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Farrah Fawcett Dies; Imprisoned American Journalists Speak to Families; Casting Out 'Homosexual Demon'; CNN Crew Reflects on Iran
Aired June 25, 2009 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A husband's anguish, his wife and her colleagues still locked up in North Korea, their 100th day in captivity.
Your national conversation for this Thursday, June 25, starts right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Hello. I am Ali Velshi, here again for Rick Sanchez.
For all of us who witnessed her years of declining health, it is easy to have forgotten Farrah Fawcett's march through pop culture. The once rapturous beauty died of cancer today in Los Angeles. Fawcett was 62 years old. Her longtime companion, Ryan O'Neal, was there at her bedside.
Her career began in TV commercials, which transformed her into a pinup star, a staple on the walls of teenagers across America. If Rick Sanchez were sitting here, he would tell you about his Farrah Fawcett poster.
But "Charlie's Angels" made Fawcett a Hollywood supernova, the kind of that doesn't even need a last name. She was just Farrah. And, my goodness, the hair. Here's a look at the Hollywood Walk of Fame, these images shot within the past half-hour at Farrah Fawcett's star. People and are leaving flowers. They are remembering her.
And we have been inundated with comments from people who have worked with her and known her over the years remembering her life.
Joining me now from New York, A.J. Hammer, host of HLN's "Showbiz Tonight."
A.J., let's talk a little bit about -- about what has happened today, first of all. She died after a remarkable struggle that we have all been following, you have been following very closely for a few months.
A.J. HAMMER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
Well, she was diagnosed with anal cancer three years ago, Ali, a diagnosis and a fight that has been well-documented, including of course "Farrah's Story," the documentary that aired within the past few months, where she took it upon herself to put her story, the ugly side of it and all, all out there for the world to see.
And she received a lot of credit for that, in really giving people hope and letting people know that they weren't alone if they were battling a similar disease.
It is a sad passing this morning, certainly not unexpected, 9:28 a.m. Pacific time when she passed away, as you mentioned, Ali, with her longtime companion, Ryan O'Neal, by her side, as well as Alana Stewart, who was part of that documentary.
VELSHI: And, A.J., I just want to go to one of our tweets that has come on Rick's Twitter account, saying: "I am glad that Farrah Fawcett filmed her cancer journey. If your body is giving warnings, please seek medical attention."
That was just part of her journey, a difference in what she did. She started as a pinup star in commercials, a sex symbol, and then made a very serious movie, "The Burning Bed," and really showed her range over time. She was just much -- she much more than what somebody might remember her as being, if you knew her in a flash of time.
HAMMER: Yes, that's absolutely right, although, Ali, you bring up a good point, because, in truth, if you look back at Farrah Fawcett's career, she was iconic for, well, essentially, on the grandest levels, a few things, of course that -- her stint on "Charlie's Angels." That was only a season.
People are finding that remarkable as I am speaking with them today. What do you mean she only did that for a year? Yes, she did that for the first season and then decided she wanted to give films a try and she was replaced by Cheryl Ladd in the next season of "Charlie's Angels."
Of course, the pinup poster that you mentioned, to this day, Ali, that is still the best selling poster of all time. And I know you have one. And, of course, that dramatic turn she took in the early '80s in the TV movie "The Burning Bed," for which she received many accolades, but it wasn't a huge body of critically acclaimed work.
VELSHI: Yes.
HAMMER: But she is certainly getting a lot credit for her cancer fight and the documentary.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: A.J., stay there. Let's examine that for a second.
Joining me from Culver City, California, by phone, is the director, Robert Greenwald. It was Greenwald who first gave Farrah Fawcett that big dramatic role in the movie, the made-for-TV movie "The Burning Bed."
Thank you for joining us, Robert.
Your thoughts right now?
ROBERT GREENWALD, DIRECTOR: Hello?
VELSHI: Robert, are you there?
GREENWALD: Yes, I thought I lost you for a second.
VELSHI: Thank you.
Tell us, first of all, your thoughts. You gave Farrah Fawcett that role in "The Burning Bed" that really changed how a lot of people saw her. What was your reaction when you heard of Farrah Fawcett's passing today?
GREENWALD: Well, I -- I met with Farrah and Ryan a few months ago. And she was quite ill when she and Ryan came in to see me. So, it was not a surprise. Plus, I had been talking to Ryan on and off these last few months.
But her strength and her intelligence and her real feistiness and flightiness is something that will always stay with me. But, also, by the way, let me make it clear, Farrah hired me. She was the one who decided she wanted to make "The Burning Bed." And she went out with her producers, Jon and Steve, and found me to direct it.
VELSHI: And what did you think of that? She had been -- as A.J. has said, she was a pinup model. She was a sex symbol. She had been in "Charlie's Angels."
