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International Reaction To The Turmoil in Iran is Tempered as Ahmadinejad Acts to Affirm His Victory in the Hotly Contested Election

Aired June 14, 2009 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Two days after a disputed election, the battle lines are drawn. Iran's president holds a victory rally and challenges his critics, "Prove me wrong." Opponents set fires and smashed windows. They want the election results thrown out.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM where the news unfolds live this Sunday, June 14th. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

The main challenger is asking Iran's powerful Guardian Council to nullify the results of Friday's presidential election. Mir Hossein Mousavi says that's the only way to restore public trust following charges of massive vote fraud. He claims he won the election.

Official government results give incumbent, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a landslide victory. Ahmadinejad held a massive victory rally in Tehran today. He insists the election was free and fair.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, PRESIDENT OF IRAN (through translator): In a country where 85 percent of people participate in elections and more than 62 percent cast their votes in my favor; and in a country where the people are united with regard to their national interests, all the pillars of the country have been based on people's vote. Speaking of legitimacy is not appropriate.

How do you come to the conclusion that the people do not accept the election results? Did you contact 40 million people? You are just seeing a few individuals who you like to see. This is a mistake you're making. You give such reports to your governments and other countries, and also make that mistake, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Now, at that news conference, CNN's Christiane Amanpour asked whether he would guarantee the personal safety of opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. When Ahmadinejad ducked the question, she tried again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I may have missed the translation. I was asking whether you were going to guarantee their safety. No, just the first question. Last night, you said that you were the president of all Iran including the reformists and --

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Yes, I did respond to your question. I said that people come out of a stadium and one person may be angry and he may pass the traffic light, violating the traffic regulations and he will be fined by the police. He is also a member of the Iranian nation. Of course, he has been fined for just violating the traffic rules.

This has nothing to do with your question. I'm the president of all Iranians, and as I have been in the past four years. All people are respected and all people are equal before the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is live now from Tehran. She was there during that press conference as you saw.

He certainly dodged your question although he feels he answered it well. What was the atmosphere like in the room?

AMANPOUR: Well, you know, he implied that, actually, a law had been broken and Mousavi was being punished, quote, "fined" for it. But since then, the police have issued a statement saying that they have not arrested Mousavi. So, that's about as official as it gets.

We have not seen him. There is a letter circulating around that he is appealing to the Guardian Council to nullify the election results and also asking for permits so that his supporters all over the country can hold, quote, "peaceful demonstrations" to avoid some of the violence.

Now, today was a day where the streets of Tehran belong to Ahmadinejad supporters. Hundreds of thousands of people came out in an organized rally. You could see it from the helicopter shots from Iranian television at a main square downtown, and surging into the streets around town.

There were, however, still protests from the Mousavi supporters who were airing their grievances and scores and scores of riot police on the streets. By and large, the riot police are not doing a huge amount of intervention, other than pushing the protesters back and dispersing people off the streets. The violence is coming from the un-uniformed, the non-uniformed revolutionary vigilantes who are out there cracking heads and pushing people back. And certainly, we've seen that as well.

WHITFIELD: And, Christiane, you know, you've been covering this region for a long time. But right now, the climate is quite different. What's it like reporting there? We've just heard President Ahmadinejad who said, these questions are coming from representatives of the media, but these kinds of questions are not coming from the general public. AMANPOUR: Well, I mean, clearly, that was a misrepresentation of the facts because, of course, the questions are coming from the public, and the media is (AUDIO BREAK) those questions. (AUDIO BREAK) they're coming from the public (ph) and Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi's group (ph) during the press conference. In a 15-minute opening statement, he basically lashed back at all the criticisms and all the suspicions about the election results.

You heard some of the snippets from the press conference. I know we covered the whole thing live.

There was quite a tense atmosphere. On the streets, on the other hand, it's certainly something that nobody has witnessed in the last 20 or 30 years since the revolution -- this amount and this prolonged street protest from people who have been able to come into the streets and conduct their protests.

