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Lawmakers Haggle Over Health Care Reform; Eyewitness Account of Protester Beatings in Tehran; Student Loan Changes; Former Supreme Court Justice Has New Children's Book Out; Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Program Aims to Diversity Orchestras; Experts Say Global Recession Close to Bottoming Out

Aired June 24, 2009 - 10:58   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. It is Wednesday, June 24. Here are the top stories for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The president takes a hard-sell approach to his health care overhaul today. Plus, what a government health care option might mean to you.

Iran winning the information war. The regime keeps news under wraps, but word of New violence leaks out to CNN.

Sandra Day O'Connor live in the CNN NEWSROOM. What the first woman on the Supreme Court has to say about the third female hoping to take the high bench.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

OK. Breaking news. New word of violence on the streets of Tehran.

I was set to send you to Ivan Watson at CNN's Iran desk, but let's take that shot because we know Ivan is working right now. Let's take the shot. He can't speak to us right now because he is on the phone now working sources.

Ivan, we're going to give you a second. We're going to give you a second to work those sources and to gather the information.

I will tell you that I spent just a couple of minutes with Ivan just before the start of newscast, and I will tell you what he's hearing is pretty chilling stuff. So, we will give Ivan a few more minutes to gather the information that he's receiving and then we will get you back to the Iran desk.

Now to today's other big story. The battle over health care managed by the government, available to everyone paid for by taxpayers. The pressure is absolutely on.

The president wants a deal. Right now lawmakers are struggling to come up with money to pay for a massive overhaul. So far, the estimated cost, $1 trillion over the next 10 years.

Let's take a look at what government health care might mean for you.

Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with us now.

And Elizabeth, coming out of the news conference with the president yesterday, let me try to be clear, as clear as I can be on this. Is the president still set on having a government-sponsored health care program be a part of any health care reform legislation he signs?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Some would say that has been the centerpiece of his health care reform plan, is this government-sponsored health insurance that anybody can get regardless of age or regardless of income. But in a press conference yesterday, he -- a reporter said to him, point blank, "Is that non-negotiable?" In other words, is the deal off the table if you can't get that part of it?

And what he said is, "We have not drawn lines in the sand. Right now, what I will say is that our position is that a public insurance plan makes sense."

So, it's very interesting. He could have said, I'm vetoing anything that doesn't have a public plan, forget it. And he didn't say that.

HARRIS: Exactly. So, he's left himself, it seems to me, some room to claim a bit of victory regardless of what comes out of the back and forth that's going on right now, particularly in the Senate.

COHEN: Right, because health insurance -- private insurance companies, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, et cetera, they don't like the idea of having the government compete with them. It is possible that they will say, oh, boy, we don't like that idea at all. We will lower our prices but still sell a good product, just to keep that government- sponsored health insurance away. Maybe if that happens, Obama will say, OK, all right, then we don't need this government sponsored.

HARRIS: All right. Let's talk about public sentiment here, and trying to put your finger on the pulse of where the public is on this is a little tricky, particularly once you dive down beyond the theoretical witches. Yes, we're all in favor of health care reform, but as long as it doesn't touch my wallet or my purse.

COHEN: You know what? It's kind of like being green. Everyone agrees that we should be green, right?

HARRIS: Yes.

COHEN: Everyone agrees that we should recycle, of course. But when it hits your wallet, how green do you want to be?

So, to take it back to health care reform, take a look at this. "The New York Times"/CBS poll that came out this past weekend. Eighty-five percent of the people polled said they feel that the system needs to change. OK. That's a huge -- that's a big majority. But 68 percent polled also said that they're concerned that that change, that reform could hurt their health care. That's also a big number. If nearly 70 percent of the people out there are scared that health care reform could hurt them, that's something Obama needs to take seriously.

He has said over and over again, if you're happy with your health care and insurance, don't worry, I'm not going to touch you. But a lot of people are suspicious of that.

HARRIS: Because they wonder, what if my employer says, you know what? I'm weighing all these plans and Aetna's pretty good and United Health, but, wow, look at this government option. It may be a little less expensive. And that's...