Did you think you could do this type of a serious movie with an actress who hadn't done that?
GREENWALD: Well, several other directors had actually turned the job down exactly for that reason.
But I met with Farrah. And I was absolutely taken with her conviction that she wanted to do the right thing, which meant being truthful, being honest, stripping away the army and platoons of hairdressers and makeup artists and handlers.
And she had seen another film I had directed, which was very documentary-like. This was before I had done the documentaries like "Wal-Mart" and "Outfoxed."
So, I didn't know documentaries were in my future. But she said and we agreed immediately that we wanted it to have a documentary-like feeling. And once we were on agreement from that point of view, she fought like a tiger to make sure that we were able to achieve that.
VELSHI: A.J., Robert is talking about something that took place almost a quarter of a century ago.
HAMMER: Yes.
VELSHI: And that sort of you the place that Farrah Fawcett has had in pop culture in America and around the world. So, everybody is going to be paying attention to what happens next.
What happens next? How does the world pay tribute to Farrah Fawcett?
HAMMER: Well, certainly, we are going to see a funeral and probably many tributes over the next few days and weeks.
Ryan O'Neal telling "People" magazine that a funeral will be planned within the next few days at a downtown Los Angeles hosp -- church, rather. And, as you saw, we have flowers now being placed, of course, on her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
And we are going to continue to hear strong reaction from Hollywood coming up tonight on "Showbiz Tonight," some of the many stars who have been reacting to the news of Farrah's passing. We will be getting to that.
But, Ali, she really fits the bill, as cliche as it is, of beloved TV icon.
VELSHI: Yes.
HAMMER: I can say that with a smile on my face, because that's who she was.
VELSHI: Yes. Yes, I agree with you on that. And it really is amazing, some of the things that we have been getting in.
You always get them, A.J. You know that. When somebody passes away, you get notes and you get people's publicists offering statements. But it really is evocative when you think of Farrah Fawcett and the role that she has played.
Now, listen, tell me two things. One is, Ryan O'Neal, you said was there when she passed on.
HAMMER: Correct.
VELSHI: There had been some discussion in the last few days about that -- these two have been together since the '80s -- about getting married.
HAMMER: Yes, she actually -- that was what we thought we might see happen.
And we are actually still waiting for confirmation on whether or not that transpired, Ryan O'Neal not revealing that information just yet.
But Ryan O'Neal, speaking with Barbara Walters on a "20/20" special that's set to air tomorrow night told Barbara that, there at her bedside, just recently, asked her to marry him, finally.
VELSHI: Wow.
HAMMER: And he said that she said yes. And true to form with the kind of humor that she has and I'm sure with any kind of a smile she could conjure, apparently, according to Ryan, she said -- after she said yes, she said "prenup."
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: Well, like you say, you talk about her with a smile. So many of the people who have talked about her life today have talked about her smile and how it changed their life. She had a fantastic smile.
HAMMER: Yes.
VELSHI: A.J., thank you for that. We will continue to be on top of this story.
I want to just, before we go away, read you a note that we got from Kate Jackson, which says: "I will miss Farrah every day. She was a selfless person who loved her family and friends with all her heart. And what a big heart it was. Farrah showed immense courage and grace through her illness, and it was an inspiration to those around her. When I think of Farrah, I will remember her kindness, her cutting, dry wit," which A.J. just referred to, "and, of course, her beautiful smile. Today, when you think of Farrah, remember her smiling, because that's exactly how she wanted to be remembered, smiling."
All right, exorcisms are controversial enough, but what about an effort to drive out a homosexual demon? That is what is going on here, apparently.
Two of our reporters, also, another story, just back from Iran will talk to us about the struggles of covering a story that the government there didn't want covered.
And we continue with the death of Farrah Fawcett, a look at her life before she became a household name.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right, let's -- I'm just taking a look at some of the tweets that are coming in to Rick's accounts about Farrah Fawcett, who, as we have reported, died today.
Kerri says -- KerriThaMan says: "Farrah Fawcett graduated from my high school in the '60s. This past year, we sent out a care package to Farrah Fawcett. She inspired so many people."
And just below that: "Farrah Fawcett was such a beautiful woman. She was like an idol to me. She will be missed."
Over here on Rick's MySpace, somebody write that: "Farrah helped spur my jump into puberty. I still can't believe she's gone."
That's -- as A.J. Hammer just told, we knew that this was coming. She had been ill for some time, quite -- quite gravely ill for some time. But Farrah Fawcett died today in Los Angeles after a three-year long battle with cancer. Now, one of the final looks that we got of the formerly ravenous beauty came just a few weeks ago when NBC aired "Farrah's Story," which chronicled Fawcett's struggle with painful treatments for the cancer that claimed her today.
