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

heart. i will pray for you and your families, and i ask each one of you please to remember to pray for me and if any of you are not believer, i ask you to wish me well. [ applause ] >> god bless you all. thank you. [ cheers and applause ] >> pope francis concluding his remarks to the staff assembled here, the u.n. staff and there you see him shaking the hand of secretary general of the u.n., ban ki-moon. as he has said many times during

his speeches, he has said pray for me. i want to go back out to our correspondent john for let outside the united nation. john, really a crowd pleasing speech. he started out by just making everyone laugh. >> well, he's a funny guy. he has a sense of humor, and it's worth noting that these town hall events happen quite a lot. the staff get very, very excited to meet people who represent the u.n. around world. normally, i'm talking about rock stars and actors. you think of bono, you think of george clooney. on this occasion, we have a brand new rock star in the form of pope francis, addressing in english as you heard, thanking them for their work, saying they represent a microcosm of people of the world and saying that he blessed each one of them from his heart and that he will pray for them and their families and that line from yesterday, we saw this yesterday when he was in the house and he used it again today, it's very, very

effective, it kind of finishing line, he says to them if some of you don't believe, then please wish me well and everybody loves to hear the pope say that. you heard he got a sort of rousing cheer at the end and applause, people warming to him here. the members of the staff come from all over the word. they take a very, very long time to employ people at the u.n., but when he get here, you finally come to new york and are face this incredible building and a lot of people have very, very large, responsible jobs to do and the pope having thanking them for doing it. >> the protocols at the u.n. are really sort of a ballet here. everybody knows exactly where they're supposed to be at exactly this time. the staff is supposed to stay in place while the pontiff exits. we just saw the replaying. john, hold title for just a second. i want to get back to our

conversation of what's happening at the united nations, but i want to peek in live at the white house south lawn right now. just a couple of days ago, pope francis was on that same lawn and moments from now, chinese president xi jingping is set to arrive for a welcoming ceremony with president obama, two of the most powerful leaders in the word will hold a bilateral summit. both obviously not there at the united nation for the general assembly speech. there will also be a mid-day news conference we expect, but right now, very similar set up to what we saw for pope francis. this is the first official state visit by the chinese president, and i want to check in with our chief white house correspondent, mike viqueira. what do the two leaders plan to discuss when they meet today? >> there are a lot of controversial issues on the table, there's no question about it. in the days leading up to this

summit, top white house aids including susan race on down have stressed the common ground, things they are going to try to achieve, the areas where there is agreement, climate change now being among them, there's expected the to be an announcement later today, as that press conference gets underway about a new climate change agreement, new commitments from china. the white house touted the last round of commitments the last time these two leaders met. this is a state visit. the contract cool that we saw around the official arrival ceremony for pope francis just the day before yesterday, virtually an identical ceremony you're going to see today with a few added flourishes, the review of the troops. there was no 21 gun salute, to the militaristic aspects were down played. it's all ceremony, a lot of friends of china, those instrumental in china policy

here in the united states in the foreign policies community both inside and outside. they talked about the white house, tried to emphasize the areas of cooperation and agreement. no one needs to reminded of the poteen tell areas of conflict. news coming in this week just the day before yesterday about more potential, very serious breaches of personal information for those who work within the united states government, including the divulgence of finger prints. it was reported china was behind it, although the white house has been loathe to point that out publicly perhaps in anticipates of a visit like this. there are military aspect, security aspect in the china sea

and east china sea. any minute now, we'll see the president and first lady emerge. he'll pull up, presumably not in a fiat. the security issues in the china sea, the united states firmly behind japan that in score. as we see the ruffles and flourishes heralding the arrival of the president and first lady. >> we are right now covering simultaneous events of major word leaders, but let's continue on with what is happening at the white house. there is president obama and first lady michelle obama exiting the door and prepared to meet president xi jingping of china. president obama has meet with president xi on previous occasions. last time there was a major

announcement on reduction targets for emissions and climate change. we'll see if that happens today. following this welcoming ceremony, there will be a bilateral summit between the two world leaders and one of those fancy state dinners tonight. i want to bring in be our guest, ann lee, author of what the u.s. can learn from china. professor, thank you for being with us and your time. let's take a step back drop the specific issues and just talk about this relationship right now between the u.s. and china, between president xi and obama. >> i would characterize this relationship at rather tense. i believe this is a very important visit for president xi, because i think he'd like to dial down the tension between the two countries. while there are many issues on the table, such as the cyber security as well as the conflicts around the island.

