christiane amanpour is live from rome this morning. good morning to you.ion is, will the church remain as conservative as it is now? >> that really is the multimillion dollar question. the likelihood is yes to be very frank. but i'm smiling because the way you put it is absolutely true. these are unchartered waters. no one knows what it is like to have a pope abdicate. as you say, it's more than six or seven centuries since that last happened. what are we going to be looking for in the future? how will the direction of the church go most likely in a similar direction although a lot of people who i'm talking to, including cardinals and priests and the others say there does need to be a sense of some kind of reform to deal with the very serious issues of governability, whether it's about putting to rest and really ending all the unpinnished business over the priest sex abuse scandals, whether it's the allegations of financial msismanagement. i'm johned by john allen, our senior vatican analyst who's been watching this for years, was with me back in 2005, of

christiane amanpour is standing by live.motional time for the pope. >> think it must be. you know this is a pope not known for wearing as my colleague says, his heart on his sleeve. how can you feel to be moved by this enormous cheer that has gone up in st. peter's square. he's delivered his final blessing and the crowd is saying good bye. he will start to exit st. peter's square in the popemobile. but you will understand he will go under the arch of the bells and he will be met by the swiss guard, which protects the pope and protects the vatican. john allen, what would you make of his farewell speech? he talked about how difficult it was to leave, he talked about the gravity and the enormity and he also talked about what has buffeted the church on the high and tempestuous seas over the decade. >> as someone who covers the pope all the time, i was struck by this was one of the rare occasions where he lifted the curtain and gave you a sense of what goes on inside. we have imagined since february 11th the process to arrive at

cnn's chief international correspondent christiane amanpour is live in rome this morning. good morning, christiane. >> good morning. we are expecting any moment now vatican television to start showing us those pictures of the last face-to-face meeting between pope benedict xvi on his last day on the throne of st. peter and talking personally as you've been saying, to all of those cardinals who are in town at the moment. there's a big group who will be gathering and of that huge group there will be a certain number, 115, who will eventually convene in the conclave to elect the next pope. joined here by john allen as you can see, we're in a busy location. behind us is st. peter's. i can't help but notice for all the attention on this incredible moment, when we were back here in 2005, rome was overflowing with about 5 million pilgrims as john paul lay dying. give us a sense of the difference of what's happening and the outpouring. >> the obvious difference is this transition is following resignation rather than death. you don't have the same outpouring of grief. >> we're seein

let's get right to cnn's chief international correspondent christiane amanpour who is live for us in rome this morning. we've given a rundown how the day will go. what can you add to that? >> reporter: well, you know, today was the day that the cardinals got to say goodbye to the pope and thank you. yesterday it was the pope in st. peter's square who was saying thank you and farewell. and cardinal angelo sodano, the dean of the college of cardinals, started out by making a speech. this is what he said and what the pope replied. >> translator: you addressed the people in st. peter's square. today we should thank you for the example which you have given us during the last eight years of your pontifficate. i will continue to serve you in prayer, in particular in the coming days, so that you may be touched by the holy spirit in the election of a new pope and hope that the lord will show you the right way. >> reporter: and of course what he also said was that amongst you, as he was talking to the cardinals, amongst you will be the next pope. and to him i will offer my continued devotion a

i want to bring in christiane amanpour in rome tonight. christiane, great to see you. and first here, what have we learned about pope benedict once he officially steps down? >> reporter: we were told by the vatican that he will continued to be called benedict, his hold willness and given the title pope emeritus. he will continue to wear white, but not the, you know, elaborate papal vestments. a simple white outfit that he will have his signature red prada shoes and wear brown leather shoes. and he will live in a monastery here within the vatican. >> putting the red prada shoes aside. very quiet scene behind you there tonight, but tomorrow, a much different picture. >> reporter: so, tens of thousands of pilgrims are expected here tomorrow, where the pope will give his final general audience. and he'll tour around this square in the pope mobile. and the next day, at 8:00 p.m. rome time, he leaves and right after that, that is when the search goes on for the new pope. >> it begins anew. christiane amanpour reporting in from rome tonight. >>> back here at home tonight, and

