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Reaction to President Obama's Remarks on Iran; In Death, Demanding Change; D.C. Train Crash

Aired June 23, 2009 - 13:58   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We have a lot to push forward over the next hour. We are getting reaction to President Obama's remarks about Iran that wrapped up just a short while ago. Right now in Iran, the social networks kind of quiet, and there is no sign of protest on the streets of Iran. This is actually video you have seen from the past week.

Also, we are talking about the number of dead in that D.C. train crash. That number might begin to become higher.

Now, let's get to the train crash. It happened when one subway train slammed into the back of a stopped train in northeast D.C. along the Maryland border on the Metro's red line. Right now, the transit authority board of directors is holding a special meeting. Search crews are looking for more possible bodies in that wreckage. There are non-confirmed deaths. Witnesses say that the impact of the train, sounded like an explosion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The windows were coming down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody on the crack flew.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was horrible. The second train, the first car was just absolutely shredded. The second train -- or the second car, the seats were out the window. It was awful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Nine NTSB teams are set up to investigate the accident. They are going to look at the train operator, communications and the crash worthiness of those trains.

Now a quick look at Iran. President Obama just a short time ago condemning the violence, saying what's going on now is about the people of the Iran and not the U.S. or the West and urging the regime to take the peaceful path to legitimacy. In Iran, a top judge now saying he will create a special court to make examples of detained protestors. And Britain has expelled two Iranian diplomats. Iran kicked out two British diplomats yesterday.

President Obama has been criticized for his handling of this crisis. One of his critics, Senator John McCain. He thought the president was showing too much restraint when it came to Iran's election results and treatment of protesters.

The president was asked about it just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think John McCain has genuine passion about many of these international issues. And, you know, I think that all of us share a belief that we want justice to prevail. But only I am the president of the United States, and I've got responsibilities in making certain that we are continually advancing our national security interests and that we are not used as a tool to be exploited by other countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now for more on what ordinary Iranians are saying about President Obama's remarks, let's go once again to our Ivan Watson. He's there at our Iran desk.

What's the reaction been like, Ivan?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, remember that 19-year-old girl we talked to yesterday who was clubbed by security forces? She messaged me that she was so disappointed by President Obama's speech. "We thought he would help us," she wrote me. "We lost our only hope."

Another Iranian man I talked to said, "President Obama is the wisest president to deal with the Middle East."

So mixed views here.

The U.S. position in Iran is a very contentious, combustible subject for Iran. It is not uncommon at Friday prayers to see the worshippers gather, hard-line supporters of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and chant with their fists up in the air, "Death to America!"

Part of this because the CIA helped overthrow a popularly elected prime minister in 1953. And this is used as ammunition again and again by the Iranian regime, not only against the U.S. in its international relations, but also against critics within Iran as well. Such as these opposition protesters and these opposition leaders -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll continue to follow up with you, Ivan Watson. Thank you so much.

Straight ahead, stuck in traffic, getting out of a car, shot dead in the streets of Tehran. A young Iranian woman, as you know, in death has become the symbol of this movement.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, CNN is in constant touch with our people on the ground in Iran. We are also watching video feeds, scanning the social networking sites, gathering iReports. Right now in Iran, the social networks are kind of quiet, and there is no sign of protests on the streets of Iran, but we've already gotten feedback from Iran on President Obama's speech. One teen who was clubbed in protest was extremely disappointed and claimed that, "We lost our only hope." That's what she said. An Iranian man also praised the president's wisdom.

Well, we're getting more pictures of demonstrations in Iran from iReporters. This was actually shot in Tehran yesterday. Take a look at this.

First, you're going to see Basij militia getting off security vans inside a sports compound. Next, you'll see dozens and dozens of demonstrators actually ignoring heavy traffic, marching through the streets. At one point, you see the militia on motorcycles, and they're charging the protesters, who actually do an about-face and start running.

Now, for safety reasons, we are not naming the iReporter who sent us these pictures.

Well, a brutal killing on the streets of Tehran reverberates around the world. By now, you have probably heard about Neda, the young Iranian woman that was gunned down in Tehran. Well, in death she has become quite a symbol of countless Iranians demanding new elections. The question now: Will the memory of Neda help make that happen?