>> this is the car right now. sorry to interrupt you now. i expect president xi and his wife will be exiting the vehicle. there is the economic situation in china, the jarring of the markets, how does that change the dynamics of president xi's visit? >> certainly that turmoil in the market have caused a lot of concern everywhere, including the united states, however i do think that a lot of the market reaction was an over reaction to what is really going on in china, because china's economic growth continues to happen. yes, it's taking a slower path and there's a pause, but by all indicators, there are still significant growth in the service sector.

>> let's just talk about this as we see president xi shake the hand of the defense secretary tear ash carter there and other cabinet members you see aligned, vice president biden. this is a state visit, so you see all the big guns in washington here and within president obama's administration, you know, just this week, washington accused a chinese fighter ace of making dangerous passes at a navy plane over the south china sea. you did talk about this being a tense relationship as rewards to the south china sea. are these military confrontations alarming? >> i would say they are rather dangerous, because an accident can trigger a situation where things escalate very quickly, so this is certainly an area that i think president xi and obama need to discuss and see if they can come up with some kind of solution to avoid a potential military confrontation. >> let's listen in to what is happening on the south lawn of

the white house, some of the porch and circumstance if we can take that live picture again. mike viqueira, will you join us and tell us what you are seeing. >> i certainly will. i am hearing the 21 gun salute now, directly in front of the two presidents as they stand in attention. we are going to get the national anthems here in just a moment. ♪ >> just most that this is something we did not see with pope francis' visit. the 21 gun salute pretty typical for a state visit. >> that's right. you see the five barns of the military there and their uniforms. notably fewer individuals on the south lawn for this ceremony. of course, it was packed by some 11,000 just the day before yesterday, but continuing with our conversations, as we get

ready to hear from these two presidents, there will be opening remarks and then they will walk across and in front of the color guard and honor guard as they stand at attention. we'll see the colonial fife and drum corps, all part and parcel of this arrival ceremony. it's important to note there is a nicety or a ceremony and a ritual, if you will that is reserved only for the most important allies of the united states. i'm going to pauses here just a moment for the national anthem. ♪

>> a lot of people wanted the president to the cancel this visit, because it is afforded only to america's closest allies and its most important leaders from around the world. certainly president xi fits that category, representing the world's second largest economy enough, second only to the united states. its economy is certainly having problems right now, controversial devalue of the currency, there are competing trade pacts on the table, the president pushing forward with his france pacific trade pact

with many pacific and eastern nations excluding china as we see the two leaders with a ceremonial review of the troops. they'll walk in front of the troops. that is the commander conducting the ceremony. there are the trade pacts, china has its own competing trade pact. that is a source of contention as well. any issue on the table here, security issues in the east china sea, in the south china sea, when china continues to build up on the reef that i also claimed by six nations, including vietnam and the philippines, straddling key shipping lanes in southeast asia, a great deal of concern being raised there. the intercepts, many civilian

aircrafts that play in the east china and south china sea, any number of high profile issues on the table, a very important meeting, a lot of symbolism here to try to generate good will and friendship only afforded to america's closesta closest alli. you mentioned there is a state dinner tonight, so something of a set piece here, but a lot of very important substance on the table. >> what you refer to there is what makes this moment so remarkable, this review of troops which we would not have seen. the defense relationship is sort of one of the key issues that ann lee and i were just talking about. it was just a few weeks ago that china had its big military parade to mark the end of world war ii and that commemoration of