thank you to christiane amanpour.nd let's get to ben wedeman, talking to folks who got to be right in the audience and hear the pope speak. good morning, ben. >> reporter: many people coming here, the italian authorities laid on extra buss and trains to make it possible for the people who wanted to attend this last general audience of the pope here in st. peter's square. very solemn occasion. i was here when pope john paul ii died in 2005, and it was completely different atmosphere. on this occasion, very much an opportunity for people, the faithful, to come and contemplate the legacy of pope benedict. many appreciated him as a teacher, a thinker, an intellectual. somebody who had the courage to confront many of the issues that have plagued the church over the last decade or so. the question of, for instance, pedophilia and the priesthood and other things. very much what they heard from people is they appreciated him as someone who faced and grappled with serious issues and appreciated the fact that he had the courage

i want to talk about it more with christiane amanpour in rome and john allen there is a senior correspondent for "the national catholic reporter." john, you say the idea of a existence of some sort of network of gay men or gay priests or high officials inside the vatican isn't at all improbable, but do you believe that's the reason the pope is resigning? >> no, anderson, i don't. i think for the most part, you have to take benedict xvi at his word that he's resigning because of his age and fatigue. on the other hand, i think you have to ask the question why is he so fatigued, and i think at least part of that picture is that he has spent much of the last eight years frustrated that his efforts to be a teaching pope, to conduct a kind of global graduate acceptable yar and the relationship between reason and faith and so on have been hampered by a kind of endless series of crises and controversies and meltdowns, some of them coming in from the outside and some of them self-inflicted. so i think that is indeed part of the calculus. but fundamentally, i don't think there is some deep, dark secre

. >> raymond, a former catholic friar in england spoke to christia christiane amanpour, and what he saidtuck with me. i wanted to play it for you. his name is mark dowd. >> homosexuality is the ticking time bomb in the catholic church. on the one hand, the church teaches that the condition of same-sex attraction is intrinsically disordered, those are ratzinger's own words from 1996, but we know about half if not all of people attracted to the seminaries are gay themselves. >> ratzinger is pope benedict. is this true? >> i think you have to step back for a second, erin. this is hardly a news flash. father donald cousins wrote about this 20 years ago. father andrew greely coined the phrase lavender mafia talking about a subculture within the catholic church. but barbie was quite right. this is focusing the electorate's attention on the mismanagement of the courier, the roman bureaucracy in the vatican, and no doubt, whether they're looking for a conservative or a liberal, i think that's beside the point. they're looking for a reformer. somebody who will come in and honestly appraise what's

christiane amanpour is live in rome.ned by cardinal mccarrick. >> reporter: we've been longing to hear a perspective from a cardinal and a cardinal that was there this morning and has so much history with the catholic church and part of the conclave back in 2005 when pope benedict xvi himself was elected. this is a noisy evening. we are very close to a hospital and we can hear the hospitals going by. i will let that go by before i start and turn to the cardinal. cardinal mccarrick, welcome to our program. thank you for joining us. >> it's a trif ledge. you are the best. >> you are so kind. you were there in st. peter's square this morning. >> i was. >> what was your reaction? >> the last one happened in 600 years ago and i'm sure they didn't have that kind of a crowd. the holy father was really saying farewell and said it very beautifully. he's a man of great courtesy and great culture and it was that kind of a presentation. he thanked everybody and this humility comes out, this humility and courage. this extraordinary c

john allen and christiane amanpour as well.nks. >> thank you. >>> let's continue this discussion during the commercial break on twitter right now. a lot of folks are tweeting about this already saying that cardinal mahoney should not be part of this conclave. @anderson cooper is the twitter address. what house speaker boehner said about the budget mess. it was not let's make a deal, may not even be fit for family viewing, but was he actually speaking the truth? we'll play it for you. you can decide for yourself. raw politics. very raw. >>> also we'll take you places that are buried in the biggest snowfall in decades. we'll tell you who is next in the path of yet another deadly storm. [ male announcer ] i've seen incredible things. otherworldly things. but there are some things i've never seen before. this ge jet engine can understand 5,000 data samples per second. which is good for business. because planes use less fuel, spend less time on the ground and more time in the air. suddenly, faraway places don't seem so...far away. ♪

john allen and christiane amanpour as well.hanks. >> thank you. >>> let's continue this discussion during the commercial break on twitter right now. a lot of folks are tweeting about this already saying that cardinal mahoney should not be part of this conclave. @anderson cooper is the twitter address. what house speaker boehner said about the budget mess. it was not let's make a deal, may not even be fit for family viewing, but was he actually speaking the truth? we'll play it for you. you can decide for yourself. raw politics. very raw. >>> also we'll take you places that are buried in the biggest snowfall in decades. we'll tell you who is next in the path of yet another deadly storm. [ kitt ] you know what's impressive? a talking car. but i'll tell you what impresses me. a talking train. this ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel. delivering whatever the world needs, when it needs it. ♪ after all, what's the point of talking if you don't have something important to say? ♪ go

