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President Obama on Drug Costs for Seniors; Tension & Turmoil in Iran; GOP Criticizes 'Timid' Response on Iran
Aired June 22, 2009 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BARACK H. OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And while Senator Kennedy is undergoing his treatment for his illness, Chris, I think, will tell you that as we travel around the country, seniors would constantly be coming up to us and saying, "How do we deal with this extraordinary burden?" And as a consequence, you'd have seniors who would be taking half their medication, even though the doctor said that is not going to be as effective, you are putting your life at risk. They had no other choice.
So, as part of the health care reform I expect Congress to enact this year, Medicare beneficiaries whose spending falls within this gap will now receive a discount on prescription drugs of at least 50 percent from the negotiated price their plan pays. It's a reform that will make prescription drugs more affordable for millions of seniors and restore a measure of fairness to Medicare Part D.
That's a reflection of the importance of this single step for America's seniors that it has earned the support of AARP, which has been fighting for years to address this anomaly in the system on behalf of older Americans. AARP is committed, as I am, to achieving health care reform by the end of this year. And I'm committed to continuing to work with AARP to ensure that any reforms we pursue are carried out in a way that protects America's seniors, who know as well as anyone what's wrong with the health care system and why it's badly in need of reform.
Our goal, our imperative is to reduce the punishing inflation in health care costs while improving patient care. And to do that, we're going to have to work together to root out waste and inefficiencies that may pad the bottom line of the insurance industry but add nothing to the health of our nation. To that end, the pharmaceutical industry has committed to reduce its draw on the health care system by $80 billion over the next 10 years as part of overall health care reform. Real health care reform that reduces cost of health services and extends quality, affordable health coverage to all Americans will require these kinds of commitments throughout the system.
Now, drug and insurance companies stand to benefit when tens of millions more Americans have coverage. So we're asking them in exchange to make essential concessions to reform the system and help reduce costs. It's only fair.
Today marks a major step forward, but it will only be meaningful if we complete the journey. So I want to commend the House for coming together last week to produce a health care reform bill, a bill, I might note, that protects seniors and has received the support of AARP.
I will continue to work closely with the relevant chairs in the House and the Senate and leaders like Senator Dodd and Senator Baucus, and with members of both parties who are willing to commit themselves to this critical task.
Our families, our businesses, and our long-term fiscal health demands that we act and act now. Today we are. I'm grateful to all who make this day possible and to those who here in Washington, who have grown accustomed to "sky is falling" prognoses and the certainties that we cannot get this done. I have to repeat and revive an old saying we had from the campaign -- yes, we can. We are going to get this done.
Thank you very much, everybody.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to get it done. The president says we're going to get health care reform done.
Let's bring in our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen.
And Elizabeth, this agreement that has been reached here with the pharmaceutical industry to lower these drug costs for millions, first of all, big deal?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is a big deal, especially if you're one of those 3.4 million Medicare beneficiaries who has reached this doughnut hole.
Now, I want to do a little doughnut hole 101 if that's all right.
HARRIS: Thank you. Yes, please.
COHEN: Because, see, we say this term and we don't really explain it.
HARRIS: Medicare Part D, the doughnut -- yes.
COHEN: I'll make it easy.
HARRIS: OK.
COHEN: This is the way Medicare works -- Medicare will help seniors pay for drugs to the tune of about 75 percent until you spend $2,700. Once you spend $2700, Medicare says you are on your own, you're forking over everything. So, you spend $3,000, $4,000, $5,000.
Then when you hit $6,154, Medicare says, all right, we'll chip back in and help you. So, you're in good shape until you spend $2,700, you're in good shape after you hit $6,154. But in between, you are really in a pickle. So, 3.4 million people get stuck in what's called the doughnut hole. That's about one out of four Medicare beneficiaries.
HARRIS: I know you've been working the phones a little bit. Why do you think the pharmaceutical industry is signing on and playing ball here?
COHEN: Now, the pharmaceutical says that they want to help America's seniors afford drugs.
HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: That's what they say. Now, some Republican folks who I've talked to say, look, the pharmaceutical industry is smart. And they said, OK, we'll play ball from the very beginning, because really, this is a lot of money that they have to sort of fork over for this. But really, it's not all that much money when you look at the big picture.