COHEN: Or a lot less expensive.

HARRIS: Or a lot less expensive.

COHEN: Let's go for that.

HARRIS: Let's go for that.

COHEN: Right.

HARRIS: Elizabeth, awesome. Thank you.

COHEN: That's a possibility.

HARRIS: Yes.

COHEN: OK.

HARRIS: Let's continue here. We want you to weigh in, as always.

What do you think? Do you think health care reform will help you, hurt you, or have no effect at all? This may be our best question yet on this.

Do me a favor, just drop me a line at the blog -- yes, yes, I've got this whole blog thing going. I am trying to get with it. Bear with me, people, CNN.com/newsroom. We will share some of your comments on air in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

Oh, yes. Elizabeth just slipped me a note that I need to start twittering.

Thank you, Elizabeth.

COHEN: And that's how you feel about that. OK.

HARRIS: All right, Elizabeth. You're back next hour with us. Appreciate it.

COHEN: OK. That's good. HARRIS: Today, investigators looking into the deadly train collision in D.C. plan to test the computerized system that is supposed to prevent crashes. The moving train was in automatic mode when it slammed into another train that had stopped on the tracks. Investigators say they found evidence the driver may have tried to slow down before the collision. The emergency brake control was pushed down.

Nine people died and more than 70 were injured in Monday's crash. It is the worst subway train accident in the history of the D.C. Metro system.

All right. We want to show you the pictures again of Ivan Watson, who is hard at work right now. We have been telling you at the top of the newscast that there is new information coming into the CNN NEWSROOM.

We were aware of the fact that there were opposition demonstrations called for today. There was some question as to whether or not those demonstrations would actually move forward. We can tell you that there has been some kind of activity on the streets of Tehran.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. Seven minutes after the hour. We want to get to our Ivan Watson.

Ivan has been following developments, as you know, from our Iran desk. And there are developments today.

And I don't believe I'm overstating this, Ivan, when I say there is plenty of fear right now, at this moment, on the streets of Tehran.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Tony, I've got a young woman, a young Iranian woman in Tehran on the line with me. We're going to speak with her right now. She's just returned from Tehran's Baharestan Square, where there was supposed to be an opposition demonstration in favor of Mir Hossein Mousavi. We're going to keep her identity secret here.

Thank you for joining us.

Can you tell us what you saw today when you tried to go to Baharestan Square?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. It was 5:30. I was going towards Baharestan with my friends, and this was everyone, not only just supporters of one candidate or the other. Everyone, all my friends, are going to Baharestan to express our opposition to these killings these days and demanding freedom.

But the black-clad police, they stopped everyone at Sadi (ph). They emptied the buses that are taking people there and let the private cars go on. And we went on until -- and then all of a sudden, some 500 people with clubs and wood, they came out of Heydaed (ph) mosque and they poured into the streets and they started beating everyone. And they tried to beat everyone on Sadi (ph) Bridge, and throwing them off of the bridge.

WATSON: This is a pedestrian bridge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, a pedestrian bridge. And everyone also on the sidewalks beat a woman so savagely that she was drenched in blood, and her husband, who was watching the scene, he just fainted.

And I also saw people shooting. I mean, the security forces shooting on people on Lalazar (ph). And, of course, people were afraid of the security forces, but they were beating people like hell.

This was a massacre. They were trying to beat people so that they would die. They were cursing, saying very bad words to everyone.

They were beating old men. And this was -- this was exactly a massacre.

You should stop this. You should stop this. You should help the people of Iran who demand freedom. You should help us.

WATSON: How many of you were there in this terrible situation?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There were thousands of people on the street, but it was me and 10 of my friends.

WATSON: And you said the security forces were shooting at the people? Did you see anybody injured by gunfire?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. As I explained earlier, I didn't see my -- I heard the shooting and my friends and I, we just got -- we heard the shooting near Lalazar (ph) and we were near there, and we just ran away.