we're joined now by christiane amanpour. first, pope benedict xvi. his legacy, what do you think?i think that he's going to be known as a very intellectual pope, a pope who deeply loved the church, who deeply believed in his faith. not a charismatic pope like john paul ii. not this person who really had this cult following like a rock star and who created a rock papacy. and pope benedict had a hard act to follow. but today, a man who doesn't usually wear his heart on his sleeve did to an extent. you could see the emotion. you could see that he was struggling not just with what he said was the joy of his ministry and of his papacy, but also the difficulty and the struggles he hadiya pendleton. particularly he talked about the choppy waters, and of course referring to the problems that have rocked the catholic church. the frightful sex abuse scandal that erupted first in the u.s. and then came here under his papacy. his attempts to deal with it. but not having finished the job, and people wanting to clean house and to move on from this thing that has so damaged the church. >> let me

cnn's christiane amanpour joins me live from rome and from miami, a catholic turned episcopal priest, tv host and author. christiane, i want to begin with you. first of all, the secret dossier. what do we actually know about this secret dossier, and how do we even know what's in it? >> reporter: well, ableigh, to be frank, we don't know. the only person who really does know is pope benedict who was briefed today by those three cardinals. the allegations, the suspicions are that it could possibly have been about the possibility of blackmail against certain gay priests here in the vatican or around the world. but as we say, we simply don't know. if we had expected some of that to be released today, as you mentioned, the pope made a decision that this would go to the next pope and then it would be up to him on how to deal with it. but that is just one of the big stories here. and just when we think things can't get any worse, this last week of the pope being in office, things keep getting worse, ashleigh. >> christiane, does this make any difference for those who are expected to gather f

christiane amanpour, thanks.s making news. >>> this story still develop, 14 tourists trying to get a bird's-eye view of egyptian sites were killed when their hot air balloon exploded. three people, an egyptian and two british tourists are in the hospital, four others are still missing. ian lee is following the developments in cairo. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, john. what we're hearing, there was confusion over the number of dead, we're hearing from state media up to 18 people have been killed in this incident. it was travel about 1,000 feet up, plummeting toward the ground and this is area of luxor when you go up you can see the nile valley, popular with tourists, you can see the valley of the kings. the governor in luxor banned all hot air balloons while they investigate and this is the first real major incident we've seen in the last four years when we saw 80 people injured over the span of two months. there were some investigationing, some actions were taken so this is the first -- investigation w

let's go to christiane amanpour and father irwin who are in rome right now sort of in the middle of all of that clapping and celebrating we just saw, christiane. >> reporter: indeed. and off he goes in that car, as you said, at a pretty brisk clip. he's going to the helipad which i'm told is at the vatican train station, if you can believe it and you know better than i that there is a vatican train station. he'll get on the helicopter and go. i just came from the north american college where i interviewed cardinal dolan about half an hour ago and he said, cardinal dolan, that him and many of the other cardinals, the american elected cardinals who are going to be staying there are going to go up to the roof to see if they can see the helicopter taking off. we've already seen cardinal turkson of ghana has joined the twitter revolution and he himself from the top of st. peter's behind me has tweeted a picture. perhaps many of them are going up there to see if they can watch the helicopter take off. but look, this is massive. we are watching this in minute detail unfold. why? not just becau

i'm christian amanpour live from rome on. and we also want to welcome our global viewers on cnn international. this is the final day of the pope's public audiences. pope benedict is about to make his last one right here in the square before stepping down. it is a historic day. becoming the first pope in six centuries to abdicate and he leaves behind a church with many opportunities behind and many challenges, as well. and we'll talk all about that later on on in a moment, take a look at saint peter's square, more than 50,000 people we're told are expected to witness the pope's final general audience. the anticipation has been building. here is the schedule for this morning and for the the next couple of days. at 4:30 a.m., that is eastern time, that's 10:30 a.m. here in rome, the pope arrives in his popemobile. it's an unusual way for him to conduct his wednesday audience, but because this is the final time, he's going to spend about 15 minutes we think driving around the square waving to the crowd before he starts talking an