It's one-quarter of Medicare beneficiaries for, like, a relatively small window of time in between those two sort of expenditure points. So we're not talking about everybody. And they say -- these Republicans say that the pharmaceutical industry is hoping that later on down the line, when things really get hot and heavy with health care reform, that they will be treated kindly.
HARRIS: So -- there you go. So this idea of big pharma coming to the table and striking this deal, does it put more pressure on the other various stakeholders who we've been talking to recently to come to the table and get something done?
COHEN: You know what? I think it does, because there are really three major groups that stand in some ways to lose from health care reform, and by that I mean lose money -- the pharmaceutical industry, the insurance industry, and doctors. And for the pharmaceutical industry to step up very early in the game and say, yes, we are willing to lose billions of dollars to help Medicare beneficiaries, it definitely puts pressure on insurance companies and doctors to sort of step up and say the same thing, that they are willing to suffer, at least even in some small way.
HARRIS: Because to get this done, everyone is going to have to give something, right?
COHEN: And you know what? People who -- you and I might suffer. We have fabulous insurance because we work for a big company.
HARRIS: Right.
COHEN: Our insurance may not be as good when this is all said and done. It's possible.
HARRIS: An $80 billion reduction in Medicare drug cost for senior citizens over the next 10 years. That's...
COHEN: That's a lot of money.
HARRIS: That's a lot of money.
COHEN: Yes.
HARRIS: All right, Elizabeth. Appreciate it. Thank you. COHEN: Thanks.
HARRIS: We want to hear from you. What do you think about this? What do you think about the plan to reduce prescription drug costs for seniors?
Can anyone be against that? I don't think so.
Is this a turning point? And do you think a health care reform bill will pass this year? The president says yes, we can.
Drop me a line on my blog. I've got a blog -- CNN.com/newsroom. And click on my big head there and it will take you to my page. You can leave a note and we'll read some of those. And we may not be able to get to your comments today, but we will certainly get there tomorrow.
A CNN iReporter captures chaos and what sounds like gunfire on the streets in Iran. Listen closely there. It is just one -- all right, just one of the many reports helping us to tell the story in light of the restrictions on international journalists.
Another report shows the darkened streets of Tehran and captures the sounds of protesters chanting. Have a listen.
And one of our iReporters says he videotaped this from the roof of his house last night.
And these still pictures show police facing off against protesters Saturday. Some of the clashes eventually turned bloodily, with hospital sources reporting 19 people killed.
New tension and more turmoil in Iran today. Hundreds of protesters return to the streets despite a stern warning from the country's Revolutionary Guard. Riot police and militia responded trying to break up the gathering.
CNN's Ivan Watson is following developments in the post-election fallout from our International Desk.
And once again, Ivan, what are you following for us this hour?
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, we just got off the phone with a journalist in Tehran who attended what was supposed to be, according to opposition Web sites, a memorial ceremony, a memorial rally for this young woman who was gunned down on Saturday, who is known around the world as Neda. In Haft-e Tir Square this demonstration gathered.
Now, he estimated up to 10,000 people were gathered there. Our eyewitness reports describe groups of hundreds of people trying to converge on the square and being pushed back by Iranian security forces, in some cases using their batons, in some cases using pepper spray or some kind of mace. And one of the eyewitnesses we talked to himself, he got some of this in his eyes. He said it burned and it stung quite badly. So, an effort to completely break up any effort to remember this young woman who was shot in the chest and died on the streets of Tehran, one of several to have been killed on Saturday.
HARRIS: Ivan, look, that is a piece of tape, that is some reporting that is being shown all over the world, domestically here on CNN and certainly through our sister network, CNN International.
I'm just sort of curious, is the Iranian government saying anything?
WATSON: Well, they're still standing by the presidential elections earlier this month that so many of these demonstrators have been chanting and denouncing. They've been accusing the government of rigging these elections, and let's take a listen to a Foreign Ministry spokesman, what he had to say about those elections earlier today, Tony.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HASSAN QASHQAVI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN (through translator): We think that the high turnout of the people, the participation of 40 million people, at least 85 percent in this presidential election, is like a brilliant gem which is shining on the peak of dignity of the Iranian nation. And we won't allow Western media to turn this gem into a price -- into a worthless stone and give it some (INAUDIBLE) people so that they can break the glass on the home turf.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Tony, Iran's Foreign Ministry calling those elections, the results, a brilliant gem, even though three of the opposition candidates raised serious complaints, two of them accusing the government of rigging the election.