I didn't see, again, what happened. I'm sure people are dead there, but I couldn't see. I couldn't catch the film or anything.

WATSON: My dear, this is really terrifying to hear. And we're not only getting this report from you, we got a report from another source in Tehran, describing the situation today being terrible, saying, "People were being shot like animals. They beat the people like animals."

Are you safe right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, exactly. Exactly. Exactly.

This is what's happening. They beat people so bad. You know, in the previous days, they were killing students with axes. You know, they put the ax through the heart of young men, and it's so devastating. I don't know how to describe it.

I can't find the words, but this is horrific. This is genocide. This is a massacre. This is Hitler. And you should -- you people should stop it. I mean, a long time we have this and nobody takes action. It's time to act.

WATSON: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. I don't want to make sure that you don't get in trouble for talking to us this way, and thank you for bravery and sharing this with you. I know the situation is terrifying on the streets of Tehran today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Thank you.

WATSON: OK. Stay with us.

I'm going to pass it back to Tony now.

A harrowing account there from a young woman telling us about what's going on just a few hours ago in downtown Tehran -- Tony.

HARRIS: Look, Ivan, appreciate it. And I know you're still talking to sources.

We need to take a deep breath and consider what we've heard here. Let's do that. Let's take a break.

We're back with more CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Well, just moments ago our Ivan Watson spoke with a young woman described as a student in her 20s who witnessed a terrible, brutal crackdown on people in Tehran protesting against the violence there in that country.

Let's have you listen to a bit of that conversation from just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: I've got a young woman, a young Iranian woman in Tehran on the line with me. We're going to speak with her right now. She's just returned from Tehran's Baharestan Square, where there was supposed to be an opposition demonstration in favor of Mir Hossein Moussavi. We're going to keep her identity secret here.

Thank you for joining us.

Can you tell us what you saw today when you tried to go to Baharestan Square?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. It was 5:30. I was going towards Baharestan with my friends, and this was everyone, not only just supporters of one candidate or the other. Everyone, all my friends, are going to Baharestan to express our opposition to these killings these days and demanding freedom.

But the black-clad police, they stopped everyone at Sadi (ph). They emptied the buses that are taking people there and let the private cars go on. And we went on until -- and then all of a sudden, some 500 people with clubs and wood, they came out of Heydaed (ph) mosque and they poured into the streets and they started beating everyone. And they tried to beat everyone on Sadi (ph) Bridge, and throwing them off of the bridge.

WATSON: This is a pedestrian bridge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, a pedestrian bridge. And everyone also on the sidewalks beat a woman so savagely that she was drenched in blood, and her husband, who was watching the scene, he just fainted.

And I also saw people shooting. I mean, the security forces shooting on people on Lalazar (ph). And, of course, people were afraid of the security forces, but they were beating people like hell.

This was a massacre. They were trying to beat people so that they would die. They were cursing, saying very bad words to everyone.

They were beating old men. And this was -- this was exactly a massacre.

You should stop this. You should stop this. You should help the people of Iran who demand freedom. You should help us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Ivan Watson's conversation just moments ago with a young woman described as a student in her 20s, describing the scene of a pretty brutal -- well, you heard it yourself -- pretty brutal crackdown going on in Tehran.

We are going to try -- I'm just looking over at Ivan right now. We're going to try to get him back up in just a couple minutes to give us an update on the information that he is receiving.

President Obama is sharpening his criticism of Iran. He used the word "condemn" at his news conference yesterday for the first time in the crisis, but he was careful to direct his criticism to Iran's heavy hand on the streets and not the politics of the election dispute.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK H. OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people have a universal right to assembly and free speech. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect those rights and heed the will of its own people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: So, the strong language from President Obama is exactly what his critics have been demanding. One of the president's most vocal critics, Senator John McCain, discussed it with CNN's Larry King.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": All right, Senator. You said that Mr. Obama's response has not been enough. Was today enough?

