washington before moving on to new york and philadelphia. all of it coming off of a successful four-day trip to cuba. and as part of our live special coverage, we'll bring you his arrival just outside washington completed by the president and first lady. it is all taking place where we used to call it andrews air force base. these days known as joint base andrews. senior white house correspondent chris j ansing there live for us. good afternoon. >> reporter: good afternoon. this is a feeling of a momentous occasion. when a pope visits the united stateses is rare and a big deal. he is a first pope born in the americas, first time he's been to the united states and he'll be the first pope to address a joint session of congress. in addition to that, president obama feels as though he has a close relationship that was forged on his own visit last year to the vatican. private meeting that lasted longer than many people

expected. when he told pope francis he is an admirer and the reason he is coming here along with the first lady, vice president biden, jill biden, dr. jill biden, to greet this pope. to show him the respect that he feels for him. something that is rare. he rarely comes here for any other reason you know, brian, to get on air force one or get off on the way to or from from some trip. there are others who will be here, as well. terry mcauliffe, the virginia governor, larry hogan, the maryland governor and a poignant visit having been diagnosed with cancer and d.c. mayor bowser all three of them by the way graduates of catholic high school. of course, catholic dignitaries will be here. cardinals and bishops. maybe you can hear a band started playing. that is high school band from a maryland catholic high school. as well, that's been some

practicing of military honor guard and all in all for such a big occasion, a pretty small welcome not a lot of pomp and circumstance. this is the pope who everyone remembers after he was elected pope decided to get on the bus with the rest of the cardinals and gained worldwide popularity with the humility and simple life style and comparatively it will be a simple welcome before a couple of jam-packed days here in d.c.. brian? >> chris, this point you made, we are used to seeing heads of state and vips and the traditional welcoming ceremony at the white house which we will still see tomorrow and that is show of respect. most of them come and go through joint base andrews. that's kind of a proforma part of the trip. this is a show of respect by the president a ten first lady. >> reporter: and it is also something that was a decision that was made by the president and something that i can tell you there are other members of his administration are very

happy about. not just joe biden who, of course, very recently spoke about movingly with his relationship of the catholic church and got him through the loss of his son beau and another one of the closest advisers, mcd you unna chief of staff, also someone who's a devout catholic and i think it's going to set the stage for what a lot of people think could be very consequential conversations. this pope coming from cuba and he really was an intermediary between president obama and raul castro to move forward and set the stage for the normalization of relations and so there's a whole host of issues, particularly social justice issues, climate change, immigration where the president believes that he and pope francis have many of the same beliefs and so it will be the start of what he hopes will be a

more general message out there about some of the things he wants to accomplish as he continues in the last year and a half of his presidency. >> all right. chris, we'll be going back to you upon arrival there at andrews. thank you very much. across the area in northeast washington, d.c., on the grounds of catholic university, the basilica there is maria shriver, our own special anchor. maria, the overall question to you, what are you thinking about this visit? how does it affect you? >> well, it's very exciting to me as a catholic, as someone who was educated by the nuns and the jesuits. this is the first jesuit pope, pope francis. so it's exciting to me. on a personal level. but i think it's really if you step back, it is exciting for the 70 million catholics, exciting for those who say they're no longer catholics, people of different faiths because this man i think as

chris talked about a lot of issues not to just this president but to millions of people throughout the country. he'll talk about as you mentioned with immigration and talking to us all about not judging people of different faiths, of different sexual preferences, of different genders. and i was reading his homily, brian, in cuba and he talked about god urging us all to get out of the house sort to speak, to serve, to be of service. he said god never leaves us tranquil. that he always kind of gets us thinking and gets us moving and that we are all capable of serving, reaching out to fellow human beings suffering, with come position and kindness. that's the big picture. so much is made about the political thing that is he might be talking about when he speaks to the joint session, speaking to the u.n. but i know there are millions of people locking to him in a thoughtful way to try to think

about how to lead better lives themselves. he had said in an interview he wants to be remembered as a good man to tried to do good things. so many of the people i've spoken to trying to listen to him in that vein. >> i suppose it's likely to find out what he makes of this place, the first visit to the united states, and what he makes of us, what he makes of americans. >> well, he's said that he's coming here and the thing most excited about is to meet the people. he hopes the people here pray for him and this is the site where we are tomorrow, actually will be the first cannonization on american soil. i think he will meet, you know, americans all different kinds of americans. we are a complex bunch of american catholic who is think a lot of different things but i think of all the catholics i have spoken to, even those as i said no longer going to mass all the time, they're enamored with this pope, interested in him. they think he's very thoughtful.