And Tony, the Guardian Council, it's a very important body that runs elections, approves them. It conducted an investigation and Iranian state TV announced that as many as three million additional votes were cast, more than the number of voters in the country, according to their research, and that there were irregularities in at least 50 cities.
Let's take a listen to Iranian state TV, Tony.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Guardian Council spokesman, Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, has asserted that such a thing only occurred in around 50 cities and did not noticeably effect the outcome of the election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: So mixed signals coming from the Iranian government itself -- Tony.
HARRIS: Absolutely.
All right, Ivan. Appreciate it. Thank you.
You know, President Obama's handling of the Iran crisis is drawing fire from plenty of Republicans. They want him to speak out more forcefully against the regime.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: This regime is corrupt. It has blood on its hands in Iran. They have killed Americans in Iraq, innocent Iraqi people. Now they are killing up their own people.
Stand up with the protesters. That's not meddling, that's doing the right thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, that gets us to CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.
And Suzanne, we were just talking about this last hour. Senator Graham even called the president's response timid.
Is the White House feeling some pressure to be more forceful and direct on Iran?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the president put out a statement over the weekend which certainly looks like a very strong statement, but I spoke with a senior administration official who said it's not meant to be a tougher statement but really more consistent. The president is saying the world is watching, we call on the Iranian government to stop the violence. That a reaction to the ayatollah's threat to crack down on the violence.
One of the things that senior administration officials are telling me is that this is not about the United States. And also, this is, in his words, saying this is not about us making ourselves feel good here. This is not a feel-good policy. Despite the fact there are members of Congress saying you need tougher language, they don't think that that is the right approach here, that they have been speaking with experts who obviously know what is happening on the ground. This is something the president met over the weekend twice with his policy advisers in the Oval Office in the study to talk about what is happening on the ground.
They don't believe drawing the United States into this particular language battle or being even stronger about it is going to be helpful. And they even say if you take a look at Sarkozy from France, if you take a look at Britain's statement, they are harsher statements, but there is a very clearly different kind of relationship the United States has had with Iran. They feel that if they were to react more forcefully, that it would provide a foil essentially for them to crack down on these protesters. One of the things they say is that these guys on the ground, the demonstrators, are authentic in what they are doing. They don't want the United States to get involved so that they take away their authenticity. That this is their movement, they are in charge of it to change their country here.
HARRIS: Well, it's interesting, Suzanne. But we know that the president has added a news conference to his schedule tomorrow. And I can't imagine that that news conference won't be dominated by questions about Iran.
It would seem to me that the president is preparing to say something to move the ball forward on this topic.
MALVEAUX: He certainly wants -- he's going to talk about it. Obviously he wants to talk about it.
Even just last week he did an about-face when he was making a comment about the smoking legislation. And I had asked him what about the situation -- you know, the Iranian elections. Are you watching them? How significant is this? And he did his about-face, turned around and said how important those elections were.
HARRIS: That's right.
MALVEAUX: But the message has remained the same. It's been very consistent.
I think that you're going to hear from this president once again this kind of language about protecting the protesters against the violence. But I don't -- I do not think that he is going to weigh in either way about who should come out on top of those elections.
HARRIS: All right.
Our White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux for us.
Suzanne, appreciate it. Thank you.
Certainly questions about Iran will dominate President Obama's news conference tomorrow. He will meet with reporters in the White House Rose Garden at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Live coverage and analysis right here for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Is there any chance the Iranian election could be invalidated? We will go inside the election fallout with the president of the National Iranian American Council.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: New developments coming from Iran all day. Let's put them in perspective.
Trita Parsi is founder and president of the National Iranian American Council. He is in Washington.
Trita, it's good to talk to you. Thank you for your time today.
TRITA PARSI, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL IRANIAN AMERICAN COUNCIL: Likewise. Thank you for having me.
HARRIS: All right. Let's dive in here.
The Guardian Council admits there was some ballot stuffing in 50 districts. At the end of the day, will the election be invalidated and a new election ordered?
