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Continuing Coverage of the Unrest in Iran; Post-Election Protest Reporting Sketchy

Aired June 20, 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 CENTER: Main opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi was not there, as far as we know. He was not at todays meeting of Iran's Guardian Council either, which reportedly has decided to recount about 10 percent of the vote. CNN is covering this story from so many different angles, from Christiane Amanpour, our chief international correspondent out of London to Kate Bolduan at the White House, Susan Candiotti at the United Nations. Ted Rowlands is also in Los Angeles where people are gathered there for protests in the next hour and Ivan Watson is here in the newsroom at our Iran Hub at our International Desk here in Atlanta.

This is where all the information from Iran seems to be coming to us from that Iran desk. First let's go to our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour. She was in Tehran for the elections, now back in London. What do you make of what you are seeing right now out of Tehran?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly we know because of eyewitness reports that there have been pockets of people who tried to get to those rallies and were prevented because they were surrounded by riot police and because police we are told were trying to disburse them with anything like water cannons and tear gas canisters and the like. This picture that has come out showing the helicopter above and what looks like a massive crowd down below, amateur video, is the most significant picture, the most significant image we've seen out of Iran today, if in fact that does turn out to be that it was today.

It looks like a very, very, very large gathering, and this coming the day after Ayatollah Khamenei drew a line in the sand and warned people in Iran not to come out anymore is a very significant development. I've been talking to people inside Iran who have told me a little about what they are able to see from their vantage point and that is that in several districts around Tehran, people have been pouring into the streets. They are honking the horns tonight. They are waving the "v" for victory sign which was a symbol for all of those out during the Mousavi rallies both before and after the election.

Some were shouting "down with the dictator." That's what I've been told by people who are listening and being able to see it from their vantage point in various different neighborhoods of Tehran. The real big story would be this big, big rally, this huge picture of this number of people who have come out despite the warnings by the top leader in Iran not to do so.

In addition, there is that other element that we've been hearing reports from Iranian state television and that was an explosion. It's been described by Iranian state press as a suicide bombing at Ayatollah Khamenei's shrine where he is buried and many, many pilgrims come to pay respects and come to visit. According to state television two people were killed including the bomber, certainly sources inside Iran had said that they believe various anti-regime groups would try to take advantage of the turmoil and create what was said to be terror or a sabotage act.

WHITFIELD: Something else very interesting, Christiane as it pertains to the Ayatollah yesterday. Singling out Great Britain as a great enemy, and not necessarily the U.S., which may have been the thinking not so long ago that the U.S. was a primary enemy of Iran. What is the real psychology here about why Great Britain may have been singled out? Does it have anything in part to do most recently with the BBC being able to broadcast in Persian reaching directly the audiences of Iran?

AMANPOUR: Well, that is possibly part of it. If you go back decades, Britain has historically had very, very rough relations through our various periods with Iran. Iran has blamed Britain over the years for many of the interferences, as they like to call it. This has been the theme soon after these elections. They started to come down on the BBC and on British and other European countries, which had come out very strongly against the election results or calling for a proper inquiry and calling for strength regarding the protestors on the street.

So potentially that was aimed at those actions, and Iran has said, that look, what happens is our internal affair. And less against the United States, although the United States was mentioned by Ayatollah Khamenei in the speech yesterday, which he actually said words that are attributed to President Obama that they will be looking to see people out on the streets on the one hand, but on the other hand they are writing letters giving speeches saying they respect the people and leadership of Iran and they want ties, which one are we to believe? So a general dig at many countries who have been voicing concerns.

WHITFIELD: Great Britain, France, to name a few. The U.S. being very reticent about expressing too much.

AMANPOUR: Right. Certainly Europe has been seen as expressing much more vociferous protests. Iran calls in the European ambassadors and there has been a diplomatic back and forth over this.

