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Obama Addresses American Medical Association; Protestor Killed at Iranian Rally; Election Uproar Suggests Declining Status of Supreme Leader; Guard's Mother Does not Hate Her Son's Shooter; Ahmadinejad Says he is President of all Iranians

Aired June 15, 2009 - 13:00   ET

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

OBAMA: There are going to be robust debates about where these cuts should be made. I welcome that debate. But here's where I think these cuts should be made.

First, we should end overpayments to Medicare Advantage. Today we're paying Medicare Advantage plans much more than we pay for traditional Medicare services. And this is a great deal for insurance companies. It's a subsidy to insurance companies. It's not a good deal for you. It's not a good deal for the American people. And by the way, it doesn't follow free-market principles, for those who are always talking about free-market principles.

That's why we need to introduce competitive bidding into the Medicare -- the Medicare Advantage program, a program under which private insurance companies are offering Medicare coverage. That alone will save $177 billion over the next decade, just that one step.

Second, we need to use Medicare reimbursements to reduce preventable hospital readmissions. Right now, almost 20 percent of Medicare patients discharged from the hospital are readmitted within a month, often because they're not getting the comprehensive -- comprehensive care that they need. This puts people at risk and drives up costs.

By changing how Medicare reimburses hospitals, we can discourage them from acting in a way that boosts profits but drives up costs for everybody else. That will save us $25 billion over the next decade.

Third, we need to introduce generic biologic drugs into the marketplace. These are drugs used to treat illnesses like anemia. But right now, there is no pathway at the FDA for approving generic versions of these drugs. Creating such a pathway will save us billions of dollars.

We can save another roughly $30 billion by getting a better deal for our poor seniors while asking our well-off seniors to pay a little more for their drugs.

So that's the bulk of what's in the Health Reserve Fund. I've also proposed saving $313 billion in Medicare and Medicaid spending in several other ways.

One way is by adjusting Medicare payments to reflect new advances in productivity gains in our economy. Right now Medicare payments are rising each year by more than they should. These adjustment will create incentives for providers to deliver care more efficiently and save us roughly $109 billion in the process.

Another way we can achieve savings is by reducing payments to hospitals for treating uninsured people. I know hospitals rely on these payments now, legitimately, because of the large number of uninsured patients that they treat. But if we put in the system where people have coverage, and the number of uninsured people goes down with our reforms, the amount we pay hospitals to treat uninsured people should go down, as well.

Reducing these payments gradually as more and more people have coverage will save us over $106 billion. We'll make sure the difference goes to the hospitals that need it most.

We can also save about $75 billion through more efficient purchasing of prescription drugs. We can save -- we can save about $1 billion more by rooting out waste, abuse, fraud throughout our health- care system that no one is charging more for a service than is worth, or charging a dime for a service they don't provide.

Let me be clear: I'm committed to making these cuts in away that protects our senior citizens. In fact, these proposals will extend the life of the Medicare trust fund by seven years and reduce premiums for Medicare beneficiaries by roughly $43 billion over the next ten years. And I'm working with AARP to uphold that commitment.

Now, for those of you who took out your pencil and paper, all together these savings mean that we've put about $950 billion on the table. And that doesn't count some of the long-term savings that we think will come about from reform: from medical I.T., for example; or from increased investment in prevention. So that stuff, in congressional jargon, is not scorable. The Congressional Budget Office won't count that as savings. So we're setting that aside. We think that's going to come, but even separate apart from that, we put $950 billion on the table, taking us almost all the way to covering the full cost of health-care reform.

In the weeks and months ahead, I look forward to working with Congress to make up the difference so health-care reform is fully paid for in a real accountable way. Let me add that this does not count longer term savings.

I just want to repeat that. By insisting that the reforms that were introducing are deficit neutral over the next decade, and by making the reforms that will help slow the growth rate of health-care costs over the coming decades, bending the curve, we can look forward to faster economic growth, higher living standards and falling, instead of rising, budget deficits.

Let me just wrap up by saying this. I know people are cynical about whether we can do this or not. I know there are going to be disagreements about how to proceed in the days ahead. There's probably healthy debate within the AMA. That's good.