PARSI: It's extremely difficult to predict, but I think one thing that probably is certain by now is that there's no certainty that Ahmadinejad will be the president, which during the first couple of days of this ordeal did not seem to be as uncertain as I think it is right now. You see that the Guardian Council came up, and it's essentially admitting that there was some problems in 50 cities, which is not a small number.
Now, they are now saying without first having checked that this will not affect the results. I don't know if that's based on some mathematical probability, but it again raises some question marks as to what extent this is a fair process.
But what this all does, it gives Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei a small opening that, in case he wants to compromise, in case he realizes that he has completely misread the anger on the streets, and he needs to find a way out, well, this may be able to provide him with that way out.
HARRIS: Do you think he's misread the anger and...
PARSI: I believe that he has misread the situation.
HARRIS: You do?
PARSI: I think so, because we see how the violence that has been used against the protesters has radicalized the crowds. The demand at the beginning was about the elections and was about getting the votes counted have escalated into far more far reaching demands than it was only a week ago.
HARRIS: Where do you think the opposition movement goes from here? And are you surprised -- are you surprised that the Moussavi camp is not calling for more demonstrations today?
PARSI: No, I'm not surprised by that, although we have to wait and see if that is confirmed because too many times we've seen a notice (ph) and then we see that it's not actually been corroborated. But I would say that I wouldn't be surprised if they start to use different tactics right now.
People are tired. Demonstrators are tired. Everyone is tired. And there's also a sense, according to some people I've spoken to, that they are kind of longing to a sense of normalcy.
They are tired of seeing the violence. They are not confident that the violence will lead to anything, that the demonstrations will lead to a recount. So, there may be a shift now towards other tactics, starting to strike and other things that are far more difficult to completely disrupt the lives of ordinary people, as well as to generate as much bloodshed as the demonstrations have done so far.
HARRIS: Yes, but if you're trying to launch a revolution, ,you've got to stick with it longer than a couple of weeks, wouldn't you say? And...
PARSI: Well, I'm not so sure that they are trying to launch a revolution.
HARRIS: Really?
PARSI: I think that these are people who are terribly upset because they participated in the votes of the system and they feel that the vote was stolen from them. And as a result, they are demanding justice essentially.
Some people of course on the street are starting to chant slogans that are far more far reaching than it was from the outset and questioning some of the key institutions of the system. But even so, even if they were shifting towards having a complete overhaul of the system, it does not mean that they will be able to achieve it by only doing demonstrations.
There is a need for other types of methods. And part of the problem that the opposition is having is that most of the leaders of the opposition have either been put in jail or been put into house arrest. So their ability to communicate with each other, as well as with their followers, is quite limited at this stage.
HARRIS: That's wonderful analysis. Let's keep going here.
You know, the young woman shot dead protesting, you see her die on camera. And the visceral response to that, you just feel it. It is so powerful. And it angers you so much.
Does the Iranian government even care that it is running the risk of creating new enemies, of new groups of people all over the world with this kind of action?
PARSI: That's part of the reason I was saying they are completely misreading...
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: I think you're right, yes.
PARSI: Because we've seen in the past, particularly in the revolution of 1979, every time someone did get killed, every time the police used brutality and you had casualties, it angered the crowd further. And instead of intimidating them and making them walk back, you actually had a mushrooming of demonstrations. And I've actually spoken to people on the ground in Tehran, some who didn't go on the first day of demonstrations, but on the second day of demonstrations, after seeing the images, after seeing that some of their friends essentially said that they may not be able to come back, now more people went out. And part of the reason was, according to one of them, that it would be dishonorable to not go out when these things are happening.
HARRIS: Trita, one more question for you. Are their camps developing in the Iranian leadership -- let's try this one on, the supreme leader and Ahmadinejad, say, on one side, Rafsanjani, Moussavi on the other side?
PARSI: This is what's been actually somewhat clear from the outset, but now it's more in the open that you have these camps. And one thing that is very important to remember here, that this is not street demonstrations against a government and it's as simple as that. Rather, it's street demonstrations in favor of one faction of the government against another faction of the government, which is part of the reason why the chances of success for demonstrators are going to be far greater than if they were opposing a unified government.
