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A Sea of Black in Iran as Protesters Mourn Election; Pilot Dies During Flight, Plane Lands Safely; Some Feel Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Has Disproportionate Amount of Power; California's PARS-TV Serves as Lifeline for Millions of Iranians; Montana Town to Get Help From the EPA; The Internet Revolution in Iran Continues

Aired June 18, 2009 - 13:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Kyra Phillips.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Fred, thanks so much.

A sea of black in Iran. Supporters of a would-be president return to the streets of Tehran, mourning what they call a stolen election. We're pushing the story forward as only CNN can. While the government tells us we can only file one report a day, we go live to southern California, where we're not getting shut down. Iranian TV in Los Angeles, a beacon of hope for Iranian reformers.

We're staying on stop of the blogs, tweets, iReports and texts that are slipping through the government's net.

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

We'll get to Iran in just a minute. But our other top story right now, the captain of a Continental jet dies. Copilots respond, and we hear about it when the plane is still airborne.

Now, the good news is, the plane landed safely in Newark, New Jersey. It was en route from Brussels, Belgium, when the 60-year-old pilot apparently died of natural causes. There was a relief pilot on board. He took over for the dead pilot, and the crew landed the Boeing 777 without any problems.

There were 247 passengers on board. And -- get this -- passengers told our news crew that they were not told about the death during the flight. They actually found out about it from our reporter after they got off the plane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS BALCHUAS, PASSENGER: No one -- no one told me. I asked the gentleman, he said, "We can't tell you. We can't tell you."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What did they tell you? (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

BALCHUAS: I mean, I -- my mom and I suspected there was a little bit more than just, you know, a medical emergency.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now that you know it was the captain who died in mid-flight, how does that make you feel?

BALCHUAS: That's horrifying. Lucky enough that, you know, no one knew about it, so it didn't really scare any of the passengers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, we're talking more about this story in just a few minutes.

Now back to Iran. They're starting to look and sound familiar. But the latest demonstration by government opponents in Iran is being spun differently, as an outpouring of grief over what protesters see as a fraudulent election, and the violence and arrests that have followed.

The leading opposition candidate for president, Mir Hossein Mousavi, reportedly showed up today and spoke to the crowd about politics and Iran's troubled economy. And so far, we've heard no reports of violence.

Now, tomorrow, Iran's supreme leader is due to lead Friday prayers at Tehran University where security forces reportedly came down hard on protesters earlier in the week.

And on Saturday, Iran's Guardian Council is due to mote with all three losing presidential contenders over their reports of wrongdoing. The council's offered partial recounts, but Mousavi wants a whole new election.

Well, before we go on. You have to know this. Iranian authorities have placed restrictions on all international media reporting from Iran, barring reporters from getting out and seeing what's really happening there.

CNN's reporter there is Reza Sayah, and he's limited to filing only one report from Tehran each day. And for that reason we're not able to bring you a live report at this time right now, either on camera or by phone.

So, with that said, we're still covering this historic upheaval from every angle. Our Ivan Watson joins me at CNN Center to monitor reports from the Web, and CNN's Kara Finnstrom is live at PARS-TV. That's the tool for reform in Iran, actually based in California.

Now, I want to start with an invaluable source that we spoke to yesterday. His name is Babak Rahimi, and he's a professor from UC San Diego who's actually in Tehran researching a book on the Internet there.

Professor Rahimi, we heard gunshots during our conversations yesterday. What have you been able to see and hear today?

BABAK RAHIMI, PROFESSOR, UC SAN DIEGO: Well, personally, I haven't been able to go out. But I have a number of people that were present at demonstrations. Let me put it this way. Tehran today saw its largest -- largest -- anti-government demonstration since the 1979 revolution. We are talking about something like over 1 million people that were present in this huge rally that took the central streets of the capital city of Tehran.