Here is CNN's Carol Costello.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the more the world gets to know Neda, the more powerful her story becomes. We've talked with Neda's fiance. He told us Neda was not political. She was on her way to a protest with her music teacher.

They had car trouble. Both got out of the car. And while they were standing on the street, a single shot rang out killing Neda. Her death caught on a cell phone camera and sent around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO (voice-over): It seems the whole world now knows Neda and aches for her. And why not? It watched her die.

On Facebook, a page dedicated to her memory amid pictures of a woman who may be Neda in life. There were messages too, filled with outrage, like this one: "That was murder." And this: "Shame on the man who killed you."

AZAR NAFISI, AUTHOR "READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN": It is unbearable.

COSTELLO: Azar Nafisi, who wrote "Reading Lolita in Tehran," says the way Neda died means there's no turning back for Iran.

NAFISI: Neda being silent is now becoming the voice of all those other Iranian women and men who over the past 30 years have been fighting for their freedoms.

COSTELLO: It's difficult to say right now, though, if this image of Neda will change everything. We know that pictures sometimes do. Many believe this shot taken at Kent State of a student gunned down after a Vietnam War protest helped end the war, yet this video of a lone student standing up to Chinese tanks did not end communism in China.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This image, this video, because it's so graphic, so powerful, and it really illustrates in a way that words can't and even still pictures can't the pain and suffering and the willingness to sacrifice and put her life on the line.

COSTELLO: Because some say Neda defines who is protesting. According to her fiance, she was a philosophy and music student, 26 years old, standing near her music teacher and modestly dressed. She did not act aggressively. In fact, her fiance told us she did not vote. But friends told the "L.A. Times" she was upset at the election process.

Neda's death has further galvanized women in Iran. One young woman calling in to CNN from Iran shared this with us...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This old woman said to the forces, "Didn't you kill Neda?" We are all Nedas today. We don't let that happen again.

COSTELLO: Fleeting image or tipping point?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Neda's fiance told us the military did tell Neda's family they could not have a memorial service, so she was buried at a cemetery. The only people attending, her parents, her brother and her sister -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Carol Costello, appreciate that.

Well, how would you react? An Iranian family told that they must pay for the bullet that killed their son. We're going to tell you how they finally got his body.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, now to that Metro train crash in Washington, D.C. We now know as many as nine people died in that collision yesterday. Right now the transit authority board of directors is actually holding a special meeting. Search crews are looking for more possible bodies in the wreckage.

Nine NTSB teams are set up to investigate that accident. They're going to look at the train operator, communications and the crash- worthiness of those trains.

Well, pushing forward, what caused the crash? Investigators will likely be keying in on Metro's computer safety system.

NTSB board member Debbie Hersman has been to the crash scene. She joins me now live from Washington.

And Debbie, I just want to get right down to the accusations that are being made of the failure of the signal system that is supposed to prevent collisions like this.

Is that definitely something that you're looking at? And let's talk about why that is key to the investigation right now.

DEBBIE HERSMAN, NTSB BOARD MEMBER: Well, the NTSB has not yet determined any causal issues with respect to this accident, and so we still have yet to test the signal system and to look at the tracks and automatic train operations that we believe were in effect at the time of this accident. And so it's still very early in our investigation. We haven't been here 24 hours. They just finished the removal of all of the victims from the accident, and they're working on kind of moving the train, moving the parts of the train, both trains, that can be moved away from the scene right now.

PHILLIPS: And investigators have pointed to this signal system possibly failing, and there seems to be a history here. Alstom Signaling is the manufacturer of this system. We've reached out to them and we did not get a comment. But apparently back in 1999, the Metro system had to replace all the track side signaling relays after wrong instructions were sent to the trains. Also, four years ago a Metro train operator had to slam on the brakes after the system told him that the track was clear, but he saw a train right in front of him.

You know, if indeed that was the failure here, what would be done? What would you recommend to be done about these signaling systems? Because this is what is supposed to prevent something like this happening if, indeed, it failed again.