WHITFIELD: Christiane Amanpour thanks so much. We'll see more reporting from you, too, a little bit later. Christiane was there as I mentioned leading up to the election. The whole campaigning and the protests, as well. We will be sharing her inside, even more in depth that what you have been hearing all day long "From the Streets of Iran" airs tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time right here on CNN. Christiane I will be talking with you a bit later as well. Good day.

President Obama walking a very delicate line responding to the Iranian election crises, as we mentioned. While he warns the government that the world is watching, he is careful not to open the support anti- government protestors, but his restraint is not sitting well with critics. Some critics right here at home. Listen to what the president said on CBS yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE U.S: I'm very concerned based on some of the tenor and tone of the statements that have been made that the government of Iran recognized that the world is watching and how they approach and deal with people who are, through peaceful means, trying to be heard will, I think, send a clear signal to the international community about what Iran is and is not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Some congressional leaders here in the states are taking issue with the president's remarks. They want a message with more teeth. Our Kate Bolduan is hearing both sides of the debate from the White House. She joins us now. Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi there Fredericka. No word today from the White House on the ongoing situation in Iran despite these calls for stepped-up pressure for the president to come out more forcefully in response to the disputed Iranian elections and the demonstrations and protests that have followed. The White House has maintains more of a hands-off approach to the situation. The White House believes it has struck a correct, as you said, albeit a very delicate balance here, not wanting to interfere in what they see as a domestic affairs, internal affairs between the Iranian regime, the government in Iran and the Iranian people.

At the same time, the president has come out to support the Iranian people, and as he put it, as a universal principle that the people voices should be heard and not suppressed. The president also said in an interview with CBS that he is concerned he does not want the U.S. to be brought into this debate. He doesn't want to be drawn in and be made kind of a political target or issue into the debate between the regime, the political elite in Iran as well as the Iranian people.

At the same time, the president has also said that the world is watching here and we'll have to also watch, wait and see if escalated violence or what will come in these developments today and the coming days, and how this president's tone will shift accordingly.

WHITFIELD: Kate, has the White House even gone as far as saying this is what could potentially happen if we were to take sides in what's taking place in Iran, that the U.S. could perhaps even alienate itself from other ally nations or perhaps promote any disruptions outside of Iran with other countries that may disagree with the assessment of that vote?

BOLDUAN: Well, the president and the administration, the White House press secretary they have been very careful. They very much usually avoid the what-if situations, not looking at it until things develop, very sticking very firmly that the president, they believe they struck the right balance here which is supporting the will of the Iranian people, not inserting ourselves, the United States into what they believe right now is domestic internal affairs going on in Iran.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kate Bolduan from the White House thanks so much. Appreciate that.

Across the U.S. Meantime, Iranian Americans are turning out to show their support for their countrymen in different ways.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: New images and information coming out of Iran as thousands of people take to the streets in defiance of the Ayatollah's warning yesterday. CNN's Ivan Watson has been following the latest developments coming out of Tehran. He is here in the newsroom at the Iran desk. What is the latest, Ivan?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Fredricka. Let me just say the reason I'm coming to from you here and not our journalists who are on the ground in Tehran is because the Iranian government sent a fax to our reporters there today saying you are not allowed to report anything in Iran without first getting permission from the Iranian authorities. We are trying to get information from here. Look what the Iranian authorities showed today though on state television.

Scene of a big, of security forces, the CG militia clubbing a protestor evidently and carting one away, detaining someone here, you can see in the footage here. Take a look at another piece of video that has come across from the Associated Press Television News Agency. Here we see people running away in the streets of Tehran, fleeing because tear gas is being used to disburse the crowd. That fits with the eyewitness accounts we've gotten from Tehran in phone calls and e- mail and on twitter throughout the course of the day.

Let's take a look at some amateur video that has come out, as well, to show just how the situation has unfolded on the ground. Here we see thousands of people not carrying signs, not carrying banners, a helicopter monitoring from above. It's a little difficult for us to figure out exactly where this took place, if this, in fact, happened today, but we've been inspecting this video. We believe it was shot today and that it shows crowds of people trying to gather for this protest against the results of last week's presidential elections.

