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Latest Information from Iran; Police Have Apparently Attacked Protestors
Aired June 20, 2009 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Meantime, this image that we're seeing right here, Ivan, I know you described it earlier, we've been hearing the gunshot and now you see a man being carried by a group of people there, the blood on his belly. It's unclear work he was shot or how he may have been injured, but that's the kind of chaos that we're seeing on this street, pretty disturbing images.
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very disturbing. And it just shows how serious these clashes were, how polarized Iranian society is right now and how angry the opposition is at the result of the way the government has treated the results of these controversial elections.
WHITFIELD: Ivan Watson, thanks so much there from the Iran desk. We're going to continue to keep tabs on information, images coming to the Iran desk here in Atlanta.
In the meantime, I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta with continuing coverage of today's escalating violence in Iran. Saying the world is watching, President Obama called on the government of Iran to stop, "all violent and unjust actions against its own people."
This amateur video from youtube will give you an idea of the chaos in Tehran today. Iranian authorities stepped up their campaign to end anti-government demonstrations, difficult, grainy, and lot of movement on these images but this is the kind of stuff that we're seeing coming out. We understand eyewitnesses have said water cannons have been used, tear gas canisters have also been hurled against demonstrators. And also reports of gunshots. It sounded that we're hearing it in that last set of images coming from Ivan Watson and into Tehran.
In the meantime, witnesses reported fierce clashes in the street as protestors fought back as well. Throwing rocks at police. Right here, the explanation we got earlier about what's taking place here. Is there is a man, right there near that vehicle who apparently was sympathetic to the government, maybe even a plain clothes officer and a woman there just simply out of sign of respect of another human being trying to protect him.
But many people as you see, many of the men who have come around him, working around her and trying to beat, slap, that man as best they can and you see motorcycles such as that one, that have been put on fire and you see the conflict, citizen against citizen, not necessarily representatives of the government armed forces in uniform conflicting with civilians.
And here, you're seeing state television images that have been broadcast. And this is the mosque of the Ayatollah Khomeini, which apparently earlier today there were reports coming from state television that a suicide bomber carried out a blast outside the mosque and earlier it was reported that three, as many as three people including the suicide bomber were killed, but now we're getting the latest information that perhaps just the suicide bomber may have been killed outside that mosque.
So again, just a splattering of images that are coming in many different ways, whether it be from state television or maybe even social networking, people sending their images via cell phone as well as youtube and other social networking sites and trying to convey as best they can what's taking place in Tehran.
All right. There are also i-report photos that are coming in. Photos as well as kind of commentary on what's transpiring. This appears to be more scenes out of Tehran today. Also amateur video. What you see here is a collection of people, but we're seeing for the first time together here. Doesn't seem as though there's any unrest, simply a lot of movement from the person who is actually taking the picture but it looks like a peaceful assemblage of a number of people all still in defiance of the Ayatollah Khamenei saying yesterday that no one should protest, and if they do, they're breaking the law, all in defiance of the Ayatollah yesterday.
Our Josh Levs is also monitoring your comments, your thoughts, via twitter and he's doing it by the minute, by the second really, people are sending in all kinds of thoughts about what they're seeing out of Tehran and really how they want the rest of the world to respond as well, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly. What we're doing is we're removing the names of the twitterers because there are some people that we've communicated via twitter, with them and they're in Tehran and we don't want to put them in any kind of compromising situation. We are also looking at tweets coming in from the United States and all over the world, some translated into English.
I think we have some graphics we can bring along, and we'll show you some of the latest one that we're looking at here. This call, basically, on soldiers, lay down your arms and join the protestors. Protect them from tyrants instead of shooting them. This is the kind of message, you're seeing a lot of this on twitter. It's very much from that perspective, very much a lot of people in support of the people who are demonstrating.
Let's go to the next one. This is an example of some people who are posting video, saying look we've got some video here of several protests in Tehran today. And they're talking about the chants that are going on, including death to the dictator and "Ya Hossein Mirhossein," is a reference to Mir Hossein Mousavi who as we know is the opposition candidate. But I'm learning is also a reference to one of the most respected Shiite, beloved Shiite imams. It's very sort of big deal.
One more, can we get in one more? Do we have time. Let's get to the third one. We have time, right? OK. Please call your local foreign office and ask them to let injured people in. And what we're seeing here as a good example, Fred, of people trying to use twitter sort of to gather this community, right and to call on people to call their government to start taking these important steps because they want to see governments that have bureaus inside Iran to have these offices inside Iran of different types helping people who are injured. So this is a really a good examples, all that was within 30 seconds of each other, Fred.
WHITFIELD: That is tremendous, Josh.
