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CNN Newsroom

Reporting the Latest News from Iran

Aired June 20, 2009 - 19:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Now, first, I want you to look at, just how big the crowds were today.

(VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Take a look. If you can look at this video, this was shot with a cell phone camera and this is -- people -- these are people who flooded the streets there of Tehran and you saw that helicopter there. Some the demonstrators said that the helicopter dumped some water on the protesters and then some of them said it was hot water. Some of them feared that it might be acid.

We're getting some more information on that information just as soon as we can. As a matter of fact, I know that over at our Iran desk, our international desk, one of our producers is working on the very latest information on what exactly that liquid was that was allegedly poured on people at these rallies.

We're hearing that police shot tear gas in the crowd. They beat some people. They sprayed some of the crowd with water cannons. And, of course, when those sorts of things happen, there are single and individual tolls.

Wow. This video is very disturbing, we know. And no one likes to see blood but no one likes to be probably treated this way as well. Imagine the situation if you were there on the ground and this happened to you. This is an unconscious man bleeding right there on the streets today in Iran. And you know, just a sign of the chaos.

And the information shutdown, we don't know exactly what the circumstances are surrounding this. And we have seen a number of similar videos like this -- bloody people being carried, bloody people laying on the streets.

But none as disturbing as this one.

(VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK, so this one shows a woman -- and again we blocked out her face. She's laying there in her own blood. People are trying to take care of her, trying to get her some help to see if she is alive, if she is conscious, what is going to. But we were told that she was shot and killed.

We have not seen anything like this. This level of violence. You heard from our guests who were Iranians, who were born there, and then left, and then fled -- haven't seen this since the revolution, the Islamic Revolution in 1979. And all of the developments in Iran far, far, far from over. And CNN is following it for you around the clock.

Here's what you may be asking, you say: Why don't we have anybody in Iran? Well, we do. Why aren't you hearing from someone in Iran? We do have people there. But government has severely limited their abilities and thus our abilities to get on the streets and to report the story and to bring you information back to you.

But we do have sources there. And we are getting the very latest information from them.

And here's what we know: The protests are being held across the country in open defiance of a threat from Iran's supreme leader. Supreme, that is -- he is really the head. People that think Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is, but it is the supreme leader. Mir Hossein -- the opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has not been seen today. He was not seen today.

But Iran's security council has threatened to arrest him and hold him accountable for any results from this protests. And that means murder. That means treason.

Mousavi's Facebook page, his update says, he is ready to be a martyr.

Now, with Iran's government placing so many restrictions on reporters getting information out, of course, is very difficult, but we are doing the best that we can, and we are getting information there because CNN has sources on the ground. We're also checking the social networking sites, the satellite feed, and again, the sources from our Iran desk -- and at that desk right now is Colleen McEdwards and she's bringing you us the very latest.

What do you have for us?

COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have got huge resources devoted to this, to bring in so many different streams, so many different sources of video to try to get this story out.

Where are we right now? Well, of course it is nighttime in Iran, and as you mentioned, Don, ominous sounding reports potentially of police, militia, going door-to-door, knocking on doors -- potentially dragging people out.

We are getting some of the first night video in -- video that's obtained by CNN -- and I just want you to listen to this. Just listen.

(VIDEO CLIP)

MCEDWARDS: You may recognize those calls by now. That is the sound of "God is great," which has really become a call -- a sort of a hallmark call of defiance in these days of protests. People are shouting this from the rooftops at night.

Here you see some tracking shots at night. Again, this is a bank. You can see an automatic teller machine in there, a bank that has clearly been damaged, has been ransacked, the windows there, on the streets of Tehran. This video shot around midnight local time in Tehran. You see here what was a police kiosk burned out, a lot of debris on the streets of Tehran tonight.

In addition to this night video that was obtained by CNN, we've got some powerful stills to show you here from -- that we've lifted off various Web sites. You can see here, clashes, clearly with the protesters, and the militia.

This man in extreme distress. Another man here with the kinds of injuries we're seeing. Some blood splattered on that shield. And then people posed in defiance on the street.

