makers to come clean about emissions testing the clammer for credible data is getting louder and louder, london. well, keep up to date with all our top stories on our website, the address for that is al jazeera.com. >> the u.n. and huge gathering of world leaders prepare to hear from pope francis, but his message on the environment and social justice may not go over well with everyone. >> the saudi government launches and investigation into a stampede at the hajj. this blame riyadh for mishandling the event. >> the chinese president meets to president obama.

jingping's new proposal to stop climate change. >> this is aljazeera america live from new york city. i'm richelle carey. >> today will be the largest gathering of world leaders the pope has ever spoken to. the pope arrived oh the cheers of adoring crowds on fifth avenue and also to the biggest security operation ever to protect him and other world leaders in town. john terrett is live at the united nations now. john, good morning to you. >> how are you? >> i'm wonderful p.m. it's a big day for new york city, and the pope is going to address, we

expect a lot of issues, like poverty and refugee crisis. this pope does not pull any punches. what are we expecting world leaders to hear? >> i think it's going to be climate change to eradicating global war to eradicating poverty to gender equality to income equality, all the pope's favorite themes. take a look at this over here. this is the entrance to the united nations opposite 46t 46th street. these are members of the diplomatic corps here in new york. they've been queuing since early this morning just to get in and be part of this he were experience on the east side of manhattan today. it's going to be a very different start to the day to yesterday. yesterday we saw the pope in the house, then he flew to new york, took part in stress speakers at st. patrick. today, more serious and somber.

the pope is going to address the general assembly in spanish, the language he is most comfortable in. yesterday, when he went to st. patrick's cardinal said you're a new yorker now because you've walked into st. patrick's. today he will become a formal diplomatic because he addresses the general assembly. he's taken up a whole range of international issues ever since he took office two years ago. to the surprise of many, he has absolutely excelled at being a diplomat. >> very good, i give him an 11. >> father tomas reese who covers pope francis grading him 11 out of 10 for diplomacy. >> this is unusual, because he came to the papacy without diplomatic experience. >> he said he is a quick study, briefed by his staff, allowing him to add a moral tone to world affairs. >> this pope has taken on issues

of refugees, the middle east, climate change, improving relations between cuba and the united states. he's had a very busy two years. >> in may, 2014, front visited the middle east, calling for reconciliation and peace between israeli and palestinians. he went to the wall has separates israeli from the west bank, laid his forehead on the structure and said absolutely nothing. >> he understands the importance of symbolic gestures. how can you get upset when you stand there and pray? are you going to object to prayer? >> as father reese points out. pope francis didn't stop there. >> not only did he pray at the security wall, but then he prayed at the temple wall. >> days later, the pope hosted israeli president perez palestinian president abbas.

>> pope francis has done very well. >> the pope's been angling for key players in the syrian civil war, bashar al assad and putin to come to the table to negotiate a solution. on cuba, the pope provided political cover for both sides worried about furious critics against thawing relations. >> in an unassuming way, he has taken on the world issues, the plight of migrants, human trafficking and income inequality. >> i think he's going to talk about war and peace, reconciliation and raise up the refugees in italy, europe and africa. these people need our help. >> when he speaks, his focus is likely to be the richer nations in europe and united states, urging collective consciences to

do more. >> easy going to say you have a moral responsibility for your brothers and sisters all over the world to help them and protect the environment. >> pope francis arrives here at 8:30 eastern time this morning. he is going all the way up to the 30th floor for a meeting and come to the ground floor, which is my many of queuing to get in. he'll address the assembly at 10:20 eastern time. >> let's took pope francis stays true-to-form and tells it like he see's it, which means he will be critical of some of the people in that very room. how with him it be received? >> there's 193 member nations. we think there's 170 leaders promising to come either for this or for the general assembly next week. they want to be here, like members of the public, they want to hear what he has to say.

he is going to be critical of the refugee crisis in europe, critical and encouraging on the idea of climate change and other things i mentioned at the top, things like income inequality, global warfare, eradicating poverty. this pope doesn't do this with any kind of rancor. he doesn't irritate people. he talks in a very pastoral priestley fatherly pastoral way. that's the approach he'll take today. people will hear what he has to say, but won't be offended. >> all right, a true diplomat. john, thank you. >> we will bring you live coverage of the pope's visit to the u.n. once he finishes there, the pontiff will then head to the 9/11 memorial and museum. then later in the afternoon, he will visit an east harlem school. then in the evening, yes, a very busy day, he will celebrate mass

for 20,000 people at madison square gardens. that is where our john henry smith is this morning. let's talk specifics, john henry. talk about security. how's it looking out there so far? >> well, just to give you an example about how determined local officials are to make sure that the pope remains safe, reports are that police commissioner william bratton performed a final security check hips before the pope's arrival. local law enforcement has pulled out all of the stops. they've erected some 37 miles are barricades around the city, many of them are being used to shut down more than 10 miles of new york city streets. the city says that's the greatest number of street closers in new york city history. it's not just the streets that have been walled off, many sidewalks in mid town have been made impassable, as well.