LEVS: They're just coming in like that each one significant, very interesting. We're going to keep following this minute by minute.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Josh. Appreciate it.
LEVS: Got it.
WHITFIELD: In the meantime, people are expressing themselves in other ways, too. They're staging lots of demonstrations, not just in Iran, but also in this country.
Take for example in D.C., Los Angeles, New York and even in Atlanta. Let's see some images right now of at least one of those demonstrations taking place. Los Angeles for example, well that's D.C. right there, I understand. Many people assembled around Wisconsin Avenue, made their way through Georgetown and then finally made their way right outside the White House. We're told by some estimations, somewhere between 1,500 and maybe even 2,000 people. And President Obama is at the White House this weekend. He has been meeting with a number of members of his staff, keeping a close watch on what's taking place out of Iran and also issued a written statement by way of the Office of the Press Secretary.
Our Kate Bolduan is at the White House. We'll get to the demonstration taking place in Los Angeles and New York as well in a moment There she is. Kate Bolduan. OK. What precipitated the White House to say a little bit more about this topic and on this Saturday?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredericka. Well accord to an administration official, the president has been receiving updates throughout the day on the situation in Iraq, meeting with senior advisers, most recently with senior advisers to get an update on the situation.
And in a statement released just a short time ago, the president once again has said that the Iranian government must understand that the world is watching here, but more pointedly the president in his statement goes on to speak directly to Iranian leaders saying "we call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights."
We have heard the president mentioned before earlier this week, that his one point that he had said and his administration had said over and over again that they stand by the universal principle that the people's voice should be heard, and not suppressed. You can see he's trying to get that point across here. But also important to note that the president, on the record, is talking directly to the Iranian leaders saying that these are unjust actions. Violence and unjust action, up until this point, the president and the administration, Fredericka, as we've been talking about has been trying to maintain a very delicate, careful balance in their tone, in their approach and now we're getting the statement out here today. Fredericka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Kate Bolduan. Thanks so much from the White House, appreciate it.
In the meantime, also in Washington, on Capitol Hill, both houses of Congress have voted overwhelmingly to condemn the crackdown in Iran, and some members are actually slamming the president saying the U.S. response should be much tougher.
(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 has refused to speak out in support of these brave Iranian citizens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. The White House has welcomed the congressional resolution calling it consistent with the president's language. All right. Well, a lot for the president of the United States to juggle, a lot of domestic as well as foreign issues. We're going to be joined by a well known historian, Doris Kearns Goodwin, you also know her as the author of many books including "Team of Rivals." And just a reminder a lot of parallels are being made to the President Lincoln presidency administration as well as President Obama. That book has been a huge reference point for this new administration.
Doris Kearns Goodwin will be with us in a moment to talk about how this president juggles so much, domestic and foreign.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, I'm Fredricka Whitfield, our continuing coverage of what's taking place in Iran. Some of the latest images right now of people who have collected in the streets of Tehran in complete defiance of the Ayatollah Khamenei who said yesterday that anyone who takes to the street in support of the opposition party of Mir Hossein Mousavi who according to the Ayatollah has flat out lost that election to a landslide victory that was given to the re-election of President Ahmadinejad. He said in complete defiance of the Ayatollah, this would mean, this is tantamount to breaking the law, that you see in the images here being provided to us by so many different ways, youtube, Facebook, et cetera, you see in large numbers people are still turning out in Tehran.
And we have seen some images that have been very disturbing, showing the injuries of some people, and also the beatings of some women. But it's difficult to discern the circumstances that many of these have taken place because there are restrictions on the kind of information there that are being sent out here as an image of a woman who actually is protecting a man who we have been told was a plain clothes officer and she is using her own body to actually protect him and then the crowd of other civilians. This is civilians against civilian have come in and tried to kick him and beat him in many different ways. He being a representative of the government.
All right. Our Josh Levs has also been monitoring the sentiment of a number of people, whether it be from Iran or even in this country by way of twitter. And they've been doing it minute to minute. Josh Levs, what are people saying?
LEVS: Yes, Fred. A lot of people learning a new learn today, RT, which is re-tweeting. What's happening is a lot of people inside Iran are as you know, we've talked about, managing to access twitter. And then other people out there RT their tweets. They retweet them so it kind of works it's way through all the twitterverse. Now we cannot authenticate if something is from Iran or not, but what we are doing - we know some are from Iran because we've had contact with some people in Iran.
We're removing the names so that we're not putting anyone in a compromising situation. And we're showing you some of the latest tweets. You are about to see Fred, all within a minute of each other. All within the last couple of minutes. Let's take a look. We're going to zoom in this computer behind me. We're going to start with this. This talks about one section and that is allegedly on fire they're saying. Protestors are so angry and try to push back.
