people and i think you ll see in new york him taking every opportunity to do that. we should point out, there are rings of security in new york and the new york nypd is clear about this and public so not saying anything out of school in central park where the pope will be tomorrow, he is that is a crowd that will go through airport level style security. no backpacks, they will be checked. there is a level of certainty of security in the crowd around st. patrick s, wolf and father beck and i all came through metal detectors, the, sa manned mettle detectors as we came in very tight security just to get into this immediate area and there are several groups of people that have gone through that level of security. a little further up, this are
not a huge limo or anything. it s that fiat that will do the driving. right. this is a heliport which actually usually would be crowded with helicopters, tourists taking off for rides around the city, police helicopters landing. when i was there there were probably eight or nine helicopters of different sorts taking off and landing at any given time. they ve obviously cleared it. they are waiting for the pontiff. and it should be just a few minutes until he gets here. but that s been the big question for the nypd is is he going to stop, want to wade into a crowd, and how do they deal with it if that does in fact happen. well, i remember that the u.s. secret service came over to rome to discuss with the vatican security and to watch pope francis and what does he like to do and how does he like to get around st. peter s square because that is one of the things that they wanted to be able to accommodate. but at the same time, you know, have their security needs met as well. and i thin
testing for devices. they are taking this very seriously, indeed. probably the largest security operation the nypd says they have ever engaged in, at least in recent memory. i come every year for the u.n. general assembly. i don t remember security like this whole city block shut off. explain the symbolism in the fiat. well point out one helicopter looks like it s landing now. properly the pope s helicopter. let s take a look. the fiat was my suggestion, the fiat perhaps is a message on the part of the vatican because fiat, for a lot of catholics, they will recognize it as the words that mary said to the angel when the angel came to announce to her she was to bear jesus and fiat is latin for let it be done unto me. yes.
world. he spoke to us very clearly about the moral responsibility that we have on that particular issue. congressman, we appreciate your time. it s been an extraordinary day in washington. now the focus turns to here in new york. as our viewers can see the door of what is being called shepherd one will open shortly. pope francis will make his first visit here to new york city. i m joined by wolf blitzer. also joining us father beck and vatican correspondent delia gallagher. this is a city which has really now been preparing for this arrival for months working in conjunction with the secret service, the nypd, the fbi. a huge number of local, federal and state law enforcement agencies. the task is enormous given that it s not just the pope s arri l arrival, it is also the u.n. general assembly. there s going to be a visit by president obama, there s a big concert in central park over the weekend. it is a huge security
tight obviously for this pope, but at the same time he clearly wants an opportunity to meet new yorkers. and that s something the nypd and obviously the secret service which is in overall charge of his security has been taking into consideration now for weeks. they have been planning this. they have actually you know, all the possibilities to kind of play out role play out how they would react to such a thing. again, it s what they don t know the head of counterterrorism for new york. he s had a lot of sleepless nights planning this out. he feels very confident the nypd is ready, that this city is ready. you know, new york and the nypd have a long experience of dealing with big events like this. this is a confluence of a number of huge events not just the pope s arrival, u.n. general assembly, president obama a big concert this weekend in central