And we are still able to report, even though some -- I mean, the press in general is still reporting -- even though some reporters have been manhandled, some have had their cameras taken and tapes taken, and some have been beaten up. Most, those are locals. But -- and one network, an Arab network, Al Arabiya has had its office closed here for a week without explanation.

But this is a lot more open than we might have expected in this very tense atmosphere right now.

WHITFIELD: And those are the targeted, I guess, offenses being brought against many members of the media, whose identity is very public.

Now, what about for the general public, what about for those opposition supporters who have been in the streets, whose identity is also revealed but perhaps they don't have the means of getting the same kind of protection that some of those media personnel do get? Are they worried about their personal safety?

AMANPOUR: Well, you know, we were worried about revealing too much on the air, but yet, people come up to us and demand to be heard and to say their piece. And they know that, certainly, our network is broadcast internationally, and some people, of course, have said, "Please, don't take my picture" and we haven't. Some people have put bandanas and things on their faces to hide their identities.

But the level of the anger and grievance is such that people have come up and willingly volunteered to really talk to us and talk to our cameras, and ask us to broadcast what they are -- what they are saying.

But yes, we have also seen people being taken away by the police. We do not know and have no way of knowing how many have been taken in to custody, and what their fate is. We don't know those figures and that situation. We have seen a few people being taken away in front of our eyes on the streets and we don't know what's actually happened to them.

WHITFIELD: All right. Christiane Amanpour, thanks very much for that -- reporting from Tehran.

Of course, in a moment from now -- about 20 minutes from now, you're going to see the entire exchange between Christiane and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during that press conference earlier today. We're going to rerun that, but in -- almost its entirety.

All right. Meantime, Vice President Joe Biden today said that he has doubts that Iran's election was fair. He made the comment this morning on NBC's "Meet the Press."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, FROM NBC "MEET THE PRESS")

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We don't have all the details. It sure looks like the way they're suppressing speech, the way they're suppressing crowds, the way in which people are being treated that there's some real doubt about that.

I don't think we're in a position to say. It was surprising that the assertion was, he won by, what, 60-some percent of the vote. And so, I think we have to wait and see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Iranian-American protests are sprouting up in several U.S. cities. In Washington, D.C., demonstrators turned out, calling for a recount of Iran's election. Many Iranian-Americans are rejecting the Iran official vote tally. And, in fact, among those in the crowd -- we're joined now by Shahriar Etminani. He was there as well.

Give me an idea of how important you believe, as an Iranian- American, it is, to take part of the protest in the nation's capital, when the sentiment of this outcome of this election is half a world away.

SHARIAR ETMINANI, IRANIAN-AMERICAN: Well, I think, personally, I was there to show support for the kids of Iran that are brutally being beaten up, as we speak, by this regime. So, I felt, as I showed support to be there, and do the little I can do from this part of the world.

WHITFIELD: Do you feel like among colleagues, among fellow Iranian-Americans, that the consensus is the same, that this is not been a legitimate outcome of this election?

ETMINANI: I mean, obviously, I can't speak for the entire Iranian-American community. But I think, if there was a poll taken, a vast, vast majority would agree that this election was a farce, just like every other election that they've had.

The so-called democracy that they have, you know, demonstrated, it really is not a democracy. The candidates are not open. They're chosen based on their beliefs and their background.

So, you cannot have anyone that believes in true democracy, that believes in secular federal government or any other form of government taking part.

WHITFIELD: Well, I wonder if your feeling was a bit different maybe four, maybe even five days ago when -- as I spoke with one young lady who we'll all be hearing from a little bit later on in this newscast. She was in Tehran. She's been out on the street.

And her sentiment is -- about four days ago, there was this feeling that this velvet revolution, so to speak, really could be taking place, that things were about to change. That people were in the streets, they were very hopeful, they were happy. But then when the outcome of the election was revealed publicly, that then changed the tide into protests.

So, were you feeling initially hopeful leading up to the results?