Now this is one of the most popular ones I've seen over the last two minutes. This report that there may be plain clothes police officers going to hospitals taking names of protestors. We're not reporting this as fact, I'm telling you this is one of the biggest things going on twitter right now. Look less that 10 seconds ago. Here, people should stop pointing the finger at Obama, someone weighing in on our side, in D.C., but I do think Iran should hold another election to figure things out.
Now look at these, these are interesting, Fred. I will never again take freedom for granted after watching these horrifying videos from Iran. And someone else was posting some videos. We can do this one, too. This is the American Revolution of modern times, if reached in justifiable and efficient ways, victory can be attained. I'll end on this, success today does not guarantee freedom. Failure does guarantee tyranny.
And Fred, take a look. See that this is less than 20 seconds ago. So everything I just read to you was in less than a 20-second period, all on twitter. Twitter.com.
WHITFIELD: Fingers are very busy out there.
LEVS: Yes. You're right. I didn't think about all the fingers involved in that but I tell you, we're inviting to you weigh in as well. My page is joshlevscnn. Well, obviously along with Iran, when sharing with some people stateside here are thinking as well. And I tell you, we'll be back in a few with some of the latest minute to minute tweets we're getting.
WHITFIELD: And just as they are very fast with our thoughts, we are really fast with reading through them all and sifting through them all. Because, you know, you're having to be very busy to stay on top of that minute by minute twitter.
LEVS: We're doing what we can. Yes.
WHITFIELD: All right. Josh, I appreciate it.
LEVS: Thanks, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. In the meantime, President Obama is walking a tight rope responding to the crisis in Iran. He's calling on the Iranian government to stop the violence, but critics say he is not being forceful enough as you continue to look at images via i-reports. People who are sending in images of what's taking place in Iran. The collection of people in defiance of the Ayatollah's order yesterday that they should stay out of the streets. So all of this is a very delicate balancing act for this very young U.S. administration. For some perspective on all this, let's turn to presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. She is joining us from Boston. Good to see you.
DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Thank you. Glad to be with you.
WHITFIELD: Well, do you find this to be a very unusual blend for a presidency in its infancy to have to juggle so much. So many domestic issues yet at the same time there are so many international matters that are also perhaps distracting the presidency or at least he has to keep it in his purview.
GOODWIN: Absolutely. I mean, I don't think there's any president in recent memories who has to juggle so many international and domestic crises at the same time as President Obama.
WHITFIELD: Really? So this is highly unusual in your view?
GOODWIN: Absolutely. I mean, FDR had the Great Depression. This is the greatest recession since that Great Depression, but he had really eight years relatively free to focus on that before World War II commanded his central attention and by then he had experience to deal with World War II. JFK had to deal with foreign policy crisis, right off the bat, the bay of pigs, the Berlin crisis, the Cuban missile crisis. But all he had to deal with was the civil rights struggle which was bubbling underneath, not a domestic crisis like the recession.
JFK has his - I mean, LBJ, my guys, had a couple of years in the presidency where he could focus on his beloved domestic accomplishments before Vietnam took central stage. So here you've got this young president, I mean think about it, even 18 months ago, people were wondering what would happen if the 3:00 p.m. call came, he didn't seem at ease in some of those debates and he had more things together inteconnectedly, I think, than anyone in recent memory.
WHITFIELD: So you actually think that he's shown some composure, some real maturity for such a young president. He's 46 years old and really young in terms of his administration.
GOODWIN: You know, I think a lot of people would have to agree, even if they disagree with the policies that he's put forward that he has shown confidence and command, that he seems presidential. You know, even going back to President Bush's first six months before September 11th, there were a lot of headlines about the incredible shrinking presidency, that he had hadn't taken control of the office. This man has controls of the office, whether one agrees or not with what he's doing. I think many would have to agree with that confidence that he has shown.
WHITFIELD: You know what, I want to read you a couple of things that came from this statement today. This is the most verbose of his statement about Iran. But I think still am seeing there is great distancing here. It says the Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. That's how it began. And then it goes on a little bit later as I said in Cairo, it's the pressing idea of never succeeding in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government.
That he distances himself, distances the U.S. or perhaps even the western world, how important is this for this U.S. president or maybe even any U.S. president when you got something as potentially explosive as this?