This is not a unified government. This is a tremendously split government right now.
HARRIS: Trita Parsi, that's fascinating. That was wonderful analysis.
PARSI: Thank you.
HARRIS: No, thank you for your time.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, women at the center of Iran's struggle. You will hear from a young demonstrator who says she was clubbed by police during a protest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You go to work, you pay your bills on time, you play by the rules. A Nevada couple did all that until they were ruined financially by medical debt.
Sanjay Gupta reports most middle class Americans are only an illness away from that same scenario.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's not so painful anymore living across the street from the Las Vegas house they once owned and lost to bankruptcy.
BECKY SPECHT, FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY: We was trying to keep up with our house payments and the car payments and the medical.
GUPTA: So in 2005, Becky and James Specht filed Chapter 13 and promised to pay $220 a month to dig themselves out from underneath their massive medical bills. Becky was a nurse when she was accidentally stuck by a needle and got chronic Hepatitis B. Then came the breast cancer diagnoses.
Unable to work, she lost her medical insurance and the bills began to pile up.
B. SPECHT: I was in the medical field for years helping people. I mean, and all of a sudden I couldn't get help.
GUPTA: After they filed James had a heart attack. As a result, he lost his job and insurance, which meant more unpaid bills.
JAMES SPECHT, FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY: There was a lot of stress involved. No one should ever have to go through this.
GUPTA: Dr. David Himmelstein at Harvard Medical School has been studying medical bankruptcy for nearly a decade. He says middle class Americans are bearing the brunt of medical bankruptcies.
DR. DAVID HIMMELSTEIN, CAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE: This is the mainstream of America. They had insurance. They played by all the rules. And yet they were ruined by their medical problems.
GUPTA: In his newly released national study, more than 62 percent of all bankruptcies were linked to medical problems.
HIMMELSTEIN: Virtually none of us has adequate coverage to withstand the financial consequences of a serious illness.
GUPTA: Bankruptcy attorney Carmen Dellutri agrees. He says Chapter 7 is most commonly used in medical bankruptcies. You don't have to pay back your debt. Chapter 13 structures a repayment plan.
CARMEN DELLUTRI, BANKRUPTCY LAWYER: What we see are younger families who are really dealing with the debt, the medical debt, in a harsh way.
GUPTA: The Spechts are caught up in that struggle to survive. He's working, but only part time. In 2007 they stopped their bankruptcy filing, simply unable to make the payments anymore.
The old bills? They're back, and now new ones as well. Becky has just found another tumor in her breast. They are planning to file for bankruptcy again. As for the new medical bills.
BECKY SPECHT, FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY: I can't open them. I can't worry about it. And I can't have my husband worry about it.
GUPTA (on camera): Now the Spechts have been watching the whole health care debate very closely. They're hoping that reform comes in time to help them.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Wow.
A young Iranian woman in the United States begs her father, who is still in Iran, not to go to a protest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was like, dad, don't go. And then he was all like, Neda (ph), everyone out there is someone's child, is someone's spouse, is someone's parent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The fear, frustration and raw emotion half a world away. A young woman and her father thousands of miles apart fighting for the same cause.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: While hundreds of protesters returned to the streets of Iran today despite a stern warning from the country's revolutionary guard, riot police and militia dispersed the crowd as they were gathering. Amateur video from Tehran yesterday shows protesters marchers and chanting death on a government that fools its people.
This video shows protesters scattering. Take a look here. The person who shot the video describes plain-clothed militia attacking the crowd on Friday. And we have still pictures showing clergy leading a small group of demonstrators in Tehran. These amateur pictures and video helping us bring you the story from Iran.
Now, look closely at the faces of the Iranian protesters. Most are young and a great number are women. Here's CNN's Ivan Watson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid the clashes and chaos, a recurring scene, women in their black overcoats and scarves at the heart of the struggle, collecting rocks for ammunition against security forces, protecting a fallen pro government militiamen from an angry mob, wounded in the government crackdown.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Iranian women, since the late 1800s, have been, in fact, at forefront of the struggle for change.
WATSON: These photos were taken in Tehran on Saturday by a 19- year-old demonstrator who asked not to be named. We spoke to her by phone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a lot of other women there.