Let me take you over here to our board over here. This is the facebook page of Mir Hossein Mousavi. He was according to the official results the second-place candidate in those contested presidential elections. He is accusing the government of rigging the elections, and according to this Website, it is calling for demonstrators to demonstrate and go out and strike. It also says that he claims that he actually went out on to the street and gave a speech to the crowd.

We haven't been able to confirm this independently. This is coming from his facebook site, and that he prepared himself for martyrdom. Very important because the supreme leader, the most powerful man in Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei he declared in no uncertain terms on Friday that it is illegal to hold these demonstrations and any bloodshed will be on the hands of the organizers, meaning this man right here who still refuses to agree with the results of those presidential elections.

Fredricka. WHITFIELD: But however, Ivan, no one has seen Mousavi today, correct? There were conflicting reports that perhaps he was among the crowd, but come to find out maybe no one has really eye witnessed that he would be there.

WATSON: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Yet he would still be held responsible for the protests. You mentioned the Ayatollah reiterating it is illegal, but what would happen? Would it be arrest or would it be discipline in some other form?

WATSON: It's very important to know what would happen to these opposition leaders. There have been waves of arrest among dissidents and among activists over the course of the past week. Will people like this? Will the other opposition candidate who said he was going to attend this rally, Mehdi Karroubi (ph), will he be arrested? Will their supporters be arrested? Again we heard waves of arrests and let me give you a description from an e-mail from one protestor that I just got recently.

This protestor sent an email saying his friend was hit in the head by one of the security forces with a baton, and according to this protestor, he claimed that the guy who hit him didn't even speak Farsi. That he thinks he was a foreigner. We have had rumors of that coming from some of the opposition protestors, unconfirmed, of course, because our hands are tied on the ground in Iran right now. Our reporters aren't allowed by the authorities to report. We have heard rumors like this from the opposition before that some of the security forces are, in fact, not Iranian. We'll be following this, Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. Now earlier at the top you talked about reporters who were there are not allowed to report, not allowed to attend these protests in which to report unless they get permission. Who might get permission and how might one ask for permission or is that really just kind of a word that is being tossed around that is not really meaningful?

WATSON: Well, for any foreign journalists trying to go to Iran, I've gone on several reporting trips in the past. You have to get an accreditation from the Ministry of Information. Then you are allowed to operate, and then you are assigned most of the time a translator who is approved by the state who gives detailed reports at the end of each day of what you've done every day. What we saw over the course of the last week, as these protests gained momentum, CNN's ability to operate on the ground was restricted, actually in the past two to three days to one report a day.

Then we know that other foreign media also, that a blanket order went out restricting them from being able to report on these historic street demonstrations. The most serious challenge to the Islamic regime basically since the 1979, the most serious internal domestic challenge to the regime since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

WHITFIELD: This is very unusual for the world to be watching in many ways Ivan because a lot of what is being conveyed on television or whether it be by articles or print, a lot of these images are come by way of social networking, people smuggling those images out, everything from information on tweets and even on youtube, as well. What kind of images are we seeing on youtube that might give kind of a depiction of what is taking place on the ground?

WATSON: Here is one example we've seen. And again, it's tough for us to confirm this who maybe filmed it, where it took place. We've seen a number of these kinds of videos where we see apparent clashes between protestors and security forces. Sometimes we hear people chanting "death to the dictator" or "god is great." In some of these videos. You can see all sorts of tumult going on there. Here is another video I want, that's going to be a little tough for us to look at right now. We will go back to the original here. But you can just see the chaos out here and let me show you some pictures that we've gotten earlier today.

WHITFIELD: Do we know anything about the context of this kind of image coming out from youtube? We can see a melee of people and this person looks injured. Is there a story that, you know, some details that comes with it.

