Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Investigators Look for Cause of Fatal Metro Accident; Security Cracks Down on Iranian Rally; New Nixon Tapes Released; Living in Certain Parts of U.S. Could Raise Risk of Cancer, Study Says; Flight 1549 Survivors Say US Airways Insurer Is Blowing Off Their Medical Claims

Aired June 24, 2009 - 13:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We are pushing forward with the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM with Kyra Phillips.

KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Tony, thanks so much. We are pushing forward.

Eyewitness accounts out of Iran. New pictures of new attacks on Iranian protesters by government thugs in Tehran. We're bringing their stories to the world.

We're also pushing forward on the mystery of Monday's train wreck. Investigators testing the tracks, the signals, the sensors, and computers on the Metro system in Washington.

And does breathing increase your cancer risk? Depends on what and where you breathe. We'll show you where the air is worse and best, right here in America.

Hello, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And we start in Iran this hour, where the presidential campaign is over, and the government wants to keep it that way. But another campaign is in full swing. It's the campaign to intimidate government opponents or worse. We've heard bone-chilling accounts of worse from a young woman who spoke by cell phone today with Ivan Watson at our CNN's Iran desk. Much more on that in just a minute.

And Iran's rulers are ruling out any concessions in this month's election and blaming unrest on the west. The intelligence minister today declared, quote, "A number of people carrying British passports have played a role in the recent disturbances."

As for Neda Agha-Soltan, the young demonstrator whose shooting death outraged the world, well, Iran's official news service says that she may have been mistaken for the sister of a purported terrorist.

We're going to follow everything coming out of Iran, true or not. Working all our sources here. We're going to talk to Ivan Watson, and also David Gergen going to talk to us about the political implications in just a few minutes.

Now, what happened in the seconds leading up to a deadly train crash in the nation's capital? Well, investigators plan to do a test run along the stretch of tracks where one Metro train rammed into the back of another. Nine people were killed, 76 others injured in that crash. Investigators say that the train operator apparently did apply emergency brakes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBBIE HERSMAN, NTSB BOARD MEMBER: We don't have any -- any indication that any brakes failed, and so we have -- we have evidence that there may have been an emergency brake application. The mushroom, the button for the emergency brakes, was found in the depressed position, and we found some bluing of the brake rotors, which indicates to us on that first car that there may have been some emergency braking that took place prior to the collision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, the other question that investigators want answered: did the train's automatic safety system fail? It was supposed to prevent this type of accident.

Crews have cleared the remaining wreckage from the tracks today. Reporter Bruce Leshan of CNN affiliate WUSA joins us now live, right there near the crash site.

Bruce, bring us up to date on the investigation.

BRUCE LESHAN, WUSA REPORTER: Yes, Kyra, we are up on top of the bridge overlooking the crash scene, and the first time live since the police unceremoniously kicked us off this about an hour after the crash.

And you can see the investigation is continuing there. They've -- looks like they've taken out a piece of the third rail. There's a missing chunk of it there. And then on beyond that, just a few feet, is about where the impact actually took place.

One of the things they're looking at very closely are the control systems that are embedded in the rails here. We understand that there was actually some maintenance work that was done on those rails within the last months or so, that control systems, the relays. And the question is, whether that stopped train might have been in a bit of a blind spot, and the computer might have not known that it was there in order to engage the automatic stop on the train that was coming up back behind it.

Now, this morning, they actually took out the last of the debris team here. We have some video of that. And one of the key pieces of evidence -- it may be hard to make out on this video -- is the control panel itself that was inside the train that the operator was using.

And the NTSB has been able to determine that the train operator, Jeanice McMillan, actually pushed down on the emergency stop button. There's a button you can see on the controller. She pushed that down. That's like engaging your emergency brake. It was in a depressed position. It may have been jostled, but they believe it was engaged. And we also understand that there was bluing on the brakes, which would indicate a kind of emergency stop. So we understand that she really did try and stop this train.

PHILLIPS: And Bruce, I know this is a huge story for all of you there in Washington, D.C. I mean, this is the main part of your transportation. It's a big story for us, too. And I think there's a lot of people wondering, with all the recommendations that were made by the NTSB to upgrade this system on so many levels, including replace one of the cars involved in that crash, what's the feeling there today? Do folks still feel safe to even get on the Metro? And what's the NTSB saying to everybody that takes this on a daily basis?