ETMINANI: Well, certainly a lot more hopeful than I have been for the most part of the last 30 years. There's no doubt about it. I think the show of force, the people out on the street, the demonstrations, the partying, the vocal marches that they've had was an absolute anti-Ahmadinejad force.

Ad Mousavi just happened to be there to take the reins -- which is fine. I mean, he's obviously, you know, we do need someone to stand up to Ahmadinejad, but we mustn't forget that Mousavi is still part of the establishment.

WHITFIELD: Well, that's my next question, actually, about what his role now might be, given what took place. He is asking that this vote be nullified. If that were to happen and if it were not to happen, he is still president in that country.

Do you worry about his safety, his livelihood or even the momentum that he and his opposition supporters were able to bring? A lot of questions there, but perhaps you can address them.

ETMINANI: Yes. I mean, I'm just going to make up my own answer. The important thing is, to understand that this is, for the first time in 30 years, we are seeing cracks in the regime -- where we're seeing in-fighting, where the right arm of the regime is fighting with the left arm of the regime, where the more reform-minded are fighting overtly with more radical part of the regime. So --

WHITFIELD: And what do you think the future of this struggle is -- this power struggle?

ETMINANI: Well, you know, we've been hopeful for 30 years, and every time we are hopeful, our hopes have been dashed. So, unfortunately, you know, we kind of need to, you know, show our support for the people of Iran, anything we can do.

WHITFIELD: Do you think, even with the defeat of Mousavi, that indeed ends up being the conclusion that the momentum that he and his supporters helped galvanize, is that finished or do you believe it can be picked up and perhaps that momentum can be taken elsewhere?

ETMINANI: Well, the cynical part of me says -- cynical part of me says that these guys have 30 years of experience of survival, and they will do whatever it takes to survive. So, this will be another blip on the radar that they managed to suppress the people. The hopeful part of me says that -- you know what? You know, there needs to be a catalyst, and we don't know where that catalyst comes from, we don't know where the tipping point will come from.

WHITFIELD: You protested today in Washington. Do you expect that you and others will be gathering again whether it be in the nation's capital or anywhere else domestically?

ETMINANI: I'm sure we will. I mean, I think -- you know, I think the people of Iran demonstrated 30 years ago ...

WHITFIELD: OK.

ETMINANI: ... what the people power can do. And ...

WHITFIELD: All right. Shahriar Etminani, thank so much for your time. I appreciate it. And thanks for sharing your viewpoint today.

ETMINANI: Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: All right. Another major story developing in the Middle East: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today called for the creation of a limited Palestinian state -- for the first time, he says this. But he's insisting it be completely demilitarized and he's demanding the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): In Israel, this is where the Jewish people came in to being. This is where its spiritual heritage was constructed, and this is where it gave the world its supreme spiritual values.

But we have to say the whole truth, ladies and gentlemen, and the fact is, the truth is that, in the areas of our homeland, in the very heart of our Jewish homeland, today, there's a large population of Palestinians who live.

Now, we don't want to impose our culture or our flag on them and we don't wish to control or dominate them. Our view is there should be two free people living side by side, each of them having their own national autonomy, each have their own existence, not threatening the existence and security of their neighbor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Meantime, President Obama has been pushing for a two-state solution during his speech in Cairo. You heard it -- very definitively from him then and he's also calling for a freeze in the Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The Israeli prime minister did not agree to freeze the existing settlement, but of course, we're still awaiting official word from the White House on whether they are happy with hearing, at least in part, what they did today from Netanyahu. We'll have a live report in just 20 minutes -- more on this topic.

Meantime, right back to our other top story -- outraged Iranians challenging a presidential election, they say, was stolen. We'll take an in-depth look at the dramatic development.

And what some doctors don't like about President Obama's health care plan. We'll analyze their complaints.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: For a second straight day, Iranians are taking to the streets, setting fires and smashing store windows in protest to the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Supporters of reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi claim that Friday's election was stolen. They accuse the government of widespread voter fraud.

These photos were taken yesterday as demonstrators clashed with riot police in running street battles.