WATSON: Very difficult for us to confirm, when this may have happened, where this happened, right now we can see somebody injured. We know that earlier in the week on one bloody day on Monday, at least eight people were killed in an enormous, very historic rally on behalf of the opposition, which was attended actually, that was attended by Mir Hossein Mousavi, according to the official tally, the second place candidate in those presidential elections. We get video like this coming in, we are trying to figure out what exactly it means, where it could have taken place.

We are just bringing to you what we are seeing. We are scouring the social networking sites on the Internet for some of these things. Here is another example of what we are getting from facebook, from twitter. You can see these riot police out on the streets of Tehran. Very intimidating if you are an unarmed protestor trying to go out and rally. We are seeing some of the demonstrators are fighting back in some cases throwing rocks, clashing directly, despite being tear gassed.

WHITFIELD: State-run television also conveying some images and I kind of wonder about the counter protest, those who are in support of Ahmadinejad. We did see there were victory rallies and other types of selections of supporters of Ahmadinejad earlier in the week. There is anything like that taking place this weekend that would be in support of him?

WATSON: Well we certainly saw a huge show of support for the existing government, for the Islamic regime on Friday where hundreds of thousands of people attended Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's prayer sessions. We are going to take a look at some new video I would like to show you, I'm not sure where this is coming from. This is from APTN, I'm being told. We see a burning motorcycle and somebody hit by a car. We are getting this material coming out in dribs and drabs, in part because of the almost complete blackout of foreign media from being able to operate and report on these historic events in a very important country in the heart of the Middle East, Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: Even though there may be a dearth of information in some respects in terms of what can actually be conveyed directly out of Iran, Iran in particular Ivan. I just looked on my blog page and I see that people are very open to expressing their views about what they are seeing so far.

Gail is saying, help the people of Iran. We cannot do nothing when this threatens our own freedom. If they get away with a rigged election, they will not stop there.

Holly writes. "In my opinion the intense situation in Iran and historical change that reminds me of other big countries who fought for their free speech."

WATSON: Yes and there is one thing very important to keep in mind here. We see demonstrators out on the streets clashing with security forces. But there is another power struggle under way here, Fredericka. It's not just the masses out on the street going up against the cops. You also have a power struggle between different people who used to be at the heart of this revolutionary government. Mir Hossein Mousavi, this man who got second place used to be a prime minister throughout the 1980s that was at the heart of the revolution.

WHITFIELD: So why are people so convinced that he does not represent the government as they know since he was part of the government as they know? Why are they so convinced that he was a new, I guess new type of energy? Bringing something new to the equation, even though he was part of the old regime?

WATSON: I think some of this may be reflected in the lack of popularity for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has been in power since the 2005 elections, and there is a fair amount of opposition to him. The economic situation in Iran is really tough. There's double-digit unemployment, especially for these young Iranians who make up, fewer than 30 Iranians who make up under 3/5 of the population. And for some reason they latched on to this candidate here in part because the first time in Iranian political history since the 1979 Islamic revolution, he was campaigning with his wife. Iranians haven't seen a woman campaigning alongside her husband for a political post like this before.

WHITFIELD: Great. All right. Ivan Watson thanks so much and we let you do some more reporting because I know other information is coming in dribs and drabs. It does take some time getting through that to find context for all that. We'll check back with you momentarily. That you, Ivan.

Iranian Americans have also been hitting the streets in the U.S. for support of their friends and relatives back at home. Looking at live pictures right now, this is right outside the White House where the crowds marched through the streets. They have now all converged outside the fence there of the White House. We hope to get a little bit more information about what they are saying and how they are being met there at the White House.

Much more straight ahead.

We are also looking at these new images that are coming in. You saw a bit of this that Ivan was showing us, more information now coming in from ATTN this is in the streets of Tehran. You can see clearly people being hit, beaten, motorcycle right there on fire. We don't know the circumstances that led to this. Earlier we saw an image that appeared to be just from this location and also appeared, right there, that a vehicle was involved with possibly hitting another individual. We are going to try to get more contexts because it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to just see it and not understand what is taking place there in Tehran. Soon as we piece that together some of that information we'll bring it to you right away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back as we continue to monitor developments out of Iran. We are seeing different images coming out. Mostly protests, but this time we are seeing images of people who seem to be conflicting, there are motorcycles, there are vehicles involved and lots of people. Ivan Watson has gotten a little more information to help us understand these images that are coming from AP TV.