LESHAN: Yes, well, I mean, you want to talk about how people are feeling. I mean, take a look a little bit around the bridge, and people have been getting their first chance to come and look, and there are scores and scores of people who are just coming down to see.

Even off to your left, photographer Greg Giess (ph), there are a whole bunch of people off to your left, as well. And they're all coming and looking and sad and depressed about all the people that died.

In terms of safety, the general manager of the Metro system insists that it is still safe. And they insist that those 1000 series cars that are the oldest cars on the system, the cars that date back as far as 1976 when they first brought Metro online, he insists those are still safe.

They want to phase them out. They want to replace them, but we're talking about a billion dollars to replace all of those 1000 series cars on the system. And, again, the concern -- and this is a concern that has gone back more than a decade -- is the crashworthiness of those 1000 series cars.

PHILLIPS: We'll actually be talking to Councilman Jim Graham about that and about how much it would cost to replace the cars coming up in the next hour.

Bruce Leshan with WUSA. Bruce, appreciate it so much.

LESHAN: Sure, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: What did NTSB investigators hope to learn about the cause of this crash today? Joining me to talk more about that, Peter Goelz. He's the former managing director for the NTSB.

You heard what Bruce mentioned. And I'm curious, Peter. You know, the fact that the train was in automatic mode. The operator had applied the emergency brakes. What's so ominous about that to you?

PETER GOELZ, FORMER MANAGING DIRECTOR, NTSB: Well, I think that is a very disturbing fact, because the whole basis of the automated system is to prevent precisely what happened on Monday. So, these trains are not to -- are not supposed to get closer than 1,000 or 1,200 feet from each other. And the sensors embedded in the -- in the rails are designed to send back signals to keep that from happening.

That it happened indicates while the train was in automated -- in the automated system, indicates there was a profound failure somewhere.

PHILLIPS: OK, so, then, let me ask you about the signaling systems. That's what you're talking about, correct?

GOELZ: Yes.

PHILLIPS: OK. So, you know, like you said, these are supposed to prevent collisions. Now, there have been failures in these systems in the past. And we even tried to get a statement from Alstom Manufacturing, Alstom Signaling, who manufactured these systems, actually, to talk about the failures in the past. That they were -- these systems were feeding incorrect, erroneous information to the train operators.

So, is this still a big factor here of what could have gone wrong? And if so, what do you do with this signaling system?

GOELZ: Well, we don't know if that's the factor. That's what the NTSB investigation today is really digging in on. Because, you know, if -- if there is something wrong with the system, if there is a glitch in how this system reports, you know, what's going on, boy, that has profound safety implications. And the NTSB, I know, are going to be working long hours to try and figure that out as quickly as possible.

PHILLIPS: Let me ask you, too, Peter. Metro sources have reported that the first of the two cars were actually two months overdue for scheduled maintenance for braking components. Is this unusual?

GOELZ: The truth is, it's probably not. The NTSB reported that there was no indicated failure in the brake systems. They did say that there were signs that the emergency brake had been applied.

But the idea that maintenance, scheduled maintenance, has been delayed, that is a fact of life now in many transit systems, simply because of budget considerations. And it is a very disturbing trend.

PHILLIPS: Disturbing trend indeed, because you know how expensive it is to fix these cars.

GOELZ: Right.

PHILLIPS: To upgrade these cars. And I'm curious, as a former member of the NTSB, how frustrating is it for you, when you make recommendations -- and I was reading through all the recommendations the NTSB has made to upgrade and reinforce the safety of these cars, including one of the cars involved in this crash. It was recommended by you guys to eliminate it.

And then you see something like this happen. I mean, this has got -- I mean, the frustration must continue. GOELZ: It is heartbreaking. I mean, we -- the NTSB has no regulatory authority. We make the -- the agency makes recommendations. It gets in -- it has, you know, a bully pulpit to try and force agencies and -- to respond, but when something like this happens, where you see, for instance, on the crashworthiness of these cars and people lose their lives, it is heartbreaking.

PHILLIPS: Peter Goelz, sure appreciate the straightforward nature of what we're doing here. Appreciate it very much.

GOELZ: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, today House Majority Leader Stiney Hoyer -- Steny Hoyer, rather, says that he plans to ask for $3 billion for capital improvements for the D.C. Metro system. The NTSB has made several recommendations for safety improvements through the years that D.C. Metro has not implemented.