and they have really made -- he's made them think differently about their faith and their lives abe about the church, most importantly. >> maria, going back to you, too. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> the first latin american pope bringing great meaning to the latino community. jose diaz-balart at the basil a basilica, also, in washington. curious of your thoughts of this arrival today. >> good afternoon. almost 40% of the catholics in the united states are latino. and they're certainly looking forward to this visit. from the pope. his first trip to the united states of america. and it will have undertones of signals towards a latino community and when his insistence on immigration, you know, talking about immigration, the crisis and immigration that europe has been seeing from syria and other countries, he asked the churches to bring in some of those people if they could. he is going to be speaking about

that and there are so much symbolism, brian, in what the pope is doing, not only as maria was saying, cannonizing sera right here in washington, d.c., a missionary to california. but also, for example, brian, when he gives mass, in madison square garden, sitting on a chair built by those people hourly workers, latinos, over and over again, the pope will be speaking in spanish. of the 18 times going to be speaking, brian, only 4 if english. the rest in spanish. it is the language he was born in and that he was raised in. he doesn't speak english very well and making a big effort to speak english those four times. once in the white house, once on capitol hill. and then once in philadelphia and at the united nations. but clearly, the latino population here sees in the pope a new voice that maybe could help bring the issues of concern to many latinos in this country to the forefront in a respectful

and dignified manner. something we haven't been seeing a lot of recently here. >> jose, with us from the grounds of the national shrine at catholic university northeast washington, going bab to you, thanks. now let's bring in some folks in the studio going to be talking with us and watching with us as this visit gets under way. you all know chuck todd, moderator of "meet the press" and political director. you may not know associate professor kathleen spruce of notre dame. welcome to you as she is writing and thinking about such things all of the time. and father tim kaseki with us, washington but owe. president of the jesuit conference of canada and the united states. celebrated mass with pope francis in april of 2014. welcome to you all. chuck todd, we try not to make everything political.

>> right. >> what is the political angle in your shop of this visit by the leader of the catholics worldwide? >> speaking to congress, this's a political event and having a political statement and it is not we're going to -- we try so hard in this country sometimes to put him in left or right position. i can tell you this. when's fascinating is to watch the politicians react and to the pope's visits. democrats have never been more excited about the pope coming. usually nervous because they're like, oh, making him uncomfortable on the abortion issue. this time they think he'll lead on things like the environment or income inequality and an excitement of democrats about this visit that i have not seen in previous papal visits. republicans, just the opposite. they're nervous. will he put them a box on climate change, feel uncomfortable economic issues?

they're nervous is he not -- going to de-emphasize social issues including same-sex marriage or abortion. i think what will happen and people who know this pope better than i do is he's going to make everyone uncomfortable and part part of the job to make the politicians uncomfortable a little bit with their own views and he is going to challenge them. >> so far, we have one member of congress, republican of arizona sitting out because he disagrees with what the pope said on climate change? >> that is right. i have been stunned. look. george will, okay, sort of -- i mean, the conservative columnist, not somebody he really basically decided to treat pope francis as an elected official and went after when anymore that way. and you're hearing some commentary. i think for the most part, though, conservative catholics and not happy about what climate change for the most part seen them rick santorum or others go out of their way to not

criticize the pope. i think that is -- that's walking a line that could find you trouble politically. >> let's get the view from notre dame. professor, what is the state of the catholic church in your view at the time of this visit and how much has it changed just during this papacy? >> i think that it's changed a great deal or at least it's perceived as having changed a great deal. pope francis did not change church teaching, doctrine and not about to. he's focused on the issues that matter to him. preparing people to be future citizens of heaven. that said, he realizes that we're all citizens of different nations and coming to this nation he's aware of the issues but he's going to be speaking to issues that are less likely to divide catholics and more likely to unite them. while i think there's some descent, overwhelmingly the view is positive toward him. the fact that many people feel

