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Health Debate Reaches Fever Pitch; Bloody Crackdown Reported in Iran; Governor's Mystery Travels

Aired June 24, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Pushing forward. The nation's Capitol right now is all about health care. This hour, President Obama pushes forward his plan to reform the system with a group of governors. That meeting is part of an intensely busy day for his top domestic priority.

In Congress, Democrats are trying to figure out how to pay for a public plan in the neighborhood of a trillion dollars. Republicans are rolling out a proposal that prevents government-paid coverage from competing with private insurers. Tonight, at 8:00 Eastern, the president holds a primetime town hall meeting to sell his plan.

Prior to the national audience, the president has that captive audience of governors. Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, Jim Douglas of Vermont, Jim Doyle of Wisconsin, Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Christine Gregor of Washington. Democrats and Republicans from New England to the heartland to the Pacific Northwest. They are meeting this hour to give Mr. Obama feedback. They all co-hosted health care reform earlier this year in the states.

Now, the president claims the cost of doing nothing could be more expensive than the cost of reform, at least in human terms. He stresses the urgency of now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let's say that we take the advice of some folks who are out there and say, this is not the time to do health care, we can't afford it, it is too complicated, let's take our time, et cetera. So let's assume that nothing happened. I can guarantee you that there is a possibility for a whole lot of Americans out there that they're not going to end up having the same health care they have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the debate isn't just about policy. It's about people like our friend Priscilla Minter here. Fifty-six years old, stage 4 cancer, given less than two years to live, time that she's using to help change the current system.

We've also got Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen on board, with us as well to try and answer some questions.

I'll tell you what, we've been trying to talk to you for a while, Priscilla. And I think one of the most beautiful things about your situation, you're living every day like it's your last. Every time we call you, you're traveling, you're seeing family. I mean, you've got a really beautiful perspective on this.

PRISCILLA MINTER, HAS STAGE 4 COLON CANCER: I feel that I need to make sure that every opportunity that I have to just live, I want to do that. And most people in my situation, they are worrying about bills, and that's what I was doing prior to working with the Patient Advocate Foundation, worrying about how I was going to pay the bills, how I was going to get the bills paid. And it just makes it so difficult just to live.

Now that I can kind of breathe a little bit, I am still taking things I have to do as far as CAT scans, PET scans. I still have to do another one just to see how things are going, and that incurs more costs.

PHILLIPS: And so let's put it in perspective here. I mean, you were a schoolteacher. You had insurance; right? Yet, you still were paying thousands of dollars out of your pocket.

Just put in perspective what you were told and why you think you had to do that. I mean, you were paying for your insurance. You were paying your premium regularly.

MINTER: Well, I thought I had done everything correctly. I thought I had done the things I need to do to make sure my insurance was paid in the event I got sick. But when I did get sick and had to take chemotherapy, just in two months alone my bills were up to $61,000. That's just for chemo and medication.

PHILLIPS: So, Elizabeth, as you look at the president's health plan and you hear about Priscilla, someone who had a good job, she was paying her insurance, and she is still having to pay thousands and thousands of dollars out of her pocket, you know, what will this plan do for people like Priscilla?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I posed that question to an Obama administration official and she didn't want to talk about Priscilla's case, because of course she doesn't know you. But she said, in general, the theory is that if they have what's called a health insurance exchange, which is sort of an online way that insurance companies would compete for the business of your employer and for other people's business, that that would make for more competition, and so they would give better service than what they've given you. I mean, $61,000 in out-of-pocket expenses is really outrageous.

Also, the president wants to have this public health insurance option so that anybody, including an employer, could choose to get insurance right from the government. And so this official said, hey, if the government is going to give insurance, it's going to make private insurers try to be better. It's going to increase competition and make everything better.

Now, this is the theory. There are a lot of people who say this theory isn't going to work. But that's the theory, as to how in the future, someone in your situation wouldn't end up with $61,000 in out- of-pocket costs.

PHILLIPS: Well, and I was also reading, too, Priscilla, here that your insurance company first made you try generic and alternative medications to deal with the pain from the chemo, but they didn't work for you; right? So what did you do?

MINTER: Well, I had to try the generics and continue to try the next generic and the next generic before my insurance would allow them to give me the name brand product that really worked. And by that time, you are sick, you're worse, because now you have gone months down the line just trying to get that real medicine that you need to make it better.

PHILLIPS: Elizabeth, that just seems so wrong. I mean, she should be getting the best care possible to save her life.

COHEN: Right. And it's unclear if they wanted -- it sounds like they wanted you to take less expensive drugs, and that the more expensive drugs ended up working better for you, but you had to pay for them.

This is a huge problem in health care today. Insurance companies legitimately want to keep costs down. We know that costs are spiraling out of control. It's a big problem. But patients like you sometimes do need the more expensive care.

Health care, it is going to be very tough for health care reform to tackle this because everybody is different. Some people would do fine with the cheaper drugs, and if you could do fine with the cheaper drug, you want to give that patient a cheaper drug. It's very hard to get in there and legislate or regulate exactly what should be done in each individual circumstance.