Now, what was so unique about this demonstration was that there was not a single slogan that was uttered. It was absolutely this really eerie silence that dominated the streets. If you could just imagine 1 million people marching without saying anything. That itself, of course, the silence itself is supposed to speak of the protest, speak of the violence and the repression that the state has kind of unleashed on the Iranians for the last couple of days.

If I was -- if I would sum up today, I would say that today was a historical -- historic day for Iran.

PHILLIPS: Now, here's what's interesting, Babak. When I asked you yesterday about the term "revolution" and I asked you, "Are you seeing a type of revolution like 1979?" And you said no. And I said, "OK, how about a cyber-revolution?" You said absolutely.

Now seeing what you have seen today and what folks are bringing back and telling you today, do you change -- are you changing your mind? I mean, do you see a revolution like 1979?

RAHIMI: I am skeptical in nature, but today I just spoke to a person who participated in the 1979 revolution. And he was so enthusiastic for today's rally, and he actually described this something that reminded him so much of the -- of 30 years ago.

So, the momentum is just, you know, gathering so fast, just going so fast, that it just remains so unpredictable. So, I don't want to say that what we are seeing right now is a revolution. I don't want to say it's not. But definitely -- definitely, right now at this moment it feels like one.

PHILLIPS: Interesting. And there was also concern yesterday from a number of you that I talked to, that all of you are monitoring the possible force that could be used and the violence that could break out. We saw some pictures coming in at the beginning of this, where we saw one protester dead. We saw a number of protesters injured. We saw them bleeding. Some of the pictures were very graphic.

Are you getting a sense that that type of violence is not taking place today? Has that been quelled?

RAHIMI: Yes. That's the accurate description. Not at this moment, I don't think there is any act of violence. And that's because just imagine 1 million people marching through the street. And obviously you won't see the police actually reacting to it, because they don't have that much power.

But I do want to say something that I've been watching and noticing on state TV, is that they constantly are describing this as just a bunch of hooligans running around. And they are interviewing people on the street saying, oh, our life is so bad now with these little groups that are doing these marches.

My hunch is that the state is somehow trying to shape public opinion to eventually crack down by trying to describe these people as just a bunch of troublemakers. I think that's really something I could foresee a week, two weeks, or three weeks from now if this thing continues.

PHILLIPS: Professor Babak Rahimi, appreciate talking to you today. I hope we can stay in touch.

RAHIMI: Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: Thank you.

Now, I did mention the media bans that are taking place. They don't, of course, apply to Iranian media, and at CNN center we are constantly bringing in live feeds from multiple networks.

What you're seeing here is Press TV on one of our routers. This is in English. They actually were able to show pro-Mousavi marches today. Then we're monitoring IRINN, IRIB1 and also IRIB3. These all are stations that we're downlinking from Iran. They're official Iranian TV stations. And as you can see, IRIB3 is mostly soccer, entertainment, but they are doing various news updates. We're following all of these to see how this story is being covered straight out of Tehran.

And then there's the Internet. Both sides are scrambling to keep up their online communications and thwart the others. CNN's Ivan Watson is following that for us.

Ivan, what have you been able to find?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, I'm coming to you from the Iran desk at CNN. And this is what we have to resort to when a country as big as Iran, as important as Iran imposes a complete media blackout -- near-complete media blackout on the foreign media, barring us, making it illegal for us to report on those street protests going on today, actually, led by the opposition candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi. So everybody here is trying to gather this information that's coming in.

And let me show you some footage that's come in through iReport, through some of the other media Web sites where Iranians on the street have been sending their own footage in of this rally that took place in the streets of Tehran today.

We're told tens of thousands of people gathered, wearing black as a show of mourning for at least seven people killed by security forces, it appears, or at least paramilitary forces on Monday at an opposition rally, an historic opposition rally in favor of that opposition candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Now, let's move on to the Iranian regime, the government, and how it is showing information. Now, take a look at this man right here. This is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He is the supreme leader of Iran. Unquestionably the most powerful person in this country. And these demonstrations are the biggest challenge to his rule, basically since he was appointed to this position.

