nunciature to relax for the evening. alison: a beautiful sight there here in d.c. to it is interesting watch, greta, the pomp and circumstance here. we have all of the officials, the church officials there. but we also have kids who are very excited and a high school band. greta: there has been so much involvement on so many different levels, alison. thing calledn a "walk with francis" which is online and people have been pledges to walk with francis, whether it's in prayer or service. service.on just getting out in the community. whether again you are catholic appeal is broader than just being catholic. so, very important. ages old and young. leon: that crowd you just described there pretty much him.ibes i don't believe there is a single person who would not feel comfortable being in this presence, trying to connect with this pope. to be in a place like this, of course there will be children. of course there is going to be people from every station in

life. greta: yeah. we have seen pictures of him reaching out and gathering children and babies. that buthey all do there is something special about this guy because he walks the walk. he lives humbly. is all about service. he is all about the poor and the marginalized. think that resonates with everybody. leon: the red carpet being rolled out there at the bottom leading fromase the charter flight. any moment now we will see the door open up. we are seeing the honor guard now marching into place. approachings now the bottom of the staircase. suzanne kennedy is still there tarmac there as the joint base andrews. still waiting for us to see the president and the vice make their arrival there, suzanne. suzanne: we have not seen them yet. we saw the media pool coming, the white house pool coming out of the area where the dignitaries were waiting. we have not seen the president

come out. have not seen any of the other dignitaries, the ofernor and the mayor washington, d.c. all we are seeing is the honor aligning itself along the red carpet with the other dignitaries that are here and the press. seeing some of the member of the press descend from the rear of the plane. are waiting the ascension of some of the dignitaries who board. going on the that is happening here. come on.pope will suzanne: this entire thing the course ofer 30 minutes here. that is all there will be of the dignitaries here and the president and the vice president. then he will head off from here. leon: now i believe suzanne representative from the apostolic nunciature, vatican is going on first.

may be him there. suzanne: yes, carlo maria vigano will go in the plane official welcome on board the plane. i do believe i can see the pope off to the left here from my vantage point. i think he is right in the doorway there. then he will come off the plane. am fairly certain that is him inside on the left if you see through the three or four people standing on the jetway.he alison: cardinal was telling recently he can't wait to say "welcome to america." leon: i asked him about the highlight for the three days into it. he said the number one thing he was looking forward to, the moment where he could look the pope in the eye and say, "welcome." alison: here is the first family. president obama, the first lady and their daughters coming to greet the pope.

moments hew will -- we imagine in a few moments he will be stepping off the plane. is a remarkable moment. we have never seen the president and the vice president together at andrews any dignitary, any head of state. in this case, they are bringing the families with them. i don'tsomething think anyone has ever seen. remarkable. very --tzky greta: this is remarkable. alison: oh, to be a fly on the wall and what they are saying in there. greta: that would be amazing. leon: it would be amazing if you could recall the conversation or the moment that the president or the pope had in march of 2014 together. they were only supposed to be moments but they spoke for almost an hour from what i understand. saidone who witnessed it there is a chemistry that happened with them. alison: even this past week in cuba and he met

with fidel castro. there is a picture where they look like they are praying together. comes. [cheering]

[cheering] alison: what a welcome to the united states. have ever seen something like that. the pope shaking hands with the president, the first lady, first daughters and then

as you said, the first lady's mother as well. leon: yes. the first mother-in-law. i'm sorry, i couldn't help but -- suzanne: leon and alison? leon: yes, go ahead. suzanne: one thing you will in a moment here, and this may be one of the moments that we are talking about. the about 100 yards from pope is, even that, there are whooup of school children have flowers for him. stand by for that. they have just been ushered on to the tarmac. there is one boy and three little girls and they have flowers for him and they will be presenting gifts to him. and one of the little girls, one in the red jumper came skipping out on the tarmac. enthusiasm. of but he is finally here. him withwill present flowers. leon: you can understand how she and everyone feels. much anticipation that is built up into this moment.

like christmas, you wait all year for this moment. this is a moment that many waited a lifetime for. worried about the weather a little bit but it cleared up. alison: witness to history. leon: you spoke of being a fly on the wall -- oh, let's see what happens here. the pope there chatting with the president. english.y in the catholic school uniforms. tell.: i can alison: the flowers. received them.