This is a tough when.

PHILLIPS: And when it comes down to check-ups -- because you were getting your regular check-ups. You knew there were certain things that you had to do, like the mammogram. All the things that we have to do as we start to get older. But nobody really educated you on how important a colonoscopy was.

And by that time, it was too late, right?

MINTER: Right. By the time they found my colon cancer, it was already in stage 4. And being as old as I am, I did not realize that I needed to take a colonoscopy. That wasn't something that was in the plan. I didn't know I needed to take it. So, by the time they found that, it was stage 4.

PHILLIPS: Is this thing discussed in the plan?

COHEN: This is being discussed. One of the things that the president has proposed is -- or actually that the legislation from the Democrats has proposed is maybe we shouldn't charge a co-pay for things like mammograms and colonoscopies. Maybe people would be more -- this wasn't your situation, but maybe people would be more willing to get colonoscopies if they didn't have to pay a penny for them. So that's certainly one idea.

I think everyone agrees that we need to do more to get people into these preventative kinds of care, like mammograms and colonoscopies. The question is, how do you do it and how do you fund it?

PHILLIPS: Well, you save money and you save lives. You know?

COHEN: Right, you save money in the end. You do.

PHILLIPS: Final thought, Priscilla. You mentioned, and I jotted it down, the Patient Advocate Foundation. This was a tremendous asset to you because they stepped in and tried -- well, they did help you with regard to how you pay for things and helped educate you when you felt like you weren't getting it from your insurance company or anybody else.

MINTER: Yes. The social worker connected us to the Patient Advocate Foundation, and they gave us a grant to help pay for chemo treatment, the medicine that went into the chemo. They gave me money to pay that. That helped me tremendously, but I still had to try to get the other bills paid that were on top of what they weren't able to pay, but they helped me live again. Just by being with them and through the Patient Advocate Foundation, that gave me a chance to breathe.

PHILLIPS: Well, and you're breathing and you're living. You are taking advantage of every moment as you deal with this.

And it's such a pleasure to have you with us. We really appreciate you very much.

MINTER: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Priscilla.

Elizabeth, thanks so much for the context to everything.

Well, if you need help with your medical bills, or negotiating with your insurance company, the group that helped Priscilla might be able to help you. We just mentioned it. It's called the Patient Advocate Foundation.

We wanted to show you the number, we wanted to show you the Web site. The address is actually patientadvocate.org. And then you see there the toll free number: 1-800-532-5274. Because of this organization and Priscilla's strong spirit, she is here with us today.

Well, a quick update on the effort to right the wrongs with veterans' clinics. Where do you start? Well, unsterilized equipment that might have exposed thousands of veterans to HIV, surprise health inspections that many clinics failed. And today, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee is calling for more centralized control of the VA medical system.

His GOP counterpart says that the culture of the system needs to change. And a VA spokeswoman says that the agency will tap into $26 million reserve to actually hire more staff and improve sterilization practices. Now, any chance that we have to push this story forward for our vets, we will definitely do it.

Well, it's after 10:30 p.m. in Tehran right now, where the government is sticking to its guns and clubs and tear gas, and still not silencing the protesters.

Well, this online video, along with first-hand reports to CNN, tell of a swift and ferocious response by security forces to an attempted demonstration near Iran's parliament. Much more on that in just a moment.

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

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

Let's get straight to CNN's Ivan Watson on our Iran desk.

Ivan, what are you hearing right now?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Two reports I would like to direct you to from downtown Tehran today from one of our trusted sources. Text messages coming in saying, "I'm just in from Baharestan Square." This is where an opposition protest was scheduled to be taking place this afternoon local time.

"The situation today is terrible. They beat the people like animals. I see many people with broken arms and legs and heads, blood everywhere, pepper gas."

"They were waiting for us. They all had guns and riot uniforms. It was like a mousetrap."

Now, let's take a listen to another person we spoke with on the phone. We're going to keep her identity secret. This is what she had to tell us about her eyewitness account of going to Baharestan Square today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: And we hear an emotional account of what went on there.

Now, we also have numerous reports of security helicopters overhead and thousands of security forces that were fanned out in the streets around there, Kyra.

Now let's take a look at what Iran's state-funded press TV had to say about today's attempt at holding a demonstration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Intelligence Ministry says it has arrested several foreign nationals in connection with the recent post- election riots. The intelligence minister, Gholamhossein Mohsen- Ezhei, says some detainees have British passports. Ezhei adds some people with links to Western countries and Israel had planned a series of bombings across Iran in the lead-up to the June 12th presidential election.

He has accused Britain of stirring up unrest in Iran. The intelligence minister has also blamed riot-related deaths on agitators who encouraged illegal rallies after the election. He has emphasized the Intelligence Ministry has tracked down efforts to stage a velvet revolution in Iran over the past two years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: And Kyra, I have to apologize. That's the wrong cut of sound. What that was referring to was Iranian official reports of an alleged plot planned by foreigners to destabilize the country. And we have heard of several of those over the course of the past 10 days.