I also know this: we can't let this moment -- moment pass us by. Now, the other day a friend of mine, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, handed me a magazine with a special issue, titled, "The Crisis in American Medicine." One article notes soaring charges. Another warns about the volume of unitization of services. Another asks if we can find a better way than fee-per-service for paying for medical care. It speaks to many of the challenges we face today.

The thing is, the special issue was published by "Harper's Magazine" in October of 1960 before I was born.

Members of the American Medical Association, and my fellow Americans, I'm here today because I don't want our children and their children to still be speaking of a crisis in American medicine 50 years from now. I don't want them to still be suffer from spiraling costs that we did not stem or sicknesses that we did not cure. I don't want them to be burdened with massive deficits we did not curb or a worsening economy that we did not rebuild.

I want them to benefit from a health-care system that works for all of us where families can open a doctor's bill without dreading what's inside. Where parents are talking to their kids and getting them to get regular checkups and testing themselves for preventable ailments. Where parents are feeding their kids healthier foods, and kids are exercising more. Where patients are spending more time with their doctors, and doctors can pull up, on a computer, all the medical information and latest research they'll ever want to know to meet patients' needs. Where orthopedists and ophthalmologists and oncologists are all working together to treat a single human being. Where what's best about America's health-care system has become the hallmark of America's health-care system.

That's the health-care system we can build. That's the future I'm convinced is within our reach. If we're willing to come together and bring about that future, then we will not only make Americans healthier, we will not only unleash America's economic potential, but we will reaffirm the ideals that led you into this noble profession, and we'll build a health-care system that lets all Americans heal.

Thank you very much, AMA. Appreciate it. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Pushing forward on health in America and politics in Iran. Both may be a turning point, as backers of the alleged second- place finisher in Friday's Iranian election refuse to back down. And President Obama tries to make American doctors swallow what many consider a bitter pill, all in the name of reform.

Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

First our breaking news out of Tehran, where gunshots reportedly have broken out at a vast post-election protest, and media reports say one protester is dead. It comes three days after Iranians voted for president and Tehran declared the hard-line incumbent the winner.

If you've been watching CNN, you know outraged proponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are back on the streets right now, in spite of a government ban on political demonstrations.

Security forces appear not to be intervening, and the Associated Press says the gunfire is coming from pro-government volunteer militia.

The man whom Ahmadinejad supposedly trounced, reform candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, is asking Iran's Guardian Council to investigate the vote. And Iran's supreme leader, who's unelected and all- powerful, is supporting that call. But he also has given his blessing to the official results.

The post-election backlash is being felt far outside Iran. This is London, where Mousavi supporters converged today on the Iranian embassy and where the British government is calling on Tehran to answer, quote, "serious questions" and respond to legitimate protests.

For days now, CNN's Christiane Amanpour has been in the thick of the Iranian election turmoil. She joins me now from Tehran, where it's just after 9:30 at night.

Can you describe the scene of where you are right now, Christiane?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are back away from the rally site today, and what's happening right now is that people are on their roofs and in their gardens, shouting "Allah Akbar," which is "God is great."

And this is another form of the protest, that the supporters of Mir-Hossein Mousavi has been turning to over the last several nights. Neighborhoods all around Tehran are hearing that chant as people are staying inside and chanting that out loud.

But earlier today, we did see this huge rally of tens of thousands of Mousavi supporters who went from one square along the road to the western part to meet up at another square which is called Freedom Square. It's a repeat of one the rallies they'd held before the election, and this time Mr. Mousavi did join in, which puts pay (ph) to some of the confusion and mystery about where he has been.

He was able to go there. He did address them aboard, or rather on top of his vehicle through a loud halo. There was no P.A. system; there was no way the whole crowd could hear him. We didn't even see or hear him there was such a big crowd.

But he did say that this questioning we have is about the people's vote, and that's all that matters. It's not about me or any individual.

Now, what is interesting about today is that the tone is completely different from the last two days. We've been reporting all afternoon from that rally and seeing the riot police and other police lined up just along the route but not intervening. And it seems, according to what I'm hearing from sources, that this is a deliberate decision now by the government here not to intervene, as I was told, even though this protest rally was, in fact, banned by the interior ministry.

So what they're telling me is that this is a way to try to let, now, the protests unfold in a democratic way, as far as their system is -- is concerned. And one of other features of that is that Ayatollah Khameini, the supreme leader, said to Mr. Mousavi, "If you have any complaints, if you have any questions, take them through the legal channels, the Guardian Council," which is the vetting body here.