of course you mentioned madison square gardens. we're at t minus 11 hours away from the pope taking the stage and making his remarks to some 20,000 people, who are coming out to hear him speak, and officials want security to go smoothly here, so they're asking people to get here at 2:00 p.m., some four hours before he's settled to speak. they're not really making threats to make that happen as much as they're offering a carrot. there is a concert scheduled coming up at 3:00 p.m., featuring big stars, like jennifer hudson, harry connick and gloria h estefan. you have got to be here at 2:00 to hear the concert. if you smith the sin of not getting here in time, there will be confessionals inside madison

square gardens. >> i am sure people will arrive extremely early. all right, john henry smith, madison square gardens, thank you so much. >> al jazeera will have complete coverage of the pope's visit to new york throughout the day. >> pope francis afford condolences to muslims in the wake of that stampede in mecca. at least 700 pilgrims were killed in the pilgrimage there on thursday. saudi arabia says it is investigating what led to the stampede after being criticized for its handle of the hajj by some countries. live picture there. al jazeera plus reporter is in mecca and saw that stampede unfold. >> i got close to the area where the stampede happened. i was stopped by the soldiers. they wanted to stop me from filming the photos, looked through my phone. they are prohibiting taking photos, the soldiers aren't talking. i talked to people who were in the stampede who talked about

people rushing from all sides, some people falling and then falling over them and over them. one man talked about how he was literary over three or four bodies before taken to the hospital. it's been really horrendous. the footage is devastating, it's a mountain which bodies. no matter how much you organize, there's always a risk when you have these huge amounts of people congregating in a tiny area, that disaster will happen. there is organizing, but i've heard how these people actually managed to go back in the same way, no one is there to stop them. this is the problem. if you try and go against the rules, it's not like it's a blocked door where you can't enter. it's literally a street and it's blocked from both sides, but not from in front and in back, so if you try and walk backwards, you can do that, because there's not enough people to enforce thosel. that's definitely something that needs to change.

>> thursday's stampede was the second worst tragedy at the hajj. in 1990, 1400 people died in a similar incident. >> china's president is heading back to the white house this morning where he and president obama are expected to talk about climate change. the two leaders had an informal dinner last night before a more formal talk this morning. xi is expected to announce a major climate change program to cap greenhouse emissions and charge businesses for what they release in the air. accompanying the chinese president is his wife and unlike previous first ladies in china, she doesn't shy from the spotlight. we have this report. >> she's the glamorous half of china's preeminent power couple. ♪

>> first lady of china, a folk and opera singer who was popular on her own long before her husband became china's president in 2012. >> she has been famous since about 1983, when she first appeared on the china central television's new year's special, which is watched by a majority of people in china. >> these days, it's the fashion that draws eyeballs. from the home crowd where she's a trend setter. >> her bags and even her shoes. people would follow her trend. >> and abroad where she is an ambassador for chinese designers, a role she's worn well enough to land a spot on vanity fair's best dressed list and some say fashionly eclipse first lady michelle obama.

>> the last high profile chinese first lady was wife of chairman mao and leader of the notorious gaining of four, synonymous with the brutality of the cultural revolution. this first lady has broken through that dark shadow. last year, russian president vladimir putin scandalized her when he draped a shawl over her shoulders. >> the president is very strong. >> and project power abroad. >> to have a first lady who is charismatic, able to chat with the charismatic american first

lady are all things that indicate china having a stature that is equal or approximately equal to the unid states. >> a first lady who's proven she can hold her own on any stage. patricia sobga, al jazeera. >> we will bring you live coverage of president xi's arrival at the white house at 9:00 eastern. president obama will hold a news conference at around noon eastern with that we will bring you that live, as well. >> congress is moving ahead with the short term funding plan designated to keep the government open, now that democrats have lost the bill to defund planned parenthood. the non-profit has been under fire since july, since an anti abortion rights group released undercover video raising questions about how planned parenthood handles fetal tissue. the deadline to pass a new funding bill is next thursday. >> people in parts of charleston, south carolina are

waking up to damage from a tornado that touched down overnight, impacting several homes in the area. there are no injuries to report, but more than 5,000 homes are without power after those storms. let's bring in nicole mitchell to tell us more. >> we have a system we've been talking about most of the week coming onshore. it never developed into a tropical storm, but bringing moisture to the coast and one of the bands did possibly produce a tornado. they'll go in and look at that today and some of the damage that was associated includes sitings, roofs, trees. i haven't seen reports of injuries yet, but there's isolated chance for that. it wasn't like there was widespread, severe weather. our system that we were watching in the midwest has lost a lot of its moisture. there is some improvements there. this will be what we watch the next couple of days before that mainly kind of starts to dissipate a little bit, two more wet days, that onshore mainly,

so it's not a system kind of moving across the country like we normally see. in the meantime, more parts of the mid atlantic moves, and spreads farther to the south. in the meantime with all of that, that helps keep temperatures cool in that particular area. we'll see 68 in atlanta, 76 in washington, d.c. still a lot of the rest of the country is going to feel the heat where you're not under that weather system, including 93 today in los angeles. unfortunately that one system doesn't look like it's going to quite impact all the different events we have with the pope. a few chance for philadelphia on sunday, but otherwise, a very comfortable and sunny forecast the next couple days. >> thank you very much. a fatal crash on the seattle highway, a duck boat loses control and collides with a tour bus. investigators think what may

have caused that crash, next.