Now, some interesting things I want to point out, Kyra. We go to his page here. He's got an English page. And he called, just about 24 hours after the election took place on Friday, he called it a divine miracle.

Well, just about 48 hours after that, after all three of the opposition candidates protested the election, said that there was rigging, there was cheating going on, he then authorized an organization called the Guardian Council to start investigating these allegations of cheating.

Another interesting point on his Web site here, no mention of the protests that are under way.

Let me give you a sense from Stanford University's Abbas Milani of the powers that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei holds here now, Kyra.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBAS MILANI, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: He has disproportionate power. He's the commander in chief. He controls the Revolutionary Guard. He controls the intelligence agencies. He controls and appoints the media. He controls the head of the judiciary and all the important judges. And he controls, at a minimum, about 50 percent, 40 to 50 percent of the economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: And on Friday Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is expected to address Friday prayers. Everybody's going to be watching what he says about this situation right now. It's going to be very important -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And we'll all be watching, too. Ivan Watson, thanks so much.

Well, Tarzana, California, it's a long way from Tehran. But to millions of Iranians, a TV station tucked in the corner of the San Fernando Valley is a lifeline.

CNN's Kara Finnstrom joins me now from the home base of PARS-TV.

What can you tell us about how they're working there and producing their broadcasts, Kara, and if indeed Iranians in Iran can see this newscast?

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They say they believe they are seeing it. In fact, we're hearing phone calls from people within Iran. They are seeing this broadcast and are calling in with questions. This is a satellite TV station. About -- years ago it became the first independent Persian TV station to broadcast throughout the world and into Iran.

If you take a look behind me, we're in the control room. You can see on some of the monitors the live programming that's going on right now. This is a call-in program that's live right now. And we are told by those who work here that the volume of calls they are getting is about ten times what they normally do.

Also the regular programming is off the air. Twenty-four/seven now they are following developments in Iran. And some of the images that they're broadcasting we want to show you. They're coming in to the computer. They're -- as you mentioned, reporters very limited in what they can take outside of Iran. So these images being broadcast, and we want to mention that these images have not been vetted by CNN, but these are images that have been sent by people they have on the ground, by people that simply knows PARS-TV and are taking amateur home video and want the rest of the world to see it.

Can you tell us about this particular clip that you're playing with us for now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's, like, like half an hour -- two hours ago, sorry. We got two other videos, but they didn't have enough quality so we can't show it.

Right now, there is a heavy filter on Internet in Iran. They disconnected all cell phones, so people doesn't have enough access to Internet, so they can upload it. That's why we don't get enough image from Iran for -- I mean, today. But we had lots of images from yesterday and before.

FINNSTROM: So, the most recent images we have here from about two hours ago.

I want to give you a peek inside the studio real quickly so you can see the live programming under way. This is a station that was started by someone who left Tehran back in 1999 because of the revolution. And while he says he tries to run the station as neutrally as possible, so makes no secret of the fact that he wants to see a regime change. And that he does use his state (ph) as a means to promote democracy within Iran.

Kyra, they have been going 24/7 here. They are a small staff, about eight people at a time running this station. They've been pulling two and three shifts a day. They are, you know, running one day into the next to try and keep this going. They're very committed, they say, during this time to staying on the air.

PHILLIPS: Well, Kara, let me ask you this, and I don't know if maybe you can ask one of the control room operators there behind you, but do they -- are they talking with folks in Iran to see if, for sure, they are still on the air in Iran? And have they been shut down before? Has the Iranian government taken them off the airways in the past? If I remember right, I believe we did cover something where that did happen to PARS-TV at one volatile time.

FINNSTROM: Let me ask them. Do you know what's the latest that you were aware that you were actually on the air in Iran? Some of the callers, have they said that they are able to see you at this point?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, the latest, one called us about ten minutes ago or 15 minutes ago. They called us and they can watch us.

FINNSTROM: And were you taken off the air by the government in the past?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are off the air right now. But they are watching us through Afghan TV. Only on Afghan TV.