close to him, closer to him than perhaps their local church leaders, the fact he's here on american soil means a great deal and, yes, symbolically, beyond that, he's addressing the joint session of congress. the first cannonization on american soild and all sorts of ways going to be focused on the thing that is matter to him, aechb hopefully a healing and unifying visit for the u.s. catholics. >> will he bring people back to the fold? will he bring the lapsed back in to parish roles? >> those -- those things are difficult to measure. we are starting to see some data from the last two and a half years that show that people are more engaged with u.s. catholicism than they have been. its hard to measure in terms of baptisms or people returning to the church but i think it is true that people are taking another look. he's causing people to rethink

things. focusing on the things that the church says yes to, and by foregrounding things like joy and mercy, he is changing the tone and so while he's not a radical departure, he is creating a different attitude toward the chrchurch and what w please him the most is leading to an uptick and not like things to measure like attendance or baptisms but are people praying more, are people serving more? are people thinking about how they might respond to the call of the gospel in their lives? >> father, there was a time a few months back where if you get your news at a glns on a device you swear every few days the pope making news, was making history, was making new policy. tearing away years of tradition. that's an overstatement, obviously. but tell us your view of the change thus far under pope

francis. >> well, we know that he's a jesuit pope and already been said and this is a first pope to come from a religious order since pope gregory the 16th in the mid 19th century. people look to' what's distinctive about him. we know that he opened with an interview and said i'm a sinner and called to be a companion of jesus and captured people's hearts, came out of the spiritual xexercises. he said he want it is church to go to the peripheries and looked beyond the central governance of the church and comes from a missionary ord we are a focus to growing the church, not in the traditional base but to the new places where the gospel needs to be heard. he loves to speak in symbol. and, you know, he has frozen the name francis. francis said preach and when necessary use words. he loves to use the symbols and loves to show really the face of

christ to others. and i think it's in those actions that he makes so much news. as a jesuit, he would have lived in community and made a very wise choice in the estimation if for him to live in the community and many people say that he didn't want to live in the palace but what he did want. he wanted to live in community. he loves a church of encounter and dialogue and i think it's -- a lot of it is perhaps his jesuit formation that has led him to see and view the people of god, the church, and the world in a unique way. and that's capturing headlines. >> also has quite the constitution as we'll say. so many times in the coming days, this is we must remember a 78-year-old man with one lung who is about to cover a lot of miles, meet a lot of people. we are told the motorcade left

the white house bringing the president and first lady out to andrews so while we watch that, and counting down to the arrival of the jet bearing pope francis, we'll take a break in our coverage. when we return, the thing it is a made it seem like the pope francis is throwing out the playbook as we have been discussing and redefining a papacy perhaps for himself. this kid makes stains like crazy so we got our new he washing machine but it took forever turns out it wasn't the machine, it was our detergent.

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we are back from msnbc headquarters. i'm brian williams. we want to show you the scene at joint base andrews just outside of washington. two sizable risers of people, president and mrs. obama, will

continue a tradition in the jet age that was started by president bush greeting pope benedict. president and first lady will come out and be the first line of greeting that the holy father will see before making his way to what is in effect the vatican's embassy in washington. air force is coming up from cuba after a successful visit there which core spents report that the highlight of seeing raul castro at the side of the pope and smiling and clearly getting a lot of the visit throughout. of course, this pope has seemed to have brought the most out of those who have interactions with him. nbc's kate snow is joined our gang and here with us in the studio with more on his personal style that is so people sen trick. >> it is. you know, they call him the people's pope for a reason, brian. it is a couple of years now an if you think back, the thing that is have gotten a lot of attention are these moments

unscripted. right? not what he's supposed to be doing and gets out of the pope-mobile, walks into the crowd. you know? just a little while ago, there was a moment receiving a pizza in the pope-mobile. he mentioned in rome that, oh, i wish i could go out for a pizza. >> there it is. free delivery. >> the guy shows up an says here you go. he is okay with that. he'll constantly collect gifts and from the people and put them inside what is now jeep wrangler with him and then distribltd them back out to security. that is security nightmare you might imagine to get out of the car and walk into the crowd. but the other thing to point out is -- i know, kathleen, you can probably talk about this. he seems to have an affinity of people with disabilities. people who are suffering. you know? there are moment that is we have seen he let a boy with downs syndrome ride with him in the

