are monitoring the chimney atop the sistine chapel very closely, because 115 cardinal electors are voting right now for a new pope. we could see white smoke at any moment if a new holy father has been chosen. otherwise, we re going to have to wait a bit. we ll see white or black smoke around 7:00 a.m. eastern time. that will mark the end of the morning voting session. if a pope has not been elected by then, the cardinals return for afternoon voting at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. we want to get right to chris cuomo, who is anchoring our coverage live from rome. and chris, we really are entering a critical few minutes in the pope watch. reporter: yeah, this is a big moment. i think it s a big reason why you see a pretty sizable crowd at st. peter s square right now. they have umbrellas. it s not a pleasant day here, but if there is smoke right now, and the cardinals should be finishing their first vote. it takes about an hour or so for them to go through the voting process. that would mea
coverage of conclave day two, the selection of a new pope. and right now, everyone affixed on the copper chimney atop the sistine chapel with cardinals voting again right now. yesterday, we saw black smoke, signaling they had failed in their first attempt to produce the next spiritual leader of the roman catholic church. just 30 minutes ago, the cardinals re-entered the sistine chapel to vote again. and 30 minutes from now, at 5:30 eastern, we could see white smoke if a new holy father has been chosen. if not, we will again see black smoke or white smoke at 7:00 a.m. eastern, marking the end of the morning voting session. and if necessary, the cardinals will return for afternoon voting. that is beginning at 11:00 a.m. eastern. we are truly on papal watch. let s get you out to rome. cnn s chris cuomo anchoring our coverage on this historic morning for the world s 1.2 billion catholics. and today s really the first full day that we will see. reporter: this is a very important day. good
cardinal electors are voting right now. at 7:00 a.m. eastern we are expecting to see more smoke, black or white, marking the end of the morning voting session. and if necessary, the cardinals will return for afternoon voting that is beginning at 11:00 a.m. eastern. then at 12:30 this afternoon, all eyes will be back on the sistine chapel chimney awaiting yet another smoke signal from the cardinals. so let s get right to cnn s chris cuomo anchoring all of our live coverage from rome. good morning to you. hi, zoraida. yes, we re waiting for the pope to come here. the crowds are gathering. if you look at st. peter s square, obviously no action from the chimney, but you see more and more people are starting to come in there. tourists, sure, but this is a big tradition. you take a look you ll see flags from all different countries. we ve been hearing different languages there, different signs in different languages. so people are coming in as john allen just explained to me. even if it s
smoke again. could be black, could be white, marking the end of the morning voting session. if necessary, the cardinals will return for afternoon voting beginning at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. and at 12:30 this afternoon all eyes will be back on the sistine chapel awaiting another smoke signal from the cardinals. really it is a day of watching and waiting with immense anticipation. cnn s chris como anchoring our coverage. we seem to be past the first period where we could have seen white smoke. right, if we re going to see any smoke it would have been white because it would have been the first vote. would have been successful. we believe they re in the process of their second voting. remember, there are no speeches, no politicking. it s like a prayer service. it takes about an hour and change. so we ll be waiting for smoke when it finishes, could be black or white. thousands of people gathered in st. peter s square because this is a big deal. is it likely there could be a