events and they rolled out military hardware that raised concerns, carrier killer missiles that we hadn't seen before. that defense relationship playing into it. you allude to how this has become very political, this visit. this was brought up in the second gop presidential debate. donald trump basically saying he would of canceled the state visit, he would have taken him out for a burger at mcdonald's. how has the white house responded to those criticisms? >> they brush it off and take it with a very large grain of salt what comes with the political rhetoric you get in a political campaign. when asked about it here at the white house at the daily briefing and elsewhere, they down play that and i think people recognize that that kind of rhetoric comes with no strings attached when you're campaigning for president. in a sense, it all changes when and if you are the individual who is chosen to live in this big building behind me and you have to deal with the word the

way it is and the super power realities and geopolitics which are very sensitive. the islands have been disputed between china and japan. the united states is bound to defend japan with its military. there is a significant military presence in the region on the border between north korea and south korea and all across japan, including okinawa. the united states is bound by treaty to defend japan if it came to that. no one thinks it will anytime soon, but the possibility is out there. when president obama was in japan, he was compelled to reiterate publicly that the united states would stand behind japan. a similar situation in the south china sea. as you see these two leaders now greeting many individuals, obviously a lot of chinese americans, perhaps embassy staff and their families there, as well, those who deal with china issues and those close to it and those who advise the white house

both inside and outside the administration. there's a lot on the table here, certainly the pictures here that go along with the ceremony involved in a state visit, both sides hoping that this will go a lange ways towards easing the tensions which are indisputably there, stephanie. >> i want to bring back ann lee for her comments. i just wanted to ask you about this expected announcement that she will make about a national scheme of some sort for cap and trade. how significant is that enyour view especially given that politicians in this country have said we don't want cap and trade because our biggest economic rival, china, would never do it? >> well, i think this that would really change the game, right? so if china is going to go forward with something like this, that would give obama certainly more fire power to bring it up again and get something like this through congress, since he is trying to get legislation that would make

greener technology and more sustainable, environmental standards something of a key hallmark of his presidency, and if china goes along with this, this would be a major announcement, so hopefully, this will be a game-changer. >> that's interesting that you say that. we see the two leaders on the stage and we do expect they will speak, so we'll stand by for that. as we wait, let's continue with this conversation about the relationships. you heard mike viqueira say state visits are reserved for allies and so often, we hear china couched in terms of being a rival or even a foe. would you describe china as an ally of the united states? >> i wouldn't go if a far. i would say that the u.s. and china have had a very complex relationship for decades now, where in sometimes it's been closer and other times, we've

been more competitors as those who stay friend and allies. i think that the u.s. tension right now with china is based on the fact that china's power is rising. their influence in economic and political terms around the world is rising and this is causing very strong discomfort amongst many policy makers in washington, because they worry that china will not go along with everything the u.s. would like to do in terms of policies around the world, and so this is where there's tension, and china basically under president xi jingping is trying to say don't bully us around, don't tell us what to do, respect us, and this is not something that united states is used to doing, because the u.s. has been the

indisputable super power of the world for decades now and is not used to sharing the world stage with another power, and therefore, the dynamics of working this relationship out is paramount for world peace. >> easies to when you're not governing a country that you would just pooh pooh china, but trade between these two countries was at $592 billion, trade between these two countries. when you talk about a common interest here, this theme of climate change comes up again and again. i want to see picture coming out of the united nations because pope francis has been talking about climate change for days now during his trip to the united states. in cuba, you mentioned climate change. this is a live look at united nation general assembly. you can see that representatives from 193 member states are beginning to gather. pope francis will be speaking to

this group of assembled world leaders next hour, and we do expect him to address climate. that is an issue in which they cooperate, because they are the two largest emitters in the world. i want to go back to whether president xi jingping intends to enforce these ideas. my understanding is that china continues to be a coal-based economy. >> the chinese have made lots of progress in green technology. they are the number one producer of wind technology, more wind technology than all the other countries in the world combined. they've been a leader in solar technology. they have actually made a lot of strides trying to push their economy to become a cleaner and greener one, mostly because their own citizens are crying out for it. they know that they need to take care of the environment in order for them to be able to lead healthy lives there. >> actually, there has been -- let's listen to president obama

as he begins his remarks now. >> president xi, madam, members of the chinese delegation, on behalf of michelle and myself, welcome to the white house. on behalf of the american people, welcome to the united states. [ translation ] >> across more than two centuries, americans and chinese have traded together. chinese immigrants helped build our railroads in our great cities. the united states is enriched by millions of proud chinese americans, including those who join us here this morning. this visit reflects a history of friendship and cooperation between our two great peoples.