WATSON: Absolutely, let's take a look at that video. We cannot report from the ground. We are banned by the authorities to report right now. Here we see a motorcycle on the ground, a woman embracing a man and then a crowd evidently trying to hurt this man, kicking him. Look at this. This is a sign of the violence that we are seeing on the streets, the tensions right now. Iranian society polarized in disagreement over the results of these presidential elections that took place last week.

WHITFIELD: And these are civilians against civilians as opposed to people presuming these are protestors conflicting with police or Iranian military, anyone trying to stop the protests?

WATSON: A little difficult to tell. Lets take another look because part of the problem is we do have demonstrators and we have seen them clashing with security forces. You also have pro government militia who don't wear uniforms. You have plain-clothed security forces who can be very heavy handed sometimes who are brought in sometimes to break up these illegal demonstrations. Not clear what exactly is taking place right there. Often we see that the security forces operate by moving around on motorcycles and we have seen them attack before in the past.

Another phenomenon that we've seen is in some cases the demonstrators have tried to protect security forces after they've been surrounded by mobs of opposition. This is just showing you how tense the situation right now is. There is a large segment of the Iranian population that feels like this election was rigged. That their votes were stolen from them. That is part of why we are seeing such big tensions out on the streets right now.

WHITFIELD: Even though the government and the Ayatollah reiterated yesterday that it's their belief that the existing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad got 63 percent of the votes with Mir Hossein Mousavi with 34 percent. That second-place runner-up as you put it a little bit earlier.

WATSON: The Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, the most powerful man in Iran, he made it clear in Friday prayers Friday that there is no question that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won that election, even though the three opposition candidates, all three of them have raised serious complaints and actually accused the government of rigging the election. Charges that the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denied yesterday.

WHITFIELD: Even though there was to be a meeting today to discuss a recount of 10 percent of the vote, was that meeting focused primarily on that? And is it true that Mousavi was invited to that meeting but he didn't show up because he doesn't believe 10 percent recount would be necessary? Instead he would want a completely new election all together?

WATSON: Absolutely. All three opposition candidates they were invited to that meeting with the Guardian Council, that is a body of 12 officials, clerics and legal experts who are supposed to have --

WHITFIELD: Would Ahmadinejad have been there?

WATSON: We are not 100 percent sure about that. We do know that Mousavi, the second place candidate and maybe Karroubi boycotted that meeting. The third opposition candidate, and this is really interesting, Mohsen Rezaei (ph), he is a former revolutionary guard commander evidently he attended that meeting even though he has contested the official results of the election.

According to the official results, he got less than 800,000 votes. I've seen reports in the Iranian state media that he claims that he got millions of votes. For an insider like him, a man who use to lead the revolutionary guard, for him to raise complaints really shows how deep this disagreement goes with in Iran's moving elite.

WHITFIELD: Ivan Watson thanks so much at the Iran desk. We'll check back with you momentarily.

Meantime, the United States president, a very measured tone on the crisis in Iran is he being too careful or too cautious? Some Republicans say yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A tense night in Tehran earlier. We saw thousands of people trying to make their ways to planned rallies in the central squares. But they were stopped by hundreds of police armed with tear gas and water cannons. Mir Hossein Mousavi was a no-show as far as we know. He was the reformist candidate who charges election results were rigged.