leon: very, very special those children's lives. their lives may never be the same from that moment on. greta: sometimes the kids aren't that nervous. it's the adults that are all dovous what do i say, how i address them? the kids are just kids. leon: speaking of kids, do you the walle a fly on with sasha and shaking his hand first? wonder when that went down? wonder when it will show up on twitter. alison: exactly. the: the president and pope there. thinking he must be feeding off the energy that you get when you walk into a like that. just a wall of energy that hits you that you walk into when you have that many people who have been waiting for so long to see you and cannot embrace you. greta: the head of state on a global scale. he is not just one country.

he is the entire planet for catholics. he has a huge responsibility. and his schedule is, i could never keep up with it. leon: well, it's safe to say 1.2 a good portion of the billion sets of catholic eyes around the world are watching him moment as we see deplane and walk off the tarmac there at joint base andrews. the v.i.p.ow to facility where he is going to momentmore private with the president and i assume as well with the vice president and their families. he will be at the white house tomorrow. where another meeting will take place. lots and lots of people will be near the white house to watch and try to catch a francis.f pope greta: that will be a real challenge tomorrow for a lot down there.tting getting through security. getting in place. challenge traffic and the transportation challenge actually now begins now. the clock starts right now the motorcade that will be leaving here are

probably going to be some of biggest motorcades we've ever seen considering who we have here. first ando have the second family as well. there will be a lot of traffic tie-up. daysll talk about it for now. as they leave joint base andrews and head to apostolic nunciature. then from there off to the white house. of people here in the area have been asked to telecommute the next couple of very,ecause it will be very difficult to get around. as he said, when you see all the different people here you understand why. alison: i think a lot of it is still fluid. want to know at what time are they shutting this down or this down or this or that block. security, we don't always know and they can't always tell you. just have to be a little flexible. well, let's go back down to where stephen tschida, to see if we can get back to him. is at the franciscan

monastery in northeast. i knowknow, stephen, there had to be quite a cheer touched down. stephen: that is an understatement, leon. the cheers, people were standing understood and applauding. we saw some actually tearful they were so joyous at this occasion. it out.ck let's see this. this is a packed crowd, here at them only franciscan monastery of the the americas. all the people here glued to the live stream over here of the pope's arrival. i want to show you what is going on here at the monastery. we have a standing room only here.in come out here and you can see even more people, more media. over there you can see some of actual friars from the monastery. some of the 16 friars. here, so much excitement. my colleagues greta kreuz said i heard her say even if you are not catholic you can't help but get swept this moment. this momentous occasion in the

nation's capital and so many to havere so thrilled the pope, the pontiff in their very neighborhood. back to you. stephen. just that, there is a huge moment tomorrow when a franciscan is going to be canonized. junipero serra will be basilica at the tomorrow by the pope. that will be a very special moment for the friars there at the monastery. alison: all right. go back to joint base andrews and suzanne kennedy who has been there all day long. just experienced firsthand as the plane landed. things up for us from there. suzanne: oh, my goodness, this to see the holy father come and make his first u.s. soil. obviously we have been talking about this for weeks, his ofival here in front thousands of people who love him here. at least a thousand people that is. at the pope came off of the flight here, you can look around the crowd and just

see people beaming. there was such a great deal of enthusiasm and joy in the faces of the young and the old here as they saw the pope come down and walk across that beautiful red carpet. obviously greated by the president and michelle -- greeted by the president and michelle obama and their two daughters, vice president, his two of their grandchildren. they are now off to my right that willand-greet last a few minutes and he will head off from here to apostolic nunciature where he will catch up on a little rest and get ready for a very big few days here in washington, d.c. back to you. leon: thank you. suzanne kennedy reporting live. at joint baset andrews at the historic visit. officially onow u.s. soil. greta: what stephen tschida talked about earlier at the franciscan monetary. is a jesuit but he has an affinity to the franciscans the degree he took the name of francis because of his

simplicity of his life and he had a love of nature. reflected in his papacy. alison: after the meet-and-greet at joint base andrews, pope francis will nunciature, his home away from home in washington. our jay korff is standing by us what is to come. jay? jay: alison, the mood here at the nunciature also referred to as the vatican embassy is alive. is electric. i am going to step back a little bit and richard is going to pan off. of where weense are. we are off of mass avenue here in northwest washington right across from the vice president's home. obviously northbound lane, that is where pope francis and will be mobile traveling up and pulling in here, into the driveway of the vatican embassy. the southbound lanes are actually open to traffic. this is the magic of this right here.