Well, today, there seems to be no letup in the tension over Iran's disputed election. Earlier, I spoke with a young supporter of reform candidate Mousavi and she didn't want to be identified, but she did give us an insider's view of how voters' anger is spilling into the street.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via telephone): I think that was expected from this sort of outcome, because prior to the election -- five, six nights prior to the election -- this was happening in the streets but very peaceful. And people were just happy and dancing, and there was music and, you know, people were just driving in the streets. And this is going on four or five nights prior to the election, but very few.

But now, all of those people who were in the streets very peaceful, they're really, really, really upset with the outcome of the election. And the ...

WHITFIELD: And so, don't you think, correct, that now, what's taking place, while there have been some fires in the street, it means that some stores and shops have been broken into. There's been some looting. Describe for me if that is correct.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I don't know if there has been some looting or anything like that. But in Vali Asr Street -- which is one of our main streets in Tehran -- most of the banks, the glassed had been broken. Most of the bus stops, the glasses had been broken. All the ATM machines, they're broken.

I mean, you see that all the glasses have been shattered but I don't know if actually something has been taken from it or not. You know what I mean?

WHITFIELD: Now, you're a supporter of the opposition of Mousavi and there has been some talk that he and many of his supporters are trying to win some sort of appeal by superior leaders, the grand ayatollah for one, but once there's already a rubber stamp on President Ahmadinejad's winning, do you think that the opposition has any recourse? Is there any other direction to go to try to get a recount to have this election thrown out, to have a new election? What do you think are the real possibilities?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have no idea. I mean, even if it happens, it has to be under international law or some international -- you know, something bigger than us has a hand of it.

WHITFIELD: You're hoping outside countries -- outside entities will be able to apply some pressure on Iran to make or promote change?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. What I'm thinking is that if they're going to have a recount, we need to have it under some sort of other supervision than the supervision that was already, you know what I mean? Obviously, the supervision that we had in counting the votes, I don't think that it was fair, and I don't think that it was completely 100 percent honest, you know?

So, I think, if there is going to be a recount or if there is going to be another election day for people to be able and have a chance to cast their votes again, you know, I think it needs to be under some sort of international supervision, rather than the supervision of our own country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: She was hoping for some sort of election monitors which are sometimes offered by the U.N. in many countries when they're in the midst of an election.

So, in a letter posted on its campaign Web site, defeated challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi is requesting the results be annulled. He says that's the only way to restore the public's trust.

We're going to continue to watch the developments in Iran and many more international as well as domestic issues will continue to keep close watch on -- right here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Lots of outrage being expressed in many different ways, outrage against Iran's presidential election being voiced -- so many different ways here as you see. And a rally -- a rally is being held in several cities today including this one in Atlanta. Protesters claim the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was rigged and many are demanding a new election be held.

The protests are visible evidence of election unrest, but they are also developments behind the scenes in this unprecedented challenge to the Iranian government.

Joining us from Washington, Trita Parsi, an expert on Iranian politics, also, the president of the National Iranian American Council. Good to see you, again, Trita. You spent a lot of time with us yesterday, helped us to better understand all that's taking place.

TRITA PARSI, PRES., THE NATL. IRANIAN AMERICAN COUNCIL: How are you?

WHITFIELD: I'm doing good.

Well, quickly, you know, Ahmadinejad said during the press conference today that the only one asking the questions here about whether this was a legitimate and fair election are the press. It's not the public. What else did you hear from him?

PARSI: Well, I mean, what he's trying to do is he's trying to frame this issue that this is not a popular dissent with how the votes went, but rather, this is a western media conspiracy. And he's trying to portray the people who are upset about this, who are protesting or are in disbelief right now, as if they have been tricked not by the interior ministry and the Iranian government but by media reports from the west.

WHITFIELD: And you get mixed reviews from people, some who say, well, they're not surprised about this outcome and then there are others who are very hopeful that this was different, this was going to be different. Was this, I guess, was this stage set -- if this was indeed going to be a very different election -- a very different outcome or was that just hope that was being expressed by a few?

