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Suicide Bombings in Indonesia; Vote Expected Next Week on Sotomayor Nomination; Health Reforms Ups & Downs; Another Arrest Planned in Florida Murders; Protests Continue in Iran

Aired July 17, 2009 - 10:59   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: It is Friday, July the 17th. Here are the stories we are working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Two suicide bombings minutes apart at neighboring hotels in Indonesia's capital. We do have a reporter live on the scene. We'll get to him in just a moment.

Also, critical questions about your health care. What will it cost? Who's going to pay?

We've got some answers for you, and I'll be joined live by a top administration health official and also our senior medical correspondent.

Also, meet our "CNN Hero," a judo Olympic medalist fighting to change the lives of shantytown kids.

Hello to you all. I am T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for Tony Harris.

And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

All right. Take a look at this, new video we're getting in of that hotel explosion in Indonesia.

You see this, an unidentified man seen walking through the lobby of that Marriott. And then, bam, he was wheeling a suitcase heading towards the restaurant there. Seconds later, that large explosion. Smoke forced out of the restaurant.

Again, this is new video we're just getting in. There it is; we're highlighting it for you. But a man appears to be going through there with that suitcase. And once he gets to a certain area, then we see the explosion.

There has been no suggestion just yet that the man seen in the video is a suspect; however, people just piecing this together. You can draw your own conclusions from what you are seeing, but no question that authorities will be looking at this video and possibly that man and everyone else seen in that video quite closely.

Now, the terrorists delivered back-to-back attacks in Indonesia, detonating bombs at two luxury hotels in the capital of Jakarta. Six people confirmed to be dead; however, officials there say possibly that number could grow. We do know also that two suicide bombers were killed.

Let's go live now to CNN's Dan Rivers on the scene of those attacks.

Dan, has anyone come forward to take responsibility for these bombings?

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No one has so far, but all indications are pointing at the moment to an attack by a group called Jemaah Islamiyah, which is a regional Islamist terrorist group which has hit similar targets in the past, including the very same hotel, the Marriott, here in Jakarta in 2003.

As you say, the police now will be looking closely at that CCTV footage to see whether indeed the man seen wheeling that suitcase is connected with the blast or whether he's just another guest who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But certainly that, together with other evidence that they're gathering, will be critical, including, specifically, an undetonated bomb that they found on the 18th floor in a room that they think the terrorists were using as a sort of command and control room.

They have been in that room for a couple days before this morning's blast, so that may yield vital information, if they can go back through the CCTV tapes and work out who was using that room. They could have a whole host of information.

Already, we're being told the explosives in that undetonated bomb are of a similar sort to a cache of explosives found in a house in west Java a couple of weeks ago which they think was linked to Jemaah Islamiyah, and specifically a man called Nordon Top (ph), who is basically Indonesia's most wanted terrorist suspect. He's been on the run for years and is connected with a whole bunch of bombings here, including bombings in Bali way back in 2002, which left more than 200 people dead, many of them western tourists.

HOLMES: And Dan, a couple more things here before we let you go.

It's suspected that some of the -- whoever is responsible possibly checked into that hotel and were in those rooms for a while. So, first of all, here, do we know that authorities there are holding anyone in custody right now, questioning some folks in connection with this bombing? And also give us an idea of just what security was like around that hotel.

RIVERS: Yes. First point, no, we're not aware of anyone being held in custody. The police are indicating that they think at least two of the bodies that they've recovered of the eight people killed they think were the suicide bombers, one in the Ritz-Carlton, one in the Marriott.

There are four other unidentified bodies, and they don't know who they are, whether they were guests or victims or part of this terrorist cell, if it is indeed a Jemaah Islamiyah cell. But we understand they think there were four people checked in. So, it looks like possibly a group of four people they're looking for, possibly two who have been killed as result of suicide bombings. But it's pretty early days at the moment. We don't know much.

As for the security, well, both of these hotels or any hotel here are very heavily protected. They check your car when you're going in, they look in the trunk. They put you through an X-ray scanner, they put your luggage through an X-ray scanner. So, normally very heavy security here. They know from attacks in the past that they need to be careful.

The question is, how did these terrorists get these explosives into the hotel undetected?

HOLMES: All right. Dan Rivers for us there on the scene.

Dan, thank you so much.

Meanwhile, President Obama has released a statement condemning the attacks. We got this just moments ago saying -- and I quote -- "The American people stand by the Indonesian people in this difficult time, and the U.S. government stands ready to help the Indonesian government respond to and recover from these outrageous attacks as a friend and a partner."

We won't go too far away from that story. We'll keep an eye on it, of course.