>> i've been asked to keep my voice down cause we are

joanne vehicles is underway after a deadly crash involving a tourist duck boat and bus. eyewitnesses say the boat ran into a car before it smashed head on into the bus that was carrying international students. police are looking into a possible mechanical issue with

that duck boat. >> the face of heroin is changing in america. a special report is taking a look at that, following the lives of several young adults from the suburbs of cincinnati as they battle their addiction. >> it turned me into somebody that i wasn't at all. it turned me into a liar. it turned me into a thief. >> we purchased a safe that's the size of a very large refrigerator. >> we needed someplace to put our valuables. >> how much money have you spent on rehab and buying your stuff back and all the stuff that comes around rehab? >> $77,000. >> you know exactly. >> i know exactly what i spent. i turned 52 sunday. i've worked for my company for 30 years. i have a pension, i have a retirement, i could have walked out of there. >> but you can't because? >> because i have to keep working, we liquidated to pay

for this, to pay to save her life. >> heroin u.s.a., a special report airs at 10:00 p.m. eastern, 7:00 p.m. pacific. >> volkswagen prepares for a change at the top, but it is the e.p.a. that is looking hard at how it operates.

>> beautiful live picture outside the united nations, beautiful day in new york. pope francis expect to arrive ahead of his address, probably in a little less than an hour, and when he addresses the u.n.,

we'll bring that to you live. >> volkswagen is holding a board meeting to pick a new c.e.o. software was installed in cars that tricked emissions tests. 29 attorneys general are now investigating. the fraud in this case now has the e.p.a. making sweeping changes in the way that it tests diesel emissions. the agency plans to add on road testing for diesel cars. >> it is not often you run into wild animals on the job unless your techno's phil torres. it's safe to say i did made his day. >> there's one. see it? >> yeah. >> oh, yeah. oh, there's another sloth right there. >> he's just mooning you now. >> this is apparently prime time

for sloths, and while the first two we spotted were pretty cool, we were about to get a better, crisisier view. we didn't expect him to be so close to suddenly. >> i've got to be really close to you. >> this amazing creature is the two toed sloth. this is the closest i've ever been to one, dropping to the ground to go to another tree. >> hi, buddy. hi. >> we decided to switch cameras to get a better look. luckily, we moved quickly, or at least compared to this guy. just in case you're not up to your sloth scoop they are mammals, yes, they are slow, primarily because they eat leaves which don't provide a lot of energy. they have a reputation for being sleepy and lays.

it is found wild sloths sleep a lot less, six hours a day less than the ones we see in zoos, but that's not all smithsonian scientists discovered. >> in sloth hair, the fungus they found con fight malaria, kill cells that cause human breast cancer. they're looking at you. i think there's enough humans that have come by in this area, it's not threatening. it's making its way up a tree. >> we're in panama, and this sloth is just asking to be put on the internet for all to see, aren't you, sloth? he just winked. i think that's a yes. >> watch this. hi. oh my gosh! guys, look at this! >> what an amazing animal. stephanie sy is up next.

>> pope francis prepares to address the united nations. the fateful turn out in droves to see him. >> the white house this morning hosts the chinese leader, but will it be enough to end tension between the super powers? >> saudi arabia launches and investigation into the deadly stampede at hajj that left 700 pill grips dead. the new claims to riyadh didn't

do enough to protect them. >> this is aljazeera america live from new york city. i'm stephanie sy. another big day today for pope francis on his whirlwind u.s. tour. in just a few minutes, the pope will make his way to the united nation where he will address the largest gathering ever of world leaders at the u.n. the pope arrived in new york city on thursday and delighted crowds as he waived from the pope mobile. on fifth avenue. his visit is the biggest security operation ever in new york city. we are outside madison square gardens with more on how the pope is being received in new york, first let's go to the united nations. john with, what is happening there right now? >> we are eagerly anticipating

the arrival of pope francis now. he's on his way, scheduled to get here at 8:30 this morning eastern time. he'll be greeted by the secretary general ban ki-moon and his wife. they will have one-on-one meetings, then the pope will come to the ground floor and have a little town hall meeting with members of staff and the members of the u.n. staff have been queuing for hours to be there to have a chance to greet pope francis. he will address the general assembly at 10:20 and we expect him to speak for about a half hour. >> there are a lot of firsts for pope francis this week, the first time addressing the u.n. general assembly, the vatican flag flying at the united nations for the first time as an observer nation. what topics do we expect the pope to address? >> we have a pretty good idea amounted reason is because he's

been banging the same topics ever since he came to the office of the pope two years ago. he has some pet themes and we expect them to be raised in the general assembly today. the reason he's coming is because there's a development conference getting underway for the next two or three days at the u.n. and development is a key theme, a pet topic that this pope likes to talk about. what is development? in his eyes, it's things like ending global war. it's ending and eradicating poverty. it's climate change. it's all sorts of issues that are to do with equality, including income equality and sexual equality. these topics we expect to be raised along with the refugee crisis in europe, as well. remember this pope, he becomes a formal diplomatic today by simply addressing the general assembly, but he's a natural diplomatic. he's taken on all sorts of global roles, he was involved in the negotiations between

washington and havana other cuba. he supports the obama administration deal with iran to curb their nuclear activity. the reaction from world leaders who are going to be here we don't know, but we do know that this pope has an abilities to things that really make people think, stop and think without offending them. >> he has a moral credibility that you wonder whether that will lead to action on issues such as the refugee crise. john, thank you. >> on that topic, we are joined from washington this morning, good morning. i understand that you just returned from the serbian-hungarian border. what are you hoping to hear the pope say about that crisis some

