Vatican Makes Burial Plans; U.S. Plans High-Profile Delegation to Pope's Funeral
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, you're looking at these live pictures of the Vatican. It's 11:00 p.m. in Rome. We have new information on how the pope will be buried and a change in tradition for the transition. Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. Fifteen-thousand per hour to bid a final farewell to the pope. And as the Vatican makes funeral plans, the U.S. plans a high-profile delegation. Secrets of succession. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP.) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is It is possibly one of the most ancient electoral processes in the world. (</s>END VIDEO CLIP.) BLITZER: There are some new procedures for picking a pope. The cardinals open a window into what goes on behind closed doors doors. Ailing anchor. ABC's Peter Jennings announces he'll begin treatments for lung cancer. Sky-high, and headed to the stratosphere? Gas prices may be driving you mad. We'll tell you what's driving them higher.</s>ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, April 5th, 2005.</s>BLITZER: Thanks for joining us. By the tens of thousands, people from all over the world are pouring into Rome to pay their respects to Pope John Paul II. For the second day, his body lies in state inside the giant St. Peter's Basilica, which is staying open almost around the clock to accommodate the unprecedented crowd of mourners. Some are waiting in line up to eight hours for their chance to view the late pontiff. Officials estimate some 2 million people will file past his body before Friday's funeral. Meanwhile, the Vatican is releasing new details of the pope's funeral and burial. John Paul II will be buried in the grotto beneath St. Peter's Basilica in the crypt that once held the remains of Pope John XXIII. His body was moved to the basilica's main floor when John Paul II made him a saint in 2000. The Vatican says the late pontiff gave no indication he wanted to be buried anywhere other than the Vatican, but he did indicate that he wanted to be buried in the ground. And following tradition, various metals and coins will be placed inside the pope's coffin along with a parchment sealed in a lead tube, summarizing the pope's life. Also new details coming out about the upcoming conclave in which 117 cardinals will elect the next pope. For the first time, Vatican bells will peal, signaling the selection, along with the traditional white smoke from the burning of the ballots. Black smoke indicates no selection has been made. John Paul II himself instituted the addition of the bells to avoid the kind of confusion that resulted from a 1978 conclave in which the smoke appeared gray. For more on the day's developments, let's turn to CNN's Aaron Brown. He's joining us now live from the Vatican. What stands out in your mind, Aaron, on this day?</s>AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I think it's the kind of overwhelming power of a moment that the scene that we began watching yesterday, we'll continue to see throughout today, and we'll see it again tomorrow and right up until Friday. It's hard to fathom 20,000 people an hour, 400,000 people a day, 2 million people over the course of the week. And they come with this great sense of awe at the moment they're participating in. This is not a tragedy as they see it. They believe John Paul is in heaven. And so they're coming to celebrate a life. You were talking briefly about some of the things we learned today. There is some sort of detail that comes out in moments like this. The pope's doctor gave an interview to an Italian newspaper. In that interview he said, quote, "The pope passed away slowly, with pain and suffering which he endured with great human dignity." And then the doctor added that for the last couple of days, the pope was in fact unable to speak at all. So whatever last words there were -- and I think there's been, since we arrived here now on Saturday, great speculation as to what his last words may or may not have been and whether in fact he said amen, which was how it was originally reported -- whatever it was that was said was said several days, two days perhaps, before he in fact died.</s>BLITZER: Is there a sense there, Aaron, where you are right now that it's almost -- I don't know if this is the right word, but a climax that's building toward this Friday morning funeral?</s>BROWN: Well, here's how -- here's how reporters I think look at it. We are in an in-between. We are between what has happened -- the passing of Pope John Paul the other night -- and what will happen or a couple of things that will happen -- the funeral on Friday and then ultimately the conclave and the selection of a new pope. And in fact, that's just the reality of where we are. There are no great events of this day. There is no overarching theme to this moment. There's no great drama to it all except insofar as there is this extraordinary -- and I'm telling you that you can feel it, this extraordinary power that comes from this assemblage of people who have come from all over the globe, who have been touched by Pope John Paul in perhaps 2 million different ways, each one of them reacting to a different moment that has drawn them here. That is a moment of great drama and great power. It is not a kind of great scripted event, if you will.