Today's report, which I want to bring to your attention, argues that only 200 protesters tried to gather downtown in front of the parliament building, and that they were pretty easily dispersed by security forces and that traffic was moving as usual -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And you mentioned, and I want to drive it home once again, when we watch that press TV coming out of Iran, we want to remind our viewers, that is a government-run news program.

And did that catch your attention, Ivan, when he said "velvet revolution"?

WATSON: Well, again, we are hearing again and again from the Iranian officials -- and let me just direct you to now -- I'm sorry to interrupt, Kyra -- to that cut of video from Iran's state-funded press TV describing the official version of what took place downtown in Tehran today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A number of people gathered in front of Iran's parliament to protest the results 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, just let me bring us back on a big picture.

According to Iran's official figures, 17 people have been killed in the last week and a half in clashes. According to the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, based out of Paris, at least 26 Iranian reporters rounded up at four different Iranian cities since June 14th. Many more have gone into hiding.

And we have had complaints and calls for help from Iranian human rights activists. And top Iranian officials calling for the release of scores of opposition leaders, activists, critics of the government. Some of them described to us being arrested from their homes very late at night by Iranian security forces.

All the hallmarks of a very serious crackdown by the Iranian government -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And we are all covering it to the best of our ability.

Ivan Watson, appreciate it. Thanks so much.

All the cell phone video out of Iran, some of the best information that we have about what's going on. But it's also giving the ayatollah the 411 on the senders' identities and location. We're going to take a look at the technology and how Iran got it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And as we move on to tell you about other news happening in the world, we do want to keep reminding you we're keeping an eye on all the latest developments out of Iran, especially after the protests that we've been reporting on today that have turned violent.

Well, fewer than two percent of symphony musicians are African- American, but a program here in Atlanta is trying to change that by building a bridge from minority communities to the stage.

Here's CNN's Soledad O'Brien.

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

DREW FORDE , MUSICIAN: It's magical. It's a magical effect that 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 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 into Carnegie Hall yet, but it did get him into the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's Talent Development Program, which identifies and nurtures gifted young black and Latino musicians.

AZIRA HILL, FOUNDER, TALENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM: We had some that really needed help.

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

HILL: Then we found out that there had only been a few musicians all around the country in any symphony orchestra.

O'BRIEN (on camera): Who were black or Latino?

HILL: Who were black or Latino.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): 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, DREW'S MOTHER: 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 & CEO, ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: This isn't about community service. This is absolutely about changing the face of American orchestras on stage.

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 has been given.

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

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And our Soledad O'Brien has been working on more stories like these as part of our special "Black in America 2." You can catch that special July 22nd and 23rd, only on CNN.

All right. Well, it looks like the Fed has just wrapped up its two-day meeting. So what's the decision on interest rates?

Chief Business Correspondent Ali Velshi -- basically nothing.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: No change on the interest rate.

PHILLIPS: No change.

VELSHI: You know, the interest rates, the Fed interest rates, are zero to a quarter of a percent. So there wasn't anywhere for them to go.

Now, what that means to you is that any loans that you have that are tied to the prime rate have not done anything. Prime rate is always three percentage points higher than the Fed rate. So prime right now is about three percent. No change to you if you have a loan tied to prime.

But here is what the Fed has said. We really watched for the announcement.

They are basically saying that the pace of economic contraction is slowing. Recession is economic contraction. They are saying it's slowing down. There are saying that there are signs of stabilizing in household spending, but it remains constrained by job losses.

This is just Fed speak for what we all already know. Basically, the Fed is saying don't worry too much about inflation. Some prices have started to go up, particularly for oil and commodities. But they don't think it's a serious problem.

The Fed, again, ,reiterating that things seem to be worsening more slowly, or getting less worse more slowly. Nobody is talking about recovery right here, but Ben Bernanke has said very clearly, as others have, they think that...

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Got to break away real quickly. Forgive me.

Columbia, South Carolina. We're going to go to Governor Mark Sanford. As you know, a lot of people wondering, where the hell has he been?

Here you go. GOV. MARK SANFORD (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: OK. You all ready? Everybody ready?

I won't begin at any particular spot. Let me just start with -- I don't see her.

Where is Gina Smith?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's not here.

SANFORD: She's not here? OK.

I had a conversation with Gina Smith this morning when I arrived in Atlanta, and I told her about my love of the Appalachian Trail. I used to organize hiking trips actually when I was in high school. I would get a soccer coach or a football coach to act as chaperone and then I'd get folks to pay me $60 each, or whatever it was, to take the trip, and then off we would go and have these great adventures on the Appalachian Trail.

And I told her of adventure trips both in college -- I was a campus representative for Eastern Airlines and could fly free, which meant I would fly different places around the world, get myself a job, carry $100 emergency money, and either find a job there with the locals and come back, or come on home.