On his facebook page there is a message that he is ready for, quote, martyrdom, that message has not been authenticated. In the southern part of the capital of Tehran Iran's state-run television reports that a suicide bomber killed three people and injured eight and damaged the shrine of the late Ayatollah. President Obama is feeling the heat on Iran for many conservatives they want him to speak up more forcefully about the election and the protest that it has generated. The president and his critics in interview with CBS News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE U.S: The last thing that I want to do is to have the United States be a foil for those forces inside Iran who would love nothing better than to make this an argument about the United States. That's what they do. That's what we are already seeing. We shouldn't be playing into that. There should be no distractions from the fact that the Iranian people are seeking to let their voices be heard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Lots of voices are being heard right outside the White House. Somewhere between 1,500 and maybe even 2,000 people are rallying right outside the White House. Take a look at the live images right now, right outside the fence of the White House. Our camera on the inside of the White House property looking out. A number of people who have collected there, they walked through the streets of Washington making their way from Wisconsin Avenue through Georgetown and then eventually there to the White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue where they collect there.

And we understand that a majority of the protestors there are there in support of the opposition leader who came in second place who was defeated in this election in Iran. Our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser is also in Washington a few blocks away from the White House and from where that protest is taking place. While the president says he is going to remain mum on this, not going to talk too much, certainly he looks out the window and he sees what has converged and who has converged right there outside the property.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICIAL DIRECTOR: He is home today; he is at the White House. Maybe watching on CNN, Fredericka. The president also is keeping an eye on what the Republicans are saying, as well. We were talking about this earlier today. You've seen a lot of top Republicans, John McCain in the Senate pretty critical of this administration's approach so far to the events in Iran. They say the president needs to be tougher when it comes to Tehran.

Now just yesterday both houses of Congress overwhelmingly passed this resolution which condemns the crackdown in Tehran and also supports all Iranians who are looking for freedom. This originally was a tougher resolution on the White House, but it was watered down a little bit. When that happened all Democrats were able to jump onboard. Take a listen to John McCain. He was the one who brought up the resolution in the Senate. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: It's unfortunate in a way that this resolution is required since the administration does not want to "meddle" and has refused, the president's refused to speak out in support of these brave Iranian citizens.

(END VIDEO CLIP) STEINHAUSER: John McCain there, of course. It's not all Republicans that are saying this though. We are going to be listening in tomorrow morning on "Late Edition with John King." Richard Luger is one of the top Republicans with foreign policy will be on the show so we shall see what he has to say about this.

WHITFIELD: Any real clarity on what the resolution would do? Yes, there were those on the hill who voted in support of this resolution, but how might that impact Iran? How might that change the standing of the U.S. as it pertains to U.S. diplomacies?

STEINHAUSER: It's a nonbinding resolution so it has no force behind it. It was more of a way for members of Congress to really vent about how they feel about what's going on in Tehran right now. How do the American people feel, Fredericka? We don't have any new polls that say they support what the president is doing on Iran or this crisis is just in the last week.

Take a look at this. This is the most recent poll on how the president is doing overall when it comes to foreign policy. Six out of 10 people give the president a thumbs up on foreign policy and other recent polls have shown the same thing. We don't have any numbers on Iran, per se, but overall Americans have been favorable about what the president is doing.

WHITFIELD: Paul Steinhauser thanks so much from Washington, we will check back with you later.

STEINHAUSER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. The Iranian American community in Los Angeles quite huge and many are turning out in support.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredericka Whitfield. In Los Angeles, Iranian Americans are showing up for a protest recognizing their friends and families risking their lives in the streets of Tehran. Ted Rowlands is live from Los Angeles with their messages. You are outside the federal building and by the way Los Angeles having the largest population of Iranian Americans in this country, right?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You can imagine what these folks are doing. They are literally staying up day and night trying to get information from friends and family in and around Tehran specifically and around Iran, the country. You can see a significant amount of people here already. This event doesn't start until the top of the hour.

Over the last few days though they have had day events every single day coming out, people putting on green arm bands. Basically the theme here is revote. That's what the main goal here is to show solidarity with friends and family and those in Iran who are hitting the streets in a much different scenario. Give us a sense of what is the message that you are trying to convey to the rest of the world by getting together here? (UNIDENTIFIED MALE): We are trying to answer the voices in Iran. This is such a dynamic movement in Iran. Today's message for us, the main message that I want to convey today is people are protesting peacefully, do not crack down on them violently. They have a right to voice their concern through the peaceful means. This is the main message for me today. There are definitely different messages we want. Political prisoners to be released. The reformist movement that they are in jail. We want to annul the results of this election and have a re-election with the representatives of all the parties with international monitoring.