pope-mobile at a moment and a little boy with cerebral palsy and let a boy come up on stage and the security was all trying to get him off the stage and or the altar and he let him stay. so he really seems to have this ability to connect with people. >> and he is so tender, especially with the children. i'm watching as you were talking. we remember that most security details would freak out and a small child coming up to him. but he clearly sets the tone and he's comfortable around all. >> yeah. he seems to want to be inclusive. i was actually just in rome this summer on a family vacation. i'm not catholic. we went to sunday morning to see him at the window and i have to say it transcends religion. people will be trying to get close to him going into the next few days, brian. there was just a note that a group of kids coming from colorado flying all the way to

washington to be there tomorrow and there will be touch points all along the way. mabel not physical touch but there will be places people can get a pretty up close view of the pope. >> well, you touched on security, the problem with all this, justice correspondent pete williams who covers security and covering security during this visit is with us. stephanie gosk also with us. she is covering the advanced security here in new york, stop two on the trip. and, pete, let's start with you. there was a story in this morning's "the new york times" about quoting the director of the secret service saying people routinely throw things at this pope. joyously, trinkets, gifts, memorabilia and the secret service director was saying, in effect, we can't have that. >> good luck. >> and the pope has said about his own security, it's in god's hands. so, who's hands really is it while he is in our country?

>> well, the big problem is one you have touched on. no one gets to say no to the pope. that is one of the big challenges here. this is going to be the largest security operation in american history without question. and it's different in ways big and small. let me tell you one that might hit home with you since you spent time in washington and showing you something here on camera for a moment. that is selfie stick and people have them and guess what. you will not have them anywhere where the pope is in washington or the other cities because of the potential it could be used as a weapon and the secret service doesn't want the see that sort of thing. i have never seen before a limitation in place this time of parking restricted around petco, local electric utility, around substations. in many ways, it is sort of like a number of inaugurations all put together, security around the white house when the pope is

there. people along the parade route here in washington screened. security at the basilica, catholic university. security around the residence here where he is staying here and repeated in new york with its own challenges that stephanie will talk about and perhaps the biggest challenge of all will be in philadelphia because you will have almost as many people coming to see the pope as live in the very small area in philadelphia where the papal eventless taking place. it is a massive security challenge, many different places and most unpredictable of all, the man at the center of it all. >> all leave canceled and talking to pete williams along the way. it brings us to new york. stephanie gosk has the unique challenge of covering the streets of new york. stephanie flanked by the two cement blocks with nypd stencilled on them. we have seen them in new york city in the past an now ubiquitous, already this week. and, stephanie, we have an

unusual circumstance. u.p.s. alerting customers they may not get their packages this week, including the new iphones to ship this week. people are all about what it's in it for me an affect me? this is going to affect a big part of the nation's biggest city. >> reporter: yeah. it is absolutely right, brian. a headache more people in the city and not involved themselves. these block aids are part of tons of cement already prepositioned in the city. it is tuesday. the pope doesn't show up until thursday at 5:00 at night. that gives you an idea of the preparation and i was speaking with the police commissioner bratton this week and he has seen a lot of events in his day and he say this is one is by far the most challenging and part of it is because it is a compound challenge for the nypd. they have the pope, of course, they also have the u.n. general

assembly. and there are 170 world leaders, historic number of world leaders for that event. this is what the deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism had to say earlier today. >> the way this event has been organized through careful planning, the archdiocese, the vatican, the secret service, the nypd involves being able to screen the largest crowds into places where they have been screened for weapons, where you've got a sterile environment. what you look at on the threat picture, we went this all weekend. threats came in, we investigated them, lead teams with secret service and fbi. big joint effort. all of those washed out. is, you know, you are looking for the attack on principle which we have got layers and layers and layers of protection against and i think that we couldn't have better coverage there. >> reporter: one of the things the commissioner touches on