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, I think it was very important what the president said today, and I appreciate it. I'm not sure the president still appreciates that with a regime that is illegitimate, that beats and kills its citizens on the streets of its cities, that your fundamental relationship is very -- makes it very difficult to do any serious negotiations. I don't think the president quite understands that, but I appreciate his words today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: President Obama says he understands why pundits, politicians and the media are pushing for a harder, clearer response, but the president says diplomacy is more complicated than people realize.

A fear on the streets of Tehran. We will get an update on today's crackdown in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Our sources in Iran reporting extreme violence on the streets right now. Activists going ahead with a planned protest today, being met with brutal force, we're told.

This YouTube video from Monday night -- Monday night now -- shows a demonstration honoring Neda. She is the young woman who was shot dead in the Iranian capital, images that were transmitted around the world.

Her death a rallying cry for protesters. It was part of the reason protesters went to the streets today of Tehran. And according to our information, they were met with -- by a brutal crackdown.

A shot now of our Iran desk. Working hard, you'll see our Ivan Watson. Octavia Nasr is there, as well. The Iran desk is working hard, as you know.

Just a few moments ago, Ivan Watson spoke with a young woman who witnessed the crackdown, the latest crackdown in Tehran, as she was part of a group that was protesting the violence, the crackdown by the government, the death of Neda and others.

Here is a bit of that interview from a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of a sudden, some 500 people with clubs and wood, they came out of Heydaed (ph) mosque and they poured into the streets and they started beating everyone. And they tried to beat everyone on Sadi (ph) Bridge, and throwing them off of the bridge.

WATSON: This is a pedestrian bridge. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, a pedestrian bridge. And everyone also on the sidewalks beat a woman so savagely that she was drenched in blood, and her husband, who was watching the scene, he just fainted.

And I also saw people shooting. I mean, the security forces shooting on people on Lalazar (ph). And, of course, people were afraid of the security forces, but they were beating people like hell.

This was a massacre. They were trying to beat people so that they would die. They were cursing, saying very bad words to everyone.

They were beating old men. And this was -- this was exactly a massacre.

You should stop this. You should stop this. You should help the people of Iran who demand freedom. You should help us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Boy. All right. Ivan Watson's conversation just a short time ago with a young woman, a student, described as a student in her 20s, talking about -- well, describing a pretty brutal crackdown on the streets of Tehran today as people were gathering to protest the violence, the government crackdown going on in Tehran.

Let's take a look again at our Iran desk, working really hard to pull together all of the elements of this story. You see our Octavia Nasr, our editor for Middle East affairs, Ivan Watson, as well, working the story as well. We will get back to that team shortly.

Let's get some other news in.

Let's talk about student loans for a bit. Two developments worth noting here. For starters, the Education Department is unveiling a shorter application form today. The online version will go from 30 screens to just 10. Second, a new repayment program begins next week.

Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis is here.

Good to see you, Gerri.

You know, this plan, if I'm correct here, links your payment to your paycheck. Is that how this works?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, you know, we're talking about this program where you can actually reduce your debt, which I think is so important for college grads out there. Maybe they can't find a job, maybe they're not earning what they thought they would earn, and they're looking for a way to cut these costs. This brand-new program can help you starting July 1.

Some college grads will be eligible for lower college loan payments. The program is called the Income-Based Repayment Plan. Instead of making payments based on what you owe, you'll make payments based on what you make. So, who qualifies? If you have a Stafford, Graduate PLUS or consolidation loan made either under the Direct Loan or Federal Family Education Loan programs, you could be eligible. You don't qualify though if you have a Parent PLUS loan.

Now, the guidelines here a little tricky. Your debt has to be about 1.5 times more than gross income. To calculate eligibility, go to finaid.org. They've got great calculators there. It will help you figure out if you might be somebody who could benefit from this.

HARRIS: Nice.

WILLIS: It looks like pretty good stuff for folks who have a lot of college debt.

HARRIS: Well, you mentioned the word "benefit." Tell us about the benefits of the program, Gerri.

