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Mousavi Supporters Continue to Protest in Streets of Iran; Questions of Iranian Vote Legitimacy May Complicate Obama's Plan to Reach Out to Iran on Nuclear Issues; Gas on the Rise Yet Again; Dow Finally Back in the Black for the Year, But Down 190 Points Today; Progressive Insurance Commercial Raises Some Eyebrows
Aired June 15, 2009 - 09:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Here's some of the top stories happening right now. President Obama returns to his former home state -- Chicago, Illinois, obviously -- this morning, to continue his pitch on health care reform. But he could face a pretty tough crowd. He's going to be addressing members of the American Medical Association. The group opposes his plan for government-run health care system that competes with private insurers.
A pilot's union official says Air France has replaced the air speed sensors on an entire fleet of Airbus A-330s and A-340 jets. Investigators looking into the crash of Air France Flight 447 focused on the possibility that external speed monitors malfunctioned. They say that may have fed the airplane's computers flawed information that eventually could have caused the crash.
Federal health officials say there could be a swine flu vaccine ready by the fall. The announcement comes after the WHO declared last week the H1N1 virus has become a global pandemic. It's the first time the organization has made an announcement like that in 40 years.
Still very tense in Tehran today. But there are moves being made now to calm the Iranian capital after two days of post-election protest. Supporters of the leading opposition candidate gathered for a demonstration today, watched over by police. Mir Hossein Mousavi supporters feeling the election was stolen from them. Here's what one woman said yesterday about President Ahmadinejad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: He hates (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The announcement of the official results sparked violent demonstrations over the weekend in Tehran. The worst the capital has seen since the student's protests more than a decade ago. Here's the very latest now on what we know from Iran. Supporters say the defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi appeared at that rally in Tehran today but we have not been able to verify that information here at CNN. We are watching closely for any appearance of him. It would have actually been the first time that he's been seen since Friday's vote. Iran's Guardian Counsel says it will investigate the complaints that Friday's election was marred by irregularities. We are expecting leading opposition candidate Mousavi to ask followers to call off protests and appeal for calm. Official results announced on Saturday showed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad winning the election with 62 percent of the vote.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been dismissing the importance of the post-election protest. Mr. Ahmadinejad received a huge outpouring of support at his own rally yesterday. He also spoke with reporters. Our Christiane Amanpour asks whether the president could guarantee the safety of his defeated rival. The Iranian president did not answer directly, instead speaking allegorically about the election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRAN (through translator): People may become excited and that may lead to a confrontation between the police force. This is something natural that a person coming out of stadium and may violate the traffic regulations, he will be fined by the police, no matter who he is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Christiane Amanpour is at that opposition rally right now. It's been pretty difficult to reach her, as you may imagine, but we of course, we'll bring that live report just as soon as we are able to get it.
Meanwhile, protests over the election results happening outside of Iran, too. Hundreds of Iranian citizens living in major cities overseas demonstrated against the results all weekend long. Many of them say they don't think their ballots were counted.
Our Atika Shubert is joining us now from the Iranian embassy in London. So Atika, tell us a little bit more about what is going on behind you there?
ATIKA SHUBERT, CN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've got now more than 200 people gathered here. Most of them are students and all of them wearing green. The colors to support Mousavi. But also a number of families and kids out here, it's a very peaceful protest but the message is very clear. They've been chanting, where is my vote? Singing songs that say, shame on you, Ahmadinejad, leave now or we're going to take back our vote. They are very upset by these election results and they say it's a completely stolen and rigged election and they won't stop protesting until something is done about it, Heidi.
COLLINS: Atika, tell us a little bit more about why they think that. Have they been able to say to you, I guess some of them claiming that on Friday, Mousavi was actually up quite a bit higher in the polls?
SHUBERT: Well, that's what they say. They say everyone here said that they voted for Mousavi and friends they have back home in Iran, especially students and the younger generation all seemed to vote. So they don't understand how these numbers can be so skewed, and that's why they feel this election was stolen from them. And despite reports today that there will be an investigation into the election results in Iran, many here say they don't have any confidence in that because they feel that any investigation is going to be run by the government. So they feel it's still going to be rigged.
COLLINS: All right. You let us know what develops there, certainly. All right. Atika Shubert live from London this morning. Thanks so much, Atika.
The Iranian election happened thousands of miles away, but you can feel the anger right here in the United States. These are just some scenes from Washington, New York, Texas and California. Protestors suspicious of those election returns.