PARSI: Well, only two, three weeks before the elections, there wasn't that much of an excitement. It was rather quiet and a lot of people were actually wondering whether the opposition candidates would be able to get out the vote, so to say. It's not until about a week, week and a half before the elections that some sort of electricity started to spread and that was to a large part, it was to a large part --

WHITFIELD: And what sparked that electricity -- that electricity of some "velvet revolution," quote-unquote?

PARSI: Well, I wouldn't go as far as say velvet revolution, because you have to remember, this is not an election about overthrowing the system. At the end of the day, Mousavi has been more involved and been there from the very beginning of the revolution in a way that Ahmadinejad never was. Mousavi was one of the founders of the revolution.

So, we have to be careful not to confuse this to be an election about whether to go forward with a system or to completely get rid of it.

WHITFIELD: Because Mousavi was a former prime minister.

PARSI: He was a former --

WHITFIELD: So, then if the election is such that not much change is really expected because it's not the president who will run and rule the country, it really is the ayatollah, the grand spiritual leaders. Then what was this election to really represent?

PARSI: Well, the president is not as powerful as the president of the United States or any other country would be. Their system is a little bit different. But it's nevertheless not an inconsequential position either. And with the president, would come a new cabinet and a lot of new people into the bureaucracy and into what is called the power elite.

So, through that, this is not an irrelevant election in any way, shape or form.

WHITFIELD: So, now, what happens to that momentum? I asked this to an Iranian-American who joined us earlier. He was out in the D.C. protest.

What happens to this momentum that so many people witnessed, that so many were part of being galvanized by Mousavi, what happens now or will he quietly kind of disappear? Will that movement quietly disappear or will it continue to erupt in other fashions?

PARSI: It doesn't seem likely that it will disappear any time within the week at least, because Mousavi has made it clear that he is in support of non-violent protests. Of course, a lot of these protests are not necessarily been non-violent though.

But the disappointment amongst those who supported Mousavi seems to be so great, the question is: how will they channel it? They seem to be waiting for greater and more detailed instructions on what they should be doing.

But so far, Mousavi and the people around him have not revealed any particular plan. They may be working on a plan but they have not revealed any particular plan.

WHITFIELD: All right. Trita Parsi, thanks so much -- joining us from Washington today.

PARSI: Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it.

And, of course, we're hearing from you in so many forms. In our blog I want to share with you, the sentiment coming from Susan, who says, "I find it hard to believe that Ahmadinejad won by such a landslide considering the amount protests on the streets of Tehran. If he did rig the elections he wasn't smart enough to at least make it look like a closer race and therefore possibly create some validity to the race.

And Kathy Heiney (ph), "I just don't understand how it can be such a close race and then all of the sudden he wins by a landslide."

And R.J. also writes in to my blog, saying "Until the citizens of Iran rise up and take back their country like we did to the British, they will always have rigged elections and corrupted political systems."

So we thank you for your input on, on you views of what's taking place in Iran. And we're also hearing from you on some other domestic issues as well. We'll be sharing that with you coming up later.

Meantime, on to other matters involving foreign policy that the U.S. is certainly keeping close tabs on. We're talking about the Israeli prime minister's new offer to Palestinians. Benjamin Netanyahu called for the creation of a Palestinian state. We've got a live report coming from the region.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Happening right now: Protests around the world, many people who are objecting to the outcome of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad being reelected. Right here you're looking at pictures of a victory rally. That was in Tehran. And now this is a rally outside the U.N. in New York.

Many of these people chanting, "He's a liar, a cheater. He's not my president," presumably many of them Iranian-Americans who are protesting, collecting outside the U.N. So, mixed messages, you saw a victory rally, or a so called victory rally taking place in Tehran and here you're seeing, in the states, at least in New York, outside the U.N. protests against the outcome of the election.

All right a news conference earlier today, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted that the election was free and fair, but many are contesting in a lot of different ways.

On the phone with us right now, Jason Rezaian. He's a freelance journalist. He is an Iranian-American born in San Francisco.