HERSMAN: Well, I think we have yet to determine what happened in this accident. We still are very early in our fact-finding stages. But I think if the safety board finds anything that we determine that's an acute issue that needs to be dealt with immediately, we will issue an urgent recommendation to Metro so they can take corrective action. We are going to be working very closely with them as this investigation proceeds to see if there are any kind of short-term safety issues that need to be addressed.

In the meantime, they operating all of their trains in manual mode. But we will be looking at the automatic train operation. We are going to be conducting some sight distance tests and some stopping distance tests tomorrow to see what the operator on that striking train might have seen and when they might have seen it, and been able to stop if they had chosen to take that action. We know in automatic train operations, really, the goal of those operations is a redundancy, so that if there is a human failure or inattentiveness, the system really is designed to prevent that separation and those overspeeds.

PHILLIPS: So Debbie, here is my question -- there have been recommendations in the past to address the problems with the signaling system. So if you're going to make yet another recommendation, if indeed there's a problem, who enforces those recommendations? HERSMAN: Well, the transit authorities actually have local oversight entities. And in this case, the TOC, or the Tri-State Oversight Committee, is the entity that overseas Metro -- Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority. And so Metro is overseen by this tri- state authority.

We have made recommendations in the past when we have identified safety issues, both to WMATA and to the TOC. We have also made recommendations to the Federal Transit Administration when we think that there are nationwide issues that they could address. And so we will make recommendations to whatever entity we think can take appropriate action to prevent something like this from happening again.

PHILLIPS: Other former investigators said there is also the possibility that the train engineer might have been distracted. We know that we have reported on engineers that have been texting, using cell phones in the past, that unfortunately were symptoms of past accidents.

Will you be looking into what exactly that engineer was doing at the time? Have you looked into that? And how crucial is that to this investigation?

HERSMAN: Well, the safety board conducts very thorough investigations, and we are going to leave no stone unturned. We haven't ruled anything out yet, so we're going to be looking at the operator, at the equipment, at the track, at the systems, at the signals, at communication.

So we're going to be doing a 72-hour look-back at this operator's history. We are also going to be putting preservation orders on any records, cell phone records or text records. And the safety board has recently investigated two accidents in the last year on transit systems, one out in California, on Metrolink, and one up on the MBTA on Mother's Day, where there were some distractions that were present. And so we are looking at those issues very closely.

PHILLIPS: Debby Hersman with the NTSB.

We'll follow the investigation. Thanks for your time.

HERSMAN: Thank you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well, is one year in prison long enough for an admitted child rapist? The mother of this man's 4-year-old victim is speaking out about the case. It's a story that we're pushing forward in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: We want to get you answers to your financial questions. Let's get straight to the Help Desk.

Gary Schatsky is the president of ObjectiveAdvice.com, and Lynnette Khalfani-Cox is a personal finance author.

All right, guys. Let's get those questions in.

We have a question from "Anonymous," who has asked, "I have a retail store credit card where the rate is between 20 and 24 percent. Can I get it lowered?"

Gary?

GARY SCHATSKY, PRESIDENT, OBJECTIVEADVICE.COM: You know, you might be able to. The retail stores are not as forthcoming as some of the others. So you could inquire about a lower rate.

You know, there's a great way to do it, like pay it off. I mean, that's poison at those rates. It's possible...

WILLIS: It is poison, because you just build up so much debt so quickly.

SCHATSKY: Absolutely. I mean, one other thing is you could transfer. While transfers have become less attractive from other credit cards, they are still going to be 20 or 24 percent.

WILLIS: Well, let's get the next question in.

This is from Nakisha (ph) in North Carolina. She says, "When I was a child, family members used my Social Security number for things like phones, bank accounts, et cetera. I have struggled with low credit card scores since before I knew about credit. What is the most effective way to build up my credit score?"

Lynnette, this is a sad story, really. My heart goes out to this person.

LYNNETTE KHALFANI-COX, PERSONAL FINANCE AUTHOR: You know, first, strangle those family members. No, I'm just joking.

But, you know, you hear about this, people using minors. They can be 5, 7, 12 years old, and they are using their Social Security number to establish utility accounts, a whole host of other things.

This person needs to take some legal and defensive measures. Alert the credit bureaus. Place a block on your credit report. Essentially, you have been the victim of identity theft.