Questions of the Iranian vote legitimacy may complicate President Barack Obama's plan now to reach out to Iran on the nuclear issue. CNN's Elaine Quijano has more on that from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad celebrated what he called his re-election, Vice President Joe Biden made clear that the Obama administration has doubts.
JOE BIDEN, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: We don't have all of the details. It sure looks like the way they are suppressing speech, the way that they are suppressing crowds, the way in which people are being treated that there's some real doubt about that.
QUIJANO: Despite reports of voting irregularities, Vice President Biden did not signal the administration would back away from efforts to engage the Iranian government but he insisted, the U.S. position on Iran's nuclear program will not change.
BIDEN: Our interests are the same before the election as after the election. And that is we want them to cease and desist from seeking a nuclear weapon and having one in its possession and secondly to stop supporting terror.
QUIJANO: Analysts say if Ahmadinejad remains in power, the U.S. will have no choice but to deal with him.
KARIM SADJAPOUR, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: It's going to be very difficult for the Obama administration to say that no we want to speak to different (inaudible), given the influence which Iran has on major issues of critical importance to U.S. foreign policy from nuclear proliferation to Iraq and to Afghanistan.
QUIJANO: But the dispute over Ahmadinejad's reelection also ratchets up the pressure on the Obama White House to get tougher with Iran.
REP. MIKE PENSE (R), INDIANA: We need to take a half step back from this administration's olive branch and apology approach to enemies and countries that have been hostile to the United States of America.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Elaine Quijano is joining us now live from Washington with more on this. All right. So Elaine, we heard from the vice president and we heard from Congressman Pence urging the president to speak out on Iran. Are we going to hear from President Obama, especially given now all of these allegations of a ballot fraud?
QUIJANO: You know, we'll have to wait and see. That's the big question right now. But I can tell you here in Washington and in a statement, Senator Joe Lieberman said that the Iranian regime had made a mockery of democracy and he called on President Obama and lawmakers to express solidarity with the Iranian people. But you know, it is a very tricky, delicate situation for the administration right now. Obviously, they don't want to do anything at all that could somehow be construed as interfering.
COLLINS: Or as supporting either candidate, I guess at this point. We're still waiting...
QUIJANO: Sure.
COLLINS: ... to make sure all of these voter fraud allegations are cleared. Sure do appreciate that. CNN's Elaine Quijano out of Washington this morning. Thanks, Elaine.
The White House has been very cautious in its response to the elections in Iran but some in Congress are speaking out on how the vote may affect future U.S.-Iranian relations. Here's what North Dakota democratic senator Kent Conrad told our John King.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This president just said he wants to reach out to Iran. He wants to have a big dialogue with Iran. If Ahmadinejad claims victory and the White House believes that there are irregularities, does that diminish the reasons and the moral standing of Ahmadinejad to the point where you think dialogue should be lessened?
SEN. KENT CONRAD (D), NORTH DAKOTA: You know I don't think any of us know at this moment if he won in a legitimate election that's one thing. If it was filled with fraud, as it's now alleged, that's quite another thing. And we see the Iranian people in the streets by the thousands saying that they believe that their votes were stolen. So this become as very serious matter for the Iranian people and certainly for our relations with them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: On the Republican side, President Obama is hearing criticism about his response to Iran from a man who may be eyeing his office for 2012. Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney appeared on ABC this week, blasting the president for saying that this election stirred a robust debate in Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The comments by the president last week that there was robust debate going on in Iran was obviously entirely wrong-headed. What has occurred is that the election is a fraud. The results are inaccurate. And if you're seeing a brutal repression of the people as they protest. The president ought to come out and state exactly those words, indicate that this has been a terribly managed decision by the autocratic regime in Iran.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Romney dropped out of the Republican primaries last year, but there are speculations he could run for president again.
Getting doctors on board, the president's plan for health care reform. Can he win them over?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Expect California's budget deadline come and go. Well, today, state lawmakers haven't met the target date since 1986. And this year they have to deal with the deficit of more than $24 billion. Last month, voters rejected plans to tax and borrow more in order to relieve the deficit. Without the budget agreement by the end of next month, the state controller says California will run out of money.
Recovering from some pretty rough weather over the weekend. Parts of Alabama are cleaning up after a severe storm there. Strong winds knock over trees and that damaged several homes. Thousands of people were out of power for a little while. And in Colorado, look at that. A funnel cloud drifted right over downtown. The National Weather Service says it never touched, thankfully but the funnel cloud was visible from the Rockies Stadium. The weather delayed the game for almost an hour. Rob Marciano standing by at the severe weather center to talk a little bit more about this. Hey, there, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi there. That's when we start to take note, when they start interrupting baseball games.