And people, clearly, showing injuries, showing signs of the kinds of risks that they are taking by being out in the streets of Tehran in defiance of that order from the supreme leader, saying these protests have got to stop, the election results stand, if there is blood, it is on the hands of the opposition.

Don, back to you.

LEMON: All right. Thank you very much -- Colleen McEdwards over at our Iran desk monitoring the very latest situation.

Hey, I'm going to get to our Josh Levs. But I have an update on some information that I want to give to our viewers. And it involves that woman, Josh.

Can I get the video of the woman -- sadly, the woman that we were told that was killed on the street and was laying in her own blood?

This woman has become a poster child, really, and you know and I mean that in the most respectful way for the people there who are protesting. Her face -- the images of her like this have been placed on posters among the protesters. And the reason that we blocked out that video is out of respect for this woman because she died there on the streets.

So, again, this illustrates the violence and the passion among this movement in Iran and on the streets of Tehran -- really, not just in Tehran but all over the country. But again, this woman, we are told here at CNN, died there on the streets of Tehran, laying in her own blood. And we have, you know, blocked out her face out of respect. But again, protesters are using this image on posters on the Internet, really, to show the violence that's happening there.

Speaking of the Internet, back now to our Josh Levs who is monitoring the situation on Twitter -- which is a buzz, moment-by-moment.

I know, Josh, you know it's sad. But it's important, as journalist, you know, we've got to keep it together and show people what is going on. I just want to get some context to that story. But the moment- by-moment situation -- and some of that, even that may have come to us from a social networking site originally. So, take us through what's happening on Twitter moment-by-moment.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of people are talking about that incident and other pieces of video that they've seen -- some seem to be from people who have been at rallies and are inside Iran.

For those who are just joining, I'm going to tell you, we are following Twitter literally minute-by-minute. We're following, we're grabbing some the latest ones, sharing them with you on-air, recognizing that we can't authenticate every piece of information in there, but especially with the media crackdown that's happened inside of Iran, more and more people are turning to Twitter and sharing over Twitter around the world, including those in Iran who have been able to access it.

Let's go, we have some graphics here. We're going to bring up a few of the latest examples that we have of what people are saying. We got one here, "The injustice in Iran is overwhelming me, what else can we do?"

Let's go to the next one, because with RT, just like of them do, which is retweet, meaning they saw it from someone, they're trying to share it, get it out to more Twitterers out there. RT from Iran, quote, "I have one vote, I gave it to Mousavi. I have one life, I will give it for freedom." You're seeing that one right there.

Let's get in to a third one actually as well since we have our time. There's another RT, another retweet. It's from, we are told, it says it's from inside Iran. "They also attacked and arrested anyone with any green symbols or Mousavi's pictures."

Now, again, we cannot authenticate everything that we're hearing, but this is how people are doing a lot of sharing. If you have some tweets that you think are particularly significant, let me show you this full screen graphic here. It will show you how to access me and point this out to me, Twitter.com/JoshLevsCNN. I'm camped out here. I'm facing -- I'm looking at a lot of your tweets.

If you think there are very specific ones we should be taking a look at. Go ahead and tell us that.

And if we have a few seconds left, let's zoom in on this computer right behind me, because I want to emphasize to everyone. Can you zoom way in? How close can you get here?

Take a look at how often these come in. This, less than 10 seconds ago. This, 20 seconds ago. This one, less than 20 seconds ago. They're coming in boom, boom, boom.

This is how fast, and, Don, that's a good sign of why we're grabbing them to you, bringing them on the air -- the ones that we take a look at and would like to show you on the air, literally, within minutes. Sometimes less than a minute from when they appear on Twitter.

LEMON: OK, hey, Josh.

LEVS: Yes.

LEMON: Thank you very much.

LEVS: You bet. LEMON: Don't go anywhere because I want to tell you, I don't want to release this I'm just going to tell you, this is how fast the information is coming, you know, we're seeing it, you know, we said minute-by-minute, I say moment-by-moment because it's really quickly.

LEVS: Moment-by-moment. Yes.

