catholic leader was welcomed on the south lawn with a 21-gun salute. the pope spoke to americans on this, his first trip to the u.s. he met with the president in the oval office and was welcomed where he kissed several babies in the crowd. mike, it has been a whirlwind of a day for the pope. >> and some political -- some politics in this address this morning, right? >> reporter: it's only half-over yet. some striking images, profound

words on the part of the pope. the president obama and the pope singing on some of the major issues of the day. the pope arrived on the south lawn of the white house among ceremony, trumpets greeting him, as were the first lady and the president, president obama. the pope talked about the key issues these two have men have in common, immigration, religious rights and climate change. perhaps the biggest one of all. here's more of what the pope had to say. >> the son of an immigrant family, i'm happy to be a guest in this country, which was lastly built by such families. [applause] . >> reporter: now, afterward, the popes and president walked down

to the rose garden. they sat side-by-side, allowing reporters in briefly. the president gave the pope a dove made from a restoration project of the statue of libe y liberty. the pope gave the president a medallion. the purpose of the pope's visit happens in philadelphia. a day of ceremony, we don't let it go by without mentioning the extraordinary parade, a brief one around the white house complex here. children rushing over the barricades, really shocking development from a security standpoint, greeting the pope as he made his way down constitution avenue. >> mike, we know the pipe pope arrived in america where he had one on one's with the castro

brothers. do you know if they discussed the pope's role in bringing back diplomatic relations between the u.s. and cuba? >> reporter: we don't know what was discussed as they met in the oval office. the president began by thanking the pope for the instrumental role that he played in bringing in u.s. and cuba together after 54 years. that happened through the good offices of the pope. they went to the vatican last year. it came to light that it was an opening that he was trying to broker between the united states and cuba. >> the north lawn of the white house, thank you. there's a reason they call francis, the people's pope. some 15,000 attending the white house event and thousands more

gathered along the route of the motorcade to saint matthews cathedral. let's switch over now so, tell us about it, what did you see? >> reporter: well, randall, it was something amazing to see, actually. the weather here has been fantastic, as we have been reporting. we got here fairly early and the lines were long but they were moving along quickly through securit security. thousands lined the streets for the parade. people waited patiently and pressed up against the barricades. as you saw the pope come around the corners, literally, it looked like a wave of cell phones that went into the air to try to catch an image of the pope and the decibel level

reached deafening levels as they cheered for the pope. it was, you know, a lot of people that we talked to in the crowd say they've done this before, they've seen other popes, but this was special to them. they say pope francis, as you mentioned, is a pope of the people and many were very enthusiastic to come out here and get the short glimpse they got today. >> we were showing a recording of that extraordinary moment where a little girl was brought over to the pope by the secret service and then she was kissed by the pope and gave him a paper flag. what a moment. >>reporter: amazing moment. litt little sophia cruz, who traveled here with her family. here father held her up high. the pope did catch a glimpse of her and waved her over and secret service parted the

barriers. she got a hug and a kiss from the pope, something that is pretty unforgettable for someone of her age and her family. >> a lot of historical moments as pope francis makes his first-ever visit to the united states. so, the pope has been moving around the nation's capital, several days of big events, one of the biggest happens later today, the candidization. this is controversial, liby? >> reporter: let's talk about what the catholic church is excited about. he became a franciscan missionary, establishing missions all along the coast. when he becomes a saint leader, he will be the first

hispanic-american saint. 1/3 of american catholics are hispanic. the indigenous people, who he converted to catholicism, while they weren't forced to be baptized, they weren't allowed to leave the mission. those who did were punished and sometimes beaten. there is a legacy there of just how the process worked of missionaries. there's a larger question in the church about how conversion is done. he converted more than 6,000 indigenous people and over his time, hundreds of thousands. >> what is the church's justification for this in the face of the objections from indigenous people? >> reporter: becoming a saint is a long process. john paul the second continued this process along and it

cullenates. he is seen as a hispanic leader, who worked with the indigenous people, who wanted to help them. today, there will be a lot of symbolism in this mass, in addition to a lot of it being done in spanish, the pope's native language, he is going to bring to sainthood a hispanic-american saint. their first reading will be conducted in a native american language, certainly a nod to the history so we will see a mass, today, that does look back to the past as well as celebrate. he will, indeed, become a saint. i have been talking about priests here, questioning whether it will be saint sarah.

>> thank you. this will be a very full day for the pope and it continues tomorrow at 10:00. at 11:15, he will tour a meals program in the d.c. area. he will head to new york city. we'll have continuing coverage today and throughout the week, here on aj america. we will have more of today's top stories when we come back.

aj have both been pardoned. they were granted a pardon be egypt's president, along with dozens of others. however, none of the seven aj journalists who were sentenced have been pardoned. victoria has more. >> reporter: freedom at last for them. the pardon by the president is the end of a long ordeal, which began when they were arrested in december, 2013, along with an aj

correspondent. among the charges, aiding the now burned broth brotherhood. last january, the court throughout their convictions and ordered a retrial. >> just living day by day. >> reporter: in february, he was deported to australia. they were released later than month and unable to leave egypt, with their lives on hold, they were still serving a kind of sentence. global campaign of support from grass roots to heads of government. >> the issue of the aj journalists in egypt, we have been cleared that they should be released. >> reporter: they returned them to prison and the retrial was supposed to give them a second opportunity to clear their names.

justice was denied yet again. >> it's outrageous. my heart is with the family. >> reporter: the unrest damaged egypt's reputation. they have closed this case without threatening the independence of egypt's judiciary. there are other aj staff that were convicted. they will continue for their cases to be thrown out. a congressman is questioning whether two people graduated from army ranger school received special treatment. they were the first women to graduate from the school. according to people magazine, they have asked the army to release paperwork, detailing their years of study.