GOODWIN: Well, I think what's so interesting is that you've seen at the beginning that he did show a kind of cautious approach not wanting to appear as if he were meddling in an election between two people but what that leaves him open for is to ratchet up the conversation, ratchet up the words if things get different. And so now you hear him talking about universal rights for free assembly and free speech because those crowds are showing something deeper than simply a contested election. They are searching for freedom. It's easier to ratchet up your language than it is if you come up with ringing declarations of freedom and then you can't back it up with actions and when America might be accused of meddling. So I think his approach gives him room that might not have been there had he started at the beginning with what some people were calling for.
WHITFIELD: Fascinating stuff. Doris Kearns Goodwin, I'm going to talk to you some more because I would love to know your take on whether you think he's taking a page from a prior administration as to what he's using as a guiding post on how he navigates this and other world affairs.
Also, we've got lots of questions that have come from people in so many different ways from our Facebook as well as our blogs. And I want to pose some of them to you. Much more straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The president is walking a tight rope as he reacts to the crisis in Iran. The White House has warned Iran to end the violence against protestors. It's clearly not enough for Mr. Obama's critics in Congress but the president is sticking to his script, defending the reaction with a reference to the past.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: That's not productive given the history of U.S.-Iranian relations to be seen as meddling, the U.S. president meddling in Iranian elections.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Republicans are worried about the present. And they're more worried about the present than they are the past, saying that now isn't the time to be timid.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: I don't believe that having the president of the United States express a word of unqualified support to the brave men and women who are risking their liberty and their lives on behalf of freedom on the streets of Iran would constitute meddling. I thought is when Ronald Reagan went before the Brandenburg Gate, he didn't say, Mr. Gorbachev, that wall is none of our business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: We're going to talk more about this with Jim Walsh. He is an international security analyst from M.I.T. joining us now from Newton, Massachusetts. Good to see you, Jim. All right. Let's talk about, kind of refresh our memories here, what exactly is at stake? Why would this White House say that it wants to be a little cautious about the language when it involves another country's elections when in the past so often we've seen presidents come right out to respond to an election, whether it's disputed or legitimate?
JIM WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: The reason, Fredericka, is there a particular history here between the U.S. and Iran. In 1953, the U.S. along with the British sponsored a coup that toppled a sitting government in Iran. Later, of course, under the Bush administration there were rumors that the U.S. government was sponsoring covert activities to topple the Iranian government.
You don't hear Mousavi asking Barack Obama to take a stronger position. Why? The more aggressive a position that the president takes the more it helps the hard-liners, the more the hard-liners can justify their violence in saying oh we were just responding to foreign intervention. If this protest is going to be successful - if it's going to be successful and believe me, I have friends on the ground there who are being arrested and maybe being beat up, their only hope is to convince elements in the government that the U.S. is not going to take advantage of this. Not going to take advantage of the weakness and is taking a hands-off approach. If you care about the protestors then you don't want the U.S. being an excuse for the hard- liners. WHITFIELD: And you know, while you're talking, we're seeing new images that are now just coming in still images, as well as video, we see plumes of smoke in this video. We don't know the story behind what's causing the plumes of smoke, and we even see right here in the helicopters. It look like just because of the painting on the helicopters, military helicopters and we're not really quite sure if they're being used strictly for surveillance or if there's something else going on here, Jim.
So when you see these images and knowing your friends, your sources on the ground, what are the greatest worries about these selective images that are being portrayed in the world?
WALSH: Well, I don't think we can judge any one image of being totally true, but when you look at the totality of images and you look at the sequence of the events it's clear that the supreme leader's prior sermon yesterday set the stage for the increased violence today. He said we're going to hold the law breakers responsible for this. So what do we see today? We see water cannons. we see more injuries and hospitalizations than ever before. We see larger numbers of troops on the ground, not just the (inaudible) but other forces as well.
So this is clearly an attempt by the regime to step up the repression and to put it to the protestors. Mousavi, remarkably, the rumor is that on his website, he's saying he's willing to martyr himself for this cause. And that's why during this incredibly - I mean this is what it's coming down to over the next several days. This is what's it all about. And that's why we shouldn't be playing games trying to score political points, we should be doing what we can to help this resolve itself in favor of democracy and the best thing we can do is to keep our hands off.
WHITFIELD: And again, with that web site, a Facebook page for Mousavi. Again, we cannot verify the authenticity of it, but that he is what is being conveyed that is preparing himself for martyrdom. And we're going to talk some more Jim. Because I want to talk to you about the whole nuclear element to Iran. The Obama administration made it very clear even before he was elected that he's willing to have some sort of dialogue, some sort of reach-out of diplomacy to Iran to, if anything try to pull back or help limit the nuclear ambitions of Iran, wondering how much that equation is playing in all of this as to why the Obama administration wants to be careful about its language?