COLLINS: That's right.
MARCIANO: That becomes the news. That particular funnel cloud, Heidi, did not touch down, but there were 11 reports of twisters that did make it to the ground yesterday, mostly in parts of Wyoming, Kansas, and later on today, Kansas is going to be under the gun. But this stretch or this expanse of severe weather threat does make it's way all the way to the East Coast and through the low country of the Carolinas. So be aware of that.
Kansas City, you got hit with a thunderstorm. A pretty good one at that. Jefferson City towards St. Louis, heavy-duty thunderstorms right now and some flash flood warnings down the I-44 corridor. So we'll try to get this out of here but it's going to be several hours before we can view that.
Had some showers and low clouds across the Northeast. That has since come to an end but down across the Delmarva into the Hampton Roads area, some rain and thunderstorms there. San Francisco now, the only airport clocking in with 30-minute delays, mostly because a little bit of low-cloud cover there. Sixty for the high, expected in San Francisco. That's typical. Sixty-seven, that's not New York. And 87 degrees expected in the Atlanta area.
The heat will continue to build across parts of Texas and then eventually into the central plains and the foothills and front range of the Rocky Mountains. Meanwhile, still relatively cool out west. Speaking of west, I think we got a little Las Vegas tower camera. There you go.
COLLINS: All right.
MARCIANO: I knew you'd cheer that one on. KLAS, thanks, guys. Looking pretty good. Temperatures there right around 90 for the high. So that's for Vegas standards as you well know, Heidi, and not necessarily blistering hot. So...
COLLINS: No.
MARCIANO: ... now may be a bad time to head out.
COLLINS: Get in the pool, right?
All right. Rob, thanks so much. Appreciate that.
Hey, gas prices are on the rise, in case you haven't noticed. How long have they been creeping up on us, and can we expect any relief any time soon?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: It is a very busy day in the news, and we are getting a lot of responses on the two main stories that we're following today. A health care reform because President Obama is right now on Air Force one making his way to Chicago. He's going to be talking to the American Medical Association. So we'd love to know what you think about health care in the United States and also what you think can be done to fix it. Just want you to go to CNN.com/newsroom and then click on my name. Heidi. And you'll find these postings here that you comment on.
Also, the Iranian elections. You can see here the Iranian government says President Ahmadinejad won but a lot of other people have some doubts, in fact, some of those election results are in question right now. There's apparently an investigation that's going to be taking place. We've got a ton of comments about that. So make sure you go to CNN.com/newsroom and tell us what you think. We're back in a moment right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: All right. So real quickly, I want to take a look at the Big Board for you because it is down, down, down. Dow Jones industrial average down about 160 points now. We're only about 45 minutes into the trading day. So we expected it to be down, not sure if we expect it to be down quite that sharply. The good news that we've been talking about, apparently the strength of the dollar is up just a bit against the euro. So it might have something to do with that here.
Again, Dow Jones industrial average is resting now at 8,640. We'll continue to watch that number. Also watching your pennies because it seems just like a few pennies here and there but it's actually been going on for a few weeks.
Gas prices, steadily rising right when a lot of us are taking these summer road trips. Interesting how that happens. Stephanie Elam is joining us now live from New York with more on this. So they have been actually on the rise for something like -- I mean, it's almost 50 days, isn't?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Starting April 29th, as a matter of fact, and every day since then, Heidi, we have seen gas prices picked up a penny here, picked up a penny there. A little more, a little less every single day. But now, let's take a look at where gas stands right now, and you can see that we are at $2.67 for a gallon of regular gas.
Last month, $2.30 but remember last year when it was really, really painful. It was above $4, and that's not even absolutely the high that we saw last summer. So things are still better than they were, but definitely we've seen a move higher here. AAA is saying that now since the start of the year we've seen gas prices gain about a dollar.
So it's definitely picking up here a little bit everyday and a lot of these has to do with crude oil prices which have been going higher. Obviously, a major component of making gasoline. But we did see them retreat a bit this morning. Still, all of that adding in but people say that this probably won't continue. The analysts saying they do not expect this to go up to the $4 a gallon gas that we saw last summer -
COLLINS: OK.
ELAM: Simply because -- and I know, everyone's -- right. But here's the thing, Americans are not using as much gas right now as they did last year, and a lot of that has to do with the recession. They are still not back to spending the way they were beforehand.
COLLINS: Yes.
ELAM: And overall, if you just look at the whole global community, people are not demanding as much gas as being supplied. That should lead into, at some point, this tapering off on the cost.
COLLINS: Yes, but when gas prices go up, I mean, we all are pretty clear that it can have a real impact on economic recovery.