[ translation ] june this is also an opportunity for michelle and me to resip row create the hospitality shown to us in china. michelle and my daughters and mortgage were warmly welcomed as they traveled across the country as was i when i made a state visit to beijing. i'm told that news about michelle's trip got some 1 billion views on line. president xi, i believe that we are both accustomed to being

outshone by our dynamic spouses. [ translation ] >> as i said many times, the united states welcomes the rise of a chain in a that is stable, prosperous and peaceful, because that benefits us all. our work together to increase trade, boost the global economy,

fight climate change and prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon shows that when the united states and china work together, it makes our nations and the world more prosperous and more secure. [ translation ] >> even as our nations cooperate, i believe and i know you agree that we must address our differences candidly. the united states will always speak out on behalf of

fundamental truths. we believe in a nations are more successful and the world makes more progress when our companies complete on a level playing field, when disputes are resolved peacefully and when the universal human rights of all people are upheld. [ translation ]

>> during our multiple visits together, i believe that we have made significant progress in enhancing, understanding between our two nation and laying the foundation for continued cooperation. >> president shia, you're spoken of development and during my visit to beijing last year, you said that there were wide areas where our two nations need to and can cooperate with each other and i fully agree. [ translation ]

>> in fact, i believe that our two great nations, if we work together, have an unmatched ability to shape the course of the century ahead. president xi, madam, members of the chinese delegation, in that spirit, with the eyes and the hopes of the word upon us, welcome to the united states of america. [ translation ] [ applause ]

>> mrs. obama, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends. in the season of autumn, my wife and i are very pleased to come to the beautiful city of washington, d.c. [ translation ]

at the outset, i wish to thank you, mr. president for your gracious hospitality. i wish to convey to the american people the warm regards and best wishes of over 1.5 billion chinese people. [ translation ] >> china and the united states are both great nations. the chinese and american people are two great peoples. since we established diplomatic relations 36 years ago,

china-u.s. relations have forged ahead despite twists and turns and made historic advances. [ translation ] >> as our summit meeting in 2013, president obama and i made the strategic decision of building a new model of major country relations. more than two years have passed and we have made important progress in various areas of exchange and cooperation. this has been welcomed by people of our two countries and the world at large.

[ translation ] >> working together, china and the united states can make a greater impact than our individual efforts. to grow our relationship under the new conditions, we must adapt to the changing times and seize the positive momentum. i come to the beyond this time to promote that peace and advance cooperation. we would like to work with the

u.s. side to make great advances in our relationship and deliver more benefits to people of our two countries and the whole world. [ translation ] >> we must uphold the right direction of building a new mod tell of major country relations, make sure our relationship is defined by peace, respect and cooperation and see to it that it keeps moving forward on the sound track of steady growth.

[ translation ] >> we must enhance strategic trust and a mutual understanding, respect each other's interests and concerns, be broad-minded about our differences and disagreements and strengthen our people's confidence in china u.s. friendship and cooperation. [ translation ] >> we must pursue win-win cooperation in the model and broaden the scope of our collaboration and improve the well being of people of our two countries and the world through concrete actions and outcomes of cooperation.

[ translation ] >> we must enhance friendship and promote interactions between our people, encourage our two society to meet each other halfway, and cement the social foundation of china-u.s. relations. [ translation ] >> we must promote world peace and development, improve coordination on major international and regional issues, make concerted efforts to address global challenges, and the work with other nations to build a better world.