of which turned away refugees at the border? >> i hope he doesn't pull punches and his message i am police nations and individuals to open their hearts and compassion to people in dire need right now, which we are seeing with refugees fleeing conflicts in their homes and countries, where it's not safe enough for them to live anymore. i hope he encourages diplomacy and action that helps enable people to have a safe option for refuge in countries where they are fleeing and also to resolve conflict and the crises in their home country so potentially they don't have to flee overall. >> that's a tall order. what did you see as the most pressing immediate needs that can be delivered? >> you're seeing tens of thousands of people arrive every day in these countries, and people are so exhausted from a very long journey and from the

backdrop that forced them to flee in the first place, and then they're so stressed with the decisions that they're having to make every step along the way. these are people who did not want to leave their countries in the first place. many people were saying we would not put our child on a raft like this if it was not safer than our home. people are facing the unknown as they move forward. it's so unpredictable in terms of what they will face in these countries, and that brings about a great amount of stress. >> the pope began praying for syrians caught understand midst of the civil war in 2013. he held a huge mass on st. peters square. he spent time meeting with four syrian families at the vatican. he has called for par requires in europe to open their doors to refugees. do we know what kind of impact

he that has had? >> a local service agency is helping to facilitate opportunities for people to have a safe refuge in individual homes or elsewhere. there has been this empathy and outpouring of support, that i think we are seeing, which it's a wonderful sign in terms of the compassion and humanity people are showing for families in this situation that has come about by no fault of their own. >> some countries have been unable to reach a con sense on how many refugees they will take in. is this the man on the largest stage he's ever had that gets through to the world about the largest refugee crisis this world has faced since world war

ii? >> i hope so. i think he brings a moral authority to this conversation, especially about foreign policy, and he brings to it the sense of responsibility that we have as individuals and as nations. of course, ultimately, we hope that these crises can be resolved at their source so that people aren't forced to flee their homes and countries. i hope he brings a message of the humanitarian needs that are needed in this interim time for people who have no choice but to find safe refuge, but also action on the part of nations to resolve and negotiate a settlement so people can live safely in their homes. >> caroline brennan, thank you for your thoughts this morning. >> after his address at the united nations, pope francis will head to the 9/11 memorial museum where he'll hold an interfaith service with

religious leaders from around the country. our bisi onile-ere is there and we'll speak to her in the next half hour. the pope will go to a school in east harlem, ride through central park and he'll end his day with a mass at madison square gardens. in the past decade, the catholic church has had to close hundreds of parishes across the u.s. especially in the northeast. the pope will hear a special plea to reopen one in new york city. we have this report. >> every sunday morning in this east harlem park, 91-year-old marguerita joins this group of fellow catholics to pray and sing. ♪ >> we are here every sunday. >> every sunday since 2007 when the archdiocese of new york shut down their church across the street. >> with years of memories behind these doors, patty said holding these weekly services is a way to keep the community together.

>> there are church closer by, catholic churches, why not attend one of those. why are you so passionate about this church reopening. >> you don't get the same warmth, the same feeling that we got in this church. i think also that being told to go, because of that, because they dismissed us. >> it is said the closure is part of a larger trend across the u.s. as the catholic population gross in the south and west, parishes have been closing in the northeast and midwest. >> basically it deals with a combination of empty pughs, empty coffers and shortage of priest to staff the number of parishes in existence. >> when parishes close, their schools often do, too. just around the corner, a school is still running with nearly 300 inner city students. two years ago, the archdiocese

turned this over to a non-profit to run. >> i think we have it right. i think this will make sure that our lady queen of angels is going to be here for a long time to come. >> these students will get a visit from the pope. >> i'm running around my house i'm going to meet the pope! this is amazing! >> pope schedule is not scheduled to stop at the church. >> do you think he can do something about this church open again? >> i hope. we hope he will open those doors. >> the pope's visit clearly bringing out thousands of the faithful who just want a glimpses of him and many will be at madison square gardens for mass later today. we're going to go there live, but first, here is a live look at the pope's motorcade, which

has begun tracking. this is the upper east side of manhattan where the pope has been staying while he's in new york at the holy see's residence in the tony district of the upper east side. you can see the police on all sides of the street as the motorcade passes. we will -- i have not seen the fiat. that is the car that pope francis has been riding in. let's see if we see that. we'll continue with these live pictures. it's always striking to see that humble automobile in the midst of these s.u.v.'s. we may have just missed it. i assume that it has passed, but you can see the amount of security that is flanking the motorcade, barricades on both sides of fifth avenue here as it makes its way down to the united nations, which is in mid town manhattan. traffic has been completely cleared in this part of town for the pope's visit.

usually it would take upwards of 35-40 minutes in mid town traffic to get from where the pope is to the united nations building, but the pope won't have to deal with mid town traffic today. we'll continue to check in on those live pictures as we get them. for now, let's go out to our john henry smith who is at madison square gardens. johns are crowds already showing up, the pope giving mass for 18,000 people later this evening. >> that's right, stephanie. i thought it was very profound this week when new york city mayor bill deblasio mentioned the fact that this event, the mass held here tonight, the pope's visit to central park this afternoon, all of these events will be something that children who witness it will tell their children about and general their grandchildren. this is something that everyone will remember, and if anybody has any trouble remembering, there are plenty of reminders

around new york city, the beautiful mural across the street, of course yesterday, when the pope arrived at kennedy airport, he was shown one of the reminders available to people, a keep sake. there are pope stuffed dolls. he was given a doll and received it very enthusiastically with a smile on his face. of course there are plenty of remembrances around here that people can eat or save for posterity. there is a bakery making pope cookies, selling them like hot cakes. they were backlogged on these. they are making pope pizzas, certainly a lot of ways for people to remember pope francis' visit to new york city, a very historic visit. >> there are quirky new york things, like bobble heads and cookies and consumerism of it.