Here she is talking about the tabloids and some of her doctors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FARRAH'S STORY")
FARRAH FAWCETT, ACTRESS: When that first or second article came out, I knew immediately that the information was coming from UCLA to "The National Enquirer."
So, when my cancer came back, that's when I set it up with the doctor. I said: "OK, you know and I know. I'm not telling (INAUDIBLE) I'm not telling Ryan. I'm not telling my father. I'm not telling anyone."
So, I knew that, if it came out, it was coming from UCLA.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: As we said, that was one of the last encounters America had with Farrah Fawcett.
Now we want to show you the start of that amazing career, or something close to the start, at least. How many folks out there can say that they remember this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
NARRATOR: The closer you shave, the more you need...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: All right, that is Farrah with another big '70s sex star, none other than Joe Willie Namath. And this may be the moment when all those teenage boys began paying attention to the chick with all the hair, as they would say back then.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Mention the phrase race relations in this country, and you are sure to get a spirited discussion. The election of our first black president brought the topic to the forefront for a lot of people.
But there is so much to discuss that CNN couldn't fit it all into one documentary. So, this summer, "Black in America" makes a comeback.
CNN's Soledad O'Brien is the host of that special coverage next month. She joins us now with some new polling out today on race.
Hi, Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Ali. Nice to see you.
Yes, you're absolutely right. Let's take you to the "Black in America" site on CNN.com. This is where all the information about this upcoming documentary can be found.
One of the things that is really interesting to us, this picture here is Malaak Compton-Rock. She's one of the people we profile in the documentary. All these are articles and clips of pieces that we have run, the Colin Powell, the NAACP's 100th anniversary, really interesting stuff.
But let's get right to that question about the polling. One of the questions that was asked in this poll, which is a CNN/"Essence" magazine/Opinion Research Corporation poll -- have to get that all in -- the effects of Obama's election on race relations.
And what I find interesting, they basically give these four possible answers. Is it a new era, some improvement, no real change, or worse? Look at how it breaks down among blacks and white. Among blacks, 44 percent say a new era; 37 percent say some improvement; only 2 percent say it's worse.
Look how it breaks down for whites -- 19 percent -- just 19 percent -- say a new era; 46 percent say some improvement. So, if you add these numbers here, you are looking at 81 percent say net positive, the effect of Obama's election on race relations. This number, 65 percent of whites, say net positive, the effect of Obama's election on race relations.
What I find interesting about that is that past polls involving African-Americans have actually shown really pessimistic numbers, very pessimistic about race relations in this country. This is a very strong positive number, something we're really going to have to watch.
I think that that's probably the most interesting thing out of that particular poll. We are always looking for folks to come and take part in our Web site and contribute to the community here online.
So, the question we are asking, have race relations improved since the election of President Barack Obama? Lots of people have been weighing in on this one.
Alex Wharton (ph) says, "I believe race relations have improved," goes on to say, with the election came many bridges between race and gender relations, saw the election as a big positive on that front.
This guy, Dave Wakseel (ph), says, "Unfortunately, race relations will never improve in this country or anywhere else on the planet," talking about that pessimistic thing, basically saying he thinks or she thinks individuals want to have the opportunity to one-up another person and race relations involves that.
Take a look at our iReports. The way we have set it up online is a little assignment desk right here. And you can talk about your family roots or community leadership or urban farming is a good one. The state of education, we would love to hear about that, African perspectives or my personal favorite is your hair story -- let's see if I can get that to load -- because I have got a lot of hair stories to share.
We got a great iReport. This is Desire. She describes herself as a citizen journalist and also a freelance illustrator. And she is a frequent contributor to CNN.com. And she talks about what it means to her to be called an African-American.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DESIRE GLOVER, CNN IREPORTER: Once upon a time, I used to have a problem with being referred to an African-American. And I only wanted to be regarded as an American.
Usually, I prefer being addressed by my first name. But, if I had a choice between a racial slur and a proper slur, I would simply ask to be called an African-American. But I still prefer being addressed by my first name.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: You got it, Desire. We will address you by your first name.
You are welcome to contribute iReports or comments to some of our questions online. We would love to hear from you, "Black in America 2" site at CNN.com. Be sure to take part. We're continually updating this site -- back to you, Ali.
VELSHI: I don't know if I -- I think that assignment desk that you have got there is fantastic. I don't think I will have much month say about my hair stories. But...
O'BRIEN: You know what? You can get a weave, see? And that takes you a whole other direction.
VELSHI: There you go.
O'BRIEN: We should talk. Call me later.
VELSHI: This is what I like about you, Soledad. Other people see problems. You just see solutions.
O'BRIEN: No. Yes, I do. And that's what we are looking at as "Black in America" comes your way in July, July 22 and 23.
VELSHI: Very good. We look forward to that.