[ translation ] june 30 years ago, during my first visit to the united states, i was hosted by an

american family in iowa. my hosts were so warm, sincere and friendly. we had cordial conversations and had to say goodbye. today, those moments are still fresh in my memory. three years ago, i went back and had a reunion with my old friends there. they said to me friendship is a big business. from these old friends and many other american friends, i can feel firsthand the genuine friendship between the chinese and american people. we do share each other's feelings, and this gives me every confidence about the future of our relations.

[ translation ] >> mr. president and mrs. obama, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, success comes with dedicated effort. china-u.s. relations have reached a new starting point in the 21st century, for further growth of our relations, we have no choice but to sequin-win cooperation. let us work hand-in-hand with great resolve to write a new chapter in china-u.s. relations. [ applause ] >> we will get back to what president xi and president obama just said from the south lawn of the white house, with but we have breaking news from washington. al jazeera has confirmed that the speaker of the house of

representatives, republican john boehner will resign from congress and give up his house seat by the end of next month. that is according to several aids in his office. let's go live to mike viqueira with more. >> this is really a seismic shift, a big deal, no question about it. speaker of the house john boehner, i've just gotten an email from a boehner aid. speaker boehner believes the first job of any speaker to protect the institution as we saw yesterday with the holy father is the one thing that units and inspires us all. the speaker's lain was to serve only through the end of last year. the speaker believes putting members through prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable damage to the institution. he is proud of accomplishments and speaker ship. for the good of the republican conference and the institution, he will resign the speakership and his seat in congress effective october 30. that's the end.

this is something that while not totally unexpected, is something that really is going to shake washington to the foundation at the end of a tumultuous week. speaker boehner has been fight be a rear guard action from the freedom caucus, folks who initially came into the tea party and ever since into the republican party for some years now. yesterday afternoon, i was in the capitol, the speaker had asked many of the leaders of that caucus, many of the rebels of that caulk with us who were in fact planning a move against speaker boehner. he met with them behind closed doors for quite some time in hin at the time that the speaker was just going to say you know what, these guys are giving me such a difficult time, the house is basically ungovernable, i am going to pack it in. i realize my ambition, two

decade ambition of inviting the pope to speak before a joint session of congress. there were plans, rumors as the speaker's aide alluded to that he was going to resign at the end of last year after the midterm elections in congress. eric cantor losing his number two to a conservative tea party individual, changed that calculation. now that the pope is out of the way, another big deadline looms, another shut down looms at the end of this month. next thursday, i believe, the end of the fiscal year, september 30, a new fiscal year begins, a shutdown was looming. why? because conservative was in the house of representatives in particular were not going to vote to keep the government open if planned parenthood, this goes back to the most recent controversy that the conservatives are akari about,

the funding of planned parenthood. you recall the videos put out on the internet, causing pro life conservatives to go up in articles, planned parenthood serving some several hundred million dollars from the federal government in the budget in the annual appropriation, conservatives said they were not going to goual with that. the upshot was we could have had another government shutdown. there is very little way out. the speaker would have had to rely on democratic to say surpass the government funding that would incensed con everybody serve i was. they were planning a move to vacate the chair. now the question is who is going to lead republicans? who is going to be the speaker of the house, who i wanly is second in line to the president of the united states after the vice president. who is going to lead them? are they even governorrable. can the house be governed. if the republican party is

split, it's evident on the campaign trail, evident in congress for quite some time, things have come to a head today. >> what you are seeing on the left hand of your screen is the podium. we expect speaker boehner will be speaking there possibly in the next 15 minutes or so. i want to bring in a political analyst for a take on what is happening and the timing of it. basil, what do you make of this? is it a seismic shift in congress? >> well, i think it is, but as was said a minute ago, i think the writing was on the wall, so to speak. he was facing increasing pressure. when you have stories coming out to the democrats, you need the democrats to save your job, that's not very comforting for the speaker, i would imagine. conservatives have been nipping at his heels, the conversation about defunding planned

parenthood. these were untenable situations for him. it's at a time when the standard bearer of your party is donald trump, there clearly is a tremendous amount of anger and frustration among conservatives and in congress and certainly among the grassroots. there just doesn't seem to be room for moderation. i wouldn't necessarily call him a moderate, but i think his need to work with democrats to try to avoid a government shutdown and to get some things done before the presidential election to support your party, i think just wasn't going to sit well with some of his colleagues. >> basil, stand by. i am told we have multiple live events going on this morning. the state visit in washington of the president, but look at this. pope francis entering the hall of the u.n. general assembly right now, going down the aisle.