Just as you were talking, someone sent me an -- and they also sent it to you as well so you will see it -- saying, telling me the name of that woman -- we're not going to put it on the air -- and says, "Let the world know who she is," just in the time when I told you about the woman who was laying there on the street. And there are people who have been sending me tweets about who she is and her background and that the world needs to know who she is.

LEVS: We're not going to put on the air right now right away, Don.

LEMON: No, I am not saying to put on the air at all.

LEVS: Yes.

LEMON: I'm just saying how quickly the information comes in from these sites and we have to check it out.

LEVS: It's incredible.

LEMON: Yes. Josh, appreciate it so much. Thank you, sir.

LEVS: Yes, thanks a lot.

LEMON: Moment-by-moment monitoring the Internet and the social networking sites and the information coming out of Iran -- our Josh Levs and our Colleen McEdwards as well.

Meantime, I want to tell you, our Christiane Amanpour reports from the streets of Iran. Christiane has followed this story since the very beginning and her special begins right now.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening.

On Friday, after two tumultuous weeks across Iran, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, finally addressed the people. He implored them to end the street protest now and to pursue their complaints through the Guardian Council. While he said they could be some vote recount, he made clear that the re-election of President Ahmadinejad would stand. Calling Iran the world's only religious democracy, Khamenei spoke as the country is put to a unique test. Both the election and its aftermath have taken Iran and the world by surprise.

I covered last Friday's election, the unprecedented campaigning beforehand and the dramatic protests and rallies for freedom that spilled out into the streets afterwards. And over the next half an hour, we'll walk through the pivotal moment that led up to the overwhelming re-election handed down to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Now that the ayatollah has spoken, will the street continue to speak back? Where did this powerful wave of resistance to hard line policies come from?

The scene was set two weeks ago during a series of live television debates that started chipping away at President Ahmadinejad's front- runner status and injected a sense of real competition into the race.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRES. MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRAN (through translator): I'm not fighting against one candidate. I'm standing against a combination led by Rafsanjani and with the cooperation of Mousavi and Khatami.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Mousavi went to complain that Ahmadinejad was pushing Iran towards dictatorship.

MIR HOSSEIN MOUSAVI, IRAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (through translator): He says, "Why do you call me a dictator?" Well, I did not say that you are a dictator. But your method definitely leads to dictatorship.

AMANPOUR: Mohammad Marandi from Tehran University believes that both candidates made some key mistakes in those heated debates.

SEYYED MOHAMMAD MARANDI, UNIVERSITY OF TEHRAN: Most people that I know at least, among colleagues and friends, they believe that the two sides really became too emotional in the debate and made the campaign -- their both campaigns -- very personal and a lot of personal attacks were made by both sides.

AMANPOUR: The stage is now set to inflame passions and actions.

(CROWD CHANTING)

AMANPOUR: With just days to go before Iran's presidential election, Tehran seems to be in the midst of a giant get-out-the-vote street party.

(CROWD CHANTING)

AMANPOUR: Bidding a wishful farewell to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, supporters of the leading opposition candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, organized this human chain from the north of town all the way down to the south.

While antagonizing the West, at home, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has traveled the country, wooing the poor and the pious, handing out money, promising them a share in the nation's oil wealth -- and as incumbent he gets the full back of the state including the media.

(CROWD CHANTING)

AMANPOUR: This is democracy Tehran-style. As the people take to the public square ...

(CROWD CHANTING) AMANPOUR: ... on opposite street corners supporters of the fundamentalist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, face-off against those of his main rivals, reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi.

And the traffic runs through them. Boys and girls throw caution to the wind. In this country, this is daring.

I asked these young people holding a sidewalk debate, what makes this election different? "This is like a revolution," says Hega (ph). "People are excited about rescuing our country from the calamity it's in."

Even this Ahmadinejad supporter says the people are out in protest. "Most of the people voting for Mousavi are doing it just to get rid of Ahmadinejad," she says.

But the president still has staunch support, especially among the poor in the provinces, to whom he's dolled out money, benefits and favors.

"Honestly, we've never seen anything as courageous as Ahmadinejad," says this supporter. "He's a true son of the revolution," adds another.