Now, next hour, I am going to talk with Metro board member and D.C. city council member Jim Graham, and we'll ask him why.

All right, let's get back to Ivan Watson now and the latest reports that we're getting in, one way or another.

Ivan, you know, we're continually limited on how we can cover this story, yet you seem to still be able to reach people there on the streets. What's the latest?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm trying to triangulate on the reports that security forces cracked down on an attempted rally in a downtown Tehran square in front of the parliament.

Opposition Web sites had called for this rally to be held, supported, they said, by Mir Hossein Mousavi, the opposition candidate, who has accused the government of rigging the June 12 presidential elections.

And what we're hearing and what we're seeing in some of this YouTube video that's just been posted -- you hear the people going down the streets chanting "death to the dictator" -- as hundreds of people tried to gather in this square, they were met by hundreds, if not thousands, of security forces who used force to beat back the crowd -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And, Ivan, you know, this has been obviously tough for all of us, because we heard this initial interview that you did with this young gal. And -- and it was riveting, the things that she was saying; her voice, the emotion. It had all of us listening very intently.

And now it's really hard as journalists to decide, OK, is -- is this true or is it not? But you've been trying really hard to get other reports to corroborate what she was saying, which was pretty brutal.

WATSON: Her accounts were very, very brutal. What we have been able to find from other sources on the ground, there are definitely reports that something went down in Baharestan Square around the parliament, that there were definitely some kind of clashes going on, that the security forces were out there, in force, trying to disperse the crowd, and that there was use of force, as well.

The details that this woman was able to describe, those facts we have not been able to confirm. We're going to keep working on this.

This is incredibly difficult. I don't know if anybody, any news organization, has ever been forced to try to cover such historic events from so far away, but it just shows you what position you're forced in when a government launches a near-complete crackdown of the foreign media and starts rounding up dozens of its own Iranian journalists, as well, according to Reporters Sans Frontieres, an international media watchdog -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ivan Watson, appreciate it. We'll keep checking in with you.

Well, if Tehran goes the way of Tiananmen Square, or even if it doesn't, the outside world always seems to look at Washington. And for insights on the explosive mix of politics, diplomacy and moral outrage, we turn to CNN political analyst, David Gergen.

David, I'm so glad that you're with us. This has been a real struggle for us, and I know that we've been talking since early this morning. You're on the West Coast. But I don't know if you had a chance to hear what did make our air. This young 23-year-old woman saying that she was witnessing the military opening fire on a huge crowd. She even went as far as using the word "genocide." Of course, that got us all wondering what is happening there in a time where we're very limited?

I guess, let me ask you, first of all, if that is happening, if it's that bad and we cannot get the pictures, what does the U.S. now do? What's the policy on how long you sit and wait before you act?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, thank goodness that the president spoke yesterday in a much more forceful way. He finally really, you know, lit into the Iranian government, because what we have seen is a theocracy turned into a dictatorship, and a brutal dictatorship.

So, I think the president has helped himself and helped the world by the clarifying nature, morally clarifying nature of his comments yesterday.

But this is a time, Kyra, now with this kind of repression, if there has been open fire and there are other reports of that of using guns on these demonstrators, one wonders where in the world is the United Nations? Why aren't the nations taking this to the U.N. and really making it an international issue right at the top burner, and get -- so we can get this open -- so we can get reporters and journalists in there and get the violence stopped?

There are going to be some other hard questions down the way about ever negotiating with this increasingly illegitimate regime.

It is -- and what we don't know, you know, Kyra, we don't know whether this is going to come out. Iran is clearly in a deepening crisis. It is a -- it's unclear whether we're going to have real splits at the top and a new government could come in or whether this government is going to succeed through force.

But there is -- there is no chance that the West will go in with military force. I think we ought to take that off the table. I don't foresee that at all.

PHILLIPS: You think in no way -- in no way, shape or form will the U.S. military ever go in, even if we all of a sudden get pictures and video, David, of thousands of people being massacred on the streets? I mean, that will never be an option?

GERGEN: I cannot imagine or envision a scenario which leaves the U.S. to go in alone. There -- there are outside possibilities that the United Nations could go in. And it -- with blue helmets, if that became the case. That -- that is a real -- that is a possibility.