But, Jason, give me an idea, when we see these mixed messages; there is a victory rally taking place in Iran, yet at the same time in other parts of Tehran, we've seen unrest. We've seen members of the opposition party who have come out, they've set fires, they are protesting, give me an idea how you make sense of the disparity of the mood, the disparity of what people are expressing.

JASON REZAIAN, FREELANCE JOURNALIST: Well, Fred, I think that what's going on right now is really showing for the world what a large division there is between different factions within Iranian society. Those that are wanting to hold on to the revolutionary ideals and those wanting to move forward and become part of the community of nations.

I was at the --

WHITFIELD: Is it a fair read, then, that this sentiment particularly of mostly young people who have taken to the streets in Tehran, who say that they felt the momentum for Mousavi, that he was going to win this election. Do you think that their view is a little myopic that it's only Tehran that represented a real push for Mousavi? Or were other cities throughout Iran expressing just what Tehran is expressing? REZAIAN: Yes, definitely, other cities were definitely expressing the desire for a Mousavi victory. One number that we have to look at is from the northwestern parts of the country, where the people are predominantly Ozari (ph)-Turk, which is the ethnicity of Mr. Mousavi. And it's always in the case historically in Iranian elections that Turks vote for Turk candidates, and this time around, that didn't happen, and I was - officially, that didn't happen.

Every supermarket in Tehran that's owned by a Turk had pictures of Mr. Mousavi in their window. You know, I've been here in Tehran for the last month and when the campaigning started about three weeks ago, it definitely felt like a city that was going to go for Mr. Mousavi.

WHITFIELD: What were people hoping for? What did they see in Mousavi? Were they looking at a different kind of Iran, even though the president isn't the one who rules the country. There would be spiritual leaders, the ayatollah that would. Why is it and what is it they were looking for, from Mousavi?

REZAIAN: Well, I think there's several, one of the main ones is a feeling of isolation from the rest of the world, the country that hadn't had diplomatic relations with the United States for 30 years now. They desperately want to open relations with the U.S., many of them.

WHITFIELD: So it's really trying to, I guess create a kinder, gentler Iran, at least from the viewpoint of the rest of the world.

REZAIAN: That's a big part of it. And there's also social concerns here in the country as well.

WHITFIELD: Like what?

REZAIAN: More crackdowns. Well, you know, crackdowns on the things that we've been hearing about for years, women's hijab, you know, the female headdress. You know, tightening on the restrictions.

WHITFIELD: So, more freedoms.

REZAIAN: More freedoms, you know, easier time getting through the bureaucratic mess here in the Islamic Republic, getting permission to travel to other countries. It's a country that's very heavy in paperwork and has become extremely - you know, much more heavy in the last four years under Ahmadinejad. This is a government with big "G" capital "G."

WHITFIELD: I did read, as well, there were some women who were seen crying openly in the streets when they learned of the outcome that it would be Ahmadinejad.

REZAIAN: I've seen that.

WHITFIELD: You have seen that?

REZAIAN: I've seen that quite a bit over the last few days. The last, you know, 24 hours or so. And you know, I was down at the rally for Mr. Ahmadinejad today. Those people were definitely supporters of his, but there were also many of them brought in from other provinces of the country. You know, that's not a good representation of the people of the city of Tehran.

WHITFIELD: Jason Rezaian, freelance journalist, thanks so much for joining us. We'll continue to stay in touch with you.

REZAIAN: My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: To see how things transpire over the next few weeks, if not weeks. Jason, appreciate it.

Meantime the White House continues to monitor the situation abroad. Elaine Quijano joins us live right now.