On the president's side of the street, many are bussed in to counter the growing Mousavi crowds. Another day of street politics, another day of gridlock -- before the country casts its vote.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: But something was stirring. A powerful undercurrent of dissatisfaction was coalescing around Mousavi, protesting Ahmadinejad's hardline fundamentalist policies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CROWD CHANTING)

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Two days before the polls open, this election is turning out to be a referendum on the president's four years in office -- which have seen higher prices and less freedom.

"Thirty years of frustration is exploding," says Mohammed, a mechanical engineering student. "Even if Ahmadinejad wins, we're just here to express our opposition."

Observing from his perch at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington, D.C., Karim Sadjadpour believes that Mousavi is an almost accidental leader of this reviewed reform movement.

KARIM SADJADPOUR, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENAT FOR INTL. PEACE: Mousavi's strategists did a brilliant job of transforming this fairly uncharismatic, soft spoken, 67-year-old guy with impeccable revolutionary credentials into the voice of a new Iran and to the voice of reform.

AMANPOUR (on camera): As night fell, the rain also started to come down -- and yet, people still came to this square. People here who are old enough to remember and to have marched in the Islamic Revolution 30 years ago say this is the biggest turnout they've seen since then.

(voice-over): Earlier in the day, President Ahmadinejad brought out a large crowd at his rally and told them he was convinced he would win Friday.

Cars honking, flags waving, President Ahmadinejad supporters, as well as Mousavi's, jammed the streets for one last night of official rallies and campaign. With the same happening in major cities across Iran, many are saying this is an early indication of what's expected to be a record turnout at the polls on Friday.

For the first time ever in Iran, a candidate has campaigned with his wife. Rahnavard has drawn huge crowds for her husband's rallies, especially women.

"I'm here to say that men and women are equal," she tells us.

More women than men have voted in the past few election and Rahnavard promises them it will count this time if Mousavi wins. "We've made this promise to the women and we'll stand by it," she says.

(CROWD CHANTING)

AMANPOUR: Women remain legal, second-class citizens in criminal, divorce, child custody and in inheritance cases -- despite making up 65 percent of university students.

Ahmadinejad's fundamentalist government has even tried to make polygamy easier for men and public sector careers harder for women.

"No cheating," they chant, as they prepare for the polls to open.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: President Ahmadinejad has powerful support after courting his constituency with cash and favors over the last four years. But the scale of his victory surprised so many and so did his opponent's reaction. We'll be back with more after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: When Iran's Guardian Council quickly announced the 62 percent win for President Ahmadinejad and supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei blessed the, quote, "divine result," the streets of Tehran exploded, filling with protests unseen since the Islamic Revolution swept the country 30 years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Frustration boiled over and ran through the streets of this Tehran neighborhood after official election results delivered reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi a crushing defeat in Friday's election. (CROWD CHANTING)

AMANPOUR: "Mousavi, Mousavi, get my vote back for me," they shout.

MARANDI: Mr. Mousavi lost control over his people and Mr. Ahmadinejad, I think, lost control over some his people. Extremists on both sides came into play, and both sides seem to be losing control.

AMANPOUR: Hundreds of riot police were deployed, and for an hour here, they were running battles with angry street protesters as each side charged the other. The protesters threw rocks and set garbage cans on fire and many were beaten with batons.

After a while, the growing crowd surged towards the main square. There were more security forces and police, but here, they did not intervene.

(on camera): You said that you thought the state would overwhelmingly crush this movement. It hasn't. In fact, it's allowed them to continue in the streets, and conciliatory noises are being made to accommodate their complaints. Are you surprised?

SADJADPOUR: Well, I think we have to get inside the head of Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader. Khamenei has the hindsight of himself having been a revolutionary and revolted against the shah in the late '70s. And I think what they learned from the 1979 revolution was that when the shah crackdown, when he clamped down, it didn't curtail the protests. And, in fact, it enhanced the scale of the protest.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): And then the protesters set off down Tehran's main north-south avenue.