I told her about my years in Congress and early years in the governship of different adventure trips of leaving and traveling to different places, because what I have found in this job is that one desperately needs a break from the bubble, where every word and every moment is recorded, just to completely break. And I have found that to be true in trips to the farm or in trips other places further afield. And all of those things were true.

I talked about the profound frustrations that I felt over this last legislative session in the battle that was in place with the government stimulus package, the $700 million in play, and how at an emotional level, I found it exhausting. I tried to make as good a stand as I could, not for a further political office.

What was interesting is always, are you are doing this to climb some political office? It was always based on that idea that I genuinely believed that that action would be bad for the taxpayers and made the stand as I did.

So all those things we talked about this morning were true, but they are not the whole story. And that's obviously why everybody is gathered here right now. And so let me lay out that larger story that has attracted so many of you all here.

I'm a bottom-line kind of guy. I lay it out. It's going to hurt, and we'll let the chips fall where they may.

In so doing, let me first of all apologize to my wife, Jenny, and our four great boys, Marshall (ph), Landon (ph), Bolton (ph) and Blake (ph), for letting them down. One of the primary roles well before being a governor is being a father to those four boys, who are absolute jewels and blessings that I have let down in a profound way. And I apologize to them. And I don't like apologizing in this realm, but given the immediacy of you all wanting to visit, and my proximity to them, this is the first step in what will be a very long process on that front.

I would secondly say, to Jenny, anybody who has observed her over the last 20 years of my life knows how closely she has stood by my side in campaign after campaign after campaign, and literally being my campaign manager, and in the raising of those four boys, and in a whole host of other things throughout the lives that we have built together.

I would also apologize to my staff, because as much as I did talk about going to the Appalachian Trail, and that was one of the original scenarios that I had thrown out to Mary Neil (ph), that wasn't where I ended up. And so I let them down by creating a fiction with regard to where I was going, which means that I had then, in turn, given as much as they relied on that information, let down people that I represent across this state.

And so, I want to apologize to my staff and I want to apologize to anybody who lives in South Carolina for the way that I let them down on that front.

I want to apologize to good friends. Tom Davis (ph) came over to the house. He drove up from Buford, and he has been an incredibly dear friend for a very long time.

In my first race for governor, he moved up and he lived in the basement of our house for six months. And we called it Jurassic Park because it was the kids' dinosaur sheets, and all kinds of different folks were living there in the campaign. And he gave of his time and his talent and his effort for ideas that he believed in, to try to make a difference in those ideas. And so, I, in a very profound way, have let down the Tom Davises of the world.

On the ride over here, I called the house, and in the background I could hear my parents, in-laws, who had come up to be with Jenny. And I have let them down.

I had the most surreal conversations a number of weeks ago with my father-in-law, laying some cards on the table. And he was incredibly gentlemanly, as you cannot imagine, in saying here were some things that I was struggling with regard to where my heart was, where I was in life, those different kind of things. And I let him down.

I have let down a lot of people. That's the bottom line. And I let them down -- and in every instance, I would ask their forgiveness.

Forgiveness is not an immediate process. It is, in fact, a process that takes time. And I will be in that process for quite some weeks and months and I suspect years ahead.

But I am here because if you were to look at God's laws, they're, in every instance, designed to protect people from themselves. I think that that is the bottom line of God's law.

It is not a moral, rigid list of do's and don'ts just for the heck of do's and don'ts. It is, indeed, to protect us from ourselves. And the biggest self of self is, indeed, self.

Sin, is, in fact, grounded in this notion of what is it that I want, as opposed to somebody else. And in this regard, let me throw one more apology out there. And that is to people of faith across South Carolina, or, for that matter, across the nation, because I think that one of the big disappointments when, believe it or not, I've been a person of faith all my life, if somebody falls within the fellowship of believers, or the walk of faith, I think it makes that much harder for believers to say, well, where did that person come from? Or folks that weren't believers to say, where, indeed, was that person coming from?

So one more apology from there.

But I guess where I'm trying to go with this is that there are moral absolutes, and that God's law, indeed, is there to protect you from yourself. And there are consequences if you breach that. This press conference is a consequence.

And so the bottom line is this: I have been unfaithful to my wife. I developed a relationship with a -- what started as a dear, dear friend from Argentina. It began very innocently as I suspect many of these things do, in just a casual e-mail back and forth in advice on one's life there and advice here.

But here, recently, over this last year, it developed into something much more than that. And as a consequence I hurt her. I hurt you all, I hurt my wife, I hurt my boys. I hurt friends like Tom Davis. I hurt a lot of different folks.

And all I can say is that I apologize. I would ask for y'all's -- I guess I'm not deserving of indulgence -- but indulgence not for me but for Jenny and the boys. There are a team of cameras and crews and all those sorts of things camped out down at Sullivan's Island. And I would just ask for a zone of privacy, if not for me, for her and the boys.