And sure enough, the Guardian Council have said that it will take up Mr. Mousavi's complaints and would have some results and answers within ten days -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Christiane, I'm curious from your -- your journalistic perspective, your personal perspective, even your cultural background, going back to the revolution in '79, going back ten years ago to the student uprising there at the university, to seeing and experiencing what's happening right now. Can you point me towards similarities, differences? What is making what we are seeing here today right now so different from the past?

AMANPOUR: Well, there have been two outbreaks of protests over the last 10 years or so: one in 2003 and one in 1999. These were student protests that, by and large, took place around the university, lasted a few days and were suppressed violently and quickly. They didn't last long.

The difference here is that these protests have started immediately after the polls were closed, and official results started showing Ahmadinejad as the winner, and they haven't stopped. And people are still being able to come out into the street.

This is what I think is a completely different situation than we saw ten or so years ago. The people are still able to come out in the street.

And again, what happened today is a sea change from what we've seen yesterday and the day before. And I'm being told that this is a deliberate decision.

We're told also that the way the Iranians see, the government sees what happened over the last two days was, in response to riots and protests that were getting violent, they responded. But what they say now is that this -- this rally, which was banned earlier this morning, was allowed to proceed and there was no intervention.

In terms of the revolution 30 years ago, these are the biggest and most sustained free demonstrations since then. And some of the features are similar. For instance, what I just described: people out on their rooftops, shouting, "Allah akbar." That was a big feature of the initial days of the agitation against the shah, when people took to the rooftops, and that was how they made their protest before they took to the street.

So that was -- this is a similarity. Obviously, some of the locations are very symbolic: Freedom Square, which used to be a monument that the Shah built. That became a symbol of the revolutionary crowds that turned out 30 years ago. And it's twice now been the rallying point for the Mousavi supporters.

But talking about a revolution here is extremely sensitive. And that is what the authorities have responded to. Just before the election, the Guardian, the Revolution Guards warned that the reformers -- Mousavi and the reformers were trying, they accused him, of leading a Velvet Revolution, and they vowed to crush it. It's extremely sensitive that year -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Christiane Amanpour, sure appreciate your reporter. Thank you so much.

That word "revolution" is being thrown around a lot, but you need to know your history and the state of Iranian politics. And few people know that more than Trita Parsi. He's founder and president of the National Iranian-American Council and author of "Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States."

And Trita, we've been talking so much with you, as well, over the past number of days. I asked Christiane sort of the cultural question about the word "revolution." Do you see that as being an extremely sensitive word right now? Is that too strong of a word? Or is that the proper word to describe what's going on right now?

TRITA PARSI, AUTHOR, "TREACHEROUS ALLIANCE": I thing it's a premature word. And also, we have to remember that there are some significant differences between what is happening now and what was happening about 30 years ago.

Thirty years ago, you had an exiled leadership of an illegal opposition, an outlaw opposition, overthrowing through popular revolt, the government of the shah.

This time around, the leadership is inside the country and is actually part of the government. So this is a fight within the existing government, which can lead to a revolution, but it is quite different from what you saw 30 years ago.

PHILLIPS: But we are talking about a number of allegations of corruption. Whether it was Ahmadinejad's government paying students money to vote for him, passing out hundreds of thousands of potatoes to the poor to try and convince them to vote for him. And then you have the issue of millions of votes. He was called the winner almost directly after the polls closed, and those votes are hand counted, correct?

PARSI: Correct. And as a result, I mean, the perception that there are wrongdoings taking place here, that there has been irregularities, is overwhelming. It doesn't mean that there necessarily is any conclusive evidence that has been presented, but the perception is overwhelming.

And I think we're seeing a psychological barrier being passed now. As a result of the rally today, as a result of the fact that Mousavi so far has stood firm, and he has defied pressure from Khameini and other elements of the government. It seems more and more that the protesters are protesting not just out of anger but also out of a conviction that they actually can win. That's a big difference.

PHILLIPS: And this is uncharted territory. I mean, if indeed the supreme leader says, "OK, let's investigate this," you know, how would that investigation work? How would that process go forward? How long would it take? I mean, like I point out, it's uncharted.

PARSI: It is uncharted, and of course, during this ten days it's going to be a lot of wheeling and dealing behind the scenes between the power brokers. And there's a likelihood that there's going to be more foul play.