"We're here to protect our votes," says this man, "because we feel we've been insulted, our voters have been insulted."

But soon, the streets echoed with dueling rallies -- pro-reformists and pro-Ahmadinejad.

Sunday, the streets of Tehran belonged to the supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Hundreds of thousands of them filled one of the capital city's main squares and surged into the surrounding streets -- for a rally that was organized to celebrate Friday's elections and the results that gave him a controversial landslide victory.

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Today, we should appreciate -- we should appreciate the great triumph of the people of Iran against the united front of all the world arrogance.

AMANPOUR: At his defiant first press conference, I asked the president how he would respond to those challenging his rule.

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

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): The situation in the country is in a very good condition. Iran is the most stable country in the world. And there's the rule of law in this country. And people are equal.

SADJADPOUR: When you asked Ahmadinejad in his press conference, the day after his so-called victory, about the state of Iran and he said Iran is the most stable country in the world, people take this as an insult to their intelligence. And I think people are taking tremendous risks every day, going out into the streets, hundreds of thousands of people. This just gives you a sense of the depth of their sense of injustice, of the depth of the sense of rage.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Rage that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissively compared to sore soccer losers and errant drivers.

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): This is something natural, a person coming out of a stadium and may violate the traffic regulations. He will be fined by the police no matter who he is, an ordinary person or even a minister.

AMANPOUR (on camera): I may have missed the translation. I was asking whether you were going to guarantee his safety.

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Yes, I did respond to your question. All people are respected and all people are equal before the law. And I like all the people, all members of this nation. And, of course, I am not happy with a person violating the traffic rules.

AMANPOUR (on camera): But Ahmadinejad's opponents accused him and the governing elite of a much bigger crime: stealing the election. They kept up the pressure and the next day Mousavi appeared in public for the first time since the election.

(CROWD CHANTING)

AMANPOUR: Supporters of defeated presidential candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, took to the streets again Monday in a march that tens of thousands ended up joining. They chanted and cheered as they wound their way around Freedom Square.

(CROWD CHANTING)

AMANPOUR: Although the police had said such rallies would be banned and no protest permits would be issued, the government ended up allowing this one to take place. Hundreds of riot police were deployed along the route of the march but they did not intervene.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're protesting against this -- a leader who is not actually the real leader of Iran.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want Mir Hossein Mousavi. I want freedom.

AMANPOUR (on camera): This is the same place where the Mousavi supporters held their big free election rally. And this time, they have come and stayed for two hours or more waiting to hear from him. (voice-over): Finally, clearing up the mystery of his whereabouts and his safety, Mousavi arrived, and from the top of a vehicle, addressed the throngs in his first public appearance since Friday's election.

MOUSAVI (through translator): Our people are after respect, their votes and their rights.

AMANPOUR: Allowing this rally to proceed peacefully appears to be a deliberate decision by the government to change the tone of the past few days and try to show that it's dealing with this election dispute within the country's own democratic parameters.

(on camera): I was there and I was at the rallies and I was reporting what was going on, and I was struck by what I viewed as democracy in the streets -- that they allowed the protest, they allowed the people on both sides, obviously, and this is a totally novel situation for Iran. Does that -- did that strike you that way as well?

SADJADPOUR: Yes, it's incredible of how much Iranian political culture has matured and how mature Iranian political culture is compared to elsewhere in the Middle East. People no longer have utopia-esque (ph) ideas. They're not talking about a pure Islamic society. They have very practical demands: a greater political voice, greater social freedoms, more economic opportunities.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): The democracy here has its limits. As the rally ended, gunfire was heard.

(GUNFIRE)

AMANPOUR: This disturbing image of at least one reported death.

(on camera): What happens after this? This genie cannot be put back in the bottle. So what does this mean for Iranian domestic politics?

SADJADPOUR: Well, it's difficult to see how we could go back to the status quo ante. Sacred red lines have been crossed. Previously sacred red lines have been crossed. People are beginning to openly challenge the legitimacy of Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader. People are in fact openly challenging the institution of Supreme leadership itself.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Is the position of the supreme leader weakened?