ELAM: No doubt about it. We need consumers to spend, and if consumers are spending more on gas, then they may not be spending on other areas in the economy. They may not be shopping as much, maybe they're not traveling as much, and we need all of that for the economy to get back on its feet. So it's definitely something to be concerned about. You talk about those brain shoots of recovery and that could definitely squash it if people are spending more of their income on gas prices.
COLLINS: Yes.
ELAM: But at this point, they're saying it should not turn into last summer's painful driving season.
COLLINS: Fingers crossed.
ELAM: Fingers are crossed. Yes.
COLLINS: Good shot, though.
ELAM: Yes.
COLLINS: All right. Stephanie, thanks so much. Appreciate that.
CNN Thursday night at 8:00, I want to let you know, Anderson Cooper and Ali Velshi will be doing "Money & Main Street." Chat live with our experts for advice on how to beat the downturn. RSVP now at facebook.com/cnn.
In about two hours President Obama is going to be making a speech on health care reform to doctors. The president is headed to Chicago right now to address the American Medical Association. He's going to outline his plan to overhaul America's health care system. The president's plan include a series of steps to lower current costs. One proposal, raise taxes to pay for an overhaul of the healthcare system, including the creation of a government-funded option for the nation's 46 million uninsured.
Earlier this morning, Kiran Chetry talked to Republican Ron Paul about what he doesn't like about the president's plan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: The American Medical Association does have some serious concerns about a government-sponsored public health care program and you share some of those same concerns. In a nutshell, what is troubling you the most?
REP. RON PAUL (R), TEXAS: Well, I don't like socialized medicine. We've had corporate medicine now for about 30 years, which is managed medicine by the government, and it's been a total disaster and it didn't do much more than push the costs up and it didn't work so now we only have one other choice, it seems. And that is going towards total government medicine. I would like to see that medicine be delivered in the marketplace like other good and services. There's no reason why we can't do this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: The AMA has a few questions about the president's plan as well. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is joining us now to talk a little bit more about that. OK. So Dr. Paul says the private sector should actually deliver health care just like anything else. Is he right on that?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Let me tell you what the other side would say. The other side would say look the private sector has had decades to try to deliver care in a way that those 46 million would be insured. So they've had decades to try to figure out how to sort of cover everybody and it hasn't happened. So maybe this is time for the government to step in a bigger way than it had in the past.
Now, of course, to go back to that first side, what they would say is that gosh, well the government - they mess up a lot of things. So do we really want them involved in our health care?
COLLINS: Yes. So when we talk about doctors because I think this is a really interesting perspective. I mean he's going to be in front of the AMA today. What specifically are they listening for in what he has to say?
COHEN: Doctors are going to be listening for how hard and how passionately he pushes this public health insurance option. So what Obama is planning to say is look why don't we just have the government offer health insurance to everybody? It would be government-run and it will be an option for whoever wants it. Doctors aren't so crazy about that. So they want to know how serious is he? How hard is he willing to push for this?
COLLINS: Yes and I'm sure the next question is always how much will it cost the government, which mean it costs you and me, the taxpayer, right?
COHEN: Right. Absolutely. Sure.
COLLINS: Doctors don't really seem to love this idea overall, right? So what exactly are their ideas? I mean, is he going to be looking for proposals from them or how interactive is this whole thing going to be?
COHEN: Well, it will be interesting to see, you know, of course we can't see this but what goes on behind closed doors.
COLLINS: Yes.
COHEN: I mean, what's going on here is Obama will be speaking to the doctors. I'd love to be a fly on the wall when they all sort of get into the room and chat. Because I'm sure he's going to ask them, OK, well, you don't like this idea of a public insurance option. What do you want to do? They said publicly that they would like to see the private sector work this out, and they've also said, you know what, as doctors we are willing to do whatever we can to help keep costs down.
COLLINS: OK. Well, interesting. We are going to continue to follow that, obviously. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much. I want to remind everybody too that President Obama is talking to the American Medical Association today at 12:15 Eastern and we will bring that to you live when it happens. Right here on CNN again at 12:15.
Hundreds and thousands of people turning out for a demonstration today against the Iranian presidential voting results. We'll talk more about it in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: I want to get back to the election situation in Iran now. Reaction to what's going on after the demonstrations against the Iranian elections are going on here in this country as well.