But the reality is, and whether Khameini backs down or not, the perception, nevertheless, is that he did back down, because he, at first, certified a result and endorsed the election results, and now he has to call for the Guardian Council to take their ten days to review this once more.

PHILLIPS: Trita Parsi, I know we'll be talking to you again in about 20 minutes. Trita, thanks so much.

PARSI: Thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: A grieving mother finds room in her broken heart for forgiveness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't wish any hatred or any ill feelings on the man that took my son's life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: That's one strong mother. She's the mother of the security officer killed last week in the Holocaust Memorial museum shooting. And she's not letting hate bring her down.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, a ticking bomb for the federal budget. That's President Obama on why it's imperative to overhaul the nation's health-care system.

As you saw here on CNN just moments ago, the president addressed a very skeptical audience in Chicago, the 250,000-strong American Medical Association. One of big things that's got doctors on edge: well, the president's call for government-funded health insurance for some 46 million Americans who have no coverage at all.

Cutting to the chase, here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Make no mistake: the cost of our health care is a threat to our economy. It's an escalating burden on our families and businesses. It's a ticking time bomb for the federal budget. And it is unsustainable for the United States of America. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Covering all aspects of this important story, here in Atlanta, our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, with more on the president's plan. And joining us from New York, personal finance editor Gerri Willis has some tips on cutting your prescription costs.

Let's start with you, Elizabeth, and talk about what the president's plan means to you, me, all of us, the consumers.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It depends on who you are, and it depends on what kind of insurance you have. In this way, I can't talk about consumers as one group, because everyone's situation is so different.

Let's take a look. We talk about this 46 million number all the time. Forty-six million Americans don't have insurance. But what we don't talk about is that more than three times as many Americans do have insurance, most of those from their employers, and that doesn't count the people who have Medicare and Medicaid. So health insurance reform is going to be very different, depending upon where you stand today. Do you have insurance or don't you?

PHILLIPS; OK. So what happens to those that have good insurance?

COHEN: Right. President Obama said over and over again, if you like your insurance, do not worry: I'll let you keep it. You'll have it. Don't worry.

For other people, they're saying, hold on a second there. If there is a public health-insurance option, a govern-run health- insurance option out there, employers might choose that one. In fact, some people would say they are likely to choose that one, because it's going to be cheaper. And that means that all of us who enjoy employer-sponsored health insurance might all of a sudden get government-sponsored health insurance. Would that be good or bad? Who knows?

PHILLIPS: Elizabeth Cohen, thanks.

Senator John McCain agrees with President Obama up to a point, that two are on the same page about providing coverage for the millions of Americans who are uninsured, but he stopped way short of endorsing a government-funded plan. He spoke with CNN just a short while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: If we have a government option, then sooner or later, it will dramatically increase the cost and crowd out private health insurance. And if you're doing it in the name of competition, we have 1,300 health insurance companies in America today. They're competing. But they're not getting the kinds of health-care costs under control that's necessary. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, another worry about health-care reform, skyrocketing prescription drug costs. Personal finance editor Gerri Willis has some tips to try and trim your bill.

Gerri, what help is out there for the recently unemployed? Why don't you start there?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, brand-new Pfizer recently announcing that it would provide 70 of its most widely-prescribed prescription drugs for free to people who have lost their jobs and health insurance.

The company will give away the medicines for up to a year to people who lost their job since January 1 and who have been on a Pfizer drug for at least three months.

To sign up, here's the all-important phone number: 866-706-2400.

Now, as you probably know, some warehouse stores out there like Costco, Sam's Club, B.J.'s, they have competitive pharmacy services. Check out the following two: NeedyMeds.org and DestinationRX.com. Those two Web sites helping figure out where the best price is for a drug.

And think about drug discount cards. They're available from the state government, membership associations, non-profit organizations, even for-profit businesses. You save from 15 percent to 50 percent on certain medicines. We talked about Pfizer, but Merck has a discount and drug program, as well -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK, what about generics?

WILLIS: Well, you know, this is a great way to save money. They're cheaper than brand-name drugs. In fact, many people save hundreds of dollars each and every month using generics. They are copies of brand-name products whose patents have expired.