SAYYED MOHAMMAD MARANDI, UNIVERSITY OF TEHRAN: I think it's the opposite. I think that many people are now turning to him more than ever before to resolve this issue. And to bring the different candidates together. And to calm down the situation and the emotions that have been created as a result of this very hotly-contested electoral campaign.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Next, as the week ended with Iran locked in an internal power struggle, everyone waited for the nation's supreme leader to speak out. Friday press when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: Finally, it was Friday pres. One week exactly since the election. And the nation's supreme religious leader addressed the people.

He said that there was no way there could have been a rigged election and he called on the demonstrators to stop.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI, SUPREME LEADER OF IRAN (through translator): 11 million votes, difference. Sometimes there is a margin of 100,000, 200,000. But where one million maximum and then one can doubt maybe there has been some vote rigging or manipulation or irregularities but there is a difference of 11 million votes. How can vote rigging happen?

I want everyone to put an end to this. This is not the right thing to do. If they don't stop this, then the consequences and the rioting and everything, they will be held accountable for all of this. It's also wrong to assume that some may assume that through their street riots they can have a pressure lever against the establishment and try to force the officials to actually listen to them. This is also wrong to think that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: But the protesters are not just marching in the streets. They're honking in their cars. They're going to their rooftops at night to shout "Allah, god is great." Reminiscent of the Islamic revolution 30 years ago. So will the reformists give up as they have in the past? And even if they do, will a stirred up people follow? And what will four more years of Ahmadinejad mean for Iran, for the U.S. and for the rest of the world? We'll be following all that too. I'm Christiane Amanpour. Thank you for watching.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Our Christiane Amanpour will be back at 9:00 p.m. Eastern with much, much more on the breaking news out of Iran. She will be guest hosting "Larry King Live." That's tonight 9:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN.

Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. We want to get back now to our rolling coverage of the presidential election protests in Iran. This is a moment in time that could define Iran's future. For now it has been a long end, bloody day. We're hearing at least 19 people have been killed. Bringing the unconfirmed death toll from more than 150 for this week's protest. A week of protesting and even though night has fallen in Tehran people are still protesting from their homes, their rooftops, wherever they can. Many chanting "god is great." So under the cover of darkness, they defied their government. Heard but not seen.

Now we want to get to some very disturbing video. And I want to warn you this is really, really graphic. This is a woman. She is lying in her own blood apparently shot and killed and here's the latest information we're hearing about her that she is becoming a rallying cry for the opposition. Her image appearing on posters and also being sent out over the internet on twitter, on Facebook, and e-mailed all of the social networking sites died on the streets of Iran in her own blood today.

With Iran's government placing so many restrictions on reporters getting information out of there is really difficult. So I want to turn now to CNN's Colleen McEdwards. She is monitoring social networking sites, satellite feeds and other sources from our Iran desk. What do you have for us now, Colleen.

COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I'd like to tell you a little bit more Don, about that nighttime video that we have obtained from Tehran. It was shot between 10 p.m. and midnight local time. Just listen to the sounds from the rooftops.

That as you mentioned, the cry of god is great. It has really become the hallmark call of defiance every night. But we're hearing on this night, those calls were louder and longer than people heard before. So tracking shots here that we have obtained around the city at night. What you're seeing right there is a bank. An ATM machine right there, a bank with windows, smashed out, a lot of debris on the streets of Tehran in the aftermath of today's demonstrations. In just a moment, you're going to see actually an area around the corner here where what was a police kiosk is just a burned out shell. Right there, you see it, nothing left of that but a burned out shell and a lot of debris around.

We got some powerful stills that we've taken off the web as well that I'd like to show you. Just giving you a sense of the number of people that have turned out on the streets and the risks that they are taking as they confront the security forces. Some of them facing injury, facing a huge risk by protesting in defiance of what the Supreme leader said must be a calling down of these demonstrations and an acceptance of the results of the election which he says were fair.

Don, back to you.