WILLIS: Well, if you qualify, your monthly payments will be pegged to how much you can afford to pay each month, which will probably be less than 10 percent of your monthly gross income. So, the folks who really benefit, like I said, grads with a lot of student debt who can't find jobs, have no income; college grads that have a lot of debt compared to income; and people who are going into public service.

That's because if you're in this plan, you are eligible for the public service loan forgiveness program that wipes out your debt if you've worked full time in the public sector for 10 years. And this program will also forgive student loan debt that remains after 25 years of payments. So, if you've been paying and you're still not at the end after 25 years, you can get some forgiveness.

But hey, Tony, as you might imagine, there are some downsides to the program. You pay more interest over the life of the loan because you're just stretching it out over more and more years.

HARRIS: That's right.

How do you get enrolled, Gerri?

WILLIS: You want to talk to your lender if you think you're a candidate. The lender may ask you for a copy of last year's tax return. Have that available. If you've lost a job since then or endured some other financial hardship, make sure you document that and let your lender know.

The place to go for info is the DOE, Department of Education, studentaid.ed.gov.

And as you mentioned, that FAFSA, it's getting shorter, which is good news for folks out there. Fewer questions, less jargon, no paperwork. Virtually no paperwork.

And you can automatically download that, download tax data into online FAFSA forms beginning in January, which would be just a way simpler way of doing things for folks out there trying to get some money.

And, of course, if you have any questions, send them to me at gerri@cnn.com. We love hearing from you.

HARRIS: Wow. New picture. Lovely. Thank you, Gerri. See you next time.

Check out our special report, "America's Money Crisis." As always, hey, look, you can't do any better than this site for financial news and analysis. Just go to CNNMoney.com.

ANNOUNCER: "Gerri's Top Tips," brought to you by the all-new Pilot. Only from Honda.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Word of activists being beaten like animals right now on the streets of Tehran. Tehran's government intensifying its use of force and rhetoric to crush demonstrations. We're told -- someone tell me where these pictures are coming from. We're told security forces are wielding clubs and firing weapons at unarmed protesters who dare to defy orders not to demonstrate.

I will find out where we're getting these pictures from, and I will certainly fill you in on that. Josh, I know you're following Twitter, and what are you getting in that world?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony, I got to tell you, I just lost sound of you. But if everyone can hear me, I'll go ahead and do this. Wave to me if you can't hear me. I want to help everyone understand what we're doing.

You heard the report, that was just on our air a few minutes ago. Twitter is just one major place where people are sort of echoing this all over the world and sharing the latest information. There's also a trickle of tweets coming from inside Iran, so you've got a few of those, and people all over the world sharing all this information. Zoom in on the computer behind me. We literally grab these off and share them within a matter of seconds.

The first one here is a re-tweet that says it's from Iran. "We saw militia with ax, chopping people like meat, blood, everywhere like butchers." This one talks about a massacre, saying, "This will not be forgotten or forgiven. Long live Iran." Check out the next one down here. I want you to see that less than ten seconds ago. "They came out of the mosque and started beating everyone. Beat a woman so savagely, her husband fainted." That is a quote that this person is sharing right here, and some people are directly quoting CNN. This one says, "So many killed today. So many injured."

Tony, the reason this is so significant is the role that social media is playing in Iran and outside in the world right now. Given that media crackdown, more and more people turning to social media networks like Twitter and sharing information and really because of the millions of people on there, in a matter of no time, people are finding out the bits of breaking news that we are able to get. We'll keep an eye on the tweets, and keep them coming and we'll share more with you later.

HARRIS: Josh, appreciate it.

She was the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. We didn't want to lose her today for all the breaking news. We are talking with retired justice Sandra Day O'Connor about the latest woman nominated for the high court, judge Sonia Sotomayor. And Justice O'Connor has written a new children's book, "Finding Susie."

She is with us this morning from New York. Justice O'Connor, thank you for your time. It's great to see you.

SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR, FORMER U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTCIE: Thank you.

HARRIS: Great to get an opportunity to speak with you. Boy --

O'CONNOR: Thank you.