the city of las angeles is declaring a state of emergency over homelessness. they will spend $100 million and open up private property as shelter. more than 25,000 people are homeless in los angeles, many of them living in l.a.'s skid row. >> 4,000 homeless blocks from city hall. that is a small percentage of the city's homeless population. yes, 85% of the city's homeless population lives outside of skid row and throughout the city. >> l.a. city council needs to approve the program. the school board in seattle is expected to decide whether to

put an end to suspended students. sabrina is following the story. >> reporter: no kindergartner should be suspended from school. >> african-american children and particular african-american males are suspended at a rate four times higher than their white counter parts and it's been a situation where people knew about it and kind of rang their hands and said, but there's nothing we can do. it's because they're poor. they're making excuses for a lack of action as an institution or as a school or as a school syst system. >> reporter: we'll had to one school with a unique model for dealing with discipline. we'll have more, coming up

tonight. nearly 600 seattle elementary school students were suspended last year, including 61 kindergartners. they are trying to prevent prisoners from landing back in jail. the focus is on counseling, rather than arresting repeat offenders. >> i was homeless because of my addiction. i was strung out on heroin and i also smoked crack. i also did prostitution. all that mattered was feeding my addiction. >> reporter: when she moved from alaska to washington state in 2003, this was not the live she envisioned for herself. >> i went out to go what we call the track, that's where we go and meet dates and then i got picked up by an undercover. >> reporter: she was hauled into a police station, where she

anticipated another arrest. >> i asked to speak to a sergeants. >> lead is law enforcement assisted diversion. it gives officers a pivotal choice to arrest a non-violent law-breaker or put them in contact with a counselor for food and housing. santa fe knows first-hand that arresting criminals and putting them in jail is what police are trained to do. >> i want thinks that are going to reduce crime in santa fe. >> reporter: the chief conduct a seminar to help convince officers to keep low-level people out of jail detours

crimes. >> people will do anything to get high. >> reporter: stopping the revolving door of arrests is what lead wants to do. they were 60% less likely to be rearrested. >> we have seen a lot of drug ak activity here. >> reporter: we found out how it gets determined who makes it into lead and who doesn't. >> white t-shirt. >> reporter: he gets a call of a possible robbery at the mall. they admit to being heroin users. >> there was a robbery and an assault on a household member. >> i got a call from a girl who wants to be in the lead program. how long have you been using? >> five years. >> heroin? >> i don't give up on people easily.

>> reporter: if she's lucky, she'll end up for misty. misty has been drug-free for two years and is back home in alaska. >> i want to start a lead program in alaska. other people can get inspiration from my story because i know that i was the worst of the worst and if i can change, anybody can. one of the greatest baseball pitchers ever has died. he was 90 years old and made his mark on and off the field. >>reporter: he was a legends on the diamond. >> 17 years with the yankees, 14 world series and won ten of them. >> reporter: he was an american icon because of the things he said. his name was lawrence peter. but they knew him as yoggi. he was a three-time league most

valuable player and a 15-time all star. >> he's the finest i've seen in baseball. >> reporter: this image of him, jumping into dawn larson's arms as he pitched a perfect game. it's one of the most iconic sports photos. he had a colorful way with words, the man who said the future ain't what it used to be, two phrases that remain, it ain't over until it's over, this o one. >> i don't make them up. >> reporter: hannah bar beara, saying it was defamatory. he later dropped the suit. he had a dispute with the

yankee's owner who fired him without telling him to his ce. it lasted 14 years. >> i hope he can accept my apologize. >> reporter: then, this, a triumpant return in 1999 to yankee stadium. >> let's welcome hope number 8. president obama just put out a statement calling him an american original, a hall of famer, a veteran and a jokester. we'll be right back.

. the ceo of volkswagen is stepping down after a world-wide emissions scandal. he denies any wrong-doing. the u.s. department of justice is reportedly looking into the case. martin wintercorn could face issues. >> they told their prosecutors when you're investigating corporate misconduct, look at

executives individually. i think one of the big things to watch is how that new policy plays in, in terms of investigations of -- possible prosecutions of people at vw. >> over 11 million vehicles were sold with software that cheats clean-air tests. more than 4,800. they face a fine from the epa. well, it is a little easier, today, to sing one of the most popular songs in the english language. happy birthday. a federal judge has thrown out a copy right that, for decades, has restricted that song's use. ♪ [music] . >> reporter: one of the most recognizable songs is in the public domain. they ruled the company, who

collected royalties on the lyrics, no longer hold a copy right. they made money from films, tv shows and tv productions. they sued the company, claiming the copyright was invalid because it existed before happy birthday was registered. the origins are traced back to an 168 -- 19 -- 1893 song. >> obviously, it was exciting to open folders that were hidden away in a filing cabinet and find a manuscript for it. >> reporter: that song eventually evolved into happy

birthday and the copyright only held rights to the sound. for the first time, scientists are turning to a project designed to protect the world's crops from disasters. they now have to open what is known as the world's doom's day vault. it is a sea vault that stores almost 900,000 seed samples from all over the world. syria has asked for some of its seed back for those damaged in the five-year civil war. thank you for joining us. the news continues next, live from london. you can go to aj.com. looking live at pope francis, as he conducts a prayer in washington, d.c. pope

coverage continues on aj. . aj journalists are pardoned in egypt. also coming up, martin wintercorn resigns as the emission scandal continues. the pope meets the president, the head of the roman catholic church is welcomed, by barack obama, at the white