What, if anything, is the administration saying about the outcome, or about any potential of diplomacy, or reaching out to Iran in any way, shape or form?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, even as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is celebrating what he's calling his re-election victory, here in the U.S., Vice President Joe Biden is making absolutely clear that the Obama administration has its doubts about these election results. In a Sunday morning talk show the vice president explained why it is that the administration has misgivings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We don't have all the details. It sure looks like, the way they're suppressing speech, the way they're suppressing the crowds; the way people are being treated there's some real doubt about that. I don't think we're in a position to say. It was surprising that the assertion was he won by what, 60-some percent of the vote. and so I think we have to wait and see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now at the same time, Vice President Biden did not back away from the administration's position that the United States would still try to engage with the Iranian government, but of course, with Ahmadinejad remaining in power, Fredricka, as we've been saying, analysts are really saying that this is going to be very difficult to find new opportunities to try to do that, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And what about hearing from the president himself?

QUIJANO: No word from the president himself. No word that we might be hearing from him today, but obviously that is always a possibility. What is interesting to note from officials all throughout this weekend is the measured tone, the sort of wait and see approach. It is very much run through not only the vice president's comments today but also we saw that in the written statements by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, and then from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well. Obviously they want to be very cautious here, Fredricka and not say anything, not do anything that might somehow be used as perhaps propaganda by the Iranian regime.

WHITFIELD: Elaine Quijano at the White House thanks so much.

It will be interesting to hear what the us what has to say about this other development, also. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time today called for a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, but there are stipulations. CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now from Jerusalem.

So, Paula, what exactly did Netanyahu agree to?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka there's actually nothing radically new in the speech that the Israeli prime minister has just given. It's new for him, he endorsed a demilitarized Palestinian state to exist side by side with the Jewish state, but this is something many U.S. leaders, many Israeli leaders have already endorsed in the past. Let's listen to part of that speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): We have to recognize this and insist with great assertiveness on the situation, under principles, for the Jewish people in the State of Israel. One is recognition, the Palestinians have to recognize the state of Israel as the country of the Jews. And the second element is demilitarization. A Palestinian entity must be demilitarized and the Israelis have to have a real defense edge over it.

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HANCOCKS: So there were conditions to that Palestinian state. Conditions that have really existed in the past. Many Israeli officials have consistently said that a Palestinian state would not be allowed an army.

But the Palestinian reaction has been wholly disappointed with this speech. We spoke to Mr. Fabaguti (ph), a Palestinian legislator straight after the speech. And he said he didn't endorse a state, he endorsed a ghetto and said the Palestinian state has to have control over its borders and has to have control over its own air space.

Now a couple of the other headlines that came out of this speech, no right of return. Now the Palestinians who used to live in what is now Israel, who left voluntarily, or were forced to leave in 1948, when Israel was created, still want to be able to return to their homes. He said that will not be allowed to happen, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Paula Hancocks, thanks so much. Appreciate that update.

Lots on the plate of the president of the United States, all of these international issues and, of course, the domestic ones, too. Front and center among the domestic issues, the president wants to tackle this week, health care. Hear what the American Medical Association is saying about doctors being forced into the president's health care reform plan.

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WHITFIELD: Lots of international as well as domestic issues, the president of the United States wants to tackle this week. We've been focusing a lot on the international issues from Iran to Israel. Let's now tackle some of the domestic ones.

Front and center, health care. Bill Schneider, is our senior political analyst. He's joining us from Washington.

Health care front and center for the president, but he's going to be meeting a crowd tomorrow which is supposed to be, I guess, on board with his plan but there are a couple of things that the American Medical Association doesn't necessarily like with his health care reform. He's meeting with them tomorrow in Chicago. What should be the expectation?

WILLIAMS SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's going into the lion's den there for the president because the American Medical Association has been critical of some of the ideas that are floating around for the president's health care plan, which is still not set in stone. They're still discussing it with Congress. They've allowed Congress to try to shape the plan.

They're worried about a public alternative plan for uninsured Americans, which they worry could end up crowding out private insurance plans and becoming a large bureaucracy that would determine what doctors do and how much they get paid. So there's a lot of concern about how big this public alternative is likely to be and whether that's the only alternative that can ensure more Americans.

WHITFIELD: Is this turning out to be an uphill battle for the president? We know that prior administrations have tried some sort of health care reform and they've been defeated as well. Why did this administration think - or did it think - it might be a little bit easier, or a little different?