Jim Walsh, much more with you and our coverage of Iran right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, much more of our continuing coverage of what's transpiring in Iran. The Iranian government used water cannons and tear gas today as it stepped up its effort to end the demonstrations in Tehran. Protestors fought back throwing rocks and even setting fires. President Obama said he mourns each and every innocent life that is lost and he urged Iran to stop what he called all violent and unjust actions against its own people.
The Facebook page of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi called for a general strike if Mousavi is arrested. It quoted Mousavi as saying she ready for martyrdom, but there's no way to confirm that quote independently.
With Iran's government placing so many restrictions on foreign reporters, international reporters inside Iran, getting information is pretty difficult. CNN's Colleen McEdwards is monitoring social networking sites, satellite feeds, other source from our Iran Desk. She is with us now with the latest.
COLLEEN McEDWARDS, CNN INT'L.: That's right. Thanks a lot, Fredricka.
The Iran Desk here at CNN is right in the middle of our International Desk, we've got so many people working on this. So much expertise trying to pull in so many different avenues, so many different sources of video, because as you say, we can't reported on ground.
I want to you show you this fax that we got. This is from the Ministry of Culture in Iran, that essentially tells us we cannot do anything in Tehran without official permission. It's been this way for several days. We don't have that permission so we can't go out and report for ourselves what's going on in these demonstrations. But we do have a couple of new bits of video we pulled off you have YouTube that I want to show you, right here.
The first one is this, this is showing one of the larger demonstrations in Tehran. As you see here, you can get a real sense from this video, I think, of the escalation, Fredricka. You see something burning in the streets here. You see the movement of the camera, a fair bit of frenetic activity, a lot of debris on the ground. People walking calmly here, but obviously it's the aftermath of something here. And at various points in this video, you can actually hear people talking. We've got several Farsi speakers here on the International Desk, whenever we get this video, they come and have a look and help us try to hear any kind of narration that is on the tape. Because that can be quite telling in terms of, where this is. What day it is. This was posted today.
Our translators have told us at various point, people yelling "They're using real bullets." You can hear someone say at some point "They're killing my brother." So, again, gives us a sense of the escalation in this conflict, and in this standoff.
Now, I want to bring you some other video that we just, just got in. It's not even in our full system here, so I'm just going to play it off the screen here. Just got this off YouTube. This again, all of our expertise here at the International Desk. We've looked at. It's posted today. We believe this is today. We believe it's near Azadi (ph) Square. Obviously, a big, wide open boulevard here, perhaps even a bridge or causeway, where you can see people moving their way across. It looks like, at that point there, it looks like hurling something towards what may be police, it's difficult to tell in this. A lot of panning back and forth, but another tense moment. Again, posted on this day on YouTube, as we pulled it off here.
WHITFIELD: The difficulty of some of these image, Colleen, and these look fairly new right here.
McEDWARDS: Yes, this is new.
WHITFIELD: The difficulty of trying to discern what has happened even prior to the image that has been conveyed to us is very difficult. How do you do your checks and balances, if you will?
McEDWARDS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Based on the information we're getting -- or lack thereof?
McEDWARDS: Yes, that is it, exactly. I mean, you hit the nail on the head. We don't want to characterize too much what any motivations are here, or what's happened before or after because we just don't know. But we can tell certain things by looking at this. And videos that we've seen posted on these sites actually have a bit of an editorial story to them, if you will.
What the people here on the International Desk have noticed, through the day, is that you'll see something, for example, being talked about on Twitter. And then, you know, a couple of hours later, you'll see video of that very same thing get posted on a site like YouTube. So it helps us bring our editorial expertise in and make a best judgment that we can on, again, whether it's legitimate and whether it's today video or not.
Again, we've got our Farsi speakers listening to this, because they can hear someone say OK, this is at the corner of such and such a street, and that helps us pinpoint a location like Mir Azadi Square. So, we're doing the very best we can under extremely difficult circumstances. But you can really get a sense from the video that we're seeing now, Fredricka, of an escalation in the conflict here over what is a contested election, and in which the supreme leader in Iran has basically said, as far as he's concerned, it stands and that if protestors take to the streets, and people are injured, then there is blood on the opposition's hands.
WHITFIELD: All right, Colleen McEdwards, thanks so much. We'll check back in with you momentarily.
Meantime, let's check in with Josh Levs, who continues to monitor all that you and others are saying on Twitter.
Minute by minute.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, minute by minute, Fred.
Since I spoke to you just minutes ago, we've got a whole bunch of new Tweets. I'll show you some of the main topics people are talking about. We'll start with some graphics here. We're going to bring them in. It's interesting the kinds of things people are, in some cases, reTweeting what they're hearing from Iran. You can hear this right here, this is about reports from Tehran, about the forces apparently, allegedly attacking this area of Khomeini Hospital and arresting injured people.