there is the negotiation with vatican security and something that pete can talk to, as well. he told me earlier this week it's compromise after compromise after compromise. brian? >> just imagine, coinciding with the visit of a pope, the united nations general assembly. it's going to be the week that was here in new york. stephanie gosk, pete williams before that, thanks. we are going to keep an eye on joint base andrews. there you have it outside washington, d.c. the motorcade is bringing the president and first lady out there and told the aircraft bringing the pope to washington has entered the air space of richmond, virginia. so not far as the plane flies. special coverage continues right after this. it's security - and flexibility. it's where great ideas and vital data are stored. with centurylink you get advanced technology solutions from a trusted it partner. including cloud and hosting services -

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joint base andrews, two sets of air chairs, one for the front of the aircraft, one for aft. and quite soon, an airbus 330 with al italia markings taxiing to a stop and pope francis greeted by among others, president of the united states and the first lady. there is already underway a great amount of excitement where the pope in washington, d.c. will be spending the night tonight. the equivalent of the vatican's embassy in washington. and our man at that location is nbc's tom costello, hey, tom. >> reporter: hi, brian. it is the building with the yellow flag. he's in good company here on embassy row here in washington, d.c. one side, the finnish embassy. on the other side, norwegian embassy. they have closed down the major artery here, massachusetts avenue, to essentially all traffic.

that's going to really create a bit of a mess in the evening rush. but let me show you we have got probably i'm guessing 60 people or so who have gathered here. we have had some music a little while ago. lots of kids from the catholic schools who have gotten out and starting to sing and clap and artwork and also with me, a lady who's from bolivia and lives in virginia. why are you here, outside of where the pope is going to be in a few hours. your're not even sure if you're gong to see him. >> i hope i can see him. i'm very excited. i'm hoping that i'm going to see him. i know his presence means a lot for him. it's a dream for me. i hope dream comes true and very happy. >> reporter: most of the people in the crowd are spanish speaking. what does he represent to the spanish speaking community here in the states and latin america? >> he is a great leader. he is a great leader for our church. he is a great leader for poor

people. he means a lot for us. we are very proud he was chosen pope who speaks spanish and he's, you know, he is from argentina. i'm very happy i'm here and hoping to see him. >> reporter: she and her friend fighting cancer plan to stand out here if they need to they'll be here until midnight and come back in the morning and hoping for a papal blessing, brian. hoping that some of that love that he exhibits will hopefully bring them something special. but these are the people who have gathered and we have as you can see a lot of homemade signs with folks, kids who have made this in school or made it at home. and all of it is to greet pope francis when he arrives. one last point. brian, go back here. my photographer. right behind the gate there, behind the cast iron fence, the vice president's residence. as you know, he is in good company here. the vice president on one side. he's got the finnish embassy,

the norwegian embassy and a quiet night here shutting down the strooetds. back to you. >> should he need anything, just stroll next door for any of his needs. tom, thanks. >> reporter: cookies, milk, that's right. >> i'm convinced the story of this visit is the story of all of the people who are getting into place, some of them traveling many, many miles. to catch a glimpse, to be in the presence, some of them will be miles away from the holy father, the pope of the catholic church. chuck todd, you made a point in the break based on a point you made on "meet the press." >> david maridis said. >> about this visit arriving during let's call it a downturn in the quality, tone and tenor of the debate on the campaign trail. >> right. if you were to come up with the

polar opposite of donald trump, you would come up with pope francis. just many levels. whether it's on capitalism or just the way he speaks about himself versus others. and it is providing -- it's almost like a palate cleanser for the country in this very much personal, sometimes malicious, debate where it is a negative -- it's been a negative messaging. doesn't matter your political views, this week i think no matter feels uplifting, a catholic or not. holidays for people of my faith. it's an uplifting time. it is a palate cleanser. david's convinced that it's going to -- it could end up having a larger impact on the debate and the people look at the visit of the pope and say to themselves, should i rethink the message trying to send by being for trmp? that it could have an impact that we don't quite know yet.