will you talk more about the security that we are seeing this morning around there? >> well certainly, you can look around. i don't know if we can see this, we can't move the camera, but we have plenty of barricades around us now. we've seen a police presence. they talk about they are happy to see the pope here and happy for the overtime pay they are going to be getting over these next few days. these barricades that i referenced, there are some 37 miles of barricades across the city. they've been erected in various places, central park and around here at madison square gardens where the pope will later speak. many barricades are being used to shut down the streets, 10 miles of city streets here have been shut down. that is an all time high for this city, and you talk about the streets that have been walled off, but i mean the sidewalks, many of the sidewalks in mid town have been walled

off, as well. i don't ever remember that happening. i haven't met many people who do. overhead are drones flying, this is a no drone zone. anyone caught flying a drone are going to be met with possible criminal or civil charges. security being taken very seriously. officials want not only the dignitaries in town safe, but all the people who have come out to see him and worship. >> thank you. >> aljazeera america will have complete coverage of the pope's visit to new york throughout the day. >> a state welcome for china's president xi meeting president obama at the white house. cyber security and climate change are on the agenda. >> sky watchers get ready, a rare celestial event that you won't see again for decades.

>> coming back live with a look at the papal fiat, this is his first time in the united states, first time at the united nations headquarters. we are going to see the pontiff emerge from the car right now. usually accompanied by his translator, monsignor miles. let's go to our john terrett live. i know that you just saw the pope pass. >> it's silly, isn't it, really, you have hard bitten journalists who have traveled around the world and we're waving at the pope as he goes by. >> greeting pope francis there. >> he's met by the as he ca secy

general general ban ki-moon. the secretary general has his office on the upper floor, afterward there be a meeting of the staff and diplomatic core. the pope's going company come back down to the level he sees right now and have a meeting with the staff. >> he or she attracts an awful lot of attention. normally, i have to say it's a pop star or a film actor like george clooney, members of the staff love to flock around and have selfies and all that kind of thing and ask questions. today it's going to be another kind of rock star, the papal rock star, pope francis. >> john, we are watching this

photo opportunity to the secretary general ban ki-moon. pope francis is the fourth pope that will be addressing the general assembly, pope john paul ii has been at the united nations twice. this is considered the largest assemblage of world leaders in this century. >> we were just discussing that and wondering exactly how many leaders would be in the general assembly today. there's 193 member countries and we were told by the new york police department that 170 world leaders have confirmed that they would come, but i think that can't be for today. i think that must be across the whole of the general assembly which stretches well into next week. i think in the hall today will be somewhere in the region of 100 leaders. david cameron, the u.k. prime minister is not here.

president putin is not here. he doesn't get in town until sunday, the 27th. i think you have somewhere in the region of 100 leaders and lots of other key diplomats listening to the pope's message. >> h president obama is greeting president xi this morning. new york city said 90% of the word leaders are in this city today. >> it's an extraordinary thing, isn't it? that's the thing about the united nation, this organization i know is not greatly respected throughout america. people don't generally look to the united nations for leadership in this country, but that is not true outside of these borders. it's an extraordinary thing around the world. people really do look to the united nation for inspiration and leadership and that man, ban

ki-moon when he travels around the world is treated like a rock star just as this pope is treated in new york city. there are issues with the united nation, you could criticize it. there are lots and lots of things wrong with it, not the least of all the security council has waited toward the victims of the second world war. at the end of the day, the world would be a poorer place were it not for this building, not for these people who operate here, because at least the world has a chance to come here and talk about all sorts of issues. >> john, i just want to interrupt you for a second to

comment on these pictures that we are seeing. we're seeing sort of an applause line here full of children clearly from around the world dressed intra additional costume obviously to reflect the united nations. they're making silly faces at the camera as children do and holding signs saying we heart you pope francis. it would not be surprising as we've seen so many times in the last few days, for the pope president obama approach these children and give hugs and hand shakes. >> it is with the real dare i say it ordinary people, that's a terrible way of expressing it, it's with real people that these pope excels. any chance he gets to meet them, he will take it. i know that he's really hoping that his speech here today, as with the speech before congress yesterday will have an effect and change things.

we talked already on this program this morning about his ability to say the hard things without really upsetting people too much, and i know that he wants what he said yesterday and what he's going to say this morning to have an effect. we won't know, of course, for a couple of weeks rewarding american politics whether anything in washington is going to change as a result of this pope's visit yesterday and it will take even longer on the world stage. he is here because there's a major development conference until sunday, sustainable development. that's one of his key themes. one of the reasons he wanted to come to america at this time is because of this conference, dealing with issues like eradicating poverty, hunger, ensuring that everybody in the world one day has access to affordable power, gender equality, financial equality, all these kind of things are issues very dear to this pope. >> we are continuing to see the sort of red carpet rollout for pope francis at the united