SCHNEIDER: Well, a couple of reasons. One is that a lot of businesses and business groups are working with the administration this time, because the health care costs have become so burdensome that many businesses feel they can't compete in a global economy anymore, having to bear health care costs. So they're trying to work with the administration to get coverage for Americans.

Second of all, there's less distrust instinctive distrust of government than there was 15 years ago when the Clinton administration came in and attempted health care reform. A lot of Americans believe that maybe government can make this work, but they're worried about the government takeover of the health care system.

WHITFIELD: OK, the president wants to focus on domestic issues but doggone, there's a lot of international affairs in which to address as well. Iran being one of them. How in the world does the president, I guess, prioritize when you talk about Iran, the threat of North Korea, and now this development with Israel.

SCHNEIDER: Yes, well those are all very, very, serious. Iran and North Korea, of course, both are - North Korea has nuclear weapons and claims it will develop more. Iran is suspected of trying to develop them, both very dangerous situations, with limited leverage by the United States.

And now we have this election in Iran that makes the situation far more difficult, because not only are we dealing with the hardliners as apparent president of Iran - he was declared the victor, although that's being challenged - but also his legitimacy is very much in question. So if the president tries to make any kind of engagement or concessions with Ahmadinejad, there's going to be a lot of criticism from Republicans in this country, from the Israelis. How can you deal with a man whose legitimacy in his own country is open to challenge?

WHITFIELD: Interesting. A lot at stake. All right, Bill Schneider, thanks so much. We are going to see you again in the 4 o'clock Eastern hour. We are going to talk about Israel and whether this is an about-face for Netanyahu or if this is simply meeting half way in what the administration and White House here in this country thinks about that.

Thanks so much, Bill.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

WHITFIELD: See you again a little over an hour from now.

All right, tough duty in Mississippi today. Residents are out in force cleaning up after some pretty dangerous storms.

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WHITFIELD: Let's talk some severe weather in this country. Our Jacqui Jeras is in the Weather Center.

Some nasty stuff. We're talking tornadoes, lots of rain, what else?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Damaging wind, hail?

WHITFIELD: Everything.

JERAS: Yes, pretty much. That covers it all. And, Fredricka, it's been concentrated in the same areas all weekend long and this is going to continue for at least another couple of days, so the same spots are getting hit over and over and basically what's happening is we've got a stalled out system here. We get little impulses or pieces of energy that move on through here, and they develop these complexes of thunderstorms, we call them MCSes, mesoscale consecutive systems. So, impress your friends with that one for today.

But this is the kind of damage that they can cause. Go ahead and roll the video here, this is in Olive Branch, Mississippi, from one of these MCSes that moved on through. Sometimes they cause severe weather and sometimes they don't. And this time they sure did. Look at the damage. This is just outside of the Memphis suburbs and there's still thousands of people who are without power, temperatures are going to be into the 90s this week. And, yes, they could see more severe weather the next couple of days.

Here you can see the big outlook area that we're going to be dealing with. Speaking of MCSes, here's one moving through Alabama as we speak. A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued just to the south here, because we're expecting this to be moving into an area that's much more unstable, and we're expecting to see some wind damage potentially 60, 70 miles per hour.

A severe thunderstorm watch also here across parts of Kentucky, up toward the Cincinnati area. This is more spotty weather into that area. And while there's nothing severe now across parts of Colorado, on into parts of Kansas, we'll be monitoring this area very closely for things developing later on this afternoon.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Jacqui. Appreciate it.

Iran is the top story and how the votes are being challenged, or are they? An update right after this.

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WHITFIELD: We'll be keeping you posted on the developments out of Iran. A call for the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be annulled. We'll be joined by someone who was once a translator for President Ahmadinejad.

Also what you're saying about President Barack Obama's planned health care reform. One woman tells us she can't afford to go any longer uninsured. All that straight ahead in the NEWSROOM at the 4 o'clock Eastern hour. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Today on "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS," the fight for the future of Iran. What's at stake? "Your $$$" is up next.