As we go through this process of working through this, there are going to be some hard decisions to be made, to be dealt with. And those are probably not best dealt with through the prism of television cameras and media headlines.

You know, I am committed to that process of walking through with Jenny and the boys, with the Tom Davis' of the world, with the people of South Carolina in saying, where do we go from here?

I would simply say I go back to that simple word of asking for forgiveness. I -- just as a declarative statement -- one more before we open up for a couple of questions and then I'll move on. You know, I've tried to think of you know, first steps -- one of the first steps is clearing out more time as we go through this process of reconciliation and figuring out what comes next. I am going to resign as chairman of the Republican Governor's Association. I'm going to tender my resignation. One, because I think it's the appropriate thing to do, given other governor's across this nation and my role as chairman of the RGA. And two, frankly, just from the standpoint of time. You know, if I think about this process, not only does it begin on a family level but the family of South Carolinians. And so that means me going one by one and town by town to talk to a lot of old friends across this state about what I've done and indeed asking for their forgiveness. That will take time that I probably can't devote to the RGA.

Questions?

QUESTION: Governor, what happens next (OFF-MIKE)?

Are you trying to reconcile with Jenny?

SANFORD: I am.

QUESTION: Are you separated?

(CROSSTALK)

SANFORD: What's that?

QUESTION: Are you separated from the First Lady?

SANFORD: I don't know how you want to define that. I mean, I'm here and she's there. I guess in a formal sense, we're not. But, what we are trying to do is work through something that, you know, we have been working through for a number of months now.

QUESTION: Did your wife and your family know about the affair before the trip to Argentina?

SANFORD: Yes. We've been working through this thing for about the last five months. I've been to a lot of different -- I was part of a group called C Street when I was in Washington. It was -- believe it or not -- a Christian bible study with some folks that asked members of Congress hard questions I think were very, very important. And I've been working with them.

I see Cubby Culbertson in the back of the room. I would consider him a spiritual giant and an incredibly dear friend. And he has done in helping us work through this over these last five months. And Cubby, I want to say thank you for being there as a friend.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Is this the first and only time you've been unfaithful?

SANFORD: Yes.

QUESTION: Were you alone in Argentina?

SANFORD: Obviously, not. QUESTION: Did you break off the relationship?

SANFORD: The -- it was is interesting in how this thing has gone down, John. To give you way more detail than you'll ever want, I met this person a little over eight years ago, again, very innocent. And struck up a conversation -- and I want to go back to the bubble of politics. This is not justifying because again, what I did, was wrong. Period. End of story.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

SANFORD: Wait, wait, wait. No, I didn't. I had my own ticket.

Wait, wait, guys. One question at a time. Is that fair enough?

And there's a certain irony to this. But this person, at the time, was separated and we ended up in this incredibly serious conversation about why she ought to get back with her husband, for the sake of her two boys. That not only was a part of God's law but ultimately those two boys would be better off for it. And we had this incredibly earnest conversation. And at end of it, we swapped e- mails, whatever.

And it began just on a very casual basis. Hey, I've got this issue that's come up in my life or vice versa. What do you think? Because when you live in the zone of politics, you can't ever let your guard down. You can't say what do you think, or what do you think because it could be a front page story or this story or that story.

And there was this zone of protectedness in that she lives thousands of miles and I was up here. And you could throw an idea out or vice versa. And we developed a remarkable friendship over those eight years.

And then, as I said, about a year ago, it sparked into something more than that. I have seen her three times since then. During that whole sparking thing. And it was discovered -- let me finish -- five months ago. And at that point, we went into serious overdrive in trying to say, where do you go from here? And that's where the Cubby Culbertsons and the others of the world began to help with, you know, how do you get all this right? How do you again, be honest?

And so it has been back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. The one thing that you really find is that you absolutely want resolution. Oddly enough, I spent the last five days of my life crying in Argentina, so I could repeat what I came back here in saying, you know, while indeed from a heart level there was something real, it was a place based on the fiduciary relationship I had to the people of South Carolina, based on my boys, based on my wife, based on where I was I was in life, based on where she was in life, a place I couldn't go and she couldn't go.

And that is a -- I suspect a continuing process all through life of getting one's heart right in life. And so I would never stand before you as one who just says, I am completely right with regard to my heart on all things. But what I would say is I'm committed to trying to get my heart right. Because the one thing that Cubby and the other have told me is that the odyssey that we're all on in life is with regard to heart. Not what I want or what you want but in other words, indeed this larger notion of truly trying to put other people first.

And I suspect if I'd really have put this other person first, I wouldn't have jeopardized her life as I have. I certainly wouldn't have done it to my wife, I wouldn't have done it to my boys, I wouldn't have done it to the Tom Davis' of the world. This was selfishness on my part.

And for that I must apologize.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

SANFORD: Last question over there.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

SANFORD: Yes.

QUESTION: Did you intentionally mislead your staff about hiking the trail? Did you intentionally mislead your staff about where you were?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

SANFORD: Yes. In other words, they called -- I called them back on Monday.