O'BRIEN: Thanks.
VELSHI: As Soledad says, "Black in America" will be on July 22 and 23 right here on CNN. Get more at CNN.com/blackinamerica.
All right, what's going on? Let me tell you. We are going to talk about a 16-year-old boy who is on the ground in the front of a church in Connecticut. He is being held down by other church members. We are going to show you this video in a few minutes. And, according to the church, he is having a homosexual demon expelled.
Also, the husbands of two American journalists imprisoned in North Korea get to talk with their wives. We will tell you what they said next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right, Laura Ling and Euna Lee are two American journalists spending their 100th day in captivity in North Korea today.
They were arrested in March and convicted of hostile acts and sentenced to 12 years. A vigil was held last night in San Francisco. Lee and Ling's husbands told the crowd that they had spoken to the women by phone. Lee's husband said he heard panic and desperation in his wife's voice. Ling's husband describes his wife as strong, but scared.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IAIN CLAYTON, HUSBAND OF LAURA LING: Laura was not speaking in her usual strong voice. I could tell that she was trying to be brave, trying to make sure that I wasn't worried, I wasn't concerned.
But I could tell that that wasn't her normal voice. And while I was overjoyed to be -- actually be able to speak to her and talk to her, hearing my wife's scared voice was one of the most painful things that I had to endure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Ling and Lee told their husbands that they are being held in a medical facility and are experiencing some health issues. Ling has an ulcer and Lee has lost 15 pounds.
Well, coming up next, a church tries to cast out a homosexual demon from a young member. And it is all on video.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: I'm just going through a pile of notes that we have got. These are condolences and messages that have come from people who have worked with Farrah Fawcett over the years.
Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd, both other "Charlie's Angels," Jaclyn Smith says: "Farrah had courage, she had strength, and she had faith, and now she has peace, as she rests with the real angels."
Cheryl Ladd says: "I'm terribly sad about Farrah's passing. She was incredibly brave. And God will be welcoming her with open arms." On Rick's MySpace, we have just tons of comments from people, but here's one of them. "Thanks to Farrah, I made a lot of money in the late '70s cutting hair and highlighting everyone under 30 into that famous Farrah haircut. Nobody wore it like her."
Over on -- on Twitter, we have got a couple of messages, one coming in to me. "Why is the church trying to exorcise homosexuality out of a teen funny or offensive? Real Christians do not support homosexuality."
Let's go over to Rick's Twitter. There's a message there. It says, "Pastors like the one in today's story give religion a bad name."
OK, the story that they are talking about is the one I'm going to tell you about right now. I want to show you something that caught our attention. We think it's going to catch yours, too. Look together with me at this video shot at a church in Connecticut. Now, when we're finished, we will talk to the pastor that you will see on video.
You're also going to see a young man being ministered to, I suppose. The purpose is to expel his homosexuality. Listen along with me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus. Come on, you homosexual demon. You unclean spirit (INAUDIBLE)
Nobody talk. Nobody talk. I said, nobody talk. Nobody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We burn you in the name of Jesus. (INAUDIBLE) In the name of Jesus. Loose in the name of Jesus. Right now, in the name of Jesus. I call my homosexuality right now in the name of Jesus.
In the name of Jesus (INAUDIBLE) In the name of Jesus.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want a clean spirit? (INAUDIBLE) We command you by the power of the blood of Jesus to loose your hold, loose your hold in the name of Jesus, you homosexual spirit. We call you out right now. You have no power in the name of Jesus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Wow. OK.
The pastor you saw there on the right of your screen toward the end wearing the yellow top and the -- the colored skirt joining me now from Bridgeport, Connecticut, Patricia McKinney.
She is the senior pastor of the Manifested Glory Ministries Church. Her church claims about 25 members.
Pastor, that -- that scene that you just -- you just heard or saw, that's what happened. When did that happen?
PATRICIA MCKINNEY, SENIOR PASTOR, MANIFESTED GLORY MINISTRIES CHURCH: I am not too really sure. I think it was maybe about six, seven months ago, sir.
VELSHI: And so that -- you were -- tell me what happened. Did you invite this young man to come up, or did he volunteer to come up? How did this happen?
MCKINNEY: No. No, he came into our church.
And it happened on one of our Sunday morning worships. And all we do is come in on Sunday, and we begin to worship God.
VELSHI: Right.
MCKINNEY: For many people who don't know, we are a nondenominational church. We're a holiness church.
We believe in the power of the holy spirit. So, it was just on one of our Sunday morning worships, where everybody begins to worship the lord. We begin to reverend his spirit. And you have some people worshipping God. You have some people singing. You have some people dancing.
VELSHI: And, typically, do people come up and say, "I have got this problem, this illness, this issue, and -- and I need you to solve it"?
MCKINNEY: No.