LEMON: All right. Colleen, thank you for monitoring that. We'll be back to you very shortly. Also, twitter really is abuzz in news from Iran and reaction to what's happening there has been pouring out really second by second, minute by minute and Josh, as I say, moment by moment. He's here to update us on the situation there. And just in the last couple of minutes that we went to the Christiane special, we're getting thousands of tweets as we say about the situation.

LEVS: Yes. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds. As we were saying every time we refresh our screen, let me just tell our viewers, it's part of the story today. Twitter is part of the story, there are people in Iran who despite the blackout and inability to reach parts of the internet at many places have still managed to send out tweets, those are being echoed in the twitter universe and around the world.

I want to show you a few of the examples right now that have been sent out. Let's start off with this one that says basij attacking homes tonight and it's giving advice basically, it's telling people when chanting on rooftops, look for security forces or police out there on the streets. Let's go to this next one here, which is calling the government cowards and saying government cowards in Iran are opening fire on their own people. I'm going to show you one more, again, this is coming within seconds of each other. We grab them before we go on air. Some of the latest there are slowing down basij boards with nails on the street to flatten tires, it says and wires strung across the street to stop some motorcycles.

Again, as I've said, we cannot authenticate every single one of these but the fact is this is what people are talking about and partly because of the media blackout, more and more people, millions literally are turning to twitter, sharing information, posting and talking about it. We have a shot on the screen behind me. I just want to point out to you, how quickly this comes in. This right here, 10 seconds ago. This right here less than 10 seconds ago. Both less than 10 seconds ago. They're coming in like crazy. Non-stop. We are refreshing, we are sitting here following them throughout the night. Let me show you the graphic where you can reach me if you want to point a specific twitter out that you think a tweet. That you think is particularly important. There you go, twitter.com/joshlevscnn. You also got Facebook going and our NEWSROOM blog. Don is active in all these pages as well.

If there's something specific you want to bring to out attention. Please by all means send it to me, send it to, Don. We're going to take a close look at it and you just might see it here right on the air within seconds after that. Don.

LEMON: Hey, thank you. You know what, Josh, I'm sure you have someone helping you out. Glenn, who is my producer is helping you out, getting you tweets tonight because there's so many. I've got Ernest, one of my writers here.

LEVS: Big team.

LEMON: He is helping me out, sitting here on the desk, helping me with - to get those tweets out and also checking my Facebook pages. We're getting so many at once, I can hardly keep track of them. And we don't want to miss any of it. So we appreciate Glenn helping out Josh and we appreciate you, Ernest, for helping me out because we're on the air tonight. Ernest pointing out some very important tweets that I might have missed while I'm trying to tell you this story. This is part of the story that we're getting here.

CNN I-reporters in Iran are eyewitnessing history here. They have seen and they are sharing stories with us like we've never heard before and you're going to hear them.

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LEMON: You know, with Iran's government clamping down on professional journalists we're relying ever on photo, information from our i- reporters who are on the scene. They are taking huge risks to tell the story of what's happening in Iran and all around the world, really. We're going to use the rest of this hour for a special look at their work. We call it i-report from "Iran: Eyewitness to History."

Let's start with some video that just came in to CNN, just this morning.

We are only identifying our i-reporter as Sarah. She says the video shows demonstrators trying to get to a rally. But they were blocked by police officers and army guards and Sarah says one of the guards struck her husband's knee with a baton and he did it three times. And she says she has lived in Tehran for three years but she doesn't think she is going to live there anymore.

You know these next photos come in from an i-reporter. Her name is Masha. And she says, she took them near Revolutionary Square. Some of them from her rearview mirror of a car and they show the crowd and the tear gas, and the determination of the protestors who are defying the government to make their voices heard. So Masha's eye report photos came to us by way of her fiance. His name is Poyan, an Iranian who lives in the Netherlands tonight.

And Poyan joins us now by telephone. Poyan, thank you very much for joining us. I'm sure you're concern about Masha tonight.

VOICE OF POYAN, I-REPORTER'S FIANCE: Yes, yes. Thank you, Don. Now the problem is everybody's life is at risk now in Iran. So it doesn't matter if it's my fiancee or somebody's else. There is, somebody is dying now in Iran.

LEMON: And have you had a chance to speak to her?