we'll see. i definitely believe it is going to provide a tone contrast that i think the campaign desperately needs right now. >> i wish i could think it's a lasting effect long after the visit is over. back to andrews for a moment. chris, you can see elements of the white house motorcade from where you are? >> reporter: we can see the travel pool. as you know, the folks that cover the president and walking by, getting into position. the last of the buses that were carrying people who are going into the stands. i can tell you, brian, the's only 1,000 tickets here and a 1,000 people in 2 sets of bleachers. singing, chanting. a little bit of band music playing. talk about the hottest ticket in town. it's been a nightmare if you're a parish priest, if you're someone who works at the white house, if you're someone who has any relationship at all to either the catholic church or the venues. where the pope is going to be. but this is one of the smallest

events that shall we say regular folks can come to and say zoo the last of them arrived. the motorcade we understand has just arrived on the other side of joint base andrews and the chanting has started. i can't even imagine what it's going to sound like when the plane that touches down and the excitement is building. they have been chanting louder. they actually have some people who are kind of like cheerleaders standing out front keeping folks excited as if they needed any help, brian. >> not unlike a notre dame home football game. >> not at all. >> chris, thank you. our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell listening in to all of this and also joining us. andrea, i don't want it to get lost in all of this, what the pope accomplished earlier today with his visit to cuba and perhaps we could all use a little review because people just come and go so quickly around here. >> well, it was extraordinary

because he not only had that amazing trip to cuba, but he was the single most important player in the white house's secret negotiations to normalize relations with cuba, to get alan gross released. you know the story so well. you were down there. and saw the fruits of that. what we saw when he was leaving cuba today was raul castro as we have never seen him. the cuban president, the former defense minister, used to run the economy and now the whole thing, and he was just bouncing down the tarmac on that red carpet. and at one point the pope actually took raul's hand and put it on his heart. they were just together in that departure ceremony as no cubans ever seen it before and to them the significance of this as we talked to our correspondents there and the long-time bureau chief is that there is an opening, you know, barely 20 years ago when pope john paul ii in cuba, the priests had to go

underground to feed people with the soup kitchens and now much more accepted. there were some dissidents kept back. a woman we know very well and others, the ladies in white could not get close to the pope. but, brian, this really is an extraordinary transformation for the church in cuba which has had an ambiguous history under communist rule and it was completely personified by raul castro when's going to be speaking at the united nations for the first time on monday, the pope, of course, on friday. we'll all there be for that. >> you mentioned your friend and mine, mary murray, long-time havana bureau chief said no cuban certainly say nothing of the wider world seen raul castro act this way in public. >> exactly. i mean, he was smiling. he was grinning. they were embrace rag. on the arrival ceremony and even more so on theto all of the mas public appearances by the pope. so he was if you will in a

political context blessing the pope and the church. and there can be enormous benefits to catholics and to others, non-catholics in cuba from all of this in terms of plit kathie lee and the human rights message from this pope. >> andrea mitchell in the washington but owe, thank you. >> you bet. >> kate snow, all comes under the umbrella of what the pope does to people and energized people wherever he goes. >> he moves people, that's what they say. i talked to a family whose son was embraced by him, he has cerebral palsy and for days afterward had a glow about him. somebody pointed out i think the guest talking to tom costello, a woman waiting at the residence said that he's a pope who -- i think her words were he loves the poor. he reaches out, you know, very

strategically i think to people of lesser means. on his birthday last december instead of receiving gifts, he got some chicken and they gave out chicken to all the folks in st. peters square. you know, he just -- this sumner bolivia and went to a prison to greet prisoners. he made a conscious effort. >> he has a remarkable ability to connect with people. i think the attitude toward that, his insistence of connecting with people, a metaphor of seeing the church, not concerned about his own safety. he wants to be with the people and wants the church to do. not concentrate on protecting itself or building a fortress and to meet people where they are. and he demonstrate that is in every public encounter. >> can i just say watching him as -- i watch politicians. this is remarkable. you would just -- any politician to just copy him would be successful. it's authentic. talking to real people. it's shedding the exterior of

security sometimes. it is realizing what your real job is and who put you there. it is just -- i mean, just sit there. watch him. just impressed with him as a pure politician and he's not that. and simply being who he is. >> the other parallel is some presidents who are tactile people persons and some who are not. >> right. and it happens. >> you never know what the era will bring. that complete it is comparison. >> feels like the 21st century. >> may be the contrast with the prior pope that helps him, as well. benedict was much more reserved. >> a scholar, a professor and professors aren't always the most pastor also i think pope francis is the pastoral lead we are the gifts that we have needed and we have waited for. >> speaking of gifts, we are going to squeeze one more break in here as we watch the skies immediately around joint base andrews for the arrival of the