But it -- that's why it's so important that there be a means and the Security Council right away. That this not be -- we not simply go day to day watching these protests go on, the batons come out, people's heads crushed. That the international community, now that the president has spoken, now take more forceful action. Because we're going to be -- we're going to be talking about, you know, serious sanctions against Iran very soon now.

You know, Joe Lieberman's sponsoring a bill in the Senate, to say to Iran, essentially all suppliers of gasoline to Iran, if you trade with Iran, we will shut you down. And Iran is extremely dependent; 40 percent of its gasoline comes from outside. So, we're going to -- we're going to see issues like that arise.

I think the -- what the United Nations -- the president has spoken. I think he can get this on the front burner at the United Nations. I think other democracies can get this on the front burner of the United Nations. We got to get the Chinese and Russians...

PHILLIPS: The U.N. needs to be held accountable? The U.N. needs to be held accountable here?

GERGEN: The U.N. absolutely needs to be held accountable.

There was a time early on when the U.N. did not act when there were intrastate, when something happened within a nation. The U.N. was sort of -- were for conflicts across borders.

But in the last couple of decades there are plenty of precedents in which the U.N. has gone in when there's internal repression. I'm not sure the word "genocide's" appropriate here, but there is clearly internal repression. It's clearly brutality on its own people, and the U.N. has acted in the past in those situations.

PHILLIPS: Final thought: I think it's really hard for people to see what happened in Iraq. I mean, Saddam Hussein was called this ruthless dictator. He murdered lots of innocent people. There were hundreds of thousands of people that turned up in mass graves.

And then, you know, you see this situation unfolding in Iran. And wondering how bad is this. You call it a brutal dictatorship. You say this violence could increase. I think a lot of people wondering, wow, how could it be so easy to go into Iraq and create this war, and then sit here on the sidelines and sort of watch Iran turn into a fireball?

GERGEN: Well, you know, I -- I hope that Iraq also gave -- was a cautionary tale for us, that we do not want -- or we should not have wandered in there alone to start with. We were on the verge perhaps -- it would have taken a few more weeks -- to get a United Nations force to go in there and we would have all been better off if the U.N. force went in rather than the United States doing it alone.

So, as heartbreaking as this is, I think the next step starts at the United Nations. We should not be talking about the possibility of the U.S. going in alone. I just don't think that's wise; nor is it in the cards.

But there has to be a noose placed around this -- around this -- these dictators to in effect tighten the noose on them. They start paying the price. They're not paying the price right now. The dictators are not paying any price for what they're doing to these people.

But, again, I want to come back to this. Thank goodness for the president coming out as forcefully as he did yesterday. One has to wonder whether the United -- whether the White House didn't have some sense that this was going to get a lot bloodier the next few days, starting today.

PHILLIPS: Well, we're going to follow it continuously. And it sounds like our next slew of interviews will be holding the U.N. accountable. David Gergen, always great to see you.

GERGEN: OK, Kyra. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, we're going to move on. But just know this: we're constantly working our sources. We're watching the video feeds, scanning social network sites and gathering iReports, all to keep you in front of all the latest developments from Iran.

Well, an embattled president trying to do whatever it takes to save his job. We're going to listen to some just-released tape recordings from former president Richard Nixon, and we're going to bring back David Gergen, who worked for that president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Secrets from the past now revealed. A collection of memos and tape recordings released by the Nixon Presidential Library gives new insights into the embattled former president. The materials show how Nixon tried to save his job, and he talks about some key issues of the day, including abortion. We'll have that right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Secrets from the past now revealed. It's a collection of memos and tape recordings released by the Nixon Presidential Library and it's giving new insight into the embattled former president. The materials show how Nixon tried to save his job, and he talks about some key issues of the day, including abortion.

Here's CNN's Elaine Quijano.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the heels of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, President Nixon agrees with top aide Charles Colson, legalizing abortion could lead to sexual permissiveness. But in some cases...

RICHARD NIXON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white.

CHARLES COLSON, AIDE TO PRESIDENT NIXON: Or a rape.

NIXON: Or a rape.

QUIJANO: Also included in the 30,000 documents and 150-plus hours of tape, the president ordering the FBI keep secret logs of national security adviser Henry Kissinger's phone calls.

NIXON: I want it on his private phone, too. We can get that, can't we?

COLSON: I think we can.