you see approximately 200 from catholicn schools from throughout the variousand some from parishes. they are here to meet and greet pope francis. when he comes. he comesevery time nunciature,m the the vatican embassy. it's our understanding. i was looking at the shirts. schoolsdren from the like st. peters, sacred heart, st. mary's, st. patrick's, st. joseph's. they are thrilled beyond words beknow that they will meeting the world leader, the their faith, a pope who has spoken so passionately about things that are lives,nt in their including service over ideals, including family, economic and justice, and how we treat each other fundamentally as human beings. it's our understanding that they will have an opportunity to meet and greet him. we know they will have some songs forybe some

him. and they celebrate the pontiff's arrival. so really a true thrill of a lifetime. now as far as what his holiness will be doing here, this is essentially where he is going to be sleeping and very busying his first and historic stay in the capital and in the united states. an opportunity to rest, recover and ponder what many remarkablel be a journey as he visits the white house and the president, has a joint meeting at the u.s. capitol, goes to the basilica. schedule.ery busy every time he comes and goes there will be a couple hundred different groups of children of various ages, primary third through eighth graped a few schoolers who will have an opportunity to meet and to greet pope francis. thing.to do one last that is give you a sense. the public is certainly here but they are kept back a little ways. obviously security is very tight. we are going to get off the stick here momentarily and

turn around. about a hundred feet from where i am standing, that is public, where the public is gathered. there is at least several hundred people there. waiting there for hours and hours in to see a glimpse francis. so we expect him probably within 45 minutes or an hour. tightw security is very here. we know that when he does andve in the pope mobile pulls up that this place will likely explode with anticipation. with us overy the next few days. we will be here throughout the hours as he comes and goes on his various visits. for now we're live at the nunciature, jay korff, abc7 news. leon: real quickly, i don't bant to put you on the spot. but i notice behind you a number of argentinean flags. this latin pope is a figure to many people in that region. are you seeing any other

nation's flags in the crowd? see theust argentinean flag, the vatican flag. he was born to two italian immigrants. years old. i see the bandana of the children. they are excited. back to you in the studio. leon: thank you. alison: let's go back to suzanne kennedy again as we the meet and greet to wrap up there at joint base andrews. suzanne: this just wrapped up. finished up in the last few minutes. the president, the vice president and the pope are now onto the tarmac. we are seeing they have a line up here.es lined several vehicles here. they have license plates from the vatican, from vatican city. you see them at the front. themight be able to see at this, 50 yards from where i am. onto the tarmac, walking through the color

here, the honor guard. leading is the president, his wife by his side. holy fatherthe just to the right. get intopreparing to the vehicle. it appears as if the lead vehicle is what he is going to four-doorwhich is a fiat. nothing elaborate. this pope wouldn't want it. get him fromto one place to another. right now he is shaking the sayingady's hand and goodbye to the president. you will see them at a ceremony there. thing is just look how close he is to the school children. is wonderful that they get such a good view of in backdoor of the four-door fiat and heads across town. from kids are 20 feet the pope. they are able to see him. as well.resident but he is getting into a very simple car. town to theacross

isciature where jay korff now. you can see, we have the flag of the vatican on the front. will be the vehicle that heads off here. meeting was very short. only about ten minutes inside the distinguished visitors center at joint base andrews. not very long. again, two of the biden obamahildren, the children. the question i have is how do you pick the two grandchildren who get to go to that meeting? leon: there you go. another fly on the wall situation there. exactly. well, it's interesting, too, out in aointing simple car. greta: when he went to rio he picked a kia. a very simple car. like a statement. leon: this time it's an italian maker. we may be watching here the fiatmost successful chrysler commercial ever. it's in not that

keeping with everything we are commonout him and his touch. that he would be driving off four-doorn a vehicle that would not be seen fancy.thing heta: when he became pope was legendary for cooking his own meals, driving a car or taking a bus. lived simply. it appears as he has been able to keep it up as the pope. there he goes in the fiat with the windows down, waving, smiling, giving thrill.y a that iswhat they came out for. leon: everybody but secret service. alison: everybody but them. d.c. metro police would love to see the windows rolled up and him perhaps laying down. is a scene that people will be lining up all along the route he will be taking. that we have people

placed in certain part of town. we are already seeing crowds here.ling we know there will be tons of people there at the white house waiting to see him arrive there for the meetings tomorrow. he is meeting with the president tomorrow. then the big event. boy, this is really a very, very special moment. it will be shared with the city. with everyone in this town as his way through. northeast and then through onn to st. patrick's and to the nunciature. greta: it is interesting, too. when you look at the different popes, they are different personalities. that.blic reacts to john paul ii was charismatic and athletic and he traveled the world. different energy. pope benedict was more theological and more reserved. sort of like this humble celebrity. more quiet. and peopleut there