nation. he is entering the room, you saw there again, his translator by his side. the pope today will not be addressing the u.n. general assembly in english. >> no, that's right. that's a terrific paint. we wondered what language he would use. of course he normally speaks italian when he's in rome. you heard him yesterday speaking in the house, using english, and it was charming english, wasn't it? it was delightful to hear him speak in english, but he's not comfortable, you can tell that. he has chosen today to speak in spanish. the reason is he feels this is such a solemn, important occasion, his chance to and the world from the united nations that he wants to get all the nuances just right. for that reason, he's chosen to speak spanish, the language he is most comfortable using. >> i assume these are the offices of the secretary general in the united nation that we're seeing now. it looks like they are serving the pope a beverage of some

sort. >> we know that his food requirements on this trip have been very, very plain. he's asked for nothing fancy. he doesn't want, you know, food that is particularly overly cooked or overly served with sauces and things. he wants plain food. i'm sure that extends to his beverages, as well. probably deserves to wet his whistle before he speaks at 10:20 this morning. that blding, the whole complex has been refurbished over the past five years. it was a massive project, called the build out project. they took the building and turned it on its head. they weren't allowed to do anything to the outside, because it's iconic, people expect it to look as it always does. inside, this building has been massively freshened up. this has been on for six years. what you are looking at is a much cleaner and non-smoking how united nations.

>> let me just recap a little bit for our viewer what we're watching. pope francis has arrived in the united nations headquarters here in new york city. what you're looking at is crowds gathered in the lobby of the u.n. complex, hoping to catch a glimpse of the pontiff. right now, he is meeting with the secretary general of the u.n., ban ki-moon. here is the schedule coming up. besides meeting with ban ki-moon, he will give remarks in english to the u.n. staff and then at 10:30 is when he is expected to address the entire general assembly and it is being described as the largest collection of word leaders at the united nations in this word body's history. this is of course the 70t 70th anniversary of the united nations and on the agenda as john terrett mentioned, probably he will talk about climate change. he will also probably talk about the refugee crisis that the word

is seeing, syria and the on going civil war there and the fact that some 12 million syrians are displaced, that europe is being day luged with migrants and not sure what to do about them. this is expected to be sort of a clarion call for moral action, i think a lot of people expect. >> well, i think this pope has a way about him that the previous incumbents of this office have not had. benedict was a wonderful theologian. poppope john paul had other priorities. he was a man from a different era. this pope is able to find just the language that all of us ordinary people understand in the age of twitter and he's

using this incredible stage to speak to the word today in very solemn tones about key issues which are very, very dear to his heart. we think that chief among them is climate change, and he's touched on this yesterday in the house, and he's going to say to world nations look, this is something which it seems to me is obvious and that we need to address it and that we can do something about it. that is a very similar message to what we heard yesterday on capitol hill. >> you wonder how he sort of caters his message to this particular body, the u.n. security council has been impotent in the face of the civil war in syria. this is not a pope that we have seen issue rebukes. he is much more gentle than that, but i am curious to see how directly he addresses the lack of action by the u.n. security council. >> well, we know that he will do

it diplomatically, because that's his calling card. i did a piece on this which ran earlier on our program, he is a natural diplomat. diplomat around the world are stunned at how he is able to say the right thing in the right way at the right time. think about what this pope has been involved in since he took office, primarily he acted as cover for the cuban and american governments when they were negotiating privately to try to brick about this deal which is on the table where america is opening up and ending the trade embargo to cuba or trying to. of course it was the pope, we didn't know it at the time, but he was secretly behind the scenes negotiating that, giving coffer to washington and havana who were concerned there would be people who would seriously cause trouble for them if news got out. the other issue i think he will raise today as well is the issue

of the iran nuclear deal. the pope says that he is very enthusiastic for this deal. he said today, he's going to say that it is an example of what can be done when nations are prepared to work together, and he sees it as a part of his vision for nuclear disarmment around the world, the abolition of all nuke weapons of all kinds. i think he's going to touch on that subject, as well. if we have another 20 seconds, can i tell you the other things he's going to talk about? he's going to talk about key issues like poverty, he wants to end poverty, he wants to end hunger. he is looking to talk about equality, that's income and gemmedder equality, health issues, women's health issues and energy provisions for people. these are summed up in the development goals in the united, 17 new development goals coming up. >> we are looking at picture here, of his arrival yesterday

in new york city and now at live pictures at the lobby of the united nations where people are assembled to try to catch a glimpse of pope francis. let's go now to bisi onile-ere live for us overlooking the world trade center. good morning. the pope will be heading there. why did the pope choose to hold the ceremony at the 9/11 memorial and tell us what it will be about. >> good morning to you, stephanie. yes, the pope will be here this morning to meet with those who have lost loved ones to the september 11 terrorist attacks, will also connect with some first responders who were called to duty that day 14 years ago. throughout his papacy, the pope has made it clear and stressed the importance of preserving the memory of those who have passed. i've talked to quite a few catholics over the last couple

days. they say the peep being here at ground zero is very significant and hopefully his presence here will bring healing to those as i will suffering and hope there's a focus on reuniting or uniting religious groups. >> the pope is going to be saying prayers there. it's not just bog to be a religious ceremony. this is really about the sort of pope's outreach to other faiths. >> this is an interfaith event, faiths of all walks represented here. here, jewish, buddhist, muslims as well. the pope stressed this is about bringing groups together. this is about standing as a united front. it's not about division and this