WILLIS: By your family.

KHALFANI-COX: This is outright fraud. And so, unfortunately, this person is suffering from the ramifications and the fallout from that. But they need to tell everybody, listen, this was not even me, I was not even of age, and take those steps to tell the credit bureaus, these were not accounts that I authorized or opened.

WILLIS: Right.

Gary, you know, this tells you just how important it is to know what's in that credit report, because unless you open that book, it's a mystery to you.

SCHATSKY: You have to look at it at least once a year to take a look at what your credit score is. In this instance, I mean, it's really a miracle that they were allowed to do this with a minor, because the credit reports normally match up your age pretty nicely to your Social. But if you are pushing back and saying I'm not of age, they should be taking it off.

WILLIS: Well, definitely. A scary proposition.

KHALFANI-COX: Very much so. And you would be surprised the number of people who actually routinely do this. I have heard of very low- income families where this is a common practice.

WILLIS: It's common practice.

KHALFANI-COX: If someone runs up a cell phone bill that they can't pay anymore, they will just get a new account with a child's Social Security number. It's crazy, but it does in fact happen.

WILLIS: It will take you a long time to get that fixed.

Guys, thanks for your help today.

The Help Desk is all about getting you answers. Send me an e-mail to gerri@cnn.com, or log on to cnn.com/helpdesk to see more of our financial solutions.

And the Help Desk is everywhere. Make sure to check out the latest issue of "Money" magazine on newsstands now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead we're going to talk about trimming costs and getting better care -- how the president hopes to get health care reform without adding to your bottom line.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, right now no word of protests on the streets of Tehran as Tuesday there fades away. The social networks have been pretty quiet, as well.

President Obama, well, not so quiet. Just a short time ago, he strongly condemned the threats, beatings and jailings of the last few days, and urged Iran's leaders to heed the will of the people. The regime planning a special court, too, to make examples, they say, of detained protesters.

We're watching all the latest developments out of Iran and we'll bring them to you when they happen. Well, in these nightmare days in Iran, a terrifying nightmare for one Iranian family. A 19-year-old Iranian man perhaps caught in the crossfire of a street protest in Tehran, perhaps the one you see right here, but we don't know that for a fact. The next thing the man's family learns is that their only son is dead.

Well, when the father finally found his son's body, he was told that before he could take it away to bury him, he would have to pay a $3,000 fee for the bullet that killed him. As shocking as that is, it apparently isn't an isolated case.

Last hour, I asked Iranian author Azar Nafisi if she knew about anything regarding this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZAR NAFISI, AUTHOR, "READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN": At the beginning of the resolution, people who belonged to the opposition groups or had participated in demonstrations, they would do various things. One, would be they would tell their relatives and the family that they need to pay for each bullet, both to humiliate -- mainly to humiliate and to intimidate and frighten them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, officials finally waived the fee after learning that the father was a veteran of the Iran/Iraq War.

Well, for more on this outrageous story, let's get straight to Ivan Watson at our Iran desk.

And you know, you spent time in Iran, Ivan. You weren't familiar with this, but you do know the reporter well that actually wrote this story and revealed this bullet fee for the "Wall Street Journal."

WATSON: Azar Nafisi, she is a good friend of mine and a very brave reporter who has risked her neck countless times reporting in Baghdad. And she is Iranian-American working on the ground in Tehran and bringing this remarkable story at great risk to herself, because due to the fact that she has an Iranian passport, it makes her more vulnerable to the crackdown being conducted by Iranian authorities right now.

They have been rounding up reporters, Kyra, Iranian reporters, dozens of them arrested over the course of the past week. And they have shown no hesitation about picking up Iranian-Americans in the past, academics, journalists. Remember Roxana Saberi picked up and detained for several months. She was a reporter with Fox News.

PHILLIPS: And you know, we're pointing to the intimidation that is taking place, and you heard Azar mention that, that this paying for the bullet is one way to intimidate people there in Iran not to protest. And now we're hearing these detainees are going to be made "examples of" for protesting.