NIXON: Sure. (EXPLETIVE), we get it through the FBI.

COLSON: Oh, yes. Yes, sorry. Yes, yes, OK.

NIXON: The FBI is to get, to keep the log on his phone. That's all we want to know, who the hell he calls.

QUIJANO: He also talks politics with then-Republican National Committee chairman and future president, George H.W. Bush.

NIXON: George, nothing of great importance.

QUIJANO: Looking to boost the Republican Party, he recounts a recent visit to the South Carolina state legislature.

NIXON: I noticed a couple of very attractive women, both of them Republicans, in the legislature.

QUIJANO: Nixon expresses surprise at the Republican women's political success in a Southern state. Then tells Bush to recruit good-looking women to run as Republicans. NIXON: I want you to be sure to emphasize to our people, God, let's look for some -- Understand, I don't do it because I'm for women, but I do it because I think maybe a woman might win someplace where a man might not. So have you got that in mind?

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will certainly keep it in mind, sir.

QUIJANO (on camera): The director of the Nixon Presidential Library says the tapes give you something we normally don't get from American presidents, the innermost story.

Elaine Quijano, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: CNN's senior political analyst David Gergen was one of Nixon's advisors. He joins me once again from San Francisco.

I kind of chuckle, David, I guess, when I hear some of these, because it just seems so politically incorrect and so insensitive. I mean, we've come such a long way from this "good old boy" mentality on so many levels.

GERGEN: Well, thank goodness for that, too, Kyra.

You know, one of the things that -- you know, one of the reasons it's changed so much is that women have become journalists. That's what really -- when women entered the White House press corps, it changed the whole conversation in the White House, in a sense, that a lot of the kind of locker-room stuff that prevailed there before had to go away. It was no longer acceptable.

PHILLIPS: I like to hear that.

GERGEN: Yes, I bet. Well, the Helen...

PHILLIPS: Paved the way for me.

GERGEN: Well, the Helen Thomases of the world were very important forces for cleaning up our politics, both -- both in the White House and on Capitol Hill. It's a -- it's a -- you know, as inefficient and as frustrating as government can be, it's conducted on a higher level.

These -- the tapes that we've heard from Richard Nixon -- I've had the privilege of being in the White House with other presidents. And you don't hear that kind of language anymore. You people -- no one will say anything like that in the White House anymore. At least not in the White Houses I've been in recently.

PHILLIPS: That's what I wanted to ask you. When you were one of his advisors, and, you know, you wrote speeches for him.

GERGEN: Right.

PHILLIPS: And tell me, honestly, did you ever realize how inappropriate he could be?

GERGEN: What I found, Kyra, was interesting, he had a sort of public face that was proper, you know, and very clean. And when you -- when you first started working for him, he kept -- he kept you at a distance by showing you his public face.

Only when he began to trust you, did he -- did he open up, and then you saw this inner turmoil in this man, the anger and the bile and the resentment. That -- that he had demons inside him. He was an angry, resentful man.

And he was brilliant. He was a great strategist. He did many good things for this country in terms of breaking up the Chinese/Russian alliance that was threatening us. But at the same time, he had this dark side. And it was very dark indeed.

PHILLIPS: Well, I'm sure glad you didn't inherit any of that dark side.

GERGEN: We all have a bit of it. We all have a bit of it.

PHILIPS: Yes. We all have our shadows. David Gergen, great having you today.

GERGEN: Thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: Thanks so much. Really appreciate it.

Well, how your address could mean a greater risk for cancer. It's important news for your health. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And we just want to keep reminding you that we're keeping our eye on all the latest developments out of Iran. We have a lot of news to cover today, but our Ivan Watson is over at the Iran desk. And we're doing the best that we can to find out more about those protests possibly going very violent today out of Iran. Working more, and we'll bring it to you as we get it.

Baking in the summer sun. It's another brutally hot day in parts of the Midwest and the South. And some big storms are rumbling in the upper plains. Chad Myers is still tracking it for us. Hey, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: How do you like that number, 102? That's a not a heat index number, that's a temperature. That's what the bank would say.

PHILLIPS: That's a stay at home, go get some ice cream, don't go outside day.

MYERS: Exactly. But my car would say 127 when it's 102. I'm not sure how it works. My car is 25 degrees off.