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(google voice) here are your directions. michael: i'm gonna throw my own party. the things you love on your phone, available on 11 volkswagen models. we are back where all eyes are on the vast tarmac at joint base andrews in suburban washington, d.c. this is the aircraft we have been waiting for. al italian airbus carrying pope francis. and i'm sure the part that thrills him, 72 members of the media in the coach seats in the back of the aircraft. president, first lady, all members of the official delegation are there. many members of the biden family. president and first lady have both their daughters and mrs. robinson, mrs. obama's mother.

a long, long lens as we see the aircraft on final approach and then there's even a longer taxi around as it comes to a rest in front of the risers for the people there to witness this. but when those tires touchdown, it will be the first visit ever in the united states for this pope. there you have it. the pope on american soil at 4:49 p.m. kate snow, it is going to be a wild and woolley kind of days. >> this is just the beginning, brian. this is washington, d.c. from here, going to the residence where he is staying at essentially the vatican's embassy to washington. no other public events planned

tonight although that crowd could draw him out. he is historically on the trips often been drawn by crowds chanting and saying we want the see you and he'll come to the window or come to the window or even come outside so that could happen. tomorrow, of course, he's at the white house, a formal ceremony in the rose garden with the president and first lady and a crowd of thousands who have been invited there. then a join session of congress on thursday addressing congress, which i believe is the first. >> and that's going to be -- that's what's going to drive my coverage for a little while. >> andhen it's to remind people it's new york city, it's mass at st. patrick's and madison square garden. >> on a friday night. >> and then saturday to philadelphia where they're expecting millions of people in downtown philadelphia, independence mall. >> so many people are taking in visitors, borders, so many people have rented out their homes. hotels have been sold out since the announcement of his travels.

is father tim is still with us. father, the unpredictability of this pope reminds us of when john paul ii hopped out of that motorcade routinely but very publicly. he wanted to get out, he wanted to get out from the band of security. yes, brian. this is a pope who loves to get out with the people. his security have tried to -- they've actually commented that what's kept him from really going out was that he was endangering the lives of his security people. but if he had his way, he would walk out into st. peter's square and just be with the people. i was at a mass in roam where he was processing out and he stopped to greet people and they swarmed around him. we were worried for his life and he was enjoying it. he simply loves to touch and be

in the contact of people. >> and you see lining up now the official delegation will come out to where the air stairs will be pulled up to the aircraft. we're just getting a readout of what was discussed by the news media on board the aircraft on route. we've had a lot of people ask about the plane. it is a standard alitalia airbus 330. it has not been retrofitted with anything special for this trip, though the pope and his personal aides occupy, for the purposes of this trip, the front first class section. there is a business class section and then there is a coach section. the pope will be flying american airlines, we're told, on subsequent wings of his trip while he is traveling within the united states. what we're waiting for is nbc's

ann thompson to make communications with us from on board the taxiing airplane and ann can report on what we think was a rather lengthy visit between the pope and the journalists on board on the return flight. they're going to taxi around -- this is kind of a well-used -- that's one ever to andrews air force base 737s that has been used as air force two in the past but there's a lot of aircraft out there, not all of them active. but they've put the papal and american flags out on the stanchions outside the windshield of the alitalia flight and i'm told we have communications with ann thompson as it taxis to a halt. ann, what can you tell us about contact with pope francis on route? >> well, i can tell you, brian, that pope francis came back and held a 26 minute press conference where he talked about