FINNSTROM: OK. I see. So, and have you -- have you had problems with getting your message across on a regular basis? Has that been trouble for you during these last couple of days?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, no, not actually.

FINNSTROM: Not actually.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are receiving messages.

FINNSTROM: OK. And, Kyra, I can tell you that they've been receiving e-mails and lots of phone calls from people who are able to call in and are aware that they're still on the air, you know, regardless of any trouble they may have.

PHILLIPS: It's interesting. People are getting creative and having to watch this station through other means. The Iranian government trying to step in there, it seems like.

All right, we'll continue to monitor what's happening from PARS- TV there in Los Angeles. Kara Finnstrom, thanks so much.

Pushing forward now on a story that we're on top of for you here in the CNN NEWSROOM. The captain of Continental Airlines flight dies during the flight from Brussels, Belgium, to Newark, New Jersey. That plane did land safely. Thankfully, this kind of scenario hardly ever happens, but what's the protocol in the cockpit when it does?

Pilot and author of Salon.com "Ask the Pilot" joins me via broadband from Boston.

You know, Patrick, I guess I just have to ask this question, because it's something that all of us wanted to know. You know, when you -- who makes the call that somebody -- that the -- I guess who makes the call that the pilot was dead? And once they've confirmed that, how do you respectfully deal with the body when you're still airborne?

PATRICK SMITH, COLUMNIST, SALON.COM'S "ASK THE PILOT": That's a good question, Kyra. I mean, airlines each have their own protocols of how to deal exactly with this kind of thing. What Continental did, I can't really say. You know, I'd like to remind people that, you know, for the family of the captain and his colleagues obviously, this was a very serious and tragic event. But from a safety standpoint for those on board the plane, it really was a non-issue. You know, every commercial flight has at least two fully-qualified flight crew members on board: a captain and a first officer. Because this was an international, a long-haul flight, it would have had a third fully- qualified crew member on, a relief first officer. So, there would have been a captain and two first officers.

Now, first officer, the colloquial for that is copilot, but a copilot isn't just an apprentice or a helping hand. He or she is trained to operate the airplane in every regime of flight, takeoffs, landings, good weather, bad weather. Long and short, when this plane touches down in Newark -- I guess it hasn't landed yet? Is that correct? When it does...

PHILLIPS: It has landed, Patrick.

SMITH: It has landed.

PHILLIPS: Yes.

SMITH: So when it touched down, there would have been two fully- rated pilots at the controls, just as there would be normally.

PHILLIPS: OK. So, now, the decision was made not to tell the passengers. Is that normal protocol? Because what if the copilots did know how to -- did not know how to respond, possibly panicked in the situation? You'd want to find out if, indeed, there was a doctor on board. So, what's the protocol of when you reach out to passengers for medical help and when do you not?

SMITH: That varies situation to situation, airline to airline. I can't speak specifically for Continental.

Obviously, the two first officers, you know, were, as I was saying, fully trained to operate this aircraft. And that really shouldn't have been an issue. Why they didn't summon a doctor, why they didn't tell the passengers, I can't really say. It may have been just to avoid panic.

PHILLIPS: Patrick Smith has a column, "Ask the Pilot," on Salon.com. Thank you so much. We'll continue, obviously, to follow the story as we get information of what exactly happened airborne.

Well, the unrest in Iran is capturing attention all over, even in Beverly Hills. Yes, that Beverly Hills. Swimming polls, movie stars and thousands of Iranian immigrants. We're talking with the one-time mayor who was born in Iran.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: One man with a unique perspective on the incredible events in Iran is Jimmy Delshad. He was born in Iran, emigrated to America half a century ago, and now he's city councilman and the current vice mayor of Beverly Hills. That city, famous for mansions and palm trees, has a very large Iranian population, and Jimmy Delshad made history two years ago when he served a rotating term as Beverly Hills mayor.

Vice mayor, good to see you.

JIMMY DELSHAD, VICE MAYOR, BEVERLY HILLS: Thank you very much. Good to help you (ph).