QUESTION: But when you left, did you intentionally --

SANFORD: No, no, no. We talked about that. In other words, let me be clear. I said that was the original possibility. Again, that is my fault in shrouding this larger trip. That's my fault.

QUESTION: Did you tell your staff to tell the press that you were hiking the Appalachian Trail?

SANFORD: I didn't tell them. I just said, hey, guys, this is where I think I'm going to go. So, in other words they would have deducted from that.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) you obviously had talked to --

SANFORD: No, no, no. I didn't. In other words -- no, no, no, no.

They went on the original information that I had given Mary Neil (ph) who handles the schedule for us.

SANFORD: Yes, last question.

(CROSSTALK)

SANFORD: I'll tell you what -- QUESTION: Did you ask any other employees to cover up for you? SANFORD: No, absolutely not.

QUESTION: Did you ask (OFF-MIKE)?

SANFORD: No.

QUESTION: Your reaction to those in your party and your lieutenant governor that called this irresponsible and are disappointed in your decision to do this?

SANFORD: At this point, it would be obvious that they and others would be disappointed and that I've disappointed them and others.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

QUESTION: Will you resign at governor? Is the governor going to resign?

(END OF COVERAGE)

PHILLIPS: Oh, Candy Crowley, I don't know where to begin. I'm feeling pretty biased in so many ways on this. You know, I guess we should just try and stick to the reason why we are covering this and not get a little derailed.

But, put this into perspective. Governor cheats on his wife, lies to his staff, leaves his state you know, in the lurch with no contingency plans. Once again, all about him and selfishness in his love life.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Several governors come to mind at this point. Spitzer in New York, McGreevey in New Jersey. We have passed this wave before.

That sound you're hearing, Kyra, are Republican leaders everywhere screaming. Why? Mark Sanford's political career at this point is set. He is in his second term as governor of South Carolina. He cannot run again. Certainly, he was one of those talked about in 2012. He will be less talked about now. But Republicans who keep trying to put themselves together, trying to find a way to do it on terms of both policy and leadership, keep watching this play out.

Just other day, we had Senator Ensign, yet another conservative Republican saying that, indeed, he had cheated on his wife. This just is not the image of these Republicans, most of whom, by the way, most of America did not know Senator Ensign or Governor Sanford before this and wow, they do. And they've got an "R" by their names. That's not helpful.

PHILLIPS: Well, and I think there is, I guess, a couple ways to look at this, Candy, is that I guess we all want our leaders to have a moral compass but the reality is in this day and age, you know, it's really hard to find that individual who is -- that has I guess you should say, everything about them in rightful order from being a good leader to being faithful to having it all together. I mean, I guess he's just one more example of how we all struggle with our demons.

CROWLEY: Absolutely. And we may expect so much more from our leaders but in the end, I think the one thing that can be expected is leadership, not somehow being superhuman.

People make mistakes. It is a just a microcosm of society when you look at the political world. There are people who cheat on their wives. There are people who cheat on their taxes. And you know, this sort of thing happens in the real world and it happens in politics.

So, again, this is not something that people can't relate to but it is so public. And you're right. People do expect more, whether or not they should, I think has been answered, because this has been a bi-partisan problem. We have seen both Republicans and Democrats coming forward, whether they were in trouble or whether they could no longer lie about or cover up what they were doing. I mean, John Edwards, another example.

So I think what we can say is that in the end these politicians, regardless of what we hope they will be, are only human.

PHILLIPS: And final thought. We didn't here him say he's resigning, right?

CROWLEY: No. And in fact, this is -- we have not heard anyone actually Eliot Spitzer of New York did resign.

But, the fact of the matter is he is locked into his second term. He was elected. There is certainly no reason for him at this point. What happens is if you cross the line, we saw with the New Jersey Governor McGreevey, when someone was on his payroll whom he was having an affair with. If it is that sort of thing, if there is some sort of use of public funds, some sort of malfeasance, that's a whole different story.

Right now, it looks like it is just another sort of cliched tragic story about a marriage that is in trouble.

PHILLIPS: And one big difference. His wife is not there standing by his side. You got to hand it to her in a couple ways for that. She's probably going through a really tough time and she's not going to be fake.

There you go. Candy Crowley, thanks so much. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Let's go ahead and go right to the sound -- Columbia, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford coming forward and admitting after he had gone missing for a number of days and a lot of speculation about where he was.

Here was this potential presidential candidate, ultraconservative governor there in a bible-belt state. His family not really wanting to talk about his whereabouts. His staff sort of keeping his secret. Well, cat's out of the bag now.

Let's listen up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANFORD: One of the primary roles well before being a governor is being a father to those four boys who are absolute jewels and blessings that I have let down in a profound way. And I apologize to them.

And I don't like apologizing in this realm but given the immediacy of y'all's wanting to visit and my proximity to them, this is the first step in what will be a very long process on that front.