ROWLANDS: You are a student at UCLA and grew up in Tehran. When you look at what is happening in your country, what emotions go through you?

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Anger, sadness, anger, sadness and determination to get up and do something.

ROWLANDS: Is there a sense of also of excitement in that there is a sense of a significant movement?

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Well, I would say that maybe there was. It's all very anxious and very concerned. I don't think that this is something that's happening -- people of Iran are rising up to stop the country's going back. They are rising up because they thought, we all feel that something is being taken away from us, you know? And that's the right to vote, that's the right to choose our president. That's why we are here. So excitement, a little bit more anxious determination, I would say.

ROWLANDS: One of the interesting things, Fredericka that we have encountered, is some people here do not want their identity shown because they are fearful. One individual over here, we are not going to show his face, his wife and children are in Iran right now. We are not showing his face. You told me you wept. You actually cried a few times over the last few weeks.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): That's true, that's true. You get excited. The whole thing is you want the people to be heard and you want respect for the will of people. That's all.

ROWLANDS: Why is this so emotional for you?

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Because, you know, growing up back there you felt that you can't express yourself. Now you are seeing all the people are on the street expressing themselves. That's great. That's amazing feeling.

ROWLANDS: Most of these folks keeping up to date with friends and family through social networking and also watching CNN and other broadcast outlets. As we said earlier, staying up day and night for the latest information about what is happening in their country.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ted Rowlands thanks so much from Los Angeles, we appreciate that. We'll check back with Ted when that protest gets under way a little bit later. We get valuable insight in the Iran crises from someone who studies their politics and ireports from Iranians who want the world to support their cause.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We have CNN ireports to show you from Iran now. For safety reasons we are not identifying the ireporter similar to the report that you just saw from Ted Rowlands out of L.A. Many people feel like revealing their identity may put their family members in danger. This video is from Thursday mourning ceremony for those killed in Tehran during last week's unrest.

Protestors chanted "my martyr brother I will get your vote back." The same day the crowd supporting the losing presidential candidate, Mousavi, showed their anger over the election results with silence. Distinct contrasts there, but underlying the same message and feeling.

All right. Iran expert Parag Khanna is in New York and he is a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation and he also advised the Obama campaign on foreign policy. All right, Parag so good to see you. Let's talk about what did you advise the president as it pertains to Iran before he was president?

PARAG KHANNA, SENIOR FELLOW, NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION: Well, as you may know, before, before Barack Obama was elected the foreign policy advisory group that focused on the Middle East was speaking very much about engagement with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The two countries have not had official --

WHITFIELD: The acknowledgement of wanting to at least by way of diplomacy have some sort of dialogue. That could be harmful but instead helpful.

KHANNA: Exactly. That remains the view of the Obama administration. But unfortunately that they are not taking this moment to do so. Anything that is said right now would be interpreted as a very political act of interference and what is happening over there. You see this debate emerging between Republicans in the government, in the Senate for example, and people in the Obama campaign who are saying, let's just play it cool right now. I think they're correct. That does not mean that the Obama administration is backing away from diplomacy and engagement with Iran not at all.

WHITFIELD: So what do you suppose, how does this translate too many Iranians. Because there is this reported sentiment by a good majority of Iranians that they actually are pleased with President Obama. They have endeared themselves to him and especially after his message when he was in Cairo that there is this feeling of, this is a different America because of this president.