HARRIS: I know you're not a foreign policy expert, but I would imagine that you're moved by what you're seeing of these young people, courageous young people who are fighting for their freedoms, and the struggles of the press to try to tell the story of what's going on in Iran.

O'CONNOR: It makes one so grateful to be a citizen of the United States. We just had a national presidential election. And it was peaceful in every state where voters voted. And at the inauguration where the Capitol was filled with 2 million some people trying to work through the crowds to get in to the mall, there was not a single criminal complaint filed.

How different that is from a country like Iran, where a national presidential election has produced so much bloodshed and concern. It makes me very grateful to be a citizen of this country.

HARRIS: Thank you for those comments, Justice O'Connor. I want to turn to your book because I have a couple quick questions for you on that, and then a couple other areas I'd like to ask you a few questions on.

Here it is, your book, "Finding Susie" is all about a little girl who lives on a ranch and her search for the perfect pet. With some unusual choices along the way, we might add. You grew up on a ranch in Arizona and had some rather exotic pets. How much of the book is based on reflections on your childhood?

O'CONNOR: It is all true.

HARRIS: All true.

O'CONNOR: That is what happened to me as a child.

HARRIS: Yes, talk to us about some of the exotic pets you cared for as a child. O'CONNOR: I tried about everything. I had three horses and I rode every day, but it's hard to treat a horse as a cuddly pet to sit in your lap.

HARRIS: Yes.

O'CONNOR: So, I tried some of these other animals. My mother didn't want a pet in the house. So, I tried to make a pet out of coyote, and I can tell you, it cannot be done. That was hard. They just don't want to become a pet. And I tried a little cottontail rabbit and that was better, because you could pick it up and hold it, and it was adorable. But, it, too, didn't want to come to you and be a pet like a cat or a dog would be.

And I tried a desert tortoise, and of course, they weren't furry or cuddly, but it was a very smart animal. It was amazing. I kind of enjoyed that. They like to hibernate in the winter for a couple months. I had to let the tortoise go back to its native habitat. And we tried a bobcat. My father found the little bobcat out on a round- up one day, and it looked like its family had abandoned it, so he put the little bobcat in his pocket and brought it home. We fed it with an eyedropper and raised it, and it grew up to be like a great big enormous house cat. And it would even purr at times. It was amazing and a pretty good pet, to tell you the truth. We had it for a number of years.

HARRIS: Why did you, I'm just sort of curious, I know you settled on a dog, but I'm wondering why you settled on writing a children's book this time out, not your first book, but why a children's book this time around?

O'CONNOR: Well, I have some grandchildren and it seemed to me that children might enjoy reading about some of these animals. And to realize that if they had a little dog, that might be the best pet of all.

HARRIS: Gotcha. Can I pivot just a little bit here to some of the news of the day? I want to talk to you about the nomination of judge Sonia Sotomayor. When you retired, you hoped a woman replaced you on the Court, but that didn't happen. What are your thoughts on the judge and her nomination?

O'CONNOR: I don't think personally know the nominee. But I will tell you that I was very pleased to see that the president had nominated another woman. I served at the court as the only woman there for about ten years. And I was absolutely delighted when Justice Ginsburg joined me, another woman. It made a difference.

There's too much media attention to the one woman, if that's all we have on the Court. And I think that we have enough women lawyers today who are well-qualified that it makes sense to have more of them represented on the Court. You know, Canada is our nearest neighbor. And Canada also has a supreme court of nine. Four of them are women. And it's worked out rather well on Canada. So, I hope the United States will do some catching up in that regard. HARRIS: A quick follow on this, in reference to Judge Sotomayor's "wise Latina versus a white man" line from the 2001 speech, is there a difference in your view between the way men and women judges see things?

O'CONNOR: I think at the end of the day, they are probably going to reach the same conclusion. But we're each affected, of course. We are what we are by virtue of our childhood experiences. I know that I personally was undoubtedly shaped and affected by my upbringing on a remote ranch in Arizona and New Mexico.