What happened was, every Sunday, we call people up to the altar that want to be delivered from any spirit that causes them to not be able to function. So, on this particular Sunday, we were just beginning to worship the lord and all of the sudden, he hit the floor.
VELSHI: And did he tell you that he needed to be -- have his homosexual spirit expelled, or did somebody know that? How did that come to be?
MCKINNEY: Well, first of all, he came into our church and, once again, I do not want to exploit him.
VELSHI: Sure.
MCKINNEY: But he is a very religious young man. He is very spiritual, very powerful. And he said that he did not want to live this way.
VELSHI: Right.
MCKINNEY: So I just wanted to tell the world out there that Manifested Glory Ministries is not against homosexuality. We do not hate them, we do not come up against them. We just do not believe in their lifestyle. We believe in the power of the Holy Spirit.
VELSHI: But could he have been a member of your church being homosexual?
MCKINNEY: You can come in our church, but you cannot live that lifestyle in our church.
VELSHI: He wouldn't be really be living the lifestyle in your church, though. What do you mean by that?
MCKINNEY: Well, when you come in, you can get delivered by the power of the Holy Spirit.
VELSHI: Right.
MCKINNEY: We welcome anyone in our church. All we are saying is that we do not like the lifestyle, a man with a man and a woman with a woman. And that's our beliefs.
But we do not say that they cannot come in our church. They are all welcome to come in our church. But when they come in, they have to get delivered.
VELSHI: What happened? Did he get delivered? Did you -- I don't know if I'm using the right terminology -- did you exercise the demon? How do you know whether anything has changed?
MCKINNEY: Because of his lifestyle. His lifestyle has changed.
And I just want to say, everything carries a spirit. It's just not the homosexual spirit. You have the alcoholic spirit. You have the crack cocaine spirit. You have the adulterous spirit.
Everything carries a spirit. It could be a good spirit. It could be a bad spirit.
VELSHI: So are you in contact with this young man? Do you know that his lifestyle is different than what it was when he came in?
MCKINNEY: Yes. He is doing much better. But with all the publicity and everything that's going on with this video, he is afraid and he is scared.
But he is a very intelligent young man. He is a very powerful young man. And he's a very spiritual young man.
And I want to say that we are a spiritual church. I am an in- time (ph) profit. I declare the word of the lord. And all I am doing is the work of the lord.
We are not coming up against the gay community. We are not coming up against homosexuality.
VELSHI: Right. But it does kind of -- you can see how someone might read it that way when you were referring to people's homosexuality as a demon or an evil spirit that's occupying their body.
MCKINNEY: Right, but everything carries a spirit, sir. It doesn't have to necessarily mean the homosexual spirit. Like I said, it could be a spirit of crack cocaine, it could be an adulterous spirit. Everything carries a spirit.
VELSHI: But you are associating all those things as being negative -- alcoholism, crack cocaine, adulterous relationships and homosexuality. So your judgment is that it's wrong?
MCKINNEY: No. The thing is because, I am a recovering addict, I am a recovering crack head and a heroin addict. And I knew that I was under the power of a demonic force that caused me to use crack cocaine, that caused me to use heroin.
Now, I have been clean and sober through the power of the Holy Spirit for 15 years now. But it took the deliverance of the Holy Spirit to get me free, because I have been through jails, I've been through programs, and they did not help.
VELSHI: And you know, there are honest people in this country who have a disagreement about homosexuality. But, you know, right now, we are sort of in the midst of a national discussion about the rights of gay couples.
MCKINNEY: Right.
VELSHI: Now, where do you come down on that? Because this kind of video kind of influences that. It sort of seems like you would come out against gay marriage, for instance.
MCKINNEY: Right. And I understand that the video caused controversy, but you had to see the video in the whole context.
VELSHI: What would we have seen if we saw it in the whole context?
MCKINNEY: You would have seen that we're just people that love the lord. We are people that worship him in spirit and in truth. Those who worship God must worship him in spirit and truth.
If you would come into our church, you don't see that we are just exercising, casting out demons. We do so many good things in the community, and not just -- I'm a pastor. I'm a CEO of a woman's program called Women in Transition, which I do much in the community.
I love God's people. I don't care if you are a homosexual. I don't care if you're a lesbian. I don't care if you're a drug addict. Everything carries a spirit.
And what I say about gay couples, that's their prerogative. But my belief is that a man should be with a woman and a woman should be with a man.
When God created the Earth, he created Adam and Eve. And I believe there is a power and a force behind homosexuality. Not just homosexuality, but adultery, lesbianism, all kind of spirits. But I just wanted to put my story out there because they're making it seem like I'm a murderer and making it seem like I hate gays.
VELSHI: Well, that's the good news about both having video that actually shows what happened and having you come on here to explain your position.