From your experience from being in this country and covering -- you know, obviously it's a very delicate issue right now and trying to get information, but with regard to those detainees, what is being said about this special court being created, how much is intimidation and how much is, wow, something really horrible could happen to these people? Because it's so hard to get the information.

WATSON: Absolutely. There is a large prison in Tehran, and that's where the political dissidents get send. That's where Roxana Saberi was sitting. And that's where so many of these Iranian critics end up. And it's very difficult to find out what is happening to them while they are in that prison.

I want to direct you to, if you have a moment, to Iran's most prominent human rights lawyer. She's a Nobel Prize winning -- Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebadi. And she's been calling for the international community, for Europe, to take political sanctions against the Iranian regime. She spoke in Brussels today. She is calling for the immediate release of the people who have been detained over the course of the past week.

And that appeal has been echoed by other prominent politicians who are part or were recently part of the Islamic republic of the government. Mohammad Khatami, a former Iranian president and some of these opposition candidates as well. So we are hearing from some people who are in government, serious questions about the methods of this crackdown, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: We are trying to follow up as best that we can. We appreciate your input. Ivan Watson, thank you.

Well, cutting the crushing cost of health care. It's the kind of news that every American taxpayer wants to hear. Last hour, President Obama sounded an optimistic note that Congress will find a way to reform the system without adding to the deficit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It will not add to our deficits over the next decade. We will find the money through savings and efficiencies within the health care system, some of which we've already announced. We will also ensure that the reform we pass brings down the crushing cost of health care. We simply can't have a system where we throw good money after bad habits. We need to control the skyrocketing costs that are driving families, businesses and our government into greater and greater debt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: A big part of that debate, public versus private insurance plans. We are pushing it forward with senior political analyst, Gloria Borger in Washington. I guess I've got a couple of questions for you, Gloria. But when you listen, because we are really tuned in to see what the president was going to say about Iran. But we can't of course forget our health care. It is a huge topic now for all of us in this country. Do you think he made news on any front?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it was interesting to me. I think he came out with a couple of jobs that he tried to do. First of all, as you showed in that clip, he knows he's got an Achilles Heel with the American public in terms of the federal deficit. They're worried about increasing the federal deficit.

So you've got a health care plan that could cost a trillion dollars over 10 years. So he tried to turn the tables on that, a little bit Kyra, and say that health care is the primary driver of the deficit in this country. And if we don't get it under control, the deficit is only going to get worse.

The second thing he did is talked to people who already have health care, because the polls show that lots of those people are saying, wait a minute, why do I need health care reform? I kind of like the health care I get from my employer. Things are fine. He pointed out to them that if you don't reform health care, what you already have, you may not have in a few years, because your employer won't be able to afford it.

PHILLIPS: Something else too that he was hammering on. And that was insurance company, insurance companies and the different role that he wants these insurance companies to take. And one thing that he said is they have no problem taking your premiums and avoiding the coverage. I think all of us at one time or another have dealt with that. They bill you and you make your payment every single time. And then when it really comes, push comes to shove, you can't always get what you want from these companies.

BORGER: He made the case that your insurance premiums go up at a very, very fast rates. And the insurance companies, of course, are the ones complaining about this public option, because they are saying, look, that's an unfair playing field for us. The government will be able to give you health care at a cheaper cost and we are not going to be able to compete with that.

What the president said today is, wait a minute, you are always saying government can't do anything right. So if we are able to be more efficient in our providing health care to people, maybe you'll be able to come into our marketplace and charge consumers less. So let's bring that kind of competition into the marketplace.

PHILLIPS: Gloria Borger, thanks for your insight.

Well this is a story that we have basically been all over and we are not going to let it go. It's the mother of this little girl who's at the center of a very controversial child rape case in Oklahoma. She's finally speaking out. The plan to pleaded no contest to raping the four-year-girl was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but because of a plea deal, David Harold Earls got a year in jail. And because of the time already served, he actually gets out on parole in three months.