PHILLIPS: It's a pleasure to have you. I'm just curious, from a personal perspective, as you are watching all of this happen in Iran right now, what's going through your mind? Do you believe this is a revolution? Do you believe that something, indeed, is going to change?

DELSHAD: I think, even though my heart bleeds for all the people that have been killed, I think this is a great wake-up call for the Persian people.

I think this was not an election, but it was a selection. As you know, the Khamenei selected four people to run, and he made sure that the one that could have won, which was Khatami, which was a former president, was set aside for Mousavi. So he thought that any one of those people cannot beat Ahmadinejad.

And I think what they saw now is that the people now start losing faith and trust in Khamenei. This is not so much an election for Ahmadinejad. It's really showing confidence in Khamenei, which is the supreme leader.

PHILLIPS: Confidence in him or failure? Because a number of critics are coming forward saying, "Well, he said it was a divine miracle, this election, and now he's saying, 'OK, let's look in to a possible investigation, possible recount.'" Is he doing that to quell the violence, or is the supreme leader losing some power here?

DELSHAD: I think that's what I meant. It's a lack of confidence that people are going to have in him and his regime. So, I believe that this is a silver -- there is a silver lining to this whole election, and that is that the western government don't have to give another two years for a new leader to prove himself one way or the other. Now they know. They have to deal with the same leader, which is a loudspeaker for Khamenei. So, it's not really what they say.

And if Mousavi or somebody else is put into power, then these people will know that they have the power of people so they can stand up to their Khamenei and to the leaders there. And I think there's going to be a definite change in Iran, either way, one way or the other.

PHILLIPS: And final thought, relations between the U.S. and Iran? I mean, you came to the states more than 40 years ago. You know what happened during the revolution and all the Iranians, so many of the Iranians, came to the United States. I remember "The New Yorker" magazine talking about Los Angeles as Irangeles. You know. You represent so many Iranians there. DELSHAD: Yes.

PHILLIPS: What does this mean for the relationship between the U.S. and Iran? Do you see this as a good sign?

DELSHAD: I believe that. I believe it's going to be a great sign for western and for America. Because the people of Iran do really genuinely like America, and by seeing that their own leaders failed them, lied to them and deceived them, they'll start believing in what western world is saying. Holocaust was not a myth, and everything else that Ahmadinejad was saying, and basically was the voice of Khamenei will not be believed by the people.

PHILLIPS: And we should point out, you mentioned the Holocaust. And not only are you Iranian, but you're also Jewish. It makes your insight even more interesting.

Vice mayor, Jimmy Delshad, of Beverly Hills. Appreciate your time today, sir.

DELSHAD: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Facebook, Twitter, heck the whole Internet, none of them were in play in 1979. What a difference a digital revolution makes. Iranians more connected than ever to each other and the rest of us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, as you know, as we try to follow the ongoing situation and what many people are calling a revolution that's taking place in Iran right now, after the presidential election, we are getting more limitations and more restrictions with how we can cover this story.

We now are only able to file one report a day. And that is why you're not seeing our Reza Sayah giving us continuous live shots and updates of what's happening there. So, we are trying to find other creative ways to cover what's taking place.

We're also monitoring four of the Iranian stations that are coming in to us right now. These are stations that are downlinked from Iran. They are official Iranian stations. As you can see, not everybody covering what is taking place on the streets there in that country. But we're doing the best that we can to see how they are covering this story.

And then, of course, we're going to the Internet and we're trying to talk to people on the ground via cell phone, text messaging, Twitter, you name it. The cyber-revolution, indeed, is something that's helped us cover this story.

I'm being told now on the phone we have been able to reach somebody. Not going to use this individual's name, due to safety precautions, of course. She was there at the Mousavi rally that took place this morning. I do want to point out that Press TV in Iran did show some of that pro-Mousavi march. She was there. She joins us by phone. Can you tell us what it was like?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was amazing, again, another rally, a silent rally, in memory of the martyrs that passed away on the Monday rally. There were about seven of them. So, in memory of them. We all wore black, and we were -- we hold the black ribbon throughout the whole rally. And, of course, wearing the green that represents Mousavi. Mr. Mousavi showed up at the Imam Khomeini (ph) Square with his wife, and they were really emotional. They had tears in their eye.