I tend to be a bit of a pragmatist, probably, because we had to solve all our own problems on the ranch. If the car or truck broke down, we had to fix it. If the fence was in need of repair, we had to repair it. If some animal need medical attention, we had to provide it. There wasn't much we didn't have to do. So, we wanted the solutions, we reached to work. We were -- we didn't care if it was beautiful, we wanted it to work.

HARRIS: But, a quick follow-up, did you think that the "wise Latina" line was an unwise line and would you like to see her?

O'CONNOR: I have no comment on that. She'll undoubtedly get some questions about it, and I have no comment whatever on that.

HARRIS: Okay, Justice O'Connor, great to talk to you, and the best with the children's book "Finding Susie," and thanks for your time today. We appreciate it.

O'CONNOR: Thank you. Okay.

HARRIS: It was our pleasure.

More violence on the streets of Tehran. We're back with an update in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: At this hour, witnesses reporting Iran's opposition activists are being beaten and shot at by security forces in Tehran. One CNN source described broken arms, legs, heads, blood everywhere. A situation like war.

The Iranian government is also using technology to block information from being transmitted by the Internet and telephones. The country's Supreme Leader now vowing not to give in to pressure over the disputed election. He is effectively closing the door to compromise, and Iranian authorities say they have arrested several foreign nationals in connection with the country's post-election unrest.

Ivan Watson spoke with a young woman in Tehran who reported on a brutal crackdown just about an hour ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of a sudden, some 500 people with clubs and woods, they came out of the mosque and they poured into the streets and they started beating everyone. And they tried to beat everyone on the bridge and throwing them off of the bridge.

WATSON: This is a pedestrian bridge.

UNIDENTIFIED: Yes, pedestrian bridge and everyone also on the sidewalks -- they beat a woman so savagely that she was drenched in blood, and her husband, who was watching the scene, he just fainted. And I saw shooting -- the security forces, shooting on people and, of course, people were afraid to fool the security forces. But they were beating people like hell. This was a massacre. They were trying to beat people so that they would die. They were cursing, saying very bad words to everyone. They were beating old men and this was -- this was exactly a massacre. You could stop this, you should stop this. You should help the people of Iran who demand freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Fear and violence on the streets of Tehran as described by a young woman, a student in her 20s. Take a look at her Iran desk right now, working pretty feverishly right now. Pan over to the right, you'll see we have two, three teams working on gathering the very latest information coming to us from various sources out of Tehran. We are working as quickly and as diligently -- as hard as we can to vet all that information and get the best of it and the most reliable on the situation right now on the streets of Tehran on the air to you. We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: We are closely monitoring what's happening in Iran from our Iran desk. We have teams over there at the Iran desk working to get you the very latest information. We are trying to work past, really, the media firewall on reporting from Iran, erected by the Iranian government to tell you the story as best we can. We are hearing stories of brutal violence in the streets again today.

Meantime, these pictures coming in to us a short time ago. Let's roll them. Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, getting down to business, despite the growing unrest. Here he is meeting with the delegation from the Republic of Belarus. This is his first official meeting since the disputed election. Iranian State TV says Ahmadinejad will be sworn in sometime in late July or August.

Fewer than 2 percent of symphony musicians are African-Americans, but a program here in Atlanta is trying to change that, building a bridge from minority communities to the stage. Here's CNN's Soledad O'Brien.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When 17-year-old Drew Forde plays his viola, he says he's communicating his feelings.

DREW FORDE, VIOLA PLAYER: It's magical. It's a magical effect. It just lifts all of your worries away. It's amazing.

O'BRIEN: What's amazing is Drew started playing the viola just six years ago, after some encouragement from his middle school teacher.

FORDE: When I first started out, it was -- it was rough. It was really rough. I really had to work at it.

O'BRIEN (on camera): Your teacher said you had natural talent.

FORDE: I didn't feel that I had natural talent.

O'BRIEN: You didn't?

FORDE: No. I just went home and practiced, practiced every day.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): All that practice hasn't gotten him in to Carnegie Hall yet, but it did get him into the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's Talent Development Program, which nurtures gifted young black and Latino musicians.