And of course, a lot of people out there are worried that generics aren't as good as the real thing. But they are. FDA rules require generic drugs to have exactly the same active chemicals in the original brands. You get the same benefits for less money. Today generics are available for just over half of all prescription drugs, so it's a great option for folks out there who want to save some money, don't want to pay out for those brand names.

PHILLIPS: All right, Gerri. Thanks.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

PHILLIPS: So could legalizing an illegal drug, with marijuana, cut medical costs? That's just one of questions being asked on "ANDERSON COOPER 360" this week. His special series, "America's high: The Case for and Against Pot," premieres all week, 10 p.m. Eastern. Last we reported, three fugitives were still being sought in a ground-breaking child porn sting. Well, now make it two. Apparently, one guy couldn't stand the heat any more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We're following breaking news from Tehran: that colossal post-election protest rally turning violent, we're told. Media reports say that pro-government militia have opened fire. One protester is dead.

The vast crowd up in arms over the government's declaration that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won re-election in a lands slide. Supporters of pro-reform candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi say that the election is rigged.

We have multiple crews on the ground working the story. We'll bring you any developments as they happen.

And check out these photos from an iReporter, who asked that we identify him only as "Firooz." He's in Tehran's Azadi Square, where Mousavi made an appearance. You can actually see how huge that crowd is. And Twitter is nonstop with updates from people on the ground.

These are from Persiankiwi: "Tehran's streets are a sea of green -- many, many hundreds of thousands. Reliable source from Ahvaz. Situation there is bad -- violent clashes in the streets. We've heard what sounds like gunshots in the distance. Still have people on streets we have not from."

Let's get more now on the stakes for Iran, the Middle East and the world. Trita Parsi, he's founder and president of the National Iranian American Council, author of "Treacherous Alliance, the Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel, the United States."

Trita, we continue to follow this together all over the weekend, up to today. You know, it got hairy, and then it was calm. Now it seems to be picking up speed again. And at the same time, we don't really know if we're getting the full story. I mean, we're lucky to get these iReports and these tweets, but it appears that this could be a lot more deadly than we were thinking.

TRITA PARSI, AUTHOR, "TREACHEROUS ALLIANCE": It could be. But at the same time, it's been rather interesting to see that for instance, supporters of Ahmadinejad were spreading rumors that if people showed up to the protests today, they would be shot at. And it turned out that that was not the case at all. It was more of an intimidation tactic to scare people from actually showing up to begin with.

Yet people defied it. They were not shot at. And the people that seem to be shooting now (ph), based on several reports that I've seen, and you guys have also reported some of it, is that the people that are shooting are plainclothes volunteers with some of the militias. It's not the regular police. PHILLIPS: So, just for our viewers that may not have an understanding, let's talk about the hardline militia volunteers versus the regular police. Put in perspective what we're talking about here.

PARSI: Well, the regular police is the regular police. They're from all different sides of society, and they're there to do their job. And their job is essentially to protect the people. When you're talking about some of the militias, these are volunteers. They seem to -- many of them have been trained ideologically to follow the line of the hardliners in government.

And their aim is to protect the revolution. And mindful of the fact the pro-Ahmadinejad faction has characterized as a counter- revolution, as a threat to the revolution, they've been able to get these people to come out in full force. And unfortunately by today, there seems to be some confirmed reports of actual killings.

PHILLIPS: Just, and with regard to all the corruption allegations, I mean, put into perspective for me, you know, what degree of election monitoring is in Iran that we know actually exists? Or do we really not know?

PARSI: Well, we don't know terribly well. There's been several reports -- I'm not sure if they've been fully confirmed -- that monitors from the Mousavi camp were thrown out of the polls so they wouldn't be able to monitor. That the locations of some of the election polls changed just in a half hour before and the Mousavi crowd didn't get a chance to get there until like an hour later or so. So, there's a lot of reports of those kind of irregularities taking place right now.

PHILLIPS: It is possible, though, that Ahmadinejad did win this fairly and legitimately?

PARSI: It certainly is possible. There's absolutely nothing that says that it would have been impossible for him to win. But there are a lot of different factors that causes a very widespread perception that some sort of a fraud has taken place.

Everything from the fact that about 20 to 30 percent of the votes apparently had been counted only an hour or two after the polls had closed. The fact that the Guardian Council is supposed to use three days to certify the vote, but the supreme leader pre-empted them by coming out within 24 hours and endorsing the elections results. So, a lot of different things have happened that are just fueling the perception that something fishy did occur.