MCKINNEY: Right.
VELSHI: So Patricia McKinney, thank you for being with us.
Patricia McKinney is the senior pastor of the Manifested Glory Ministries church joining us from Connecticut.
Well, it's been hard to get information out of Iran. We have been at it, but it's hard.
Coming up, we have got two of our journalists just back from the country who will take us through the day-to-day struggles of covering the post-election progress. And we are going to show you -- and that's the Iran desk right now that you were just looking at -- we are going to show you some brand new video that you have not seen out of Iran. It will give you some sense of what's really going on there.
Also, Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme stole all the media thunder from the one allegedly run by a man named Allen Stanford. But just because he's less infamous doesn't mean his day in court is any less significant or any less fun.
We'll show you that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right. Let's take a look at Rick's MySpace page.
Now, this story we could live without, this craziness. "They tried to pray the gay out of my brother long, long ago. It was a no go. Give me a break, man."
That was truly one of the more interesting discussions that we had had.
All right. Let's go back to some of the stories we are working on.
In shackles, in an orange jumpsuit, in court today, that man you're looking at is Allen Stanford, a Texas billionaire who pleaded not guilty today to fraud. He allegedly ran a Ponzi scheme that the feds say made his international banking empire $7 billion.
Stanford was arrested a week ago. Three executives of the former Stanford Financial Group also entered not guilty pleas with him today. In addition to fraud charges, the four are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, Stanford could go to prison for up to 20 years. OK. Coming up next, you just have to stay tuned for this one, because I was looking at some of the video. Two of CNN's reporters are just back from Iran. You saw them a few moments ago having a discussion with our Iran desk. We'll talk about how hard it is to cover a story that the government doesn't want covered.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right. Iran today, security forces still fill the streets of the capital. But our sources there tell us that it is calmer, and the number of angry protesters in Tehran appears to be falling off. And something else today, one of the man who ran for president of Iran and lost is suggesting that public rallies continue in order to show the world which side of the disputed election the people of Iran support.
For information out of Iran, we have to rely on people there who we cannot name because we are afraid for their safety. But joining me right here are two men who know what it's like on the streets of Tehran better than anyone at CNN right now, correspondent Reza Sayah and Samson Desta, our Dubai bureau chief who partnered with Reza in Iran in the days after the election.
Welcome, and a great job that you've been doing. But boy, these are tough circumstances.
I want to get to some remarkable video that you have got for us. I want to start because we talk about the Basij. These are the paramilitaries. These are the people on the motorcycle.
Let's just listen in to this video for a moment.
When you look at that -- and we'll show you that again -- you see people with sticks in their hands. There are people on motorcycles, sometimes two at a time.
Tell us what we're looking at, guys.
REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is government -- this is a government-hired gang. That's the only way you can put it.
They enforce the law for the government. They don't have any identification. They're not accountable to anybody. They wear plain clothes, so they can easily blend into the public, and they carry batons, steal rods.
And you know, I witnessed some of the vicious beatings I've ever witnessed in my life at the hands of these people. I mean, there's clearly evidence of human rights violations. And what's troubling is, if and when this is over, none of these people are going to be accountable or questioned for the beatings they delivered.
VELSHI: Because they're not actually -- they're actually not military. When was that? When did that happen?
SAYAH: That was a couple of days after the election.
VELSHI: OK.
SAYAH: I mean, the Saturday and the Sunday when the clashes started, immediately they called out the Basij, the government called out the Basij to suppress the protesters.
VELSHI: Samson, let's take a look at another piece of video. Now, what had happened is I think you were seeking shelter at some point, or you were sort of getting away from all that attention, and this is what you encountered.
Let's listen to him and then you'll tell us what he's saying.
Now, Samson, this was on the same day?
SAMSON DESTA, CNN DUBAI BUREAU CHIEF: It was the same place.
VELSHI: The same place.
DESTA: Multiply that 20 times, this screaming, the fear, the motorcycles. So they're chasing everyone. And when they come, you run.
VELSHI: Right.
DESTA: So we were being chased, we were trying to find shelter. We find this building, and there's Reza and myself with about 15 or so other people who sought shelter.
And then we found this man who had been beaten. And there were individuals helping him into this building. We went in there and we were hiding, running away from these people. And then he took shelter in that corner, and we were just talking to him about what happened, and you saw he was crying, saying that he was being beaten.
Quite emotional. Quite emotional.
VELSHI: And he seemed fairly badly beaten there.
SAYAH: Oh, he was. I mean, what he was saying is, "They are hitting me with everything. They're hitting me with chains, with steal pipes." And he was in pain everywhere. Went for his head, went for his legs, went for his arms, and a number of people came to his rescue.