It was an emotional scene. The whole rally was eight kilometers from Imam Khomeini Square to the (INAUDIBLE) square, which are the two main squares in Iran. It was peaceful. No violence. No interruptions. I mean, it was really well respected in a sense. And it's very touching that this whole situation is taking place in such a peaceful manner.

PHILLIPS: Let me ask you, too. As a female, tell me what has inspired you to come out onto the streets, be a part of these rallies? Is it the fact that Mousavi's wife, Zahra, has been able to come forward and speak on his behalf, given a platform to talk? How much has she inspired you and other females there in Tehran? And tell me, other parts of what's happening there that are inspiring you as well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Personally, no, she hasn't really inspired me, because I don't know that much of her, because I really lived in the U.S. the past 14 -- I mean, for 14 years. So, I'm really not familiar with her position as -- as a university -- I think she was a -- she had something to do with the university...

PHILLIPS: Right. She was head of a female college. Are you an Iranian-American? Were you all there visiting when this all happened?

UNIDETIFIED FEMALE: No, I'm not an Iranian-American. I'm Iranian, but I lived in the U.S. for 14 years for education and all that.

PHILLIPS: Do you live in Iran now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I live in Iran.

PHILLIPS: Go ahead, then, to tell me what inspired you, then, as not only a...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's just -- I think the whole thing, I think the whole election thing, I mean, it wasn't right. I think we were cheated, in a sense, and to see all these people. I mean, people -- people are the ones who are inspiring me, you know? To see every -- you see, you know, in the rallies, you see every kind. Every -- I mean, you see all the social -- different social classes, from people who are religious to people who are old to young, children, you know, man, woman.

I mean, it's amazing. It's an amazing scene. And the scene by itself is so inspiring. Gives you so much energy that you cannot not go to the next rally, I mean, you... PHILLIPS: And -- and what is the feeling with regard to the Supreme Leader? There's been a lot of talk here in the States about his credibility, his power. Do you see that weakening? Do you see it as the same? Do you think -- do you see it becoming stronger? what do these rallies tell you about the leadership of the supreme leader?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't really think that his position is changing. I don't think that this is about a revolution, that we want to change the government here. It's most -- you know, I think he is still going to be a leader, and nothing's going to change about that. And he's well respected and, you know, I can't really -- I can't judge him, because I don't know. I mean, it's the Iranian way.

PHILLIPS: Do you see this as a revolution?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is it?

PHILLIPS: Do you see this as a revolution?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I don't see it as a revolution, no. I think it's just people complaining about their situation where they feel they were cheated. You know, I don't think the government will change after this. I think we still will have the Islamic republic of Iran, but our president is going to be a different president.

PHILLIPS: So, what difference will this make?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president is going to be different, which I think that will make a huge difference in the country, and...

PHILLIPS: As in you believe Mousavi will become the president, is that what you're saying?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I sure hope so, yes. For all the time that we're spending in the streets and all the long walks that we're taking. I really think is going to get someplace, yes. I really hope so.

PHILLIPS: I appreciate you calling in, talking to...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALES: No worries.

PHILLIPS: Appreciate it. Calling in from the pro-Mousavi rally. We can't identify them by name and tell you the exact location, but we're doing our best to cover a story that we've been given a lot of restrictions on from the Iranian government.

Once again, she attended the pro-Mousavi rally today giving her insight as to why she was there and the impact she thinks it's going to make.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Enormous, eerily quiet, potentially momentous. The latest anti-government protest in the streets of Tehran. And if you heard my conversation with visiting professor Babak Rahimi, you know this vast display of mourning is a far cry from the protests we've seen every day this week. Supporters of defeated presidential hopeful, Mir Hossein Mousavi, are grieving over an allegedly fraudulent election and the violence and arrests that have followed. Mousavi himself showed up today and spoke to the crowd about politics and Iran's troubled economy. And so far, we have no reports of violence.

