in medication, although the Vatican denies that. They say it's just a better exercise routine.
He did, however, have to be taken off the plane with some kind of a lift. It was out of sight of cameras. A lift as he arrived today and was rolled up the red carpet in this rolling throne that he's been using, Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Jim Bittermann in Madrid, thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