But Mobile to Apalachicola, you guys are over 100 degrees yesterday, all breaking records and it's not going to change a lot today. We'll still have an awful lot more heat and still humidity coming up out of the Gulf of Mexico. And that's just going to be the forecast, because all of this heat and humidity coming up is going to kind of bake in the atmosphere and then the sun gets it and all of the sun, you have the heat and the humidity, you can't cool off, because even if you are sweating and you probably are, it's not evaporating because the humidity is so high. So, you're not getting any cooler than you would have been whether you're just standing out there.

I think the bigger story will be Texas and Oklahoma, up toward Kansas City and up into Little Rock. We broke some records, I've never seen the records posted before but they're called the dew point records, which means humidity records across parts of Little Rock and Arkansas yesterday. Never humidity ever so high in the city. It had to feel awful, especially 97 degrees. Minneapolis, 86.

There will be severe weather across parts of South Dakota and in to parts of, I'd say, Nebraska, maybe even into Minnesota, just because all of this heat starts to bump into some cooler air. But there's just no where to escape. Maybe Boston. Temperature 65 with low clouds. Or Seattle, so, the two Northeast-to-Northwest corners, but everywhere else well above normal for today and that is going to be the forecast, I think, for the next week. This isn't changing anytime soon, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll keep sweating it out.

MYERS: I know. Just pray the air conditioner keeps working.

PHILLIPS: Amen. Thanks, Chad.

You got a little wiggle in your walk? Don't lose it. The extra pounds could add years to your life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the pictures tell the story in Iran -- part of the story, anyway. This is what happened when anti-government demonstrators tried to gather near Iran's parliament today, in open defiance of unmistakable warnings. A trusted source tells CNN about 500 thugs, security forces, poured into the streets from a mosque and started beating protesters with clubs. We're also seeing reports of gunfire and tear gas. All of this follows a flat-out refusal by Iran's supreme leader to change or annul the dubious results of this month's presidential election.

Let's get back to CNN's Ivan Watson at the Iran desk. What are you hearing?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is what we know, the opposition Web sites had called for a protest to be held in front of the parliament in Tehran this afternoon, local time. And the demonstrators tried to gather, groups of demonstrators, tried to gather there this afternoon in Tehran and were met by large numbers of security forces.

Helicopters flying overhead, and we've gotten numerous reports now of force being used to disperse that crowd. Police going in with clubs, beating people back. We're looking at some video now that shows, this was posted on to YouTube today. It shows people marching down the street, chanting "death to the dictator." We've also gotten reports that we're trying to confirm from more sources that gunfire was used to disperse this crowd. Now, Iranian State TV, state-funded press TV, has now confirmed that there was some attempt at a demonstration downtown in Tehran today. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A number of people gathered in front of Iran's parliament to protest result of the election have been dispersed by security forces. Some 200 protesters gathered in small groups at a nearby subway station in Baharestan square. Another group of about 50 people converged on another square to the north of that neighborhood. The gathering was planned in advance. A heavy presence of police prevented violence in the area. Traffic was light, and the police controlled all the routes to and from the areas surrounding the parliament.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: And, Kyra, that's a bigger picture. According to official figures from Iran, at least 17 people have been killed over the course of the past week and a half at some of these demonstrations. Have turned bloody, that have turned deadly. We've seen pictures of demonstrators killed, and we know that scores of people have been arrested around Tehran from their homes at night. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: We'll keep following up with you. Ivan Watson, thanks so much.

PHILLIPS: Well, at the top of the hour, President Obama pushes forward on his health care agenda with a group of governors from Michigan, Wisconsin, Washington, Vermont, and South Dakota. It's a bipartisan bunch and part of a busy, busy day for his top domestic priority, that's for sure.

On the Hill, Democrats are trying to figure out how to pay about a trillion dollars for health care reform over ten years, and then Republicans are rolling out their proposal. It prevents any government-paid coverage from competing with private insurers. Tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, the president holds a primetime town hall meeting to sell his case for reform.

It's a snapshot of air pollution that's full of negatives. A new EPA study shows hundreds of neighborhoods where the air is so toxic, just living there could actually raise your risk of cancer. CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, here to talk about exactly what the EPA found.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: What they found is there are some cities and neighborhoods in the United States that are teeming with benzene and arsenic and terrible chemicals, so in 2002 they took a look at the 600, I guess you could say, dirtiest communities in the United States. And the Associated Press did some analysis, and here's what they came up with.