being the ground zero memorial, he's really trying to hit has home. the pope as you've known is known os the people's pope and he's garnered a lot of attention on all faiths, even non-believers. take a listen. >> the pope comes as a moral leader. i think people catholic, non-catholic, even non-believers that the pope speaks a message that transcends any kind of denominational belief or religious belief. it's a message that speaks to the human spirit and aspirations of the human spirit. >> we are expecting the pope later on this morning. clearly a lot of people anxiously awaiting his arrival. stephanie. >> bisi onile-ere live for us at the world trade center, again pope francis will be making his way straight there to lower manhattan once he is finished at

the united nations general assembly, where he will giving a speech in about two hours from now. you're looking at just live pictures we're getting in from feeds from various cameras at the united nations general assembly. here you see people just waiting in the lobby, hoping that at some point, pope francis comes by and greets them. we've seen him do that time and time again. that is when he seems the most himself, in fact. we're going to take a break here, but coming up, a call for merses as the pope visits philadelphia. the debate over what to do with the homeless people while pope francis is in town. that's his next stop after new york city.

>> every saturday night. >> i lived that character.

>> welcome back.character. taking a live look at what is happening at the united nations. i believe these are u.n. staffers. you can see the chair set up

next to them because the pope is expected to address them in english in the next hour. right now, he is having a one-on-one meeting with u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon, but that is what these staffers are waiting for is for the pope to come out and talk to them. the pope is there to address the united nations general assembly. it is described as the largest gathering of word leaders at the u.n. in the world body's history. now after new york, pope francis heads to philadelphia. that has some of the city's homeless population concerned. an estimated 700 people live on the streets of philadelphia and many of them sleep in the same area where the pope will conduct an open air mass on sunday. mary snow reports. >> in the shadows of the pomp and tight security that will greet the pope in philadelphia, the hungry line up for food. this stretch along a parkway is where dozens of homeless people sleep on any given day, and it is now in the direct path of the

pope's public events this weekend. >> they can build all this stuff and do all these things, but what about homeless people who are still suffering and struggling? >> keith recently found a home after living on the street for years, but that's not the case for this couple who asked not to be identified. >> we are not saying that the pope is not important, but what i'm saying is this is way too much. it's way too much, and then y'all are doing something that he wants to see, you are taking away what he wants to see. he's about helping the homeless people, taking care of the needy. >> they've been trying to get into a shelter, but it is the pope's visit that finally got them in. the man who helped them is sam santiago, an out reach worker. he's been getting the word out that tight security will prevent anyone sleeping in the park overnight and is offering other

options. >> do you want any water? >> most of the time, it's not right now or i'll do it later. it's not completely negative, but it's not completely positive, either. >> the outreach was inspired in part by the pope's visit to the philippines earlier this year. there were reports that hundreds of homeless people were bussed out of manila during his visit. >> when we heard that, that made us absolutely determined what will not happen. that invigorated our efforts to make sure people would be not displaced and included. >> his group's outreach teams have been working with the city and federal agencies for months to make sure the homeless are treated with dignity and not force. his group even pushed to secure ticket for the homeless to some of the pope said events. for all the planning at city hall, there is anxiety. >> what is your biggest worry? >> agencies that aren't familiar

with philadelphia's homeless population to have the homeland secret service, to have the issue, it can become a disaster. >> david said the city will have outreach teams in key zones along the papal path. as the faithful flock to the city of brotherly love and offer prayers, the homeless are counting on more than hope, for concrete help on their daily reality. >> we have said all along we don't want this to be a $47 million civic spectacle of pomp and magnificence without an awareness that we also have struggles in our city. >> al jazeera. >> again, going live to the united nations, where pope francis is visiting and speaking with the secretary general of the u.n., ban ki-moon. you can see him having an amicable conversation there, and

cameras are following him where are he goes in the u.n. at 10:30 eastern, pope francis will be addressing the entire assembly, 193 countries represented, many of them world leaders. there will be some leaders absent at the g.a. today, including president obama, and that is because he is having a state visit with the chinese president, so obviously chinese president xi will not be there. the pope continues to tour the united nations believe. john terrett was tell us earlier that this building has been undergoing major renovations in recent years, so the pope getting a look at the u.n. addition here. this is his first time in the united states, his first time at the u.n. general assembly. he is the fourth hope to address the general assembly, and again, this is the largest assemblage of world leaders in u.n.

history. his visit at the u.n. will be about two and a half hours. there are a lot of photo ops following this visit. he will be addressing in english members of the u.n. staff awaiting him in another part of the u.n. complex. as we continue to watch pope francis, just a recap here of what we've seen in the last few days. this is pope francis' second full day during his visit in new york city. from here, he visits what was ground zero in what is now a memorial to the 9/11 attacks. you see pope francis signing some sort of guest book. a couple things, other things to note about his schedule today, at ground zero, he will hold an interreligious faith ceremony. he will also be meeting with 9/11 responders, and survivors

of 9/11, as well as victims' families. he will be praying with them there. later in the afternoon, he visits east harlem, a heavily his panic community. he usually speaks in spanish, his first language. later this afternoon there will be a motorcade through central park, that is a tickets-only event, but there are some 80,000 people expected at the central park ceremony. then later this evening, he'll be heading to mid town manhattan again for a mass that is for 18,000 people, and that will be held at madison square gardens. now some of the issues that we're expecting phone france to touch upon during his address to the u.n. general assembly, yesterday he addressed a joint