respond to that. leon: as we talked earlier before we went on camera, people respond to that. you were there as the cardinals gathered to choose him. thatmust done so knowing they needed someone like that. greta: that is an interesting bring up. many people would say this was choice on the part of the cardinals. for the believers, the faithful, they would like to think that it is the holy spirit guiding the church to pick the leader that it needs time.s point in because again, it was a surprise to a lot of people. did not expect a relatively, unknown to be chosen. a 76-year-old capable of generating a breath of fresh air to generate this excitement. i'm willing to bet that there are many people who were there andrews who aren't catholic. greta: totally. alison: we are looking at the first ladynd the

as they depart joint base andrews. they were shaking hands with the church officials there their meeting with pope francis. they will be heading off in their motorcade as well. saw the pope also. and all the cars along with fiat. a lot of big black s.u.v.'s surrounding his car as well as the city.in leon: eventually they will be handing over to the national of the basilica national shrine. across --onzalez is our jonathan elias is across, a pitch away from it at the theological college northeast of campus university. jonathan, what we just saw and heard is a taste of what will be happening there at that scene behind you tomorrow. jonathan: there is no question about that, leon. it's more ofink a sand wedge. if that is your pitching wedge we need to work on your game. what a great scene that was at the airport. here you are with suburbans bulletproof cars and he could have anything he wants

he wants a modest four-door fiat to roll windows head leave joint base andrews to head for down time at the vatican embassy. this is the basilica. it has been transformed in the last few weeks. in the last six months they have been talking security. secret service have been here and talked to folks at the theological college, catholic talked to and everybody at the basilica. they want to make sure what happens here tomorrow is very safe. be completely locked down. michigan after behind me -- behind me isue still open right now. it will change in a few hours. for all intents and purposes this area will be locked down. if you don't have a pass, it's too late to get one. acres inarea, five front of catholic university and east portico of the normally a tranquil, grassy area where folks who go to school or some can taketo pray reflective time and sit there. that area has been transformed of chairs. they expect 25,000 people to be here because tomorrow

aboutoon at roughly this time, maybe 15 minutes prior, that is when pope have theill celebrating mass and the canonization of junipero serra. be promoted to sainthood at that time. we have talked in weeks prior here atis happening the basilica. there will be protesters. there has been a protesting movement out west about junipero serra and what he did with the natives as far as transform them or proselytize the religion to them in a way they didn't see fitting. the protesting side of it. when you become a saint you have to have two miracles. to be proof two miracles have taken place. pope francis who is from south wanted somebody from the americas as a saint. this is the first time a saint will be named in the united states. on theome one miracle books so far for junipero serra and it's pope francis let's faststen, track him and make him a saint. that will happen tomorrow. there are a lot of people who amazing work as a missionary, 24 years old and was teaching his studies in

and made his way to california to help change natives over christians and a lot of that. there are pros and cons but it is happening tomorrow. a huge mass. the process to get to the a processomorrow is itself. you know already getting around town on the route that to pope is going is tough do. back to you. leon: thank you, jonathan. nice way to segue to what we at now.ing this is the motorcade that just left joint base andrews. alison: our sam ford is standing by. what you are looking at there, sam. sam: we are at suitland parkway and alabama avenue southeast. we see the motorcade coming in. vehicles.f as i get closer we can see this is obviously president obama's vehicle. are heading back from andrews. heading back from andrews to the white house. you talked about a fiat.

fiat here.see a obviously this was the president's vehicle. we are coming back. here. still but nevertheless, we have a lot of people, as you can see here, with the cameras waiting. i just want to talk to sheila. in the neighborhood. what do you think of this? >> i think this is awesome. this is a great opportunity for us, the united states catholics to hear the message of this new pope who is about love and understanding and forgiveness. and to make sure that we as catholics live true values of the catholic faith. there is so much vision. message of hope and of love and embracing different sectors of our message. is a great sam: okay. sheila who is a life-long catholic. sings in the choir at st. augusta. folks outf other here waiting for the pope. i don't know if they are going waves of let's say the motorcades coming through first motorcade

there was american. because they had cadillacs and flags onpresidential them. we understand that there is a fia tab. -- there is a fiat. people are that standing closer to suitland parkway. traffic is closed off in both directions. of course, we have people standing up here on the hill where we are to try to get a better vantage point. we did see a motorcade that just went by. whosedn't swear motorcade it was. there may be other motorcades coming by. of course, we know that the staying up-town near the vice president's house on massachusetts at 34th in that particular area. of course, president obama has to go back to the white house. so we don't know at this point. when we know more and if we see another motorcade come by, we will come back to you. reporting live from southeast washington, sam ford, abc7 news. leon: you got it, sam. you see people standing around in median like that, that is not a good thing. alison: absolutely!