In these 600 communities, the cancer risk nearly tripled the national average because of these pollutants. So, this is a very -- this is -- this really sort of makes you wake up. You know, we all think, oh, we'll prevent cancer by eating better and exercising and keeping your weight down, all of which are important, but you know what, the air you breathe is also really important.

PHILLIPS: A huge part of it. So, where are some of the biggest offenders? I guess, where do we not want to live?

COHEN: Where do you not want to live? Well, these are wonderful communities, but they do at least at that time in 2002 had a terrible air pollution situation. So, let's take a look at them. First of all, we have the Los Angeles area in California, Madison County, Illinois, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. Some of the most polluted areas that air quality.

PHILLIPS: Oh, great, I lived in L.A. For a really long time. Okay, so the follow-up question here, has the situation gotten worse or better over time? Because there are so many things that have gone into effect, right, to try to make the air better for us?

COHEN: Exactly. Like the Clean Air Act of 1990, that had a really terrific effect, actually, and I mean terrific in a good way. Experts say they've seen a 40 percent reduction in toxins like arsenic and benzene since 1990 when the Clean Air Act was enacted. So, there certainly is hope that things will continue to get better. So, there is good news here.

PHILLIPS: All right. There's some other good news here. Tell me what you think about this. It's one of those stories that you're going to share with probably all your friends today. We've definitely been talking about the few extra pounds that we've been trying to shed Well, you might want to keep them. They may help you reach a ripe old age, according to the new study that finds people with an extra 10 to 20 pounds -- all right -- live a little longer than those people at normal weight. Normal-weight folks are still expected to outlive people who are underweight or obese, though. And researchers believe that a few extra pounds just helps protect people as they age.

COHEN: Can I be Eyore here? I'm going to be Eyore and say there are lots of studies that show the opposite and that you don't want the extra 10 to 20 pounds, that it will shorten your life. This is one study.

PHILLIPS: Well, they keep you warmer if you're living in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

COHEN: OK, that might be true.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Elizabeth. Keeping us honest.

Troubled insurance giant could be painted as a villain in the aftermath of US Airways Flight 1549. It says it owes the survivors nothing. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Keep reminding you that we are keeping our eye on Iran. All the latest developments out of there. Ivan Watson working his sources there on the ground. It's becoming even tougher for us to cover this story, especially in light of these protests that happened today in Tehran. We are getting more limitations as journalists. And so we're doing the best that we can just to keep you informed about what's happening there and the violence that has broken out today.

Meanwhile, we're also talking about India and that it has issued arrest warrants for 22 suspects now accused of masterminding last year's deadly terror attacks in Mumbai. All of them from Pakistan. CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson, is following the story for us from Islamabad.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a spokesman of Pakistan's foreign ministry said they haven't received an official request for these 22 people from India, so they're still waiting to see what happens. In fact, if you look at the bigger picture here, Hafas Muhammed Sayad (ph), one of the people named by India as being formally a leader within Lashkara Toyba (ph) in the terror group, put under house arrest, late last year was released from house arrest just a couple of weeks ago. So, if you look at it in the sort of bigger picture, if you will, Pakistan's not moving towards helping India on this particular issue.

But if you take one step back even more, what is happening at a bigger political level is there is an effort at rapprochement between the two governments that builds better relationships between them. Just a couple of days ago, the president of Pakistan was in Brussels in Europe, and he told journalists there that the biggest threat facing Pakistan right now was not India, but, in fact, the Taliban inside Pakistan. And Pakistan has been moving troops away from the border with India to deal just with that threat.

So, the indications are that Pakistan and India are on the track for better relations, but on the issue of these 22 men listed by India, no movement so far.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Islamabad, Pakistan.

PHILLIPS: Let's take a look at the latest technology at work in the election process. Two marbles and a Crown Royal bag. I think we've found an answer to the whole Al Franken, Norm Coleman mess.

But, first, imagine a home that anticipates your needs. It sounds like something from an episode of "The Jetsons." But it's not cartoon fiction. It's real science that's pretty cool. Check it out in today's "Edge of Discovery."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: It's called the aware home. And in this case, home is where the smart is. The house is actually a cutting-edge lab, where Georgia tech researchers look at how we live now, and how we might live in the future.