WATSON: And what were they doing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We gave the boys the stones because we can't throw them so far. And we gave them the stones and we just said the slogans.
WATSON: What happened to you? I heard that you were beaten by one of the security forces?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, they said run. And I said, I can't run. How can I run? It's so clouded in here. And then he hit me with a (INAUDIBLE). He was so big. And I said, you want to hit me? And he said, yes, and then he hit me.
WATSON: At Sharjah University this week, riot police clubbed women dressed in black robes. A man yells, "don't beat them you bastards." The women stand their ground. Many Iran experts aren't surprise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a saying or a name for them, "sherzan," (ph) lioness. Lion woman.
WATSON: At least one of these woman has paid the ultimate price for her defiance. A woman now known around the world as Neda (ph), felled by a bullet on the front line.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And Ivan Watson joining me live.
Ivan, what's the latest on today's memorial rally for the young woman killed on the streets of Iran whose death was captured on cell phone camera.
WATSON: Tony, I just got an e-mail from that young woman that we interviewed in that story just now, the 19-year-old who was clubbed before. She tried to attend this rally today. And it's kind of a heartbreaking e-mail.
She writes to me, "thanks God I'm alive, but unfortunately I was hit again. I was at Hofta (ph) Tear Square today." She said the security forces "hit the people with tear gas and clubs. They hit a five-year-old boy and her mother burst into tears. They didn't let people help that woman and her child." She said they hit a lot of women. "I helped one of them to take the subway and go home." And she concluded the e-mail, we're keeping her identity a secret right now for her own protection. "I heard from my sister that you talked about me. I'm so proud of myself now because you counted me as a brave girl."
So she was hit today at this rally today, this 19-year-old. She said she took more photos and she wants to send them to us.
HARRIS: OK. Let us know when you get those.
Ivan, appreciate it. Thank you.
You know, with the restrictions on media in Iran, citizen journalists have documented the chaos in the capital, on the Internet, through social networking sites like YouTube, FaceBook and Twitter. Senior editor for Middle East affairs, Octavia Nasr, joining me now.
And, Octavia, we've been talking about -- what an unprecedented role. And I've short of pooh-poohed the whole social networking craze, but you can absolutely see the power of this thing in covering a story like this in Iran.
OCTAVIA NASR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed. It's amazing when you watch all these videos that we're getting. I mean you can be as skeptical as you want. If you watch Iranian media right now, if you watch the government-controlled media, you would think everything is fine in Iran. They're doing reports about shops being open, people on the street. The reporter goes around, asks questions, how is everything, everything is great. And then you watch these images and you go, wait a minute, something is just not right here. And perhaps the truth is somewhere in between the two.
But on Iranian media, they're describing the protesters as terrorists. They're saying that they are terrorizing the company and they are attacking the police and the Basij. So let's take a look at some of those reactions to those reports.
HARRIS: Great. Great.
NASR: One person writes, "please tell the world that we protesters are not terrorists, as reported by state TV. It's the other way around. They're terrorizing us."
Another one writes, "check your neighbors, see if they're OK. Please share food, water, medicine." Basically preparing for the worst.
Someone else says, "tonight at 10:00 to 11:00 p.m., we all come out and say "Allahu akbar," "God is great."
Now, of course, the opposition has many, many voices on the social media, but here's one pro government. It says, "Messia (ph) Tazops (ph) student called Mousavi & Khatanes (ph) statement a war with God."
And then one more. One last one about Nada. It says, "after authorities canceled memorials two Neda, people gathered in Hattear (ph) Square holding candles, but police used teargas and violence on them."
So definitely all these Tweets are coming from inside Iran. We know these people, we've been dealing with them for a while on both sides of the fence really.
HARRIS: OK. Octavia, appreciate it. Thank you.
You know the name Neda, it has become synonymous with the opposition movement in Iran. In Los Angeles, another Neda worries for her father who is on the receiving end of militia batons. She spoke with CNN's Thelma Gutierrez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, ABC CORRESPONDENT: This is Neda. She came to the United States when she was just nine years old. She came with her mother. And she's just one of many Iranian Americans who have been watching the events unfold all weekend long. You say this has been a very emotional weekend for you.
NEDA: Yes, it has been.
GUTIERREZ: Your father is still in Iran.