everything from his lack of desire to speak english to whether he is catholic enough to lead this church. in recent day there is have been criticism about the pope that he is an anti-capitalist leftist and he may not indeed be catholic enough to be pope and he answered those critics today during this press conference saying that everything he has said comes right out of the social doctrine of the church and he understands that some of what he has said may be considered leftist but that would be a misinterpretation of his words and then jokingly he said "if they want, i can recite the crede for them." and that is the statement of faith that catholics pray during sunday mass. he gave us a preview of what he's going to say to congress when he speaks to them on thursday. he said he's not going to bring up the u.s. embargo against

cuba. he said the vatican historically h has opposed any kind of embargo against any country. he said the embargo is part of the negotiations between the two countries and he hopes the two country cans reach an agreement that is good for both sides. he describes hiss meeting with fidel castro as informal. he said they spoke about jesuits that they know. pope francis is a jesuit and fidel castro was educated by jesuits and he said they talked about the pope's encyclical on the environment. he said fidel castro is very interested in ecology. he answered a question that some critics say he was soft on cuba in his criticisms of cuba during this trip. he said he did not think so. he described the trip to cuba as a pastoral visit and he used pastoral language and he said he did not hold any private meetings with cuban dissidents because he didn't have any

private audiences during the tripe to cuba. he said there were just too many reques requests. he even had a request with a head of state he turned down. he would not identify which head of state that was. he was very energetic, he was very engaged, brian, and he was asked if he wanted to practice his english and he said no, he said "english is not my forte. "this press conference was conducted in spanish and italian. brian? >> anne, what happens now? we're looking at pictures of the aircraft you're on and you're going to swing around and they will bring the stairs up to the aircraft. do the members of his staff and the media get off before him or will he just head out the front aircraft door? >> it tends to happen simultaneously. in fact, the still photographers are here in the aisles waiting

to get off the plane. they will come off the back, the pope will come off the front but we always give the still photographers and the tight pool, if you will, priority so they can get the pope's arrival. >> what is it like to be in the rear compartment with members of the news media when in the doorway, presumably with a microphone, he's used a small loudspeaker system to be heard on a moving aircraft appears pope francis? >> it's pretty hard to get a good shot of pope francis. i'm part of the press conference on my smart phone and i am in row 40 of this airbus 330 and so you can see the video and you can see a camera there and a cameraman's back so i had a little slot from which i could see pope francis but it's very exciting because in large part -- oh, i can look out the window and see the welcoming committee. in large part because he seems

to enjoy it. he wants to come back here and answer questions. he respects our work. i've now been on three papal planes with him and i am so impressed that he really does respect the job we have to do and he understands it and so he comes back to give us his impressions of what's happened and allow us to ask him questions. today we were told he would take three to five questions. he took seven. we were told he only wanted to talk about cuba. most questions involved cuba but in the anti-catholic question he went is beyond what happened in the last couple days so he's very willing to engage the press. >> anne, grab your personal belongings, be sure to check around the seat around you and if our travel services people are listening, can we please upgrade anne for the next leg of the flight so she's no longer in row 44? >> i think the only way that's going happen is if i get a roman

collar and they say that issue is closed. [ laughter ] >> i'm just trying to help. >> hey-ho! >> chuck, you were saying about injected politics into -- >> that's the other thing about this pope, though, this is not the first time that anne's participated in a press conference with the pope, with this pope. he does this quite -- apparently he does this -- >> one of the most famous things he has said in his papacy saying "who am toy judge" was on board an aircraft. >> yes, i remember where i was. >> this is more -- you've always thought of the pope as somebody who comes from on high and tells you what he thinks. >> or a far away window in st. peter's. >> and instead he's talking with the media. like i said, this guy -- >> he enjoys being with people. >> john paul ii was considered the first media savvy pope. >> and also a tactile pope, john paul ii when i think of him i think of this tactile leader of the catholic church as we've

discussed. pope benedict was in kind of a different role, different point in history, different personality all together. and now we have pope francis, i said it before, i'll say it more times, 78 years old. generally in good health. he has expressed some c consternation and frustration that his love of ice cream has not abated during his papacy and there must be more of it around but he is -- he's said to as an aside that he is aware he's putting on some pounds in this job. he had his right lung removed as a young man but he -- i'll tell you, at high altitudes, at sea level, on what would be a gruelling schedule for anyone as they quite literally roll out the carpet to welcome the leader of the catholic church across the globe, he