Spirited protests have sprung up across major cities. Many people feel like they have to take a stand against what they consider people being repressed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are being repressed violence on the streets of Iran. So we want to express solidarity...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Members of Congress area also speaking out about the election results in Iran. Republican congressman Mike Pence had a suggestion for President Obama. He spoke with John King on CNN's "State of the Union."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): President Ahmadinejad now says he won and overwhelmingly so. His opponents says the election was stolen and Vice President Biden this morning says from everything he's seen, the guy might have a point that there are definitely irregularities and the White House wants to know more. What happens now in U.S. relations?
REP. MIKE SPENCE (R), INDIANA: Well, I think first and foremost we need to take a half step back from this administration's olive-branch- and-apology approach to enemies and countries that have been hostile to the United States of America and our allies, particularly with regard to Iran. I think it's important that we step back, that we -- I'm hoping before the end of the day today that the president of the United States will speak a word of support for Mr. Mousavi and for the dissidents and for the reformers within Iran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: A reminder, you can watch CNN's "State of the Union" with John King every Sunday beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
The unrest in Iran had prompted a note of caution to U.S. military personnel in the Persian Gulf region. Our Barbara Starr is checking in from the Pentagon this morning. So Barbara, what is the U.S. military saying?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, good morning to you. CNN has learned that the U.S. commanders in the Persian Gulf in the Middle East have received a classified message during this election time frame in Iran, warning them to exercise prudence, caution and restraint. What is this all about? Well, you know, the U.S. Navy, if you look at the map is headquartered in Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. They often encounter Iranian military ships in those Persian Gulf waters, especially shipping men by Revolutionary Guard Corps. This is the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, that is so strategic.
Of course, the oil shipping, and they've had unpleasant encounters with these guys in the past. You'll remember in 2008 the U.S. Navy got harassed by Iranian speed boats operated by the Revolutionary Guard Corps. So this classified message is a reminder. If you encounter these people, things are very uneasy in Iran. Don't get suckered in. Don't have some misunderstanding that could escalate and somebody needs to have happened. So it's a big note of caution, and it really reflect the concern on the part of the U.S. military, Heidi.
COLLINS: It's always a good reminder that how closely -- whether they want to be or not, the military and politics usually are. What are the concerns that the military have right now?
Well, in this whole region, the concern basically is, number one, things are so uneasy in Iran that the regular Iranian military program causes concern because nobody know what's going to happen. It's not just the nuclear program but, of course, Iran's ballistic missile program, Iran's support for terrorist groups, again, Hamas and Hezbollah, and concerns about Iranian involvement, if you will, in the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A lot of concern with the uncertainty about what is going on inside the Iranian regime, that there might be some lashing out on all of the fronts. It's something that the Obama administration is watching very carefully.
COLLINS: All right. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. Barbara, thanks for that.
How did the Iranian election results impact you here in the United States? I had a chance to speak to an expert on the Iranian and U.S. relations last hour, Trita Parsi. This was his take on whether the two countries can still open a dialogue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRITA PARSI, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL IRANIAN AMERICAN COUNCIL: You have to remember that Obama administration decided that they want to pursue diplomacy with Iran, not because of a particular liking or disliking of any particular candidate, but because it lies in the interest of the United States to find a better relationship with Iran...
COLLINS: However... PARSI: ... in order to be able to stabilize Iraq and stabilize Afghanistan...
COLLINS: Right, but it matters how -- whoever that individual is, got into office...
PARSI: It matters because of the atmospherics (ph). It matters because of the comfort level in Washington, and after this, of course, it will matter if the person actually is someone that is seen as legitimate inside the Iranian system...
COLLINS: Certainly.
PARSI: So a lot of things have clearly changed. But I think the administration's pursuit of this has been because Iran and the U.S. need to talk to each other in order to be able to stabilize the region.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now Parsi thinks this is not over yet. He says all of the uproar in the country could affect the eventual outcome. Right now, we have CNN's Christiane Amanpour on the phone live in Tehran where one of the rallies is taking place. Give us an idea of what you are seeing around you.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've seen the Freedom Square, which was the size of a Mousavi election -- preelection -- rally. We've seen thousands and thousands of people, sort of marching very peacefully around the square gathering on the lawn in front of the big, distinctive square that they call Freedom Square here. And many more in the streets surging towards.
We did not see Mousavi there, but other reports are saying that he did address the crowd from the top of a car. Remember, we told you that he had seen a two-car convoy which people had thought that Mousavi was inside. He did address people from the top of a car using a loudhailer (ph), according to other reports, including the Iran's press TV and, again, spoke out against the election results and said the people's vote was what mattered more than Mousavi or any other individual.
