They hand to the holy father. When you see them give a flower to the holy father, that is a symbol to him that a prayer has been answered. So a tremendous amount of beauty. We have a band here. They have been practicing for the holy father. Theyll play for him. Many of the people we saw congressman king here ready to greet the pontiff. They are a little behind schedule. The plane, weve been asked about the plane he will be arriving on while the holy father is in the United States. Its an American Airlines boeing 777200. A regular commercial airliner. Its been privately chartered by the u. S. Conference of bishops to take the holy father to new york and to philly. Thats what hell be traveling on. Once he lands at Kennedy Airport, hell be on the helicopter. I dont know if we can get a shot of the helicopter. This is very similar to what the president will be flying on, marine 1. There are two helicopters like that. In terms of the overall security plan, in terms of whats happening, the holy father will be given the same type of protocol that the president of the United States gets when he arrives. Theyre getting the crowd warmed up, so to speak. Theyve given them the vatican flag so they can have that when the holy father touches down. When he lands, this is not considered an official visit. This is merely a stopover. While hes here, there will be no other ceremonies. You cant expect him to talk to some of the children who will be presenting him with that spiritual bouquet. Almost immediately after he greets the people who have been waiting here for him, he will be escorted on the helicopter similar to marine 1 by three osprey helicopters into manhattan for the mass at st. Patricks. Back to you. Dari lisa, thank you. Nick gregory, who is a pilot, tells us that the popes plane, shepherd 1, has been given clearance to land, so it should happen any moment now. Tonight, st. Patricks cathedral and linda schmidt. Steve more on the excitement for the popes arrival and what will be happening during the prayer service. Reporter good evening to both of you. I dont know how i got so lucky. I am blessed to be at that location tonight. Take a look behind me. We are just about 10 yards from where the pope is going to be coming down in the popemobile and going into st. Patricks cathedral. It is spectacular. There is a lot of activity here, despite the fact that the pope is not going to be here for an hour and 45 minutes. You have every type of security you can imagine. In addition to hundreds of people who have been lining up. You had to have a ticket. Hundreds have been lining up since noontime. There are two groups i want to point out because they may have the opportunity to meet pope francis tonight. The first group, paul, lets pan High School Students, freshmen, sophomores, juniors, from a variety of schools. Two are xavier high school, a boys Jesuit High School on the west side. Pope francis is a jesuit. And notre dame high school, thats in the west village. Patricks. There was a lottery system and they won and they were able to come out. They are standing next to the steps that pope francis will be patricks. The other group is a group right over here. Theres a couple of hundred of workers, and these are some of the workers who helped restore st. Patricks, that 175 million restoration project. These are the people who whitewashed the outside of or power washed the outside of st. Patricks and did the scraping and cleaning and painting. They restored the bronze door walking through for the vest perfect vespers service. If he decides he wants to talk with these folks, hes going to do that. Both groups are hoping that happens. This is not going to be a mass. There wont be holy communion. It is a prayer service. The people who will be inside, about 2500 people, im talking about nuns and retired clergy, also priests, deacons and people who donated to that 175 million restoration project, so some very, very lucky people that will partake in the service. But when the pope arrives here, hes going to be greeted by Governor Cuomo, in addition to mayor bill de blasio and senator schumer might be here as well. They will be greeting him when he arrives. From 47th to 57th street. You cannot come down. Its been that way for hours now. Weve been here since 12 30. It was shut down long before we got here. When the pope arrives, after he touches down at jfk and he makes his way into the city, he will be in the popemobile. He will be coming down fifth avenue. We will see him get out of the pope mobile and walk through these doors into st. Patricks cathedral for that service. You live. About being here. Were kind of hoping that the pope cuts us a break and feels sorry for us and maybe hell walk over to us. Thats the latest from here. Back to you in the studio. Steve that would be great. We would love to see that. Youre not the only one excited. Were joined by monsignor hillary franco. Dari thank you for joining us as were watching a plane about to land. Not 100 percent sure this is the popes plane. Do we think this is shepherd 1 . We believe it is. Monsignor, people of new york have you to thank. You were very integral in the process of inviting the pope to come to new york and speak at the u. N. Tell us how it happened. I will tell you that i have in front of me the words used by the secretary general on the 12th of august 2014. He wrote officially to invite the holy father. He said very clearly, on behalf of the United Nations, i have the great pleasure to invite you to participate in the address of the General Assembly in the Member States are willing to listen to your address. This is going to happen tomorrow. This is the first time that the pope comes to new york. Dari and monsignor, here we have it. The pope landing in new york city, landing safely. Steve monsignor, im curious, your perspective on his words today in