is going to be something. alison: well, let's go to tom roussey speaking of the the motorcades and road closures. tom is in mobile track 7 with what he ison seeing all around town and the traffic impact. tom? leon: where are you, tom? tom: we are on alabama avenue thewe are crossing over suitland parkway right now. let me switch to a different camera here and i will try to show you. this blocked off in this area. you see the bridge on the left side of the screen. the suitland parkway. that is blocked off for the motorcade right now so it is traffic issues right now here on alabama avenue. as you can see behind me. we were driving around before they started to close the roads for the essentiallyt was just a normal rush hour if you will. normal afternoon rush hour. that is changing however here in southeast d.c. as the motorcade gets ready to hang in the district. of course the pope essentially going to the vet can embassy and the president we are told

going back -- vatican embassy and the president we are told going back to the white house. this is a normal rush hour. show you a view out the front. alabama avenue. right now.around other than at the suitland parkway. a lot of areas is the normal rush hour but that is about to change as the motored r through theading city. the pope going to massachusetts avenue in northwest and the president to the white house. to bes what you have careful of and avoid those areas. of course the suitland parkway from andrewsng as well. that is the scene here in southeast washington. back to you. leon: thank you, tom. the last time we use the words "normal rush hour" for a while. alison: let's check in with jamie sullivan for another big picture look at the traffic situation as the pope has arrived, jamie. jamie: of course, you know we have the normal congestion in some spots but we have closures in place. of course where you see the motorcade. from joint base andrews getting close to the white house. closures right now at 34th street northwest between mass

avenue and garfield street. as well as fulton street andeen 34th place normanstone. those are in place until thursday around 4:00 p.m. pennsylvania avenue, suitland parkway right now heading to d.c. is where we are going to see on the side roads a lot of congestion. as we poult a little -- as we a little bitk look how traffic it is from getting virginia to maryland. rough ride. the inner loop, a live look georgetown pike. we have an accident. two lanes are blocked. this will give you an idea how heavy the traffic is. this is near old dominion. bumper to bumper traffic in the area. top side of the beltway through montgomery county we are okay. traveling on the baltimore-washington parkway volume as well. in the single digits approaching the dulles toll road. now tolive look right show you the area of give you a better idea of how slow the traffic is. that is a look at traffic right now. back to you. is that all right, thank you -- leon: all right.

thank you, jamie. alison: a lot of rolling road closures to worry about in the pope's visit. changingwill not be massachusetts avenue near the vatican embassy. that road closed this morning 9:00 a.m. it is not scheduled to reopen until friday. leon: that is right. closed down in the next few days while the pope is in town. you can always stay ahead of wjla.com.es at we will help you get around town. for traffic text alerts to alert you on the move. alison: another note. the maryland transit makingtration is changes to commuter train and the bus service while the pope is in town. trains on mark cam den and the brunswick line have extra passenger cars wednesday and thursday. brunswick train 871 will operate wednesday and thursday just on fridays, which is what is normal. m.t.a.ill be modified bus service for the branch suitland and greenbell stations. leon: loudoun county transit saying that it is canceling

the commuter bus services to and from rosslyn, crystal city on washington, d.c. wednesday and thursday. but there is service to and from the west falls church metro station. you can see the metro service adjustments for the pope's visit as well as the local closures at wjla.com. alison: now there is a circulating for the pope to make a bit of a change to his itinerary while he is town. organizers want him to go to a metro station and bless the metro system. they say their are hoping that work.ake it actually [laughter] so far, that petition has more supporters on change.org. leon: that is cold. alison: just so you know. leon: he is good. if he is that good. alison: we'll see. leon: all right. we have another motorcade through off alabama avenue where sam ford is stationed. any idea who this might be? yes, leon, we see another motorcade headed north on

suitland parkway. of d.c. police motorcycles. generally that means that something is following. either the president -- i think the earlier one was the vice president. this may be the president. we don't know. we'll tell you here shortly. as you can see a lot of people the road to see hopefully pope. are watching the motorcade toward downtown d.c. from andrews.e we think that is the pope. fiat.is the this is the pope motorcade. the little fiat going along here. you see a lot of people are obviously very happy and cheering. that is the pope's motorcade headed north, headed toward downtown d.c. of course we know that the pope is going to be staying at, the pope is going to be staying uptown around