meeting of the u.s. congress and in that address, he brought up issues of climate change, issues of immigration. he talked about the importance of the family and the theme throughout that speech was spiritual, based on the golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. we expect similar themes today in his address to the united nations general assembly, but we also expect him to talk more about the massive refugee crisis as a result of the wars in the middle east that's caused 60 million people to seek refuge outside of their home countries. i want to bring back our correspondent at theout nations john terrett. john, we are watching live picture right now of the pope again getting sort of a tour of the complex with the secretary general. >> there's quite a lot to see here at the united nations. it's a very, very good tourist destination. if you ever get the chance to come to new york, take an

opportunity to have a look around as the pope is doing now. not only has this complex been completely refurbished in a massive build out operation that cost millions of dollars over the course of the last four or five, six years, but also inside are artifacts and gifts that have been given to the secretaries general over the years. there is a huge barge there which has been carved. i think it may have been carved out of ivory, which is not politically correct. there are ming vases and nobel prizes awards to various divisions of the united nation that you can see when you come here and you get to see the three chambers of the complex where most of the business is done, so it's a terrific thing to see and that is what the pope is benefiting from at the moment. soon he'll go to the 38t 38th floor and have a private

meeting with the secretary general ban ki-moon. later we expect the pope to have what they call a town hall here with members of the united nations staff which is always very exciting. you may have met members of the staff in the lobby already. >> it's difficult to tell at this point on the schedule as i'm looking at this where we are, but i'll say this about pope francis, you have described him as a diplomat. he is also a head of state in that little piece of rome that the vatican has. he addresses the assembly i imagine as a spiritual leader, as well today. i would expect that to be one of the themes. >> i attended a briefing last monday with the what amounts to the ambassador for the holy see here in new york city.

he said that everything that the pope speaks about ha has to be n through the prism of him coming here not as a politician or diplomat, although he is all of those things but as a pastor, a prophet, a preacher, as a father figure. this is the way that we have to think about this speech today so each topic that he brings up, he will just as he did in the house yesterday be able to prick people's consciences without irritating them and irking them too much. when pope francis speaks, he says going to speak this morning in spanish. now yesterday when he addressed the house, he spoke in english, and you could tell, although it was possible to understand every word, you could tell that he wasn't completely comfortable speaking in english, and the

pope feels that today's event is so solemn, so important, because it will be radiating around the world, and people really will be watching with great interest in countries around the world that he wants to get all the subtle nuances just right and so he's going to speak in spanish, the language he's most comfortable speaking in, stephanie. >> >> al jazeera will have complete coverage of the visit throughout new york today as well as in philadelphia. we will be right back.

>> the chinese president is expected to announce a new climate change policy and address international trade. the director of the east and southeast asia center for america progress joins us from washington, d.c. this morning. thank you for your patience with our papal coverage there. president xi is expected to announce this cap and trade proposal. this is something the united states has not been able to accomplish in the national level. >> this is first of all an incredibly important consequential complicated relationship. we often focus on the differences with china, cyber security, south china sea, commercial interests, but there are opportunities for cooperation. climate change has emerged as the marquee issue for u.s.-china

cooperation. choosing to announce this in washington shows this as a key area for cooperation. we are getting hour first live pictures waiting for president xi to arrive. listen to what every told the business round table this last week. >> we are preparing a number of measures that will indicate to the chinese that this is not just a matter of us being mildly upset. >> what is the president hinting there and how is china likely to respond? we've seen some responses from

president xi already. >> president obama is indicating this is a big issue. there have been heated discussions between national security advisor at the white house. they are demonstrating this is not some elite foreign policy issues. this affects tens of millions of americans and we are going to see a lot of attention to this certainly in the upcoming presidential debates. president obama is certainly hoping to come to some kind of understanding with president xi and put some level of limits on our cyber activities in relation to one another, and we'll see what comes out of that this morning. >> the last time these two leaders met, they came out with sort of this surprise announcement on targets for climate change. would you expect some announcement with rewards to cyber security? >> there may be something, first

of all, i think we need to break down what we are saying when we talk about cyber. there's the traditional espionage aspect of it that the united states is not completely innocent of. there's the corporate espionage, something that the united states does not do and china does, and that's something we're incredibly concerned about. >> brian, i am afraid -- i want to hear about the third area and i do apologize. we have a lot of live events going on right now. i have to leave it there, thank you. pope francis is speaking now at the united nations and we just want to listen in. >> to offer greetings to your members and your families and your colleagues who could not be with us today because the

lottery. [ cheers and applause ] the work here is not of the kind that makes the news. behind the scenes, your daily efforts make possible many of the diplomatic, economic and political initiatives of the united nations, which are so important for the hopes and expectations of the people who make up the human kind. your experts and experience workers, officials and

secretaries, translators that interpret, cleaners and maintenance and security personnel, thank you for all you do. your quiet and devoted work not only contributes to the betterment of the united nations, it also has great significance for you personally for how we work expresses our dignity and the kind of persons we are. many of you have come to the city from countries the world

over. as such, you are microcosms of the peoples which this organization represents and seeks to serve. like so many other people word wide, you are concerned about your children welfare and education. you worry about the future of the planet and what kind of award we will leave for future generations, but today and every day, i would ask each of you whatever your capacity to care

one another, be close to one another. respect one another, and so embody the organization you service, this idea of united human family living in harmony, working not only for peace, but in peace, working not only for justice, but in the spirit of justice. [ applause ] >> dear friends, i bless, i bless each one of you from my