washington, d. C. I feel this is really i have to tell you i was so moved by the words of the president of the United States and also by hes so simple in what he says, but they those kind of statements are very powerful, if you think about it. Steve we heard him say the golden rule. But reminding us of something which is eternal. Not something that is just here on earth. So that we have to do as much as we can on earth in order to get to be eternal. That was the main message that he gave, ive been to the bishops in st. Matthews in washington. This reminds me of the great cicero, the latin poet writer who used to stay the teacher of light. This is an historic moment. I go back a long time. I remember when the 4th of october, 1965, the first visit of a pope to the United States and to the United Nations. That was a short visit. Blessed paul xi. He came to be with the new york people, to say mass and to address the United Nations, that was a long time ago. Dari i just want to savor these moments we have live on the camera. There are, of course, the pope has landed. We understand the bishop of brooklyn will be greeting him along with 200 other faithful. Almost 500. Dari almost 500 are out there to meet him. Thats what the bishop told me this morning. We were together in the studio. Dari this is his first time to new york city. The first time to the United States and especially to new york. We are giving a welcome to the holy father, to this great city. His predecessor called it the center of the world. Steve this is the first time hes ever been to new york in his entire life. The first time. He has never been to new york actually. Remarks, but you never know what hes going to do. Knowing pope francis, we have to expect the unexpected. Dari you know this man. Tell us what you know. We love him because hes down to earth. And he tells you to your face what he has to tell you, even though he might be dealing with the leaders of the world as he will do tomorrow, tomorrow morning at the United Nations, hell tell them whatever he has within himself. And thats something that i call inspiration. He has his inspirations. And he comes out so forcefully that you and i listening to him say, listen, why didnt i think of this before. Why didnt i do this before . Be doers of the word and not only hear steve he challenges peoples preconceived notions. Today when you saw him in washington, he spoke in a way that couldnt be pigeonholed into one political ideology. He challenged people on both sides. He embraces the world. Sometimes we think in terms of the pope as the leader of the church. He is the leader of the catholic church, but francis is embracing the world. I would say like freshly columns, he embraces the world. Just like previous popes have done, like john 23rd, he did the same, john paul ii, how many times he came seven times to the United States. Steve talk about his popularity. Hes tremendously popular and how energizing that is for catholics. What amazes me is the energy that you find in this man. I was with him for my anniversary of the nation. We had dinner together. He came and stayed with us. I have to say that he ate two pieces of my cake. Dari hes talking about the fact he has gained weight. Stick with us monsignor. We want to go to lisa evers. Shes at Kennedy Airport. Were waiting for the pope to dis disembark and greet the folks and get on the chopper to wall street. Lisa, tell us what youre seeing on the ground. Reporter what were seeing is right now were on the tarmac where the plane is going to be approaching. Roy, theres a stairway that will be the stairway that goes to the plane. Once it comes closer to this area, youre seeing a lot of planes on the live video we have. This is also where the planes that are taking off queue up and turn around. Its a little difficult to see where the plane is, if it has touched down. I can tell you from what were seeing seeing, it has to be within minutes. The entire area is on lockdown. Plane security, the secret service, Port Authority, everybody is in position. Nobody is moving. It its like the entire scene has frozen in anticipation. Theres a tremendous amount of excitement. This will be the place where he gets off. You can see the two helicopters there. Theyre similar to marine 1, the one that the president uses, and the actual protocol for the holy father when he gets off the plane. Every detail from the moment he steps off the plane on to the staircase, this American Airlines staircase, that protocol is exactly similar from a security standpoint to what they do for the president of the United States. Now we are expecting the holy father to walk over to the crowd. In this crowd of several hundred people, representing the areas 5 million catholics, many active in the church, students he loves and adults with special needs, children with special needs and the crowd is full of people. We spoke with some of them as we were waiting to go through the security checkpoint. A lot of the people in the crowd here to greet the holy father were seeing his eminence Cardinal Dolan. I would take that as a sign that the holy father will be here very, very shortly. Were seeing a plane coming up. Well see if it turns. If it comes to us, we believe it is it. Yes. That is the plane. You can see the American Airlines boeing 777200. Word is starting to spread throughout the crowd right now. People are waving their flags. This is the plane that is bringing pope francis to new york city for the first time. The crowd is getting excited, waving the vatican flags. Some have broken out into applause. Cardinal dolan is on the tarmac with the other Church Leadership and clergy and people are scrambling to the barricade to get a glimpse. You can hear them cheering. You can see the plane coming through. Can we swing over . Im going to duck down so you can get a view of the plane. Thats the