we're not seeing the hand shakes and hugs we saw yesterday as he entered the halls of congress, but there he is, and he is the first speaker of this general assembly, some 193 countries represented here. today, he is on the right of him is secretary general ban ki-moon. earlier this morning, he had a one-on-one meeting with mr. moon, and he will be giving remarks as the fourth pontiff to visit the u.n. general assembly. that is what we are seeing and now he is going to take a seat there. there is going to be some agree of protocol and ceremony before we hear him speak. we are watching this. we will bring that to you live. thank you for standing by.

>> in politics, it is less about moderation and more of pushing a very specific agenda. republicans and to some extent democraties, as well, approximate if you look at what's happening with bernie sanders, up ares are not enamored with an inside the beltway crafted politician. they want somebody that's going to shake it up. i don't think boehner has been that type of leader.

he is sort of pulled in a thousand different directions for his entire tenure as speaker. i think it's now coming to a head, because you're going into a 2016 presidential election. it's very important not just for the president of the united states, but also for all of the seats governs, statehouses. they are going to need someone who legislatively leads their party into this election. i don't think they ever truly trusted boehner to do that. >> back into my conversation, mike viqueira, do you agree with what basil is saying that the writing was on the wall, that speaker boehner saw he couldn't get in line enough of members of his own party to accomplish what he wanted to accomplish in his remaining time in office? >> well, that's certainly the case. this has been a headache for

speaker boehner and his aides have been privately complaining about this for months if not the term of john boehner says speakership. i mean, here you have these individuals he who have been rolled, a washington term we use to mean they've been sort of ignored and overruled several times in these government shutdown controversies, funding controversies, votes to lift the debt ceiling, you recall that, we've had several votes. basically we go through this pros in washington every six months, every year where the leadership understands they don't have enough votes to do what the conservatives want to do. they had a number of show of votes. it failed, in order to demonstrate that their votes are not there. this time, they don't care, they don't see that. they told everyone for years if we only got the senate, when

democrats control the senate and republicans controlled the house, things would change. now republicans control the senate and nothing has changed. now you see donald trump and others on the campaign trial walking for the ouster of mitch mcconnell and john boehner and everybody in the so-called establishment in washington, what they consider to be the go along leadership with president obama. they see donald trump leading the polls and say what are you doing? this is obviously what the population wants and our base wants certainly, so why can't you make these things happen? why can't we do something as fundamental at defunding planned parenthood in the wake of the hidden videos of planned parenthood around the issue of abortion. finally, it's come to the point where john boehner said enough of this, this is a no-win situation and i can't do it and he is stepping down after perhaps the highlight of his career, coming to the house of representatives just before the

newt gingrich revolution. had been in congress for quite some time, ascended the speakership, fought the wars and now is saying the heck with it, i'm going home to my wife and two daughters, he just had a new granddaughter born, as well. i think john boehner has simply had enough. >> i do wonder -- by the way, what you're seeing here is outside the capitol building, microphones set up because we expect speaker boehner is going to make remarks. he is having meetings inside the capitol right now and we expect he will explain what led him to this decision. basil, mike alludes to the personal situation that speaker boehner has a new grandchild. you have to wonder about the timing of this, as well, less than 24 hours after john boehner sort of lived out a lifelong dream, he had invited successive