Well, the girl's 5-year-old brother had also said he witnessed the abuse but the children were too erratic to testify in court. How does the mother of the little girl feel about it? Well she told a reporter at the "Oklahoman" that she does not blame the judge or the attorneys in the case. Now, in the paper's online addition, she says, quote, "For my children, this was the best deal." She also said she does not think that Judge Thomas Bartheld should be disciplined. Now, on Friday, I had a chance to speak with an Oklahoma state lawmaker who is trying to get the judge fired and I also talked with the daughter of the convicted rapist David Harold Earls. Denise Earls has come forward and said that her father sexually assaulted her as well when she was a child. Here's part of that interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENISE EARLS, DAUGHTER OF RAPIST: I was completely outraged because it brought back all the memories that I went through as a child and just to know that he only got a year when I have a life sentence to deal with this. It has been very difficult, just knowing that someone else, not only myself, that it happened to me three times when I was a child but now someone else is going through this. It is very hard to deal with. My heart goes out to them. My father is a monster. He needs to stay. He needs to stay in prison.

PHILLIPS: Do you really think you can get him taken off the bench?

MIKE RITZE, OKLAHOMA STATE HOUSE: Well, at this point in time we're going through the process. The Oklahoma law is very clear that any member of the House of Representatives can petition this resolution or invoke this. And then it's taken over by an actual hearing process or what we would refer to like a grand jury process by the -- a special court for trial judges. And as a result, we feel like that the process must move forward.

Unfortunately we just finished our legislative session. And we will not be back in session until February of this next year. But, the Supreme Court, the governor, the attorney general, they can do something immediately, and that's what we're asking for.

PHILLIPS: And that's where the pressure needs to be. Denise, are you worried about your father back on the streets, that he will rape again?

EARLS: Yes, absolutely. And that does concern me very much. So, because they set a release date of September the 24th. Knowing my father's history, just with myself and now with -- with this new story, he will definitely do this again. The man does not need to get out. That's why I am speaking out today, because this must be stopped. This man has to be in prison for the rest of his life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And it sure concerns us too. Since we aired this story, two more children that are now grown have come forward and accused him of raping them as well. Now we have called Judge Thomas Bartheld's judge's office several times to get his response to the call for his removal from the bench. We has not returned our calls. We also called David Thomas Earls to get his response to his daughter's accusations. And he says, he does not want to do any interviews while he is in jail. Well a lot of you have expressed strong feelings about this case. Larry wrote in our blog, "Adults are the only ones who can protect children. And this judge thinks that this is a fitting punishment? The judge needs to be removed from the bench and Earls needs to go jail for the rest of his life."

John writes, "What matters is what you can prove in court. If attorneys had gone to trial and lost, then he goes free with no supervision."

And on Twitter, LesleyBravanel writes, "That's appalling, the judge and the rapist should be forced to spend some quality time together behind bars."

And our final Tweet, "I'm disgusted by what this man did. However shall the judge acted well within legal parameters."

Thanks to all of you for writing in. Stigmatizing Islam, or standing up for Muslim women? The French president fashions himself a controversy calling for a ban on the burqa.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right now, we are hearing from a couple of Iranians about the speech that President Obama gave more than an hour ago. One didn't hear what she wanted to hear. That's for sure. Another praised Mr. Obama's wisdom on Middle East dealings. The president actually condemned violence against protesters but stated that the U.S. won't interfere in Iran's affairs. We are watching all the latest developments our of Iran and we'll bring them to you when they happen. Day after day, we are watching dramatic images unfold from Iran. But how much of the current unrest can be actually traced to the economic unrest? Alison Kosik has the breakdown now from New York. Hi, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. You know, the economy was a major issue in the Iranian election that sparked all this outrage. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's rivals accused him of stoking inflation with too much spending on populous programs. Subsidizing food and increasing workers pensions made him popular with Iran's poor and lower middle class, but it also wound up sending prices soaring.

Last year, inflation in Iran soared at an annual rate of 28 percent. Political opponents contend that the country's record oil revenues should have been invested in Iran's industrial base, instead, to create jobs. The country's unemployment rate is now more than 15 percent and many young people, even those graduating from college, Kyra, can't find work.

PHILLIPS: So much has the decline in oil prices actually hurt Iran's economy?