Now, I'm going to emphasize as we look at this, we're not reporting this as fact. What we're looking at is what people are saying on Twitter because of the media restrictions you keep hearing about, more and more people are turning to Twitter and possible Tweets that seem to be coming from inside Iran.
Let's go to the next one. This is another RT, which is another reTweeted one. It means that someone received it and is sharing it with all that person's Twitter followers. Confirmed, we can't stress enough, multiple sources, again, according to this Tweet here, are confirming that there are people going to these hospitals and taking names of people who had been at protests, and this person is saying, if you were a protestors and you're injured, you should get help at an embassy.
Let's go to the last one here. I'm going to show you in this system. This one says four friends just came back, one beaten with baton in his face. And the other has been hit with stones to his head and is bleeding.
Again, we cannot confirm, the authenticity or veracity of every one we see. But these are the kinds of depictions and Fred, everything you just saw, all within a one-minute period, all since I spoke to you.
Really quickly, we're going to zoom in on another computer behind me. I know we've got to go. But I have to do my own kind of light-hearted mea culpa here. I've been inviting people to weigh in at my Twitter page, JoshLevscnn.
I heard here from some one who said, Josh, it took me forever to find you. You need to spell out your name. You said it so fast I couldn't get it.
WHITFIELD: J-o-s-h-l-e-v-s-c- n-n.
LEVS: Josh Levs, I know, I say it so often.
WHITFIELD: You talk fast. That's OK. You get a lot of information in.
LEVS: Get a lot into those two minutes.
WHITFIELD: All right, Josh, appreciate it, thanks so much.
We'll check in with Josh again and our continuing coverage of Iran. We talk about this being a real balancing act for the White House. It's also quite the balancing act for the U.S. State Department as well. I caught up with a former U.S. secretary of State, Colin Powell, and he shares his views about all that's going on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: As the U.S. remains careful about how it comments on all that is taking place in Iran, as least two former U.S. secretaries of State have been asked their views. Former Secretary Henry Kissinger reportedly said that he is in agreement with the way the Obama administration has been handling the Iran crisis.
I caught up with former Secretary Colin Powell at the opening of the National Infantry Museum and asked him about the challenges for this administration, and for the current secretary of State.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD (On camera): There's a lot going on in this world right now, as it pertains to U.S. diplomacy, which I know also is close to your heart, when you think about what's happening with North Korea, Iran, do you envy the duty of Secretary Hillary Clinton right now or at the same time do you feel her pain? That there is so much to juggle, that there's a real balancing act that has to be made?
COLIN POWELL, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: Always been the case through any period of history, that I've lived through and I've been through 51 years of history now, in a position of service. and I'm quite confident that Secretary Clinton can handle these challenges. But most importantly, we have to remember that there are great opportunities that have been created. When I started, out here, 51 years ago at Fort Benning, there was a Cold War, there was a possibility of thermonuclear exchange. There were regimes out there who thought they were going to defeat us. Well, they're gone. They're now trading partners, in some cases, they're allies.
So we have to consider the good that has occurred in recent years, and not just the crises we still face. We are living in the greatest period of wealth creation in the history of mankind, even though we're going through a recession, and those come and go. And more people are advancing around the world than in the middle class than ever before; so wealth is being created, more people living under democracy, more friends of ours, enemy of ours who have become friends and partners. We have to keep that in mind.
But what we will see on television tonight are the crises. I'm sure that Secretary Clinton and Secretary Gates and the president and his team will work their way through it. On North Korea, I've watched the news this morning, there's a ship that may or may not have something, nobody knows. There are rumors coming out of various places that missile launch will take place and people are going to do it on July 4th, right? I don't know why they would do it on July 4th, but that seems to be the speculation of the day. I'm confident and Secretary Gates and Secretary Clinton, and the administration are managing these crises.
WHITFIELD: Do any of these secretaries reach out to you for advice?
POWELL: I was having dinner with Secretary Clinton two nights ago, three nights ago in Washington, with all of the other - most of the other secretaries, and I stay in regular touch with Secretary Clinton and with Secretary Gates, and with the president. These are people I know well, people I have known for years. And a I don't intrude. If they want to talk to me about something, I'm available.
WHITFIELD: And for Secretary Clinton, you have got any words of advice for her? Any words of comfort?
POWELL: Take it slow. Don't push the recovery. I don't know how serious it is, I heard she had surgery. I just hope she has a really speedy recovery. We need her full boar.
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WHITFIELD: As does the White House, of course. And according to her handlers after her surgery, she is recovering both comfortably and uncomfortably.