Tomorrow, Iran's Supreme Leader is due to lead Friday prayers at Tehran University, where security forces reportedly came down hard on protesters earlier in the week.

Well, as you probably know by now, Iranians online are the best remaining source of news Iran's government may not want to share. The government is still trying to shut them down, but bloggers and other citizen journalists are still at it. CNN's Errol Barnett is keeping tabs for us at our sister network, CNN International. What have you been able to learn?

ERROL BARNETT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Down here in the CNN International newsroom it is, of course, our top story and all the iReporters we're reaching out to -- all of them around -- fearful of what the government will do when they find out they're going around the restrictions.

They are using proxy servers, servers outside the country to send us content and just about all of them are telling us the bandwidth in Iran is very limited. It's a snail's pace and it takes a long time to get video and images. But they are still their best to do so. Let me show you some new iReport images uploaded and approved minutes ago showing Mir Hossein Mousavi at today's rally.

Take a look at this image. It was shot by an 18-year-old who is here. He does not want to be identified, but you can clearly see here Mir Hossein Mousavi at today's rally. CNN is barred from reporting from the ground, so we're relying on eyewitnesses to show us what's taking place. We have also video from today's rally, what they're calling really a silent protest of people holding up signs dressed in black for mourning the death to people who have lost their lives this week and still wearing the trademark green color representing Mir Hossein Mousavi.

But there is a flip side to this story that many bloggers are saying, western media is actually missing. And that is the pro- Ahmadinejad supporters voicing their support online. Globalvoicesonline.org is one blog that wants to bridge that gap. (INAUDIBLE) has translated sites in Farsi supporting Ahmadinejad into English.

We have one site we want to show you from Hamed Talebi. You can see a picture of him if you come over here to the right. He supports Ahmadinejad and he says on this blog, "This is not a war between Ahmadinejad and Mir Hossein. We should not let it become a war between the voters of both sides, either. It's a war between the majority of people, speaking of Ahmadinejad supporters, who have no access to media and a radical movement."

And that's a point we should really underscore. Of the 70 million people in Iran, only about 25 to 30 percent even have access to the Web. And of those people on the Web, many of them are young. Many of them are less conservative, so they're more likely to voice their support and most of them support Mir Hossein Mousavi, the reform candidate.

Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad has a lot of support in rural areas. More conservative, religious people who are less likely to voice their support on the web. And I did find one person using Twitter. Chaz-ah (ph) -- I want to get her name right, who has been voicing her pro- Ahmadinejad opinion all week. I asked her specifically if we could use her name, and she was fine with that.

Meanwhile the Mousavi movement continues online. Take a look at his Facebook page, more than 60,000 fans here. And one of the efforts is to get Google to sign this petition in support. Google changing their logo color. So, this is still the top-trending topic. Still huge. People still using the Web, but there are pro-Ahmadinejad supporters using the internet as well, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Errol, thanks so much.

Iranian protesters aren't just on the street. They're also on the net, using Web-based weapons to stay ahead of an Internet crackdown. Just ask British Web internet designer Ryan Kelly. He's not in Iran, but his software is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN KELLY, WEB DESIGNER: It just exemplifies the power of the Internet. No matter where in the world, you can have an effect on something thousands of miles away. So it's great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, innovative software giving hard-liners a headache. You will see why. It ain't 1979 anymore.

A pilot dies mid-flight. A copilot takes over. The Continental jet was traveling from Brussels, Belgium, to Newark, New Jersey. The 60-year-old captian died apparently of natural causes. A relief copilot took over and put wheels down safely in Newark. Passengers say they were not told what was happening, but they figured something was wrong when the crew asked for a doctor.