KOSIK: Well, as you can guess, revenues are down sharply. And so is economic growth. The International Monetary Fund projects growth of just over 3 percent this year. That's down from 8 percent in 2007. And even though Iran is a big oil producer, churning out more than 4 billion barrels a day, it doesn't have many refineries. So OPEC, the second biggest oil producer, actually has to import nearly half the gasoline it needs. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right, well what kind of impact could this unrest have on the economy?

KOSIK: Well, I'll tell you what. It is certainly not good for business. One expert we talked with says the big worry is a general strike. If oil production shuts down in Iran, it could damage the country's long-term production capabilities. Of course, a disruption in oil production could also mean a spike in prices for the rest of the world. One energy analyst tells us, you can't lose Iranian production and not have a massive impact. Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIS: Thanks, Alison.

Well, another sign that North Korea may soon conduct more military tests. The Communist government warns military drills will begin Thursday off its east coast and all ships should stay away. North Korea issued a similar notice before testing a long-range missile in April. U.S. officials say that intelligence suggests the new test will involve short and medium-range missiles.

Well, nine more state officials sought by the Mexican government in connection with that tragic day care fire just a couple weeks ago. Police have arrested nine others yesterday on negligent homicide charges. Most of these people are state Finance Department officials responsible for the warehouse where the fire actually started. The rest of the federal social security institute, the rest are from there. Forty-seven children died in that fire or afterward from their injuries. The latest just this Sunday, a 3-year-old girl who was burned on 65 percent of her body.

One of TV's greatest sidekicks ever, Ed McMahon, he died earlier this morning. He had reportedly battled bone cancer.

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ED MCMAHON, DECEASED: Here's Johnny.

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PHILLIPS: That boisterous introduction became McMahon's signature, as you know. And for three decades, he played second fiddle for Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show." His many divorces and weight gain were frequent Carson punch lines. And during his time with Carson, McMahon did moonlight as a search of "Star Search" and TV's "Bloopers and Practical Jokes." In an interview today, David Letterman says when you heard McMahon's voice at 11:30, it signaled something great was about to happen. Ed McMahon was 86. Next hour, Larry King joins Ali Velshi to share his memories of the veteran broadcaster.

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PHILLIPS: Putting guns and explosives in the hands of terrorists, it's an unsettling loophole that allows them to buy guns here legally. How lawmakers are trying to close the so-called terror gap.

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PHILLIPS: Coming into the CNN NEWSROOM right now, Iranian state- funded TV is reporting that Iran's supreme leader is extending the voting complaint deadline there for five more days. We are watching all the latest developments out of Iran and we will bring them to you as soon as they happen.

Well, his ex-model wife is the fashion authority, but now French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants a say in how some women in his country dress. Progressive politics or cultural cluelessness? Here is the deal. The president is calling for a ban on burqas, the head to toe robes that some Muslim women wear. Mr. Sarkozy says that he's being pro-woman, not anti-Muslim and here's what he told Parliament.

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PRES. NICOLAS SARKOZY, FRANCE: The burqa is not a religious symbol. It is a sign of debasement. I want to say this solemnly, the burqa will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic. We cannot accept our country women imprisoned behind a net, deprived of all social life, deprived of their dignity. This is not how the French Republic perceives the dignity of the woman.

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PHILLIPS: Well those words drawing loud applause from his audience, but as you might imagine, this has infuriated many Muslims and France has the largest Muslim population in Europe, by the way. They are calling Mr. Sarkozy patronizing and offensive, among other things we just can't say on the air. Now we've been hearing from you on this and here's what you've Tweeted us.

Orion60 says, "Should one's faith be repressed at the expense of another's view of equality? It's a complicated issue."

And RasheedThomas writes, "It's not a sign of subservience. You wouldn't tell a nun that she can't wear a habit or a rabbi no yarmulke."

And finally, Veritaz writes, "It's impossible to respect any woman who shows her subservience by her clothing."

Thanks to all of you for writing in. Ali Velshi is very pro-women. You don't want your woman to be subservient.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: No, but you know France has not gotten a fantastic record of handling its minorities in a way that sounds inclusive. So what they might be doing that's trying to do well, there's just a lot of tension. That's a society that still has to work on how to deal with large minorities, many of whom dress in their traditional way. They don't hit it out of the park with that.