Are Iranians respectful as those who are in support of the opposition? Are they respectful of this White House's choice to be minimalist as it pertains to, you know, its view of Iran? Or do you think Iranians want to hear this president say more? KHANNA: Remember, we are just in the early phases of what is happening in Iran right now. In the last couple of weeks not only did President Obama give a major address in Cairo in which he did talk about supporting democracy in the region. The United States government, including Vice President Joe Biden, have been in Beirut and been advising on the election and supportive of democracy there. So there is no doubt, should be no doubt in anyone's mind across the Middle East including in Iran that the Obama administration supports the Democratic reform in all of these countries including Iran.

And the people of Iran are hearing not necessarily strong vocal signals from the president himself yet, but they are hearing from Iranian-Americans. It is very important to remember what was in your last --

WHITFIELD: Do they feel like by hearing from Iranian-Americans that it is representative of hearing from the American government or do they separate the two?

KHANNA: Well to some extent remember the communication that is happening between Iranian-Americans and their relatives and friends on the ground, some of that communication certainly involves letting people know that, that many people across America including people in the U.S. government are supportive of what is happening but for a variety of reasons they cannot make strong official statements.

Remember, no matter who is president of the United States when the U.S. has given covert or other kinds of support to reformers, dissidents and so forth within Iran it's called the kiss of death. They have been rounded up thrown in jail. That is not something we want to stimulate and have happen again right now.

WHITFIELD: Can you give me an idea, what would you see? What would be the risk? We are looking at some images right now, by the way of some newer ireports that is coming in. I think we have an opportunity to actually hear them as well. Maybe I want to get your take on what we are seeing.

Oh, still pictures only. So again these are images that people are -- I mean for lack of a better word smuggling out. They're translating these images at the risk of being identified. People don't want to reveal themselves openly nor do they want their relatives to be revealed. When you look, at this image, you see the fire in the street. You see women and men who have come out in great numbers despite what the Ayatollah said yesterday, what do you see in this image?

KHANNA: Well what I am seeing in the most important thing in this image is that it is happening at all. The risk and the Ayatollah has been violated, he has been in a way insulted in his own mind by the presence of all these protests. Just a smattering of images and videos that we have seen in the last day that, we have managed to get out give some taste of the fact that the many, many thousands of people who continue to protest despite the ban that the supreme leader issued really shows that they want change. WHITFIELD: Can I stop you there for a moment? You used the word insulted. Which becomes a very personal assault? If the Ayatollah would feel insulted that people would defy him. And he is the supreme leader of this country and the one to be respected, would he also feel like his power has been diminished a bit by this movement? Would he feel threatened himself?

KHANNA: In a way -- in a way his own intervention into this election process in terms of his statements backing off Ahmadinejad and the ways in which various top clerical leaders have made statements before the election vote was complete, so forth does show there have been, have been transgressions of power. He felt the need to intervene in this election in order for his candidate to have sealed a victory.

So in a way clearly by his own actions he is demonstrating that his power is diminished. Many people are reading this election itself as having been one in which, was in away a referendum on his power. Because if Ahmadinejad were not re-elected it would really show there was a pull away from him. Because none of the other candidates would have been as pro clerical regime as Ahmadinejad and the regime have been. Anything but Ahmadinejad is a blow to the supreme leader.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right. Parag thanks so much. And quickly before I let you go when you see these images do you think this is representative of the majority of Iran? Or do you feel in your heart of hearts that Ahmadinejad did win fair and square?

KHANNA: Even if he did win it probably wasn't by the margin that, that the official sort of count is given.

WHITFIELD: 53 to 34 percent.

KHANNA: Even if you flipped it on its head you would still find a sizable number of Iranians that are really out there. And remember this is not about the election any more; this is about changing the country. The ultimate vote count is already forgotten. Because it may never be recounted, that is not going to stop this from going forward.

WHITFIELD: Oh, OK. Because the president is the one, without the ultimate power any way, the supreme leader, the grand Ayatollah as you underscored. Parag Khanna thank you very much. Appreciate you joining us from New York.

KHANNA: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: We hear what you have to say about the fallout from the election in Iran. You have joined us in so many different ways, from facebook to the blog. We want to share your comments coming up.

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