All right. Jim Walsh back with us, international security analyst and research associate for MIT, as well as Doris Kearns Goodwin, author and historian. Both back with us.
OK, earlier we are talking about what's at stake and why exactly this Obama administration has been so careful about its wording. Let's pick up where we left off, Doris, with you.
Do you suppose this administration is kind of taking a page from some previous administration, a lesson learned, as to why it is being so cautious as it pertains to Iran?
DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, I think it was said earlier, there's no question about our history with Iran producing a lot of problems for previous presidents, whether it was the '53 revolt, that we went and we put our own person are in, with the CIA, whether it was the Iran-Contra crisis, whether it was the hostage crisis, it's caused a lot of presidents problems.
But I thin more importantly, in a certain sense, what is always true for presidents and the lessons that can be learned are keep the long- range goals in front of you, even when we now have cell phones and Twitters, that maybe forcing a quicker reaction than he wants to give. He's had a new beginning to the Muslim-American world, new beginning to Muslims around the world. He's trying to deal with the Middle East. He's dealing with a nuclear problem that is in Iran, right now. And he shouldn't feel compelled, I think, to make statements before he has to.
You know, when JFK had the Cuban missile crisis, he fortunately had time on his hands before we even knew the missiles were in Cuba, to come up with a measured response. Time is collapsing now because of the modern world. But he needs to take at time to have that right response, rather than feel compelled to make some ringing statement before he's ready to know how it will affect, this could be an historic shift in Iran. If it is, and if freedom and participatory democracy take root there, it will be huge for the world. And the important thing is to keep that as your goal, not simply deciding which person you're behind at the moment.
WHITFIELD: You know, historic shift perhaps even for U.S.-Iranian relations or diplomacy from this point forward, because, Jim, we already heard from President Obama as a candidate, that he wanted to encourage some sort of dialogue between the U.S. and Iran. And then he reiterated it in different fashion as president particularly because he feels like he might be able to make some inroads as it pertains to the nuclear program that Iran has. So that, too, is at stake. That, too, is why perhaps the Obama administration is measured about the contested elections?
JIM WALSH, CNN INT'L. SECURITY ANALYST: I think that's right, Fredricka. You know, I'm like anyone else, I'm watching these images on TV, they're horrific and my first emotional reaction is to pull back and say, well, we can't talk to Iran. We should never talk to them again. Unfortunately, the president doesn't have - and I'm a nonproliferation guy.
The president doesn't have the luxury of being able to just respond emotionally, or just respond on one issue. There are competing issues here, competing interests that the U.S. has. Democracy, yes, but also nonproliferation, the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, and Iran is all part of those. The U.S. has had to deal with countries it didn't like before when they were undergoing great internal turmoil, Stalin, when we got his help to defeat the Nazis, Mao during the Cultural Revolution. But we have - and even Pakistan, which was anti- democratic at a time when we needed their help against the Soviets and with against terrorism. So, he's got to balance these things and I think Doris is right, you've got to the take the long-term view.
WHITFIELD: You know what's interesting, too, is both Doris and Jim, while Great Britain and France have been very outspoken against what they're seeing in Iran, Gail (ph)writes on my blog here. She's asking how can we do nothing? The people of Iran are doing their part. What is the world doing?
So I wonder, Doris, is there pressure, not just on the U.S. but for other countries to get involved. And why have most other countries been so quiet about this? What's your view?
GOODWIN: Well, I think Britain has a particular problem with Iran, as well as the United States.
WHITFIELD: It has some history.
GOODWIN: But I gather that Gordon Brown has made some statements, too. My guess is that those leaders, just like President Obama, have to worry about lots of other things beyond what's happening right now for these people. But as the situation unfolds, they'll have the freedom to, as I said earlier, to increase their rhetoric to match the situation.
It's so much better to give yourself the freedom to that than to make some great statements about freedom and excitement, and then not be able to back it up with acts. Because that just makes it seem hypocritical, and then if these people all get crushed, where are we then with acts. Eisenhower deplored the Hungarian Revolution, the reaction against it, when they were up in arms in '56, but he couldn't do anything when the Soviets crushed that revolution. So we have to be careful to have act meet our words. WHITFIELD: Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, thanks so much. And International Security Analyst Jim Walsh, thank you to both for joining us from Massachusetts, just different cities today. Appreciate your time.
Much more straight ahead, voices being heard from Iranian-Americans.
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WHITFIELD: All right, as we said, not just in Iran, but also in this country, many people have turned out in pretty sizable numbers from Los Angeles to D.C. and even New York, protesting the Iranian government. Right now, you're looking at images right outside of Atlanta actually. This is just outside the CNN World Headquarters here in Atlanta, a number of people have turned out, Atlanta has a pretty significant Iranian-American population.