American Airlines plane. A lot of people were asking is this shepherd 1 . This answer we found out from the archdiocese is no. It is a commercial airline, but it was chartered to take the holy father on his travels in the United States. This is something there wasnt any special design inside inside. People were wondering if he would sit in first class. Its taxiing on the tarmac. A tremendous sense of excitement. We have the secret service. We have the clergy on the tarmac ready to greet him. People have their phones up. You see the american flag, the vatican flag. The plane is coming close. We should have a pretty good view as the door opens. I cant describe the sense of excitement and anticipation is, even with the police officers, the Port Authority police, the secret service. Theres been tight, tight service all day. Theres another atmosphere i cant describe of joy and excitement at this moment. The plane is pulling up. Theyre getting the signal from the ground crews to slow down and coming to a halt. Its very sunny. Cardinal dolan is looking at the crowd, taking it all in, waving to the crowd and the waving them in a blessing type of gesture. Theyre putting the i dont know what theyre called, but barriers they put under the wheels of the plane that the ground crew does. Theyre going to start moving the stairway over to the plane. Im going to jump down so im not in the shot. The plane is at a complete stop. The ground crews are going around, checking the wheels, checking to make sure that everything is 100 percent on point and correct, which is looking very, very good. Cardinal dolan has inched a few feet further with the other leadership and dignitaries from the archdiocese. Another interesting fact about this is this is an unusual visit one of the reasons, according to monsignor harrington there goes the stairway. It is pushed from the terminal over to the plane. This is going right to the doorway of the chartered jet that has brought the holy father here from washington, d. C. Its coming up. In the crowd, weve seen Cardinal Dolan. Weve seen congressman Peter King King eric adams, pastors from parishes and unsung heros in the churches and diocese in the city and tristate. Theyre doing the work for the elderly, for the people with special needs, feeding people, working in the hospitals. Weve seen a lot of nuns and kids. The kids are one of the most exciting sights that the holy i think youre seeing a shot the stairway, the American Airlines stairway has been pushed right up to the plane. Everybody is moving a little slowly into position. The ground crew theyre checking everything. Theyre looking at the wheels. There are two officials going up to the doorway. Again, this is protocol. Theyre checking everything out. The security for his holiness as hes here in new york city is multilayered. The lead organization, the lead agency, is the u. S. Secret service. You have the nypd, but the holy father travels with the swiss guard and with vatican police. They basically are around him 247. Theres always one member of the swiss guard with him. Now people, the crowd is just basically silent. All eyes are trained on that doorway. Him to manhattan once he comes off the plane. Theyre putting a device near the stairway. A guy is going up the stairs. Theyre checking everything on the stairway, i have to tell you. The American Airlines ground crews. Now theyre rolling out the carpet here at the base of the staircase. Theyre going towards the door here. You cant imagine a more Beautiful Day for Something Like this to happen. The weather is absolutely perfect. Here the doors opening right now. We can see the band is playing. Here they come. Just a couple of minutes away, not even, before we see the holy father. Cardinal dolan and the Church Dignitaries are walking over to the staircase. The band is playing, the high school band. And people are walking over. The dignitaries, other officials, everybody is walking over to the staircase here. Looks like theyre going to form an informal receiving line for the holy father as he comes here to give him a big welcome to new york. Theres a couple of kids. Can you see the kids in the shot, roy . Theres a couple of kids in Catholic School uniforms that are going over to the holy father father. Theyre presenting something that he really likes, a spiritual bouquet, a booklet of prayers, prayers that the holy father has offered and that they have been praying for, things he has wanted, which include world peace, includes loving one another and things of that nature. And here he is. Lets just take in this moment, this incredible moment. Its very windy at kennedy he has a broad smile on his face. Cardinal dolans eyes hes moving quickly down the steps. We see the other people getting off the plane, the other Church Officials with him. Im not sure who that is in the suit behind him. Cardinal dolan, the archbishop, theyre greeting him. He has touched down in new york city at Kennedy Airport on this gorgeous september day. Hes hugging them. I think the popes going to like new york. Hes got a big smile on his face. Heres the other Church Leadership coming down and other people that were on this special American Airlines chartered plane. Steve lisa, fantastic job. Thank you very much. What a powerful moment we are witnessing. Well bring the monsignor back in. Give us a little more flavor of what were seeing. This is an incredible sight. I have seen it so many times. To the people of new york, to see francis, a man so popular, you know, coming to our city and understanding the message that he has to give us is incredible. I see all the dignitaries there with him, the bishop of brooklyn because the airport is situated in the diocese of brooklyn. Thats important. And Cardinal Dolan, because hes one of the cardinals of the catholic church. And we have the denuncio who is going to be the