What we also have been reporting is from Iranian state television, which carried a statement from the supreme religious authority here, Ayatollah All Khamenei (ph), who has said that if Mr. Mousavi had any concerns or complaints about the election process, then he should proceed through the legal channels to address those, and that would be through the Guardian Council, which is the religious vetting body, which vets the all the candidates and everything around the election.
And subsequently, we also heard on the Iranian television that the Guardian Council said that they would investigate and that results would be out within 10 days or so. Heidi. COLLINS: Okay. So results will be out in 10 days or so. I'm sure the people around you are aware of that. What's the reaction? What's the feel from the people that are at that rally right now. Do they have confidence that there may be a chance that this could turn around? I mean, I know that they are aware that President Ahmadinejad has declared victory.
AMANPOUR: Well, it's hard to tell. They clearly are out on the street because they think, they hope they hope that they can affect the future. They keep saying "Mousavi, Mousavi, get our vote back for us." They keep saying "Mr. Ahmadinejad, show us that 63 percent." (INAUDIBLE)
It's a very peaceful rally today, I might add, with no police presence that we can see. No uniformed police at all in the immediate area of the square. And in terms of do they think it can be overturned, I don't know what they -- whether they really think that can be. I think they hope that can be. Of course, the supreme leader here has already given his stamp of approval, and we should have to wait and see how this develops. Because everything that is happening right now is unprecedented and unusual, and there is really no precedence for us to be able to compare this to.
COLLINS: All right. Understood. Christiane Amanpour for us, reporting at one of the rallies that is taking place in Tehran right now. Opposition supporters of Mousavi. Again, getting reports that he's at that rally himself - Christiane not seeing him herself, but she has been hearing the reports that he's there. We'll continue to follow that and look for him and confirm it here at CNN.
The economy 2009. That's the focus of the summit happening right now. Time Warner is holding the event and, as you know, that's our parent company. You're looking at a live picture from New York. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner gave the keynote speech. That's Dick Parsons there. We know him well, too, here at CNN. Our own Ali Velshi and Christine Romans are moderating the panel discussions.
On Wall Street, the Dow, finally back in the black for the year, but today not really super great. Down 190 points. Susan Lisovicz is standing by on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with details. All right. So, we thought the numbers were going to be down. Did we think they were going to be down this much this early on in the day?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, this is a real break. What we've seen, Heidi, because I think, you know, June has been really marked by sort of the sluggish moves, which belies over the last few months. We've talked about it before, Heidi, that we have a bull market. No question about it. Dow is up 34 percent since the bottom of the market of this bear market, which was in early March. The S&P is up about 40 percent from that time. The Nasdaq's up even more than that.
Why is that? We've seen encouragement, consumer confidence, auto sales, the housing market. The market has responded to it in a big way. But we're still down substantially as well. The three major averages down 40 percent from the all-time highs that we saw in late '07. Right now, after 12 weeks of pretty big jumps, the market is pulling back. Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, and we're only halfway through the year. Is it too early to declare any financial market recovery?
LISOVICZ: Well, there's no question we've had this big jump, and part of the problem is where we are right now. One analyst explained it to me, you know, think about it. If we're up about 40 percent from the lows that we've seen in this bear market, but we're still down about 40 percent from the all-time highs that we saw in late '07, where are we? We're in the middle.
There's a lot of debate as to which way the next big move will it be. Will it be to the upside or downside? We have -- we certainly -- there's been a big response to improvements in the economy and the sense that it's bottoming out. But are there concerns? You better believe it.
For instance, we've seen an uptick in mortgage rates. That certainly would not be helpful to any sort of improvement that we've seen in the housing market. And gas prices -- oil right now is trading down by a buck-fifty, but it's still 70 -- it's above $70 a barrel. A lot better than what we saw last summer, but gas prices are inching closer to $3 a gallon. Not helpful at a point when the unemployment rate is rising. That's where we are at. We haven't seen a pull back like this in at least a few weeks, Heidi. Not surprising, we saw the global markets pull back as well. We've had a good ride. Let's see if this is just a one-day wonder.
The Dow finally, finally closes above the break-even point on Friday. Loses it right at the open.
COLLINS: All right, down 211 points right now. Susan Lisovicz, thank you.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
COLLINS: A call to action, the FAA says it's time to improve airline safety. What they are doing to make that happen.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We've been asking to you comment and give us your thoughts on our blog today, particularly regarding Iran and the elections that are going on. And actually, they've already called the election, but there are a lot of people there in the country, and around the world, for that matter, saying, well, we're not really sure if all of the votes have actually been counted.