I would secondly say, to Jenny, anybody who has observed her over the last 20 years of my life knows how closely she has stood by my side in campaign after campaign after campaign in literally being my campaign manager. And in raising those four boys in a whole host of other things throughout the lives that we built together.

I would also apologize to my staff, because as much as I did talk about going to the Appalachian Trails and that was one of the original scenarios that I'd thrown out to Mary Neil, that isn't where I ended up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Also breaking now in the political world, we are getting word that the President of the United States will be heading to the Vatican to meet with the Pope. That will be happening in July. So, of course, we'll be following that trip, as well.

Our other top story today -- what happened in the final seconds before a Washington, D.C. subway train rammed into the rear of another train. Well, today, crews moved the final pieces off the track. Accident investigators now hope to do a test run along that stretch of track to find out if anything blocked the train operator's view. Investigators say that she apparently applied the emergency break before the collision. Nine people were killed. House majority leader Steny Hoyer says that he wants Congress now to allocate $3 billion to pay for improvements to Metro transit.

And just three years ago, the NTSB warned D.C. metro to replace or upgrade older trains in its system. In fact, the lead car in the accident was part of that aging fleet. So, why weren't the train cars replaced?

Joining me now to talk about that, Councilman Jim Graham. He's a Metro board member and also a D.C. council member.

Sir, are you able to hear me all right?

I can hear you fine. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Yes, it's been a bit of a crazy day here. Thank you for hanging in there with us. I guess, first of all, I want to ask you about all these recommendations that have been made from the NTSB over a number of years now to upgrade and reinforce these cars, to eliminate the train cars that are old, specifically the one that was involved in this accident.

Why were those recommendations not in force? Why did we have to see this accident before we started talking about it again?

JIM GRAHAM, DC COUNCILMAN: Well, first, let me say, thank you to Congressman Hoyer because you know, his action today in announcing that he is going to seek federal funds -- substantial federal funds to help us with our infrastructure issues is the key to this whole question.

Because the fact of the matter is that these cars, these 1,000 series cars needs to be replaced. We've agreed that they need to be replaced. And there's no question about it in our mind. We have an RFP on the streets. We've gotten bits (ph) back. If we had the money we'd be awarding that contract ASAP.

PHILLIPS: So, what do you say though, to the families of the dead right there in your district? You know, do you just tell them, sorry, I didn't have the money but now that people have turned up dead, we are going to make it happen?

GRAHAM: Well, we are profoundly impacted and sorrowful about this great loss of life, s well as the other injuries that have occurred. There's no question about it.

When the NTSB called for us to replace these cars, they didn't provide us the $1 billion that it would take to do so. And right now, at tomorrow's hearing -- excuse me -- tomorrow's meeting of the Metro board, we're going to look at all of our options in terms of considering strategies with these cars, replacement of these cars. Today, we're on all-manual operation to ensure that any kind of technology issue that may have occurred in this accident does not repeat itself.

PHILLIPS: And Councilman, I just want to reiterate and ask you again, the NTSB has made numerous recommendations over the years to fix all of the things that we are seeing surface now in this accident.

What are you going to do, not only as a Metro board member but also a councilman to enforce those recommendations, to listen to the NTSB? I talked to a former investigator and he said this is the most frustrating part about his job is that nothing ever -- for the most part, a lot never gets done when they make these recommendations. And it's accidents like this that all of the sudden trigger this response.

GRAHAM: Well, I think that the NTSB has in the past given us a whole series of recommendations, many of which we have implemented.

The fact of the matter is that they have accepted the financial realities, not only in the District of Columbia. Non-compliant transit cars are to be found in systems across the United States. There's no question about it.

Now, one of the issues, and I don't want to get lost in this issue, is the fact of what is the standard of crashworthiness. Because the FDA has not established that standard. The Department of Transportation has not established that standard. And NTSB knows this, that there is not a standard.

And so -- I mean, we've got to be fair to all concerned. This was a great tragedy. It's one in which we are moving as rapidly as possible to make sure it doesn't happen again. We've taken immediate steps. We're going to be moving in the short and long term. With the help of Congress we can resolve this issue.

PHILLIPS: And we'll definitely follow up. Councilman Jim Graham, appreciate your time today.

GRAHAM: Thank you.

We are very saddened by this. Believe you me.

PHILLIPS: A lot of us are.

We'll expect to hear more about the investigation into this crash from the NTSB. A news conference is set for 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. We're going to bring that to you live as soon as it happens.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We have pictures now that the Iranian government doesn't want you to see. A movement desperately trying to be stopped. Anti-government demonstrators here gathering near the parliament in Tehran. They were quickly met by security forces who, according to one source, had been lying in wait in a mosque.

Witnesses say that protesters were beaten or worse but state-run media say that police prevented the violence and reported just contrary. In Iranian-American journalist whom Iran accused of espionage and held for three months says that force may win the battle but not necessarily the war here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROXANA SABERI, JOURNALIST: If this force that has been used against them, for now, it seems that it has succeeded a great deal in quieting them. But, it has been quieting these who are dissatisfied through force. And this is not a long-term solution to anything.