A few minutes before that, we saw a number of Basijs shove a teenage girl, a 14-year-old girl, up the street to get her to move. A young man came to her rescue, spoke up, and said, "Don't do that. She's just a girl. She's your sister."
Moments after that, six men gave that man a vicious pummeling and they wouldn't stop. Over and over again with bats and rods. And I was amazed that he wouldn't go down.
Finally, he sat down on the sidewalk and covered his head. They still kept beating him over and over, and then they walked away.
VELSHI: This fear has caused people to back off the streets when these guys start coming down on their motorcycles, or paramilitaries.
Another scene. I think it was the same day. You'll tell me if that's the case, ,where clearly there is something developing on the street.
Tell me what we are looking at here.
SAYAH: This is not the same day. I think these protests evolved from those initial two days where there were violent clashes and beat- downs. And this was a strategy that the Mousavi supporters used.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: You can see the green there. That's the color of the Mousavi campaign.
SAYAH: Yes. They said, "We're not going to instigate and incite anything. We are going to do silent protests." And that became their trademark and it was remarkable to see.
Look at that crowd over there. It was remarkable to see such a large crowd, silent, giving no excuse to the Basijis to crack down on them. But then came the Friday prayer. The supreme leader saying, silent, peaceful or not, we're cracking down. And that's what happened again. Again, you saw the beatings.
DESTA: And Reza just mentioned the story of this young woman who was being shoved and a man came to her rescue. We actually took pictures. We have pictures of that. Unfortunately, we don't have that today.
But what's interesting is, these two individuals, these two men came to help this man walk away. And one of them just broke down. Remember, they don't know each other.
They just broke down. And I will never forget that.
We asked him, "Why are you crying?" And he's like, "I can't believe they are doing this. They are beating us." And it was just amazing.
VELSHI: And this is -- I mean, Tehran -- Iran is a very populous country, Tehran is a big city. Take a look at another piece of video, as some people are continuing to try and get on with their daily lives.
What's you're seeing is, as these crowd gather, or as the situation seems to be more menacing, shelter starts to be sought. And it's sort of -- whether or not you are -- here's what I'm trying to get at -- is this about whether or not you are on one political side or another, or were you seeing people who were just protesting this crackdown, or the lack of a transparent election result?
SAYAH: Well, again -- and I think these protests evolved. Initially, it was a cry afoul that these elections are not fair. Once the crackdown came, once the supreme leader in this regime denied a new vote, it became a protest against the regime. And that's when, for the first time in 30 years, you heard cries of "Death to Khamenei! Death to the supreme leader!"
Unheard of in the three-decade history of the Islamic revolution.
DESTA: You know, another interesting thing that we realized was these protests were very spontaneous. They started off as a small gathering and then they gained momentum. You see bystanders will join this march or these rallies. People park their cars to join them, and before you know it, it becomes tens of thousands.
VELSHI: Are things calmer, do you think, or are we getting less information, or is the crackdown bigger?
DESTA: Well, it's calmer because of the restrictions, because they are really cracking down. When we were there, it wasn't as bad as it is now. It was -- I mean, we could move around. That day, when we were being chased around, we made it. We were safe.
You couldn't get away with that now.
VELSHI: Guys, great work, and great work on the Iran desk. We have to keep on struggling and doing more and more to try and get that little trickle of information, at least to get through.
Thanks so much, Reza Sayah and Samson Desta.
Well, two kids go missing in the Appalachian Mountains. Far too often, these stories have horrific outcomes, but this one turned out differently. That's next.
And we just obtained the first images of Ryan O'Neal after the passing of Farrah Fawcett today and we're going to bring those right to you.
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VELSHI: OK. Ryan O'Neal, Farrah Fawcett's long time partner, was at the hospital this morning hen she passed away. We do have pictures of him now leaving the hospital in California and responding to reporters. Let's listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Ryan, how's Farrah? Hey, Ryan, how's Farrah? Is she OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How's she doing?
RYAN O'NEAL, ACTOR: Farrah's gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's gone?
How are you doing? Are you OK?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: All right. And there he says it, "Farrah's gone." The reporter asked him how he's doing, and he nods that he's not doing -- she said, "Are you OK?" And he says "No."
It was a difficult story for that family. We've been getting messages all day from people who are remembering Farrah Fawcett, especially on Twitter and Facebook, and from those who worked with her.
We'll continue on with that story and remembering Farrah Fawcett's life.
All right. It's one of those announcements that we love to make. It's an Amber Alert that has been canceled.
Now, look at these kids. A brother and sister, 6 years old and 4 years old -- well, we don't have those pictures yet. There we go.
Alexander (ph) and Heidi Sadeeth (ph). Today is a much different scene than the day before. That's when their frantic parents reported the kids lost with a group of other youngsters -- they were with a group of other youngsters and they got lost. They were all on a hiking trip in the Appalachians.