. >> cnn's christiane amanpour was part of the historic audience. christiane, a lot of emotion. is that a surprise given the fact this he's been called the german shepherd? >> reporter: yeah. he's been one who's not worn his heart on his sleeve. he's very different from his predecessor john paul ii who was all about hugs and embracing. yes, this was a day of rare emotion. you saw a lot of smiles as he went around st. peter's square in that pope mmobile to receive the final farewells. he spoke about how he had so much joy, he said, in the church in his eight years of reign but he also talked about how there had been difficult times. he said it had been fair from easy on occasion. he talk tbd church coming across agitated waters and finding themselves facing different directions of the wind. obviously he was talking about various crises and issues that the pope has to deal with and the church has to deal with,al those close to home who have rocked and buffeted those for years, most significantly the priests who have preyed upon young boy and an effort to hold those accountable, wh

lead democrat on the house foreign affairs committee eric engoal and our own george will and christiane amanpour. >> the impact on the national security, no doubt. only 2 cents on the dollar over the whole federal budget. that's in seven months and highlighted, put at least most of the burden on the defense department. that's going to have an impact. that's a 13% cut. the best way to get through this, we can point fingers the best way to do this is to allow flexibility. if you allow flexibility -- >> i wanted to bring that to congressman engoal. >> i think the sequester was a stupid thing. i voted against it the first time it came up. it's a ridiculous thing to do. the fact is, we need to do things that are smart, not take a meet cleaver and just cut. >> should the white house accept this call from the republicans? >> i think congress should sit down and avoid the sequester and if the sequester kicks in, for a week or go, we should then fix it. >> the navy insists they had no choice than to delay the deployment of the aircraft carrier. if so, if they have no wiggle room at all, that suktss to me

our chief international correspondent and anchor christiane amanpour joins me live from rome. christiane, were you surprised by pope benedict's personal message? >> reporter: well, yes, because a lot of people had said he would say prayers and perhaps he might have a little bit of a personal message interspersed because this would be his final general audience. but in fact, the whole thing was very, very personal. and he talked about, you know, the gravity of this decision, the fact that it is such a novelty and as we know it has been 600 and 700 years since the last pope's resigned. so it is a long, long time, entering unchartered waters this church now, especially in our modern times, and he did talk about the joy that he had had and the joys he felt that had happened during his eight years on the throne of st. peter, but also as you mentioned, the church had been on choppy waters, choppy seas for a while, referring at least obliquely to some of these scandals, a lot of the challenges that had been buffeting this church for more than, you know, 12 years now. so that also has

christiane amanpour, thank you very much. as christiane reported, in one of his final act as pope, benedict has changed the rules, so he's moved up the start date to elect his successor in order to have a new pope in place before the start of holy week on march 24th. >>> a new barrage of winter weather is barreling into the nation's midsection today as the second blizzard in a week slams the region. look at this. blizzard conditions have closed highways in northwestern oklahoma. and in kansas, drivers are being warned to stay off the roads. to the west we go, denver, check it out, they're digging out after more than nine inches fell yesterday. hundreds of flights there were canceled. today, they're beginning to get back to business and that's where we go to jim snelden with me in denver. talk to me about the aftermath, the calm after the storm. >> reporter: yesterday was the storm that would not end, hour after hour, all day, about nine inches in denver. the plows were out all night. we watched them working on the interstates.

christiane amanpour is standing by in rome. if chuck hagel gets confirm what will his first few days at the pentagon look like. there's new information coming in to "the situation room" right now. [ male announcer ] when these come together, and these come together, one thing you can depend on is that these will come together. delicious and wholesome. some combinations were just meant to be. tomato soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. good morning, turtle. ♪ my friends are all around me ♪ my friends, they do surround me ♪ ♪ i hope this never ends ♪ and we'll be the best of friends ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing the reimagined 2013 chevrolet traverse. all set? all set. with spacious seating for up to eight. imagine that. chevrolet. find new roads. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. it put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week. [ male announcer ] so