PHILLIPS: And so, at what point does this stop or continue? I mean, whether you're on one side or the other or right down the middle, everybody seems to support the fact that, like you said, something fishy did happen.

So, how long does this continue? At what point does it stop? Does the supreme leader -- is he the one that says, OK, that's it. Investigation is over. Ahmadinejad is the president, or some other outcome. PARSI: Well, one of the really fascinating things that have happened here is that the supreme leader has turned out not to be so supreme. Because he has already said that that's it. Yet people did not care. Mousavi did not heed to the warning that he shouldn't hold this mass demonstration today.

So, those who have been saying, and many analysts have been arguing that at the end of this election, whoever wins, Khamenei, the supreme leader, would still be the most powerful person. I'm not so sure if that's true any more.

PHILLIPS: You know, that's an interesting point. Is he indeed the supreme leader, or is he turning into a negotiator?

PARSI: Well, his authority has been clearly challenged, not only by Mousavi but by all of these demonstrators, as well as other very, very prominent figures in the larger Iranian clerical establishment.

PHILLIPS: And this would be first time we've ever seen something like this, correct?

PARSI: First time in such an overt way that this has happened, yes.

PHILLIPS: Trita Parsi, we'll keep talking over the next couple of hours. Sure appreciate your insight.

PARSI: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Another major concern, North Korea's continued defiance over its nuclear program. Today, a massive government-staged rally of tens of thousands of North Koreans protesting the latest U.N. sanctions. It follows a weekend threat of war against any country that tries to stop its ships on the high seas.

North Korea's also -- North Korea, rather, is also saying it would accelerate production of key nuclear bomb materials, uranium and plutonium. There are also reports that the north may be preparing a third nuclear test, all of which will be high on the agenda when President Obama meets with his South Korean counterpart tomorrow in Washington.

Justice will decide if he's guilty or innocent. But an accused killer is already forgiven by a woman who has every right to hate him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The accused in the Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting expectsed to survive the gunshot wounds to his face and face the murder charge against him. A federal magistrate in D.C. holds a hearing today to figure out when to bring James von Brunn from the hospital into court. The mother of the man that he's charged with killing has already rendered her verdict. It has little to do with guilt or innocence and everything to do with forgiveness. Surae Chinn of our affiliate WUSA reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACQUELINE CARTER, MOTHER OF STEPHEN JOHNS: I don't wish any hatred or any dis -- any ill feelings on the man that took my son's life.

SURAE CHINN, WUSA-TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jacqueline Carter continues to grieve the loss of her only son, Stephen Johns. She says she has no hate for the accused killer, who's a self- proclaimed white supremacist and anti-Semite.

CARTER: If I hated him, I wouldn't be any better than he. You know, hatred is something that we don't need to harbor. And I just am not a person that harbors hatred. I can't -- hating him would not do anything for me at all. I hope that if he does survive, then he can get rid of the hate that is in his heart.

CHINN: Police say 88-year-old James von Brunn gunned down Johns Wednesday at the Holocaust Museum. Von Brunn, who's charged with murder, was shot in the face and remains in critical but stable condition. Authorities say von Brunn is expected to survive his wounds.

CARTER: He can change from the inside out. So, if he survives, he survives.

CHINN: Despite the pain, Jacqueline says her heart is full of faith and forgiveness.

CARTER: I mean, I have forgiven him. It is heartwrenching. I won't say that it isn't, because it is. And it's not easy to go through these times. But I mean, it's -- what can you do?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Wow, she's an amazing woman. Jacqueline Carter says that she hopes von Brunn's son will be able to forgive his dad, too. Erik von Brunn says the crime is unforgivable and wishes his father had died instead of Officer Johns. Erik added that his father's white supremacist views had been a burden on the family for a very long time.

Now a story that we've been all over the past few days, the child porn sting out of Florida called Operation Orange Tree. Two fugitives still out there. "America's Most Wanted" reports a third, Pierre Domville, turned himself in over the weekend in New Jersey. He was wanted in the rape of a 15-year-old girl. Ricardo Lecky is wanted in the same crime as Domville. And Richard Whitehead (ph) accused of forcing young girls to watch pornography and perform sexual acts. Call the cops if you know where these guys are.