NEDA: My father is in Iran.
GUTIERREZ: He's going to the protests.
NEDA: Yes, he is. I was on the phone with him two hours before he was going to the protests and I kept saying -- I didn't want to hang up the phone. And I think I said "I love you" to him about 10 times. I was like, dad, don't go. And then he was all like, Neda, everyone out there is someone's child, is someone's spouse, is someone's parents.
GUTIERREZ: Your father is actually attending the protest in Iran and you've been attending the protests here in Los Angeles. That's where we met you.
NEDA: Yes, I have. Yes.
Freedom in Iran.
I am not a very political person. This is completely based on emotion. This is not a political issue, it's a human rights issue. People are dying.
GUTIERREZ: As you've been watching the coverage unfold, have there been sights and sounds that you have not been able to get out of your mind.
NEDA: I saw a young woman on the floor bleeding. I was so emotional. I went to the protest and I kept yelling. And my mom came up to me and said, Neda, you know, don't yell so hard. I'm like, mom, I'm angry. This girl died in front of my eyes on camera. She said bye and that was it. What do you mean don't scream? At that time I still had not gotten a hold of my father. And I kept calling him. I know he's passionate and he wants democracy in Iran and so I kept trying all the way here from the protest but -- I know he's OK. I'm just emotional.
GUTIERREZ: When you finally got through to your father, what did you find out?
NEDA: I've been trying to call him to wish him a happy Father's Day and he couldn't talk. Well, basically he said one of these riot police with his batons hit him on the shoulder and went right in his face. So by this -- like one of his eyes is -- needs stitches and his lip needs stitches.
GUTIERREZ: You said that the first time you asked your father not to go to the protest.
NEDA: Yes. GUTIERREZ: What did you say this time, Neda?
NEDA: I didn't ask. I didn't ask.
GUTIERREZ: Are you going to continue to protest?
NEDA: Absolutely.
GUTIERREZ: Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Boy. How has the youth movement in Iran gotten so big? What's motivating them? Our Nicole Lapin joins us with some answers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, we are drilling down on some of the basics of what we're seeing in Iran. Nicole Lapin is joining us now. She was with us last hour and we were talking about the government structure. This hour let's talk about what we're seeing on the streets of Tehran.
NICOLE LAPIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, because we are seeing, of course, the protesters and then we're seeing the people who are trying to stop protesters.
HARRIS: That's right. Right.
LAPIN: So first let's look at Iran's revolutionary guard. That was initially created, Tony, to protect the leaders of the revolution. But over the years, it has broadened in scope. It is about 200,000 members strong. And today it's under control of the supreme leader and usually tasked, Tony, with bigger things, like guarding oil fields and missile arsenals. They're known as the elite forces here.
HARRIS: But we're not seeing necessarily the elite forces on the streets and certainly the elite forces aren't the ones who are perpetrating a lot of the violence that we're seeing. Who's behind this, the militia group?
LAPIN: That's the Basij is a paramilitary force that we are seeing a lot of in the streets. We actually don't know -- I was just talking to the Iran desk and we don't know who exactly it is because they don't have different uniforms. They play the role of the defacto morality police, Tony. They're usually summoned to crack down on these protests. They're usually summoned to crack down on other morality issues. We don't know exactly how big they are, but it's estimated, Tony, that it's in the millions actually.
HARRIS: We are seeing a lot of women, but we're seeing an awful lot of young people on the streets. Talk to us about this young population in Iran.
LAPIN: Yes, because we're saying its two-thirds of the population. Over 70 million people are in Iran. So why is that? After the revolution, actually, Tony, the leaders encouraged early marriage and large families, even rewarding families with cars and TVs for having an additional child. During Iran's eight year war with Iraq in 1980, the regime continued encouraging this population growth because essentially more children, Tony, meant more future soldiers. And it is those children we are now seeing on the streets because it is those children who are now coming of age.
HARRIS: Is this the first time we've seen this population, the Iranian population, rise up against the regime in this way?
LAPIN: Not exactly in this way. But you remember we've seen this before.
HARRIS: Oh, yes, we have.
LAPIN: Absolutely. Iran has twice seen public calls for reform. In recent year, you may recall, in 1999, after the closing of a reformist newspaper and after parliamentary elections in 2003. Now, on both of those occasions, Tony, the revolutionary guard descended on the streets, crushed these movement in a few days. But we've been seeing something different here. It's been about a week now.