massachusetts and 34th. that was the pope's motorcade. have got our friend here. sheila, if we can come back, and a bunch of folks out here. to see the pope. sheila: exciting. >> exciting! see himwait to tomorrow at the mass of the basilica. an awesome time and opportunity for the city and the country. sam: okay. a lot of catholics around the city, here in southeast everywhere.nd that is the situation from here. sam fordson, reporting live. back to you. alison: okay, sam. we saw the fiat. very good. thank you so much. leon: all right. boy, this has been so much fun to watch. it will be more enlightening to get the perspective of lotle here who know a more about the pope and what is planned for the next few days than we know. by father, from the parish in germantown. glad to have you with us. had are with us when we special that aired last week. we talked then in advance of the trip about what to expect here.at it's

what do you think? father: well, he just landed thatook how exciting was. it's amazing that so many anple were watching airplane land. thrilling.ng it is watch the kid, the people who had a chance to watch the linenal and the bishops up. look how happy everybody was. it was exciting. reactionhat is your to pope francis getting in his fiat and rolling down the waving and smiling to everybody? father: adorable. a fiatht it was commercial. alison: not a surprise, right? father: no. no. tell us when he first, somewhere along the line when priests,eaking about priests should not have expensive cars. -- simple.e schism more simple than a

cadillac. leon: we know that tickets were given out to parishes. any of your parishioners there or have tickets to the events? father: not for this one. we have 130 mass tomorrow and departure onhe the tarmac, the same scene. we have children, about five kids and two adults will be there. it will be fun to watch. leon: so we haven't talked to you in a little over a week. it been like in the ensuing time since we last sat down together? is it like for your parishioners and the buildup that we have seen so far. us a sense of what you have been going through. father: everybody has been about it. particularly the people who have the tickets. they know there is a great and many of them just said they are thanking all over the place but not even able to sleep. then there are other people who keep showing up asking for tickets and begging and

praying for them. when gave out the ones we had. are justeople thrilled to have the pope in our midst right here with us. alison: what is your reaction hethe welcome that received? it was pretty historic. we had the president, the lady. their children. we had the vice president, his grandchildren, his wife. really a special welcome to the united states. father: it is. really surprised. familiar,so warm, the family has come out to welcome somebody they already know. the biden are catholic. easy.ms so natural and leon: this trip here, this visit here has gotten off to a great start. i don't know how -- i don't casts aspersons here

but is there any way it could fail? father: we'll have more of the same. as we listen to him and watch him we will continue to see the same thing. more and more of it. just this little taste of it, we want more. i want to see more. leon: yeah. alison: what are you looking forward to the most from his washington in particular? father: well, i think it will be tomorrow at the mass. with him, to pray to be with my parishioners, to the crowd. it is a special moment because we have seend him speaking and his leadership. we have seen him reaching out to people. but to be with him when we specialether is a moment. that is really why people want to have a ticket. they could see him, watch him on tv but they want to be in his presence to pray together. leon: yeah. as a priest who oversees a

diverse congregation, there has been talk about how much he is going to be speaking on this trip in spanish versus english. do you have any expectation? do you have any advice for him about which we should hear more of? father: no. i understand he has been english a lot. native language but it's a great sign to their who spanish is first language. as somebody said, for pope francis, i think, you know, notcenter of the world is always the english-speaking world. leon: we have heard that. father: i don't know. i think he is fine. it's good he is doing it this way. this.i have to ask you i know you may have had any insight or any input at all on but ifnning and all you did, what is the one thing or place you would want him to experience here to really get a sense of what it is like to catholic?ican

father: well, you know, he is the eastere on coast. he will be here in washington, new york, philadelphia. but i do think he will be experiencing -- because he has a lot of chances to be in places like charities.c and the same things will happen in philadelphia and new york. be,'s where he wants to where the people are. he doesn't want to be so separate in big stadiums. he is.w how he wants to get out on the street. so i think it's a beautiful thing he is going to be with people who are workers, people are laborers. theto be able to be with working people, the people. we are calling him "the pope."s that is what he wants. leon: everyone wants to see him prove that and see him act see him do something unscripted and unplanned. if you had to bet, what do you on the trip?t be you know it's coming. father: i know! that's why we're going to watch.

i have no idea what it will be. i don't know how he will do it. but he will find a way. sure everybody on the detail is going to be, they have been prepped. at any moment, that he will break through a line, that he will step out of and do that.s i think that is why even watch the people on the suitland parkway. they are hoping he will stop and say hello to them. alison: standing in the median. thank you for being here. please stand by. we want to continue our conversation but we want to go out to our brad bell who is standing by at the basilica as the next steps here for pope francis. brad? brad: yeah, alison, this will tomorrow. event 25,000 people gather to see hereanonization mass out on the east portico of the basilica. i want to show you something going on all afternoon. we have been watching the altar for the mass be prepared. now in place.s when we first got here it was actually a pretty drab looking sight up there.