He's faced his opponents. He's faced the voters. And over the weekend, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faced CNN's Christiane Amanpour. We're going to hear what he had to say to her.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And now a clip from a milestone in American cinema to illustrate the next story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM SANDLER, ACTOR, IN "THE WEDDING SINGER": You know, it's funny, some of us will never, ever find true love. Take for instance, me. And I'm pretty sure that guy right there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: OK, the guy stuffing his face. That a mere scene from "The Wedding Singer" more like a commentary on the American male wedding attendee. A new survey about wedding likes and dislikes found this, that guys like the reception food the most. I know, free crab wontons and cake. Total shocker, right? Women like the ceremony and bridal gown the most. OK, dislikes? Dudes least like the bridesmaids' dresses -- yes, you can't eat those -- and women gave the receiving line a thumbs down.

Well, here's a story that really grabbed our attention: free breast implants for nurses. Some private health clinics in the Czech Republic offering the big boob job if nurses renew contracts or sign on for the first time.

One nurse who accepted the deal says she was taught that looking attractive helps patients recover faster. The clinic says the offer has helped increase applicants by 10 percent, helping to of course take care of that severe shortage of nurses. Some women's rights advocates are pretty outraged. They say it's like turning nurses into prostitutes.

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PHILLIPS: New efforts to try to stop the flow of illegal drugs over the U.S.-Mexico border. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Mexico's finance minister announced the plan for increased border security. Drug-related violence has been on the rise in Mexico lately. U.S. officials are trying to prevent it from spilling over the border.

And more than two dozen men as Mexican military ran into the real thing just beyond our border in Juarez. Witnesses say that the men were torching homes and businesses. The AP reports that they may be linked to a drug cartel. Mexican authorities say they rounded up the men during a raid along with a stash of big guns and ammunition.

The promise of an investigation into Iran's election but let's face it, folks, an official investigation there may not be like one here in the U.S. We'll push forward this question next hour: Is any of this going to matter?

And a story we've been all over since it broke. Veterans clinics failing veterans. A surprise inspection shows how little has changed.

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PHILLIPS: The voice of the people, some of them, anyway, in Iran. Despite a government crackdown on Web sites and e-mails, Iranian protesters are sharing their outrage with the world via CNN iReports. The outrage stems from the government's claim that hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won re-election in a landslide.

On Saturday, the supposedly victorious leader held a news conference, and CNN chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, had a lot to ask.

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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You said that you were the president of all Iranians no matter who they voted for. I would like to ask you, what is the situation with your challenger, Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi, and will you guarantee his safety? And why have opposition reform individuals, officials, been arrested?

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, PRESIDENT OF IRAN (through translator): The situation in the country is in a very good condition. Iran is the most stable country in the world, and there's the rule of law in this country, and all the people are equal before the law. And the elections -- the presidential election has witnessed people's massive turnout. As I said, even in a soccer match that the people may become excited, and that may lead to a confrontation between them and the police force.

This is something natural a person coming out of a stadium and may violate the traffic regulations, he will be fined by the police no matter who he is, an ordinary person or even a minister. So, these are not problems. These do not cause any problems for the people of Iran and 40 million people that participated in the elections.

And these 40 million people will safeguard the elections based on the Iranian culture. There is no partisanship on the basis of the Western concepts. In fact, the people are friends with each other. And they are going to cast their votes in favor of any candidate they like.

And of course, such a voting process will not lead to any hostility among the people. And you go to the streets, you see the (INAUDIBLE) people who are friends with each other. And in Iran, no one asks the other whom you're going to vote for. The situation is very good.

And Iran is on the threshold of making considerable progress. And definitely in the next four years, the status of Iran in the world will be further promoted, and we are going to witness Iran's economic and scientific and cultural progress taking place. Making considerable progress in the next four years, Iran will turn into a major economic power in the world, and it's of course, it's already a political power as well.

AMANPOUR: I may have missed the translation. I was asking whether you were going to guarantee the safety.

AHMADINEJAD: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) AMANPOUR: No, just the first question. Last night, you said that you were the president of all Iranians, including your opponents.

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Yes. I did respond to your question. I said that people come out of a stadium, 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. And I like all the people, all members of this nation. And of course, I'm not happy with a person violating the traffic rules.

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