. >> i spoke earlier with chr christiane amanpour.seemed to be making reference to the corruption that plagued and continued to plague the church. >> and the pope spoke about so many of the challenges that continue to face the church. but yes, these scandals that have rocked the church and the vatican and almost every diocese in the united states, i might add, as well as in europe over the last 12 to 14 years. he was saying that this has been shocking and stormy waters, that the church has sometimes seemed to be flying against the wind. but he then went on to say that he knew god wouldn't allow the church to sink. so yes, i think clearly making reference to this on his final general audience, his final public appearance. >> yet he made no real direct mention of the child abuse scandals, which i imagine for some people have been directly affected. it's not going to be enough, the fact that he didn't actually bring it up specifically? >> well, it was unlikely he was ever going to bring it up specifically on this day. but you're right, t

our chief international correspondent christiane amanpour joins us from rome. this report was in "the observer," the newspaper, saying one man was a 20-year-old seminarien, cardinal was a spiritual director and inappropriate approaches were made after night prayers. what do you know about the case and what cardinal o'brien is saying? >> reporter: well, look, we know according to published reports there's this case and three other cases. a total of four cases now coming out and accusing cardinal o'brien of inappropriate sexual misconduct. he himself is said to have taken up, obviously, legal counsel. he has, as we've said, resigned but he was resigning months ago. it's just that today pope benedict accepted that resignation. he didn't have to accept it today. it could have been further delayed but he did accept the resignation. and now we've also know, because of statements cardinal o'brien has posted, he will not come here to rome and take part in the election of the next pope in the conclave. he said that he would want the spotlight not to be on him but on the

our christiane amanpour is in rome. cardinals are gathering together today, a meet, they'll choose the next pope. what are they talking about? are they talking about the scandal? >> reporter: let me give you a little bit of what's going on. i always notice at this time of the daylight is going down in this etern nal city and it's a shadowy week as far as what's coming out of the vatican and they want to move out of the darkness and scandals swirling around into the light, as they tell me, of what they want to project for these last few days of pope benedict's reign. they're trying to say whatever was investigated, for instance, three cardinals who briefed the pope and only the pope yesterday that will be put on the desk of the new pontiff to deal with. so, what we are hearing today from inside the vatican are details about the pope's next status. he will apparently still be called his holiness, he will probably take on the title of pontiff emeritus. it is an unprecedented situation, no pope has had, former pope, looking

two powerhouse panels and abc's global affairs anchor christiane amanpour. all coming up later on "this week." >>> now we turn from george to hollywood stars, the oscars are tonight. and george is heading out there. >> one of the most entertaining things to do is to guess who will win. especially if you help from an insider. that happens to be abc's chris connelly. he joins us from los angeles with a look at the favorites and some possible upsets. good morning, chris. >> reporter: good morning to you guys. behind me, you see the gorgeous red carpet stairway here at the kodiak. let's forget what they're wearing, how did they vote? there are so many award shows now. sally field referred to it as growing like a fungus. we can lull ourselves into thinking we know how oscar will decide, but we don't. as william goldman, the famous screen writer once said, nobody knows anything. the oscar votes are all in. but instead of pouring over exit polls and network projections, we're still able to imagine an underdog coming out on top. >> are you taking your proper dosage

. >> let's take a look at the clip from christian amanpour that spoke with a dominican friar and heard her. >> homosexuality is the ticking time bomb in the catholic church. about half if not more than all the people attracted into the priest hood are gay themselves. >> i mean, father, you yourself fell in love after struggling to live as a celibate priest. is celibacy really any longer sensible to enforce upon the priesthood? >> i think it is for those who are called to be monks and to be religious, and i honor and respect the vows that father reece has taken, poverty, chastity, obedience and most of us as secular priests may not be called to lifelong celibacy and the issue of homosexuality, it is horrible to hear they're being told their sexuality is disordered while we know that homosexuality is alive and well among many of the clergy so how is it this institution condemns homosexual persons and their sexual expression and allows or cover up homosexuality within their own ranks? that's a big problem. >> father reece, it is a problem. it is a problem almost of changing times. young

christiane amanpour joins us from rome.k to us about what "the observer" newspaper is now reporting. one of the priests in his 20s in the '80s accuses o'brien of inappropriate action on his behalf. what are we talking about? >> reporter: well, suzanne, this is, you know, been reported by "the observer" newspaper in england and talking about these four priests, three were priests, one was a clergy member, over a period of years that stretched back for a long, long time, to the '80s. now, it has to be said that cardinal o'brien vigorously denies this and is considering -- or is now taking legal counsel. and he has, as you know, decided to not come to rome for the conclave. now, many here would say that was a wise decision. the pope today decided to accept o'brien's resignation. he had to resign because of his age and he did so several months ago. but often popes allow certain priests to carry on for a period of months before they have to step down. in any event, his resignation was accepted. he's not coming. his own website,