So we wanted to go ahead and give you just a quick look at some of the responses that we've gotten. We've gotten a lot. This is from BenH. "I lived through the first revolution and strongly believe that this is the second best thing the Iranians could have hoped for. Keep the demonstrations going, and fight back if you must. Don't wait for the U.S. or anyone else to help. This is great opportunity. If you want democracy, you've got to fight for it. Do not stop." And another one coming in from Toronto. He says, "Even if we assume that Mousavi won the election, how much of a change will there be in Iran, anyway? I don't believe their president, whether Ahmadinejad or Mousavi has the ultimate power when it comes to making drastic policy changes, and any such decision is always controlled by the spiritual leaders. Nonetheless, it's everyone's right to have a fair election."
So, some great comment. Again, we've been getting a whole lot of them. Go to CNN.com/newsroom. Just click on that name, Heidi and tell us what you think. We're back in a moment.
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COLLINS: Flight safety. Top online (ph) today in Washington as the FAA is meeting for a summit. It's happening after the crash of the regional airliner, Colgan Air Flight 3407. You may recall it went down back in February outside of Buffalo. Investigators believe pilot error may have played a part in the crash that killed 50 people. Allan Chernoff has more on what we can expect to come out of today's summit.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, the FAA has ordered examiners to immediately inspect pilot training programs at the regional airlines, and today's summit is being called as a call to action to improve pilot training and air safety.
(off camera): Consider the stunning revelation that came out of the NTSB hearings into that Buffalo crash that killed 50 people. The pilot has never received hands-on training with the stall warning (ph) system. When it went off, he responded incorrectly, and the copilot says that she was afraid of flying in icy conditions.
The FAA says that it had one standard of safety for major and regional airlines, but the Department of Transportation's inspector general said last week he does not believe that's the case. We'll be interviewing the head of the FAA after today's summit. Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, so we'll be watching for that. Meanwhile, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol has handed over a dash cam video of a state trooper in a scuffle with a paramedic. It shows the events leading up to the incident, which actually happened in May. Many believe the trooper went too far and demanded that the Oklahoma Highway Patrol release the video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to give you a ticket for failure to yield, and when I go by saying "What's going on?", you don't need to be giving me no hand gestures now. I ain't going to put up with that (expletive). Do you understand me?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The OHP confirmed completed an internal investigation into the trooper's behavior, but we don't know the results of that investigation yet. Los Angeles celebrating the Lakers NBA championship win, but things got pretty rowdy. Thousands of people gathered outside the Staples Center. The LAPD says fans set bonfires in the streets and threw rocks and officers and damaged a police cruiser. About 25 people were arrested. The Lakers beat the Magic, 99-86 in Orlando. They won their fifteenth NBA title.
Basketball great Rob Marciano...
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
COLLINS: ... joining us now. Did you watch, Rob?
MARCIANO: I did not watch. I mean, it was a foregone conclusion. You know the Lakers would pull it off.
COLLINS: Really?
MARCIANO: Yes. Plus, I got tired of this -- like Kobe, this chin jaunting thing he was doing. Yes. It was...
COLLINS: Sounds like you had some serious issues with him.
MARCIANO: I do. No, I -- everybody in some capacity is a bit of a Lakers fan, I suppose. But it wouldn't be bad, I guess -- you know, LAPD some of the finest police officers around, but if we took some of the Oklahoma patrol, and you know, maybe they helped out during some of those riots, then we could have shut them down a little bit.
COLLINS: I don't know the full story there.
MARCIANO: All right. Let's start with the West Coast. San Francisco, you're seeing showers, and this really isn't hitting the ground. It's really north of the bay. The bottom line here is, it's definitely cool. Temperatures may not get out of the 50s today.
I don't know why these towns are not popping up. This is Kansas City. You know you're in state maps. You'll recognize this as being St. Louis. You don't quite see the Gateway Arch there, but that's Mississippi. That's where you expect to see severe thunderstorms today -- the target will be Kansas again.
As far as the most likelihood of seeing severe storms, that may produce a tornado, we saw upwards of, I think, 11 reports of tornadoes yesterday. And it stands across this pesky front that continues to be the agitator of the atmosphere as far as spawning those showers and storms.
Still, 30-minute ground delays at San Francisco. As far as high temperatures today, it'll be 98 degrees in phoenix. Sixty-seven and still cool in New York. Tomorrow, we still put in more heat in parts across Texas. A little bit more in humidity as well, and high temperatures in phoenix of 100 degrees. And 70 degrees in Los Angeles. And that is without the help of any bonfires on the streets celebrating the national championships.
COLLINS: A couple people ruin it for everybody, huh? All right. Rob, thanks so much.
MARCIANO: All right. See you later.