</s>BLITZER: CNN's Aaron Brown reporting for us from the Vatican. Aaron, thank you very much. The United States will send a small but significant delegation to the funeral.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Tomorrow I will be leaving for Rome, leading a delegation to attend the services for his holiness, Pope John Paul II. What a great man. It'll be my honor to represent our country at a ceremony marking a remarkable life, a person who stood for freedom and human dignity.</s>BLITZER: The White House says the five-member group will include former Presidents Bush and Clinton, who recently teamed up to raise money for tsunami victims. First Lady Laura Bush will also be aboard Air Force One together with the others. They will all attend, along with the secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, who signed the condolence book at the Vatican Embassy here in Washington earlier today. Former President Jimmy Carter, who was in office when John Paul became pope, will not be going. The Carter Center says he wanted to attend, but when he was informed by the White House that the official U.S. delegation would be limited to just five people, he told the White House he would withdraw his request to attend. Former President Gerald Ford, now 91 years old, no longer travels widely. While millions converge on Rome, some 200 world leaders and dignitaries are expected for the funeral. President Bush may find himself rubbing elbows with Cuban President Fidel Castro, Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, and Iran's president, Mohammed Khatami, along with allies such as the British prime minister, Tony Blair, and the French president, Jacques Chirac. Britain's Prince Charles has postponed his own wedding to attend the funeral. His wedding will take place on Saturday. Although Pope John Paul II was first and foremost a religious leader, he had a profound impact on world politics. Here to discuss that and some other issues, our world affairs analyst, the former Defense secretary, William Cohen. He's the chairman and CEO of The Cohen Group. Thanks, Mr. Secretary, as usual. When you think about this attendance Friday morning at this funeral, it's a pretty remarkable event. The security precautions alone must be enormous.</s>WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: The security precautions are enormous. In fact, I was planning to be in Rome on business this Friday, and because of the influx of some 2 million people, not to mention the leadership of most of the countries around the world, it will be virtually impossible to attend. But that shows you the power of and the magnetism of this pope. He had visited almost 130 countries. So I think the only four countries where he was not invited would be post-communist Russia, China, Vietnam, and North Korea. But virtually every other country, he tried to touch the lives of the people in those countries, and I think clearly the showing of the outpouring of passion for him and compassion for him is now evident.</s>BLITZER: Is it awkward when the president of the United States is at these kinds of events with other world leaders who are -- I don't know if they're enemies, but they're pretty bitter adversaries?</s>COHEN: I don't think it's awkward. I think it's really an opportunity. After all, Pope John Paul was a healer. He tried to bring people together. And if it takes an event such as this to have world leaders understand that there's a common humanity, a common moral purpose to our lives, then so much the better. And it may be an opportunity to stop treating each other as enemies, see each other as perhaps some competing forces on this globe, but competing in a way that leads to peace and not to war. So I think this may be an opportunity and not seen as an awkward or somehow a moment when there are hostilities involved. I think it's going to be a very calming ceremony and one in which all of us can share.</s>BLITZER: It speaks volumes that his funeral will bring together the entire -- almost the entire world leadership.</s>COHEN: Well, if you look at what he did during his travels, he was the first pontiff to visit Syria and to enter a mosque. He went to the wall in Jerusalem and inserted the apology for the failure of the Catholic Church during the Holocaust. So he has touched virtually the peoples of all religions, all faiths. And this is the reason why he was such a compelling feature -- figure.</s>BLITZER: William Cohen. Thanks very much as usual.</s>COHEN: My pleasure.</s>BLITZER: The former defense secretary, William Cohen. When we come back -- unexpected battle. ABC News Anchor Peter Jennings is diagnosed with lung cancer, the number one cancer killer in the world. I'll speak with a doctor about the causes and treatments of this disease. And later, no break at all at the pump. Gas prices at an all- time high and rising. Where's all of our money going? we'll tell you.