BRIAN JONES, AWARE HOME RESEARCH INSTITUTE: The overarching theme has been really been health in the home, and that's really where the future is for health care and health care delivery.

PHILLIPS: Here, you'll find phones that help the deaf communicate with 911. Computers that recommend a healthy meal based on what's in the fridge. Even high-tech gloves that identify objects for the blind.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Jell-O raspberry flavor.

PHILLIPS: There are also motion sensors and cameras throughout the home. They record daily activity. And send it to this digital picture frame connected to the Internet. Family members can use it to check in on the disabled or elderly remotely.

JONES: One of our areas of research has been in providing devices that can help older adults better communicate with their family.

PHILLIPS: No one lives in the aware home full time. And most of the products won't be able to the public for a few more years. But it may be a glimpse of a new way to live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Some issue we are pushing forward in our second hour today. The eyes of the world on Iran. Seeing the protests of violence via cell phone video. The government is watching, too. Not only does the ayatollah see all, he can block it and track it down. Why technology is a real double-edged sword in Iran and for us.

How do you put a price on human life? I don't know. Why don't you ask insurance companies? Behind the rhetoric of health care reform. Real people. Some perspective from a woman with terminal cancer and tons of medical bills.

The future of Spearfish, South Dakota, population, 9,000ish is in the bag. The soft, purple Crown Royal bag. The guy on the left and the lady on the right had tied in the race for city council, 126 to 126. This is how they broke it, a marble draw. Dave Baker drew the white marble, so he is the winner. No hanging chads, no lawsuits, just a game of chance. South Dakota law just calls for it in situations like this.

Straight ahead, they made headlines surviving an emergency landing in the frigid Hudson River. They are generating new waves now over how they are being treated.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We are covering a lot of news today. We want you to know we are keeping our eyes on Iran as well. Let's take a look at this video of what happened when an anti-government demonstrator tried to get in Iran's parliament. In open defiance of unmistakable warnings that we have been talking about. A trusted source told CNN about 500 thugs, security forces, turned out for this, poured in the streets and started beating protesters with clubs. We continue to monitor this and corroborate what had happened today. We will stay on top of that story, of course, and try to push it forward as things unfold there in Iran.

The miracle landing on the Hudson now turning into a major headache for some Flight 1549 survivors. They say the insurer for US Airways is blowing off their medical claims. The NTSB says that geese brought down the plane, and the insurer says that means no liability for the airplane. Our Mary Snow sorts out all the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It has been five months, but Tess Sosa relives the day that US Airways 1549 miraculously landed in the Hudson as if it just happened.

TESS SOSA, US AIRWAYS FLIGHT 1549 SURVIVOR: We're now floating in the waters coming in. The gracious seatmate I had braced my son for impact and I hear my son crying.

SNOW: She says she climbed over seats while holding nine-month- old Damien, seen here on the cover of "People" magazine with the flight's captain, Sully Sullenberger. The image that haunts her, she says, is turning towards the back of her plane where her husband and four-year-old daughter sat.

SOSA: I saw my husband in shock with my daughter being held up high. The water coming in. And hoping they would see me.

I can't even hold on to it anymore.

SNOW: Dealing with the trauma that follows hasn't come cheaply. She says medical claims sent to the insurer for US Airways are being returned. She was told only three therapy sessions were covered.

SOSA: They have gone to incredible measures to get our belongings back and dry them out. However, I think in doing so, there was a huge oversight in taking care of the passengers.

SNOW: US Airways hired a firm to restore and return thousands of personal items to passengers, from 40 tickets to suitcases. US Airways also says it paid the 155 passengers $5,000 each, saying it went above and beyond what was required, since the airline isn't liable. The airline's insurer, AIU Holdings, a unit of AIG, says it owes passengers nothing, adding its obligation is to pay valid claims as a result of their legal liability. Bob Hardwig represents AIU.

BOB HARDWIG, INSURANCE INFORMATION INSTITUTE: Where we have a flock of birds flying into jet engines for a perfectly well- functioning aircraft and a crew that exhibited extraordinary professionalism in this particular incident, this is very important to recognize that the liability simply does not exist.

SNOW (on camera): All of this is little comfort to Tess Sosa, who says she and her daughter continue to see a therapist. Since her private insurance has a $3,000 deductible, these payments are out of pocket.

Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)