And a medical nightmare that's gone on for years finally gets Washington's attention. Why the government plans to spend more than $100 million cleaning up a small town in a big-sky country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, for years people in the small town of Libby, Montana, have been exposed to asbestos, the dark side of a nearby mining operation. It's been a nightmare. Only about 12,000 people live in that area, and more than 200 deaths have been blamed on the problem. Now, the EPA is doing something about it, and our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins me to talk about what's exactly going on in Libby.

ELIZABETH COHEN, SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's really been a horrible situation there. It's been ten years of what people call a toxic legacy. Kyra mentioned a mining operation. These mines had a chemical or mineral, rather, called vermiculite and when it was sort of unleashed, it's believed that it killed 200 people from lung disease and from cancer. It's believed there have also been a thousand illnesses from this mining operation. Now, the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency, has declared a public health emergency under the Superfund Law. It's the first time that that's happened.

PHILLIPS: So, what are they doing to help people in Libby now?

COHEN: Because they've declared this public health emergency, that has now released up to $130 million to help people in Libby. About $6 million of that will be used to deliver medical care. Here, you see some folks that have already been helped. They need to do a lot of work here to see exactly who is ill and exactly what they can do with these people.

PHILLIPS: The mineral is also used in insulation in homes, right?

COHEN: Right, some homes have insulation with vermiculite in them. And so the EPA says, look, if you're going to do any work around the insulation that might perhaps release some of that vermiculite or release some of that asbestos, you should definitely work with a contractor who is approved to work with insulation that contains asbestos. That's very important.

PHILLIPS: All right, we'll track it. Thank you very much, Elizabeth.

COHEN: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: The two security officers who shot the shooter last week at the Holocaust Museum? Well, they're talking about the ordeal with our own Ed Henry. We'll go live to Washington next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A pilot dies in mid-flight. How does the crew respond? What do you tell the passengers? What do you do with the body? A behind-the-scene perspective of the scenario that happened today.

Plus, on the streets and online, election protests in Iran growing stronger by the day. We are monitoring the Internet, the airwaves, all our sources. We are bringing you every detail that makes it through the government net.

Think of him as the accidental protester. A software guy in the U.K. becomes part of the story in Iran thanks to his skill with the refresh button. How refreshing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: It turns out Iran's rulers aren't the only ones trying to block their opponent's Web activities. Protesters are overwhelming the government sites with a tool developed a long way away by a man who is overwhelmed himself by how his software is being used. Our Atika Shubert reports from London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was just another Tuesday morning when Ryan Kelly opened up his e-mail and found this. A huge surge in hits on his Web site, pagereboot.com, from a few hundred to 42,000 hits at its peak on June 15. Little did he know his software to automatically refresh Web pages had become a critical tool for those protesting the outcome of Iran's election.

RYAN KELLY, WEB DESIGNER, REBOOT.COM: I was shocked and thought, wow, this is crazy. Obviously, I had seen the situation and had no idea this site would become that powerful in what they were doing.

SHUBERT (on camera): So here's the Web site, and it's pretty simple. You just type in the Web site you want to have automatically refreshed, say, CNN News, for however many seconds, say, 30 seconds. It will automatically refresh that site. The way Iranian Web activists used this site was by typing in the Web site for the Iranian president and getting hundreds of people to do it, and getting them to refresh every second.

(voice-over): The result? The Web site under attack is completely overwhelmed, which can cause a temporary shutdown. Kelly first got this e-mail from a user called "Nobody" requesting him to shut down his site. Initially, he complied. But he got a flood of requests from Iranian activists explaining what they were using the site for. He promptly put the site back up.

KELLY: It just exemplifies the power of the Internet. No matter where in the world, you can have an effect on somebody thousands of miles away. So, it is great. I got e-mails saying "thanks for bringing it back up." I was actually invited down to the Iranian embassy to protest outside. So I had just several people say, thanks for bringing it up. It's great

SHUBERT: Kelly is not sure if he will be attending the protest, but he is making his software freely available to Iranian activists.

Atika Shubert, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)