AZIRA HILL, FOUNDER, ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA'S TALENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM: We had some that really need help.

O'BRIEN: Azira Hill is a lifelong music lover and founded the program 15 years ago after wondering why there were so few faces of color like hers in symphony audiences.

HILL: Then we found out that they only very few musicians at all around the country in any symphony orchestra.

O'BRIEN: Who are black or Latino.

HILL: Who are black or Latino.

O'BRIEN: Through the program drew gets free lessons from master teachers, tuition at summer music camps, opportunities his single mother says she never could have provided herself.

KIM FORDE: No. It would not have happened. It definitely wouldn't. And, I mean, even if we did get a teacher, we wouldn't get one from, like, the Atlanta Symphony.

O'BRIEN: The president of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra says the program creates a pipeline that she hopes will help orchestras become as diverse as the communities in which they play.

ALLISON VULGAMORE, PRESIDENT, ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: This isn't about community service. This is absolutely about changing the face of American orchestras onstage.

O'BRIEN: Right now, there aren't a lot of faces like Drew's on those stages. But he says it only takes opportunity, like the one he's been given.

D. FORDE: It shows you minorities can do it, too. And we are not -- we're not second rate. We can do anything.

O'BRIEN: Soledad O'Brien, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And our Soledad O'Brien has been working on more stories like this. Part of our special documentary series, "Black in America 2." You can catch that July 22 and 23 only on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Okay. And once again, we want to give you a look at our Iran desk right now. Our teams are working diligently on the phones right now. Ivan Watson is there. Our Octavia Nasr is there. Trying to get you the very latest information out of Tehran. Our sources in Iran reporting extreme violence on the streets right now. Activists going ahead with a planned protest today. Being met with brutal force. An update in just a minute at the top of the hour.

You know, some encouraging assessments of the economy coming out today. They suggest that the global recession is close to bottoming out, and that the U.S. economy could begin to grow -- is this correct -- in the third quarter? Chief business correspondent Ali Velshi here in Atlanta, where he is on the air with his radio show. Ali, great to see you.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you.

HARRIS: I haven't been able to spend as much time as we'd like. But we're going out to grab a bite to eat.

VELSHI: Yes. It's been a busy week with a lot of news. It's complicated. I'll give our viewers something simple to remember. Most people think, most organizations think, this recession will probably end in 2009. That doesn't mean -- when you say growth, I think we should probably describe it as shrink less or stop shrinking. Growth may come in 2010. Lots of estimates that that is going to happen, but for now, lots of smart people saying it's ending.

Some people think it's ending as early as the end of this summer, but sometime between now and the end of the year. What that means is you prepare yourself with respect to housing, with respect to job retraining, and with respect to investing in the stock market, because you want to be ready when good times start to hit.

HARRIS: I really want you to help us. I'm talking about me.

VELSHI: Yes.

HARRIS: I want you to help me, and I want you to help all the viewers watching. What are the most important metrics, sectors, that you're watching to inform your thinking on where this economy is right now and where we're headed?

VELSHI: Well, the housing market is so complicated because it's so convoluted with different things that I don't find it reliable. I think the stock market is the a sign of where smart investors are thinking business growth will be in the next year. And that's doing okay. It's struggling, but it's doing okay. But, more importantly, Tony, it's the jobs.

HARRIS: Yes.

VELSHI: Everybody needs a job to be able to make it, so I need to know where people are saying they're going to be hiring again. A survey came out yesterday that many hiring managers think within the next 12 months, they will be hiring again.

HARRIS: Really?

VELSHI: That is worth three cheers. I think that is where the success will come. As soon as others start hiring, others will pick up and say it's getting better. When people get jobs, they start to spend money, hopefully responsibly, but that's what turns this economy around.

HARRIS: We'll let you wrap up your radio show. You're also in for Rick Sanchez all week.

VELSHI: I am.

VELSHI: Let's get together for a bite and solve all the world's problems, all right?

HARRIS: All right. Ali, I appreciate it.