PHILLIPS: Are you going to talk about it? VELSHI: No. I am talking about other things. There is lots to talk about. In the end of May, we had a story about how this family in Arizona had their house busted into it. They thought it was U.S. marshals looking for immigrants. It turned out that they were not, they were imposters. And in fact, a man and his daughter was shot. The wife was shot too. We now have the 911 call of that. And it is tragic to listen to. The 911 call came in as that shooting was still taking place. So we're going to play that for you.

The other thing is the president was speaking earlier today. He talked about Iran and he talked about health care. We are going to have a discussion with Candy Crowley about that, to say, where did he go? Has he gone far enough? That discussion continues. Is the U.S. government doing enough? Are they continuing the no-meddling stance and what's best for Iran?

PHILLIPS: We love our Candy Crowley.

VELSHI: She is fantastic.

PHILLIPS: Isn't she? Let's just talk about Candy Crowley for a while.

VELSHI: She really is ...

PHILLIPS: ... She's smart, she's dynamic, she's funny.

VELSHI: Any time I think I am talking to Candy about anything, I am happy to talk about her. Because you know that you are going to end up smarter out of the discussion. And that's what I like about her. And I am not the kind of guy who thinks that you should just talk to people all the time on TV. But Candy is one of these people that I get something I didn't think I had. Kind of like talking to you.

PHILLIPS: Oh, I'm going to move on. Stop, please. Tell me more.

All right, well, the entire state of South Carolina was asking what, the, when Governor Mark Sanford disappeared on Thursday and couldn't be reached for days. His wife said she didn't know where he was but he just needed some time away from the kids. On Father's Day weekend? Well aides now say that their boss has taken a hike along the Appalachian Trail and the governor's chief of staff says he will be back in the office tomorrow. So he went for a hike but did he go commando? Ali? Maybe it's just a coincidence, but the woodland jaunt actually coincided with Naked Hiking Day, which was Sunday. Just saying.

VELSHI: I would be worried about the mosquitoes.

PHILLIPS: So what makes a young man join a gang? Well, maybe it's in his DNA. A biosocial criminologist at Florida State University led a study of more than 2,000 American teens and he found that guys with a certain form of gene were twice as likely to join a gang. And he also found that gangsters with the gene were more likely to use a weapon than the ones without it. Well, it's the battle between Second Amendment rights and your security. How terrorists are allowed to buy guns legally and what some lawmakers are doing to try and stop it.

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PHILLIPS: Updating news out of Iran now. The country's state-funded press TV is reporting that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is extending the voting complaint deadline for five more days now. We are watching all the latest developments out of Iran. We'll bring them to you as they happen.

Well, it's the outrage story of the day. They can't board a plane or get a Visa but one thing suspected or even known terrorists on the government's watch list apparently can do is buy a gun. Here is CNN's Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve.

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JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A convicted felon cannot legally buy a gun. Neither can an illegal immigrant, or a drug addict. But under current law, a known or suspected terrorist can purchase firearms and explosives.

SEN. FRANK LAUTENBERG (D), NEW JERSEY: First of all, it's a shock when you think about it. Secondly, it's idiotic.

MESERVE: A new report from the Government Accountability Office said that between 2004 and 2009, 963 firearms and explosives background checks turned up matches with terrorist watch list records. And 90 percent of the time those applicants got the green light to get a gun or explosive, because there was no legal way to disqualify them, even though they are considered so dangerous they can be stopped from boarding an airplane or denied a visa. The watch list contains over one million records on about 400,000 individuals. Government reports have documented instances of misidentification and misinformation. And the National Rifle Association says it should not be used to disqualify anyone from buying a gun.

"The integrity of the terror watch list is poor," the NRA said in the statement. "To deny law-abiding people due process and their Second Amendment rights based on a secret list is not how we do things in America."

(on camera): Senator Lautenberg is introducing legislation giving the attorney general discretion to stop gun and explosive sales to suspected or known terrorists.

The Department of Justice says it is reviewing that legislation, but it's worth noting that in 2007, it proposed something similar and Congress never passed it.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

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PHILLIPS: Well that does it for us. We'll be back here tomorrow.

Ali Velshi in for Rick Sanchez this week.