HARRIS: We really have. All right, Nicole, appreciate it. Good stuff. Thank you.
Was it harassment? Airport security officers giving a passenger the third degree. He got it all on tape. And we will play some of it for you and let you decide.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Boy, oh, boy. Michigan cleaning up today after powerful thunderstorms and three tornadoes over the weekend. At one point, 130,000 homes and businesses were without power. Look at these pictures. Yes. So the power company says it will be able to get lights back on for everyone today. How about that? Some parts of Michigan saw up to eight inches of rain. Flood warning still in effect for several areas. And Chad Myers, if we're talking about Michigan, that means that system is not in the Atlantic yet.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: He was just trying to fly from one place to another but he was detain by the TSA. The traveler says screeners went way too far and he says he has the tape to prove it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TSA OFFICER: I'm just trying to ask some questions to figure out what all this is about so I can get you on your plane. But you want to play smart ass and I'm not going to play your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Whoa. So what happened during the search. More of that tape and a pending lawsuit. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. Women are playing a prominent roll in the Iranian protest. CNN's Ivan Watson takes a closer look. That's . . .
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid the clashes and chaos, a recurring scene, women in their black overcoats and scarves at the heart of the struggle, collecting rocks for ammunition against security forces, protecting a fallen pro government militiamen from an angry mob, wounded in the government crackdown.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Iranian women, since the late 1800s, have been, in fact, at forefront of the struggle for change.
WATSON: These photos were taken in Tehran on Saturday by a 19- year-old demonstrator who asked not to be named. We spoke to her by phone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a lot of other women there.
WATSON: And what were they doing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We gave the boys the stones because we can't throw them so far. And we gave them the stones and we just said the slogans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And much more on this story in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the secretary of Homeland Security over what it calls unlawful searches and detentions at airport. The evidence, a tape recording of TSA screeners. CNN homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This iPhone captured the conversation between a Transportation Security Administration agent and a passenger.
TSA OFFICER: I'm just trying to ask some questions to figure out what all this is about so I can get you on your plane. But you want to play smart ass and I'm not going to play your (EXPLETIVE DELETED): game.
MESERVE: The agent was talking to Steve Bierfeldt. He works for the Campaign for Liberty, an outgrowth of the Ron Paul presidential campaign, which promotes constitutional rights. Bierfeldt was flying out of St. Louis when screeners saw this cash box in his carry-on. At the time it contained about $4,700, proceeds from the sale of political items. Although there are no restrictions on carrying large sums of money on flights within the U.S., the TSA detained Bierfeldt and, along with other law enforcement agencies, questioned him for almost half an hour and appeared to threaten him with arrest, unaware the phone in Bierfeldt's pocket was capturing every word.
OFFICER: The question is why do you have this money? That's the main question.
STEVE BIERFELDT, AIRLINE PASSENGER: Yes, sir. And I'm asking if I'm legally required to answer that question.
OFFICER: Answer that question first. Why do you have the money?
BIERFELDT: Am I legally required to answer the question?
OFFICER: So you refuse to answer the question?
BIERFELDT: No, sir, I'm not refusing.
OFFICER: Well, you're not answering.
BIERFELDT: I'm simply asking my rights under the law.
Swearing at me and cursing at me. Threatening to handcuff me, take me to the DEA and the FBI. Just the inconvenience. No, that's not within bounds at all.
MESERVE: The TSA says an agent has been disciplined for using inappropriate tone and language, but said in a statement, "a passenger who refuses to answer questions may be referred to appropriate authorities for further inquiry."
The ACLU said Bierfeldt did not refuse to answer questions and his detention and questioning violated constitutional protections against unlawful search.
LARRY SCHWARTZTOL, AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION: The TSA believes its passenger screening is an opportunity to engage in free wheeling law enforcement investigations that have no link to protecting flight safety.
MESERVE (on camera): The ACLU and Bierfeldt believe this incident is reflective of a much larger problem. But this passenger happened to be carrying a pocket copy of the U.S. Constitution and the latest technology.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: We're pushing forward with the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM with Kyra Phillips