Let's turn to some other news right now, including the confirmation hearings pretty much wrapping up now for the Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor. So, the tough job for her is over. Now comes the vote.

Our congressional correspondent, Brianna Keilar, joins us now.

Now comes the vote. When is the vote, Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're expecting a vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee, T.J., on Tuesday. Then we're expecting a vote by the full Senate before Congress goes on its recess in August. So, the expectation is that Sonia Sotomayor will be in place as a Supreme Court justice well before, actually, the court begins its new session this fall.

HOLMES: We were watching these hearings closely over the past several days, of course. But after Sonia Sotomayor was done with her part, some of the most interesting testimony, some might say, were from some of the witnesses that came, including some of the New Haven firefighters who were part of that case, of course, that New Haven 20.

So, tell us -- I guess, what was the point, first of all, in having those firefighters there? And what did they have to say?

KEILAR: Yes, this was pretty compelling testimony. Republicans invited these firefighters to testify, and they were part of this case where they claimed discrimination after the city threw out a promotional firefighter exam after no African-American firefighters passed it. This was a case that Sonia Sotomayor's appeals panel, they ruled against the firefighters in it, and ultimately the Supreme Court overturned that decision. Republicans really taking issue with Sonia Sotomayor's judgment on this case.

So, Ben Vargas, who is the only Hispanic firefighter among these plaintiffs, he testified here before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. He said he congratulates Sotomayor. He actually shares her Puerto Rican heritage and he thinks it's great she's heading in this direction towards this accomplishment, but he said he really felt robbed after this exam being thrown out after he put so much work into it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. BEN VARGAS, NEW HAVEN FIREFIGHTER: I knew I would see little of my sons during these months when I studied every day at a desk in our basement. So I placed photographs of my boys in front of me. When I would get tired and wanted to stop, I would look at the pictures, realize that their own futures depended on mine, and I would keep going.

At one point, I packed up and went to a hotel for days to avoid any distractions. And those pictures came with me.

I was shocked when I was not rewarded for this hard work and sacrifice, but I actually was penalized for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: There was also some compelling testimony from Frank Ricci, a co-plaintiff in this case. He is dyslexic. You could actually see as he gave his testimony yesterday, he ran his finger along the words to make sure that he stayed on track.

He got a tutor. He worked really hard to pass this exam and was very disappointed, as well.

But for her part, T.J., Sotomayor said that when she made this decision, she and these other judges were bound by precedent. The Supreme Court essentially changed that precedent, and she said now courts would be bound by their decision.

HOLMES: All right. Brianna Keilar, it has been an interesting week up there on Capitol Hill.

Brianna, thank you so much.

KEILAR: You're welcome.

HOLMES: Going to turn now to a story out of Chicago. Let's go ahead and show you this video. It's what's being called now a level two hazmat situation.

What you're looking at is a building that has essentially been leveled in some areas, at least in some parts, because of an explosion. This is a biodiesel plant.

You see a few workers milling about even though this is being called a level two hazmat situation. We are being told, however, that there is no threat, they don't believe, in the atmosphere, at least to some of these firefighters and some of the people around.

But what was happening here was that chemicals were being mixed at this biodiesel plant, and this resulted in a massive explosion. This is at a factory on the west side of Chicago. Chemicals were being mixed and a truck was also unloading at the diesel plant at the time.

We do know that two people have been injured. One of those injuries being called fair, the other being called serious injuries. No other injuries to report at this time.

But again, this is some of the latest video we are getting in. Firefighters -- again, this could have been a much worse situation when you're dealing with some chemicals like this. But firefighters out there working. The reason they are not in some of those hazmat suits you oftentimes see is because they say even though this is a level two hazmat situation, they do not believe there is any threat or any of these chemicals are out in the atmosphere that could be a threat to anyone. But two people injured.

We'll continue to get more details about this massive explosion at a biodiesel plant, again, on the west side of Chicago.

We'll turn to health care now.

House lawmakers back at work this morning, and it's really been a lot of back and forth about this health care reform.

A House committee is debating amendments to a bill by Democrats. But in a setback, the director of the Congressional Budget Office says the bills released so far will not reduce health care costs. That, of course, is what they need to do, is to find a way to pay for this thing.

In another development, the House Ways and Means Committee voted early this morning to impose new taxes on the wealthy to help pay for the health care overhaul.

Well, the House proposal for a surtax to pay for health care reform is getting a fairly chilly reception from some senators, and among them Democrat Bill Nelson of Nebraska.

CNN's Ed Henry interviewing the senator right now on his radio show. There's Ed.

Let's go ahead and just dip in and listen in to his conversation for a second.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Now, what about the surtax that people have been talking about on the House Democratic plan? Not just Republicans, but some conservative House Democrats have been saying they're not in favor of this surtax of about one to five percent on the rich to pay for health reform. You're a leading conservative Democrat, a power broker on health reform and other issues. Do you support the surtax?