COLLINS: More than two dozen men in military gear allegedly torching homes, but these men aren't soldiers. This is happening just over the border of the U.S.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: The election in Iran, sparking protests across the world. Here's a look inside Iran from some of our iReporters for you. Some are concerned about retaliation. I don't want to give their names, but this iReporter took pictures at a protest in Tehran. You can see demonstrators chanting, as he tells us what they are saying. "Ahmadinejad, shame on you. Let go of the country." A dump truck drove into the square. Protesters asked the driver to dump what he was hauling, and he did. Many cheered from the crowd.
An Iranian student named Nader. He doesn't want to use his last name. He sent these pictures of the demonstration in Paris. He said the protest was peaceful and involved about 300 people.
And iReporter Arash Nikoo sent us these pictures from a rally in Los Angeles. Dozens of people protested the disputed election results, and many demonstrators dressed in green, opposition candidate Mousavi's trademark color.
Vice president Joe Biden says we can only guess the motives behind North Korea's recent nuclear test, but says it's clear that it represent a serious danger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They say a lot of things. This is a fellow, and this is a regime, that says an awful lot of things. The truth of the matter is, it's a destabilizing force in the region. There is a coalescing of that conclusion on the part of the Chinese, Russians, Japanese, South Koreans, Americans like never before.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does he want?
BIDEN: God only knows what he wants. There's all kinds of discussions, whether it's about succession or want his son to succeed him, whether or not he's looking for respect, whether or not he really wants nuclear capability to threaten the region. There's a whole range of them, and we can't guess his motives. We just have to deal with the reality that a North Korea that is either proliferating weapons and/or missiles or a North Korea that is using those weapons or has them mounted on missiles is a serious danger and threat to the world and particularly in east Asia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The vice president said that the U.S. is committed to enforcing new United Nations penalties and sanctions against the communist nation.
More than two dozen men allegedly posing as Mexican military ran into the real thing just beyond our border in Juarez. Witnesses say they were torching homes and businesses down there. Associated Press reports the suspects may be linked to a drug cartel. Mexican authorities say that they rounded up the men during a raid along with a stash of guns and ammunition.
Two guys walk into an insurance office, and it's not the start of a joke, but a big buzz. Are the characters supposed to be gay, and does it matter?
Quickly now, we want to take a look at the Big Board, because we are down by triple digits there. You can see the Dow Jones industrial average is resting at 8612, down about 186 points or so. We'll continue to watch them for you. Back in a moment, right here in CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Gay characters have become more commonplace on TV shows. Now a commercial has viewers wondering if they've made the jump to commercial break. Here now, CNN's Kara Finnstrom.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A lesbian kiss on ABC Family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Time to move everything my family could ruin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like our romantic vacation for two?
FINNSTROM: A gay relationship on "Brothers and Sisters."
American idol's runner-up coming out. Gay characters in storylines have become common on TV. But when a Progressive Insurance commercial featured two guys who could be a couple...
UNIDENTIFED MALE: I need to start saving on car insurance.
FINNSTROM: ... the buzz started.
UNIDENTIFED MALE: I've had to cut back.
FINNSTROM: People ask, are they gay or are they straight? Because it seems the one place on TV we still don't expect to see a homosexual couple is the commercial break.
According to Progressive...
LARRY BLOOMENKRANZ, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE: They were just supposed to be friends, like Joey and Chandler, really.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa. Is this Poland? BLOOMENKRANZ: In hindsight, we've gotten a couple of comments and e-mails and so on and buzz about are they gay or not gay? Originally, the intent was not to make them gay. If some people read it that way, that's fine for us.
FINNSTROM: The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation keeps an eye on commercial content, and while it's aware of the company's stated intentions, the group says it's noticing more ads opened to interpretation.
RASHAD ROBINSON, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF MEDIA PROGRAMS, GLAAD: A lot of companies are trying to include more images with two guys going in a store to buy something or two women going together to book a trip.
FINNESTROM: Advertising experts say that kind of advertising can appeal to a broad spectrum of people without offending those turned off by ads featuring overtly gay couples.
JON FRIEDMAN, MEDIA COLUMNIST, MARKETWATCH.COM: A lot of America still has problems with the idea of homosexual men and women being treated as quote, unquote "average people." So for a business, it's definitely a risk.
BLOOMENKRANZ: We're not trying to do anything other than what you see, which is sell auto insurance. And people just read a lot more into it than certainly we ever intended in some cases.
FINNSTROM: Kara Finnstrom for CNN, Los Angeles.
COLLINS: I'm Heidi Collins. CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Tony Harris.