POYAN: I called her this evening. Now the government has closed down the internet, the text service, the phone service, so it's difficult to call Iran and to get calls from Iran. So I tried to call her and I talked to her like two minutes and I told her about CNN and her pictures. And she was very happy and she said please CNN be our voice abroad.

LEMON: What are you - what can you share with us besides that? Are there any personal moments or any stories that she has? And I'm looking at our i-report page and her picture is really right on the homepage of the I-report page, what else did she share with you that you can share with us?

POYAN: She is very active this moment from the day one of the election and the fraud and what she told me this evening was that she saw three people die in front of her in Revolutionary Square. Because the guards are chasing people to the alleys and then they catch the people, they shoot them. They use tear gas. They use water canons. So if you're in an alley, you're not sure of your life. And she saw three people die there.

LEMON: Has she spoken to you, Poyan, about the social networking sites especially for her as an i-reporter and someone who is there, has she spoken to you about the importance and how people are getting around those sites to get the information and the pictures out?

POYAN: They are very active in Iran, especially twitter and Facebook and youtube but government has closed down their internet connections so - or very slow down. So they cannot upload pictures very easily. The only site that is going on air that is Yahoo! or Google and they mail the pictures to me or to somebody else and that's how the pictures come out?

LEMON: All right. Thank you so much, Poyan -

POYAN: You're welcome, Don. And we wish for Masha's safety and we hope you get to speak to here again and you guys have a very happy reunion very soon.

POYAN: Thank you very much. And keep up the good work.

LEMON: Thank you.

POYAN: Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you very much we appreciate it. So we've been getting a lot of information here from our i-reporters who we have been telling you very easy to become an i-reporter and I'm going to show you. Hope you can see this because this is a small laptop that I'm working here. See I have to put on my reading glasses on, the type is small. But in order to fit the whole page on I have to shrink it down for you.

So you go to Ireport.com. Very easy. Just put in your browser right here. I-report.com, very simple, right? And then you log in. Do you guys want me to finish this or do you want me to go on the other side of the break? OK. I'll finish this on the other side of the break. Very easy though, upper right-hand corner it says register and do you it. Simple. All right. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, with Iran's government preventing reporters from showing the world what's going on in the streets, we're relying on our i- reporters to help get that information out for you. And one of them is Amir. He has sent us photos of some of today's scenes in Tehran. Fire on the streets, you can see that and apparently some kind of motor bike which is in flames there.

And here's another photo from Amir. As you can see, there's danger and chaos all over Tehran. Those folks there are very close to the fire. I'm not sure what's burning but it's very disturbing to me. So how do we get these incredible I-reports and how do you make it on the air and how do they make it on the air? I'm going to show you.

It's very easy here. I was showing you before the break but I want to get it to you again and sorry, usually I would have this bigger for you but just in order to fit it on the page, I've got to get it down to this size. So I-report.com, put in your browser. Very simple. Then you go here if you're already a member obviously it says log in. Right under that there's a little bitty thing right here that says register.

You press register and then it says if you want to register, follow the fields. The stars - the ones that are marked in red are required. Your e-mail address, you put your password in, then you confirm your password, your screen name, phone number if you want to, as much information about you as possible will help us get that. And also we may get you on video camera to talk about your i-report if you give us the information on how to get in touch with you.

Then you put your name and all the information right here on the screen, register me and you're done. You'll get an e-mail confirming that you're an i-reporter and then you can sign in and it's easy to send i-reports.

So, that's it. I-reports, send them into us. They're helping us out. And we appreciate the people who have registered already. More scenes from within Iran straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, as protesters march in the streets of Tehran, they're getting a lot of sympathy all around the world. A rally in Sydney, Australia drew about 300 people. And you can see that this i-report from an Iranian-Australian, he tells us the peaceful rally was completely organized by people getting in touch with each other on Facebook. I am checking your social networking sites now for your responses, twitter, Facebook and i-report, as well. We're back in a moment.

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LEMON: I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World headquarters. We are checking your feedback on the social networking sites on Iran. We'll see you back here tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.