popes to come to address congress, and yesterday, that dream came true for him. it was clearly emotional. he is a lifelong practicing catholic. he shook hands with pope francis, but more than that, he sat right next to him, behind him on that stage during that historic moment, the first pontiff to address the u.s. congress. do you expect this was a personal spiritual experience for speaker boehner? >> all my friends on facebook have said exactly that. you can't really discount that. i think there's something to the pope speaking to congress, but i will take it a step further. i think a lot of the issue that the pope has raised in his tenure and certainly on the floor of congress and we'll see it i imagine echoed at the u.n. today, these are issues that he

is moving, not specifically republican, but moving the country toward, but the message that republicans should be listening to a little bit more, because a lot of the arguments that they are going to make on climate change, on immigration, you can argue that there's sort of a conservative, bend to it. when you have the pope come and speak in your chamber on these issues, you can't sort of hide under the conservatism that he sometimes have hidden behind. you have the pope actually pushing conservatives to change their agenda. i don't see how you sort of argue against that or come back from that, especially if the head of your conference, boehner has been going out of his way to sort of invite these leaders, the pope to speak.

i would also argue that perhaps something that hasn't been mentioned is the impact of the iran deal, because for a deal such as this that was soundly sort of hated by republicans and was able to get some traction and well, there were others in the grass root communities throughout the country that were sort of with republicans on pushing back against the deal, that they weren't even really able to do that. i think that was a very telling sign, and i would like to see as we look back. >> speaking of that, basil, the iran deal is something that may come up, we are told, when pope francis takes the podium at the u.n. general assembly moments from now. i just want to update our viewers on what they are seeing now, secretary general ban ki-moon of the united nations with his welcoming remarks from his seat there, as people gather

and await pope francis' first words to the united nations general assembly. we are waiting for that to happen in the next few moments. we will continue with this breaking story that speaker john boehner will be resigning from congress on october 30 and on the left of your screen, you're seeing the podium there for when that happens. let's go back to mike viqueira, our chief washington correspondent. who is next in line to speaker boehner? >> you know, stephanie, when we call this a seismic event, it's not necessarily because of john boehner, his personality or who he is, whether you love or hate john boehner, the fact that he is the top most senior official in congress, it represents the split, the very serious split now, the hemorrhage within the republican party enough between these rebels, the people leading

this coup within the house of representatives and everything that they represent in terms of conservatism in this country and expectations of their politicians in washington and the establishment, those from perhaps a by gone era, at least that's how the conservatives see it who make the best deal they can, but will make a deem with democrats and president obama. the leadership has been able to do that for a few years now, but evidently now, it's become a bridge too far. who is going to be the next speaker of the house and is the house even gonable at this paint? that's an open question. whoever is going to be the speaker of the house may need democrats on key votes to put major legislation or even very basic things like funding the government over the top. that's a problem, because if you are the leader, if you're the speaker of the house, you are put there by the majority party, the majority rules, and if you

are relying on the minority to do it, then you are inherently weak, at the whim of the minority. >> mic, i'm going to have to cut you off, because pope francis is about to address this word body for the first time. [ speaking in spanish ] >> the united nation has invited the pope to address this cities tinge wished assembly of nations in my own name and that of the

entire catholic community, i wish to express to you, mr. ban ki-moon my heartfelt gratitude and i'd like to thank you for your kind words. i greet the heads of state and heads of government present, as well as the ambassadors, diplomats and political and technical officials accompanying them, the personnel of the united nations engaged in this, the 70th session of the general assembly. the personnel of the various programs and agencies of the united nations family, and all those who in one way or another take part in this meeting.

through you, i also greet the citizens of all the nations represented in this hall. i thank you, each and all of you, for your efforts in the service of mankind. this is the fifth time that a pope has visited the united nations. i follow in the footsteps of my predecessors, both in 1965, pope john paul ii and in 1995 and my most recent predecessor, benedict the xvi in 2008. all of them expressed the great esteem for the organization, which they considered the

appropriate political response to this present moment of history, marked by a technical ability to overcome distances and fran tears, and apparently to overcome all natural limits to the exercise of power. an essential response inasmuch as technological power in the hands of nationalistic, or falsely universalist ideologies is capable of perpetuating tremendous acrosties. i can only reiterate the appreciation in reaffirming the importance which the catholic church