only a few elements of the altar were in place. you canpope's chair, see a fairly simple chair. it is up there and it is ready. is something else i want to show you. john, if we can show to the left the cross we talked about. up on the stage there on the altar is the cross that the catholic settlers brought to st. mary's city 1600's. in the it was found in the archive at georgetown university. it seemed an opponent thing. it is part of the altar out here now. now the musicians and the chorale groups have been all afternoon. tremendous soaring music. something else that happened the bells ats the basilica rang out joyous ringing of the bells. first touched down at joint base andrews and then when he was visible.

when he got out of the plane, the bells rang and rang and rang. peoplehave been seeing come here today, many of them have tickets to be at the mass tomorrow. youhould tell you that can't come without a ticket but folks are coming and scoping it out. a huge moment for everybody. that is the scene out here. back to you. leon: all right, thank you, brad. we want to go back now out to catch the motorcade watch now. sam ford at his post there on alabama avenue. have here? we sam: okay. well i think this is the coming by. the pope waved at somebody but this is the american car and with the president flag and we think that's president obama white back to the house. tomorrow morning he will be hosting the pope and there will be a meeting at the white house. pope will be in the pope mobile moving around ellipse. you see a long caravan of vehicles. coming.the president

the first group we saw was the motorcade and's the second group was the pope's motorcade. the pope reached out of the one point and waved at people from his fiat. this, of course, is president obama. some of the folks here want to say what they thought about the pope coming to, at least coming through southeast d.c. what are your thoughts? good thatht it was he had people come up together. that people come from variety of players show love and support. sam: i understand some of your neighbors had signs out welcoming the pope and pope the windowed out of his fiat at those folks. about it. i'm sure the people using this to commute home back and forth will be glad to see that suitland parkway will be open for the rush hour traffic. we have seen the vice president, the pope and the come by this location here at suitland parkway and alabama avenue

southeast. reporting live, sam ford, abc7 news. leon: super trifecta. of excitement there. so we mentioned the traffic impact. to our tomack roussey who is seeing it firsthand. right, tom? tom: are we are. you can see from mobile track 7. 295 north. south of where 695 hits 295. is not see the traffic moving. are looking north. you may see the white car in the middle of the screen. upot of cars are giving and turning around at this point and heading south on 295 of this.t this is largely not moving. we are seeing a lot of cars gets in therier way and turn around to head this.and get out of this is an area to be avoided now. we are 295 north. don't look out front, i know if you read this on the screen but the sign up there says that expect major road

delays. special event downtown. it gives dates. it doesn't give today. it says the gord and the 24th -- it gives the 23rd and 24th but we know this is causing problems today as well. this is not moving at all here. mentioned earlier the last time you came to me it look like a nowhere ma'am rush hour until the motorcade goess and then it downhill traffic wise after that. 295.ng north on the traffic not moving at all. almost a standstill. southeaste scene in washington. back to you. leon: all right, thank you, tom. things are moving there where theford is watching motorcade leaving andrews. go back out to sam. what do you have now? sam: well, it looks like traffic reopened on suitland parkway. they don't have the lights flashing or anything in particular. suitland parkway was closed for some time. around andd swing

show police cars over there. the special operations division. well, right here on the bridge. operations division had shut this place down. they are starting to reopen suitland parkway to regular traffic. that group of cars from the south. the vicehat president, the pope and the president did pass by this particular location. shortly, shortly things will return to normal at least on suitlandtch of parkway. reporting live. back to you. leon: you're an optimistic man. in this how it is area. if one thing happens that causes a snag one place and things back up all over. theon: this is just beginning today. jamie sullivan is standing by. we have the pope's visit which we are all prepared for but tomorrow we have other events, too. concert, games. jamie: we have a lot.

this in, you will see the heavy traffic everywhere. even if you think i'm okay and i'm not going in a place where something is happening you still want to give yourself extra time. at on the inner loop of the capital beltway. we are in bumper-to-bumper traffic through virginia closer toward where we have an accident. let's go ahead and move to the maps. georgetown pike. in clearing stages. since we had lanes blocked you are in the single digits and then you get mixed in with the normal congestion. i want to focus in on d.c. the temporaryve closures in place right now. constitution avenue closed. innsylvania avenue right downtown d.c. so again, d.c. police just put the closures into place. if you are going to be in the area of 34th street. we have the closures as well mass avenue and garfield street. these closures will be in place until thursday at 4:00. as fulton street near 34th place. and norman. congestion, sam ford just gave us a good idea that heading in on suitland it.way they reopened but just because they reopen up, we are seeing volume.