Imagine the mom and dad's delight at hearing this announcement...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TINA TILLEY, APPALACHIAN DISTRICT RANGER: Searchers that had been working with us last night and this morning, through a gridded search, located a shoe which led us in the direction of the children. Approximately a mile downhill on the Tennessee side of the mountain was where they were located.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: All right. The boy and girl apparently spent the night on the mountainside, reportedly in good condition today. Good news for us.
Well, Republican Governor Mark Sanford made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Now with another sex scandal on the books, where will the family values party turn to regain its footing?
That's coming up next.
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VELSHI: We like to get your reactions to things that we do, to know whether you appreciate them or you don't like them. A few people have mentioned they didn't want to see us showing video of Ryan O'Neal coming out of the hospital this morning.
On Rick's Twitter, it's one of a couple that I've gotten -- "Gee, show Ryan O'Neal some privacy. That was very tasteless showing that. What if that was your close loved one?"
It's always tough when you're covering somebody's death. It's a tough story to do.
If you were with us yesterday, you know we spent a lot of time talking about Mark Sanford, the South Carolina governor who admitted to an extramarital affair just moments before we went on air. Since our show yesterday, a few important things have happened, so let's fill you in on that.
First of all, the state newspaper in South Carolina published intimate e-mails purportedly exchanged between Sanford and his lover in Argentina. CNN has identified the woman as Maria Belen Shapur. Little is known about her.
The governor's wife said in a statement the couple has embarked on a trial separation. That had started before this adventure. She says she asked Sanford to leave about two weeks ago.
Lawmakers in South Carolina are saying that impeachment talks surrounding the governor concerns whether he misused state funds for his illicit encounters or neglected his duties as governor.
OK. I'm going to say it -- another sex scandal involving a leading Republican. This is the second in two weeks. It's hardly helping the party to resurrect its image.
Joining me from Washington, Republican Tony Blankley. You'll probably remember, he was once the chief spokesman for former House speaker Newt Gingrich.
Tony, thanks for being with us.
TONY BLANKLEY, FMR. GINGRICH PRESS SECRETARY: Delighted to be here.
VELSHI: I wasn't the first guy to say that. You've heard this a lot in the last few days. You heard it before Mark Sanford.
What's going on with the Republicans and scandals?
BLANKLEY: Well, look, I mean, I think any time that a man breaches his marital vows he's acting dishonorably. I think he should be deprecated by society. So, there's no defense for this conduct.
As far as the party is concerned, although there's hypocrisy when one of its members or two, or seven of its members breaches the standards it advocates, you can't give up your values. The party believes in supporting values. We have programs that do that. For instance, the child deduction increase to strengthen families that have children, welfare reform...
VELSHI: Well, hold on. I know you're going down that road.
BLANKLEY: No, no, no, no, no.
VELSHI: No, no. Hold on. We're not talking about whether the Republicans are a good party or whether they have family values.
BLANKLEY: No. I'm making a point that the party stands for programs that help families.
VELSHI: I understand that. I understand that. And I think America understands that.
BLANKLEY: And they can't switch...
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: What I'm having a hard time with is Republicans who have been on record -- now, Sanford is not the worst offender in this one, but there are people who have been on record as criticizing a type of behavior, as carrying on about that type of behavior, and then coming forward as being guilty of that sort of behavior.
BLANKLEY: Look, I understand.
VELSHI: It's hypocrisy. You said it.
BLANKLEY: I did. When you're for something that's good and you violate it, that's hypocritical.
Hypocrisy is not a nice thing, but it's even worse to advocate something bad, as opposed to hypocritically advocating something good. But look, this is not what the party is going to win or lose on in 2012.
If Obama is popular and the Republicans don't have any message to give to the people and don't have a candidate, the Republicans will lose. On the other hand, if the president fails to recover the economy, if the deficits and the tax increases and the energy increases are a concern to the public...
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: You're getting to a point that's close to my heart. I'm a financial journalist, and Sanford was a fiscal conservative, almost libertarian in his way of talking about things. And there's a lot of people who say that voice is absent in Washington, there's an absence of a voice of that.
Wouldn't it be easier if the Republicans got down to business on the fiscal policies and stayed out of this for a while?
BLANKLEY: No. Look, I think both parties need to talk about all the things that the American public cares about. We care about the economy a lot, and we should. VELSHI: Yes. All right. I'm going to leave you on that because we're out of time.
BLANKLEY: Sure.
VELSHI: I've got to take it over to Wolf. But Tony, good talking with you. Thank you for being with us.
BLANKLEY: Good talking with you.
VELSHI: Tony Blankley.
Let's take it over to "THE SITUATION ROOM" in Washington, where Wolf Blitzer is going to continue with some of the stories that we've been working on.