You can see some of the signs that they're holding up. And that, as well as just about 400, 500 miles away, north, in Washington, D.C., right outside the White House, people in large numbers, somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 demonstrators ended up outside of the White House right here. This is kind of where they gathered along Wisconsin Avenue before making their way through Georgetown and then eventually to the White House.
They collected themselves right outside fence of the White House, the purview of any kind of activity happening inside the White House, the president is in Washington today. Earlier while at the White House, he did have significant meetings with a number of his staff members talking about how to handle Iran.
He even released a statement by way of the office of the press secretary, continuing to say that the Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. And reiterating his message in while in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government.
That took place earlier today. Then we go some new images that are coming out of Washington, of how the president may have spent the rest of his day. We'll share that with you momentarily.
OK, well, right now, we want to bring in journalist, Babak Yektafar. He's the editor-in-chief of the online journal, Washington Prism.
What are you hearing about the situation in Iran? Are you satisfied with, say, for example, the president of the United States' comments about what's transpiring in Iran?
BABAK YEKTAFAR, EDITOR, WASHINGTON PRISM: I am. I am probably one of those people who does agree with the steps, measured steps that President Obama has taken. The reference, the constant reference about the history of U.S.-Iran relations, and some of the contentious issues between the two countries.
But more importantly, I mean the debate, the sentiment is this one of the situation where is you seize a particular moment and back a certain movement. Or do you see such a thing and what do you do with the aftermath? I think that if anything speaks even more highly of the need for some if sort of an engagement, so that at least, in situations such as this, we have a better idea of what has gone on and what course of action we need to take.
WHITFIELD: What do you suppose Iranians, who are trying to sort of smuggle out their images, in complete defiance of what the government is asking them to do. What do you suppose they want to hear from a world response? What do Iranians want to hear from Washington? What do they want to hear from Great Britain? What do they want to hear from other superpowers?
YEKTAFAR: It really depends. Some of the talks that I have, some of the messages and notes that I do get, obviously you're going have a good number of people who do want to hear more, who do want to see more action, more condemnation, and the kind of scenes that we have seen. But I think if you really wanted to get the pulse of people who started this, in about a week ago, I think they would rather this movement to remain an indigenous movement without necessarily a harsh reaction from world powers. I think even if you would ask Mir Hossein Mousavi, the main challenger, he would tell you that he does not need any kind of external support. He has enough internal support and that's essentially what they want to go with.
And just as a last note, as we've seen some of the images from Iranian diaspora, I do want to caution - I understand the sentiment, I understand the feelings, we all have family members there, we are very concerned. But I do want to caution to listen to what the Iranians, these protestors are saying. This is one of those situations where diverse interests converge and all of sudden you see people wanting regime change and revolution --
WHITFIELD: And are you talking language like, "Death to the Dictator"? I mean, pretty strong language and language that can certainly get them in big, big trouble.
YEKTAFAR: It is. But the good thing about Iranian, I'm sure you've noticed by now, is that there is a great deal of double talk. This is the case with a lot of authoritarian regimes, but in this case, you can always say well, I meant Mr. Ahmadinejad, and not the supreme leader even though you may have meant the other, over one. But there are strong sentiments. There is a great deal of frustration among Iranians, but there are very specific things, at the moment, that they're asking for, and I think that should really be respected and listened to.
WHITFIELD: All right, Babak Yektafar, thanks so much for your insight, appreciate it.
YEKTAFAR: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: As we continue to watch the developments abroad as does much of the world, and much of Washington, from the State Department to the White House, we have some new images in stark contrast to the images we're seeing coming out of Iran today. Earlier, I mentioned at about 2 o'clock, Eastern Time, the president came out with a statement about Iran. And now, just a few hours after that, now some images coming in out of Alexandria, Virginia, where the president has decided to enjoy Father's Day weekend with his daughters, going out for ice cream, out of Alexandria, in the Delray neighborhood. This was Dairy Godmother, is the ice cream shop. And now, everybody, of course, is going to be converging on that ice cream shop. But they've already left. They go their ice cream in hand, possibly heading back to the White House for the rest of the afternoon and to enjoy the rest of the Father's Day weekend.
I want to give a big thanks out to so many people involved this past hour, really the day, but particularly this past hour. Doris Kearns Goodwin, Babak Yektafar, who you just saw, Jim Walsh, Josh Levs, as well as our Colleen McEdwards, all being a part of this very insightful conversation about all that has been going on in Iran.
I'm Fredricka Whitfield, our coverage of the Iranian election, the fallout continues right here on CNN.
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