Those wishes that people have, the demands that people have, will only be hidden and they'll be simmering under the surface and the next time that they get an opportunity to express themselves, they could burst out. And next time, they may not be as peaceful and they be much harder to control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Well, Roxana sat down today with CNN's Anderson Cooper with a one-on-one conversation. You can see it tonight on "AC360" only on CNN.

PHILLIPS: Well, you've heard about the near total ban on foreign news gathering in Iran and the dogged attempts by authorities to shut down web sites and block e-mails. Facebook has been in the forefront of the battle for information.

And our Dan Simon is live in the heart of Facebook, right there in Palo Alto, California.

Hey, Dan.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

We've been here at Facebook looking at the various pages on the site trying to get a sense of the various things that are coming out of Iran today. But, we're going to look at all that but before we get there, we want to talk to two Facebook employees who have been touched by what is happening in that country in a personal way.

We have Navid Monsouorian (ph) and Nilafar Nafisi (ph).

First, to you, Navid. Tell us why have you been so impacted by what's happening.

UNINDENTIFIED MALE: I think, Dan, the common humanity that binds us all is partly why I am concerned. When we see these events being shared on Facebook, you can't help but being touched by the humanity of it. As well In 1999, there were student uprising in Iran. I tried to spread that information back then. And without these tools, it was so difficult to get the information out. I'm just amazed at how the amount of information that's flowing through Facebook right now. It just really touches me personally.

SIMON: And Nilafar, you have relatives and friends back in Iran and you'[re using Facebook to communicate with them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I am. I'm trying to get their message out, I'm trying to be their voice so they know that they're not along in their message with the tools that we have available.

SIMON: All right. We don't have a whole lot of time. But Kyra, as we have been showing you throughout the day, a lot of things are being posted today.

This in particular. This one video has gone viral, which actually appeared on CNN earlier. You can go ahead and play that for us. Very violent video. We've seen a lot of comment coming out of this video. And we're going to be here throughout the day looking at some more comments, some more video and giving people a real perspective on how Facebook and social networking sites have really become the secondary story in terms of what is happening out of Iran.

PHILLIPS: So, Dan, the pictures and the video coming in there are basically corroborating what we had early on talking about how violent the protests got. Quite a switch, yes, from the Iranian government, that is broadcasting that everything was calm? SIMON: That's exactly right. And first, the video hit CNN and then somebody uploaded that page -- or uploaded that video on to Facebook. So now, it's gone viral. And as we're seeing, people in Iran actually able to see those images for themselves and also make comments.

PHILLIPS: Dan Simon, appreciate it.

Cell phones and the web have brought the violence in Iran home for people all around the world. But they also have the potential to lead Iranian authorities right to protester's homes.

CNN's Brian Todd explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONT (voice-over): It might someday be called the cell phone revolution. Iranian protestors transmitting unforgettable images from the streets through their mobile networks. We've counted on these pictures and cell phone calls. But so have Iranian authorities.

A European firm, Nokia Siemens confirms that last year, they sold Iranian government some of the technology to monitor and control local cell and land line calls. And experts believe right now Iranian intelligence and law enforcement agencies are putting it in overdrive.

Ira Winkler is a former NSA analyst who has written several books on cyber security.

(on-camera): You're sitting here at your monitoring center. What are you doing?

IRA WINKLER, FORMER NSA ANALYST: They would have their monitoring station which goes ahead and would list the source and destination of every cell phone call that happens to be going on. Also that would probably also include text messages as well.

TODD (voice-over): He says with the technology the Iranian government bought, officials can double click on any phone numbers that come up on their monitors and in real time listen to calls and look at texts.

A Nokia Siemens spokesman tells CNN, the company sold Iran the same technology that U.S. telecom companies are legally required to have for lawful intercepts by U.S. authorities. And the spokesman says the technology doesn't allow them to filter or censor internet content.

But Winkler says Iranian authorities can block these phone calls and monitor the dramatic cell phone video we've all seen.

(on camera): I'm a protestor, you're taking some video of me and you want to send it to YouTube.

How do they know you are doing that? WINKLER: You'll see a lot of transmission going in and out of my phone here. And basically, the volume of transmission, how long it takes, the fact that I'm doing more sending than receiving, that's an indication it's what is called traffic analysis, to say, this phone is sending an awful lot of data in one direction.

TODD (voice-over): But Winkler says Iranian authorities cannot see the video in real time. But they can tell that the video is going out and since every phone is the equivalent of a GPS locator, they can also see where the video's being sent from.

In addition, they'll be able to view the video later when it's posted.

(on camera): The other edge of that sword? The Nokia Siemens spokesman says his company's one of the main reasons we can see these pictures in the first place. He says they expanded their service inside Iran last year giving millions more people access to their networks and the images they can transmit.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: That does it for us. We'll see you back here tomorrow.

Ali Velshi in for Rick Sanchez this week -- Ali.