pennsylvania avenue. the motorcade activity is closer now to d.c. so you are not going to see as but you are, going to see the volume. just because everyone had to to goor the motorcade through. that is a look at traffic this afternoon. whether he keep you updated on many of the closures. back to you. all right, jamie. as you know we are watching one motorcade, the one with to thet in it heading apostolic nunciature off mass avenue, the area that we were closureshere will be for the next couple days on massachusetts avenue. in the embassy row region. they are not far away from the vice president residence at naval observatory. alison: there is jay korff standing by. a lot of people there waiting arrive. to jay: we believe this will any moment now. i'm going to look back. a number of motorcycles have pulled up slowly but surely. we do know here at the nunciature at the vatican will be elegant accommodation for pope

francis. reception rooms, chapel, artery and -- artistry and tappestry. but this is the moment that reis received by number of school children and the various parishes, this moment will be very special for pope francis. this has to be it. there are many, many cars in this motorcade. fiat.oking out for the from third grade to grade. [cheering] leon: hundreds are waiting to turn the fiat make the around the corner. alison: any minute now. there we have it. is.: there it [cheering] alison: they're screaming. like the beatles ed.ive

[cheering] the beatles and michael fiat.n in the same alison: greta, we are watching the pope arrive at his home away from home, right? amazing. is you can feel the energy in the out.as he got you can hear the fans. hundreds hundreds of of school children there. other folks from the community. so serene like nothing gets to him. do we have any idea what the situation is like there where he is staying? amenities? greta: i have been in there in the main area. very nice. but from what i understand outrageous or anything. the living quarters are

pretty basic. leon: i want to get father fangmayer the first unscripted moment. i thought he might reach out to the crowd. alison: we haven't seen any protesters yet. leon: no. bet we see more on capitol hill. greta: most people who live in area know, for many, many years at the corner of mass the apostolic nunciature is, a gentleman out there with signs for many, corner.rs on the i tried to do a story one time. he said he was a victim of the clergy sex abuse in europe. he has been out there for

probably 20 years. i'm sure they pulled him off the corner now with the so forth.nd this will be a concern for ear.e to get his alison: what we are looking at now throughout the pope's stay be different will stand by and wait for him to go and go and hopefully get a glimpse, a wave and a smile. we will see this throughout his couple of days in d.c. he will be eating and sleeping there. using it as home base, as he goes through different appointments. greta: that whole area is embassy row. you go doesn't farther and british embassy down the street, too. there is a whole array of embassies and it's a very part of the city.

aison: each parish has number of tickets? parishes gave them out in their own way. some had a lottery and others sayyou write a letter to why it's important to you. different parishes did it differently. they were the hot tickets in town. alison: right. fangmayerather saying people are still asking and praying to get a ticket. i imagine most have been given out. greta: the other thing, too, talking about the diversity and the spanish, talking about majority of, the his speeches will be in spanish, you have to remember beyond it being his native that almost half of u.s. catholics are of hispanic origin now. that trend changed over the years but nearly half are or hispanic origin.

he is speaking to those people as well. leon: and speaking to spanish all over the globe watching, because his cover is states. in the historic visit that is worldwide. thanks to the internet people around the world can see it. it's so important that this way hen connect the does with populations that that may not, feel as though they have been connected to rome in the same way many others have. particularly in the european pasts. greta: his election was symbolic in that it got away from rome. this is a global church. this is a pope of the is acas, which burgeoning part of the catholic world. there was a feeling i think that they needed to get outside of the bureaucracy and

traditions and the old school that creating so many the vaticanh leaks and all the mess and the and everything else. i think there was a feeling just geographically get away from it as well as in other ways. alison: a fresh start. saying he was a surprise. his age was a surprise but it start the have jump- momentum. greta: pope john paul was only 58 but he stayed there a long time. that is good and bad. he has a long time to make the changes dad what he wants but who -- changes and do what he wants but for those who felt he didn't do enough

or was going the wrong meant his legacy here.ll being, is till with an older pope, change comes more quickly. leon: you have been watching this longer than i have, but and millerience years of journalistic coverage onen't think i have seen get off to this start. the kind of good will that is built upon his charisma and comingectations of the air. the breath of fresh this is something i don't think i've ever seen. the is important for church. the churche here had been dealing with the difficult sex abuse scandal. were saying they hee criticized him because didn't done