SEN. BILL NELSON (D), NEBRASKA: No, I don't. I know it's going to be difficult to find a way to be able to finance the additional -- the addition of millions of Americans into the health care program, those who don't have the resources to pay off all the premium. And what we have to do is find a way that's fair, and it's not fair to single out and create class warfare in the process of doing it.

It may be handy to try to soak those who have more income, but I don't think it's the fair way to do it. There are other ways that I know Senator Baucus and Senator Grassley and the Finance Committee are looking at, and I'm very anxious to see what they come up with and I'm very anxious as well to see what the president supports.

HENRY: Well, you mentioned the president. You went behind closed doors of the White House yesterday, a private meeting with President Obama.

HOLMES: So we jumped in there at a good time, actually. Again, that's our Ed Henry on the phone there interviewing Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, talking about that surtax, talking about health care.

One proposal is to try to pay for some of that health care reform by taxing those who make over $350,000. You just heard the Democrat there, the senator from Nebraska, saying, no, that's not going to happen. It's not good to get involved in this class warfare. It's not fair to do. It might seem like an easy thing to do, but it's not fair to do. Actually, said on "AMERICAN MORNING" a little earlier today, to our John Roberts, even, that that's a nonstarter in the Senate.

So we will see where that goes.

So, thanks to our Ed for letting us dip in there.

We want to hear from you about health care on our NEWSROOM blog. Who should pay for health care overhaul? Should the government mandate coverage? And what do you have to have in your health insurance plan?

You can join the conversation at CNN.com/Tony.

Also, send us your iReports on health care. You can send those to ireport.com.

And we'll continue the health care discussion. What would be included and what would it cost you? We'll hear directly from the White House. And our medical expert weighing in, as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And we've got some big questions looming out there in the debate over health care reform. What's it going to cost? And how are we going to pay of it? Then there's of course the issue of how it will affect you and your medical care.

Well, our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here for a health reform roundtable of sorts. And with us from Washington, Linda Douglass, communications director for the White House Office of Health Reform.

Linda, I will start with you.

How big of a blow was it to hear the CBO director come out and say this is not going to work? He was up on the Hill yesterday before they voted in the House on their particular bill, essentially saying this is going to cost more, there are no savings costs in there.

How big of a blow was it to the White House to hear that?

LINDA DOUGLASS, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF HEALTH REFORM: Well, it wasn't at all. I mean, if you really listen to what he said, I think that he would even agree that that's probably not exactly what he said.

Number one, he was talking about a bill in the Senate that doesn't have any jurisdiction over Medicare and Medicaid, which is the way that the government can control costs. There's going to be a separate bill in the Senate that will deal with that. So, it doesn't even have jurisdiction over controlling those costs.

With respect to the House bill, he was talking a little bit about the House bill. He said, look, this is a preliminary look. I haven't not finished analyzing. This bill is going through the committee process right now.

It does contain substantial savings, in addition to many of the president's ideas and the ideas that are being embraced by Congress that will, in fact, not only lower costs for families and businesses, absolutely, but will begin to lower costs overall, the very rapidly rising rate of health care, by doing such things as preventive care, emphasizing primary care, starting to pay for quality rather than quantity of services.

HOLMES: OK. But Linda, we have this exact quote -- and I'm going to go ahead and bring in Elizabeth Cohen. We have his exact quote of what he said yesterday, and I know people can take things different ways, but, I mean, he was pretty clear on what he was saying here.

I'll read it to our viewers and to you. I know you're familiar with it. And we'll ask you about it.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Linda, because you didn't like T.J.'s characterization of what he said, I thought it was fine, but I'm going to read Mr. Elmendorf's exact words.

"We do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount." And this is, I think, the really important part. "And on the contrary, the legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs."

"The New York Times," Associated Press, CNN, everybody took that to mean that Mr. Elmendorf is saying, hey, these bills don't curb health care spending by the government, it increases it.

DOUGLASS: Well, first of all, the president has made it very clear that health reform which will lower costs for families and businesses has got to be -- cannot add a penny to the deficit. It is going to be deficit-neutral. That is absolutely a condition that he has put on any health care plan.

The Congressional Budget Office made very clear in their testimony to Ways and Means, Mr. Elmendorf, that they have not finished looking at this. It is going through the process.

There are many ideas out there that don't necessarily -- that can't be computed, but it will definitely lower costs, such as, as I mentioned, emphasizing primary care, health IT, computerized medical records, beginning to put payments together that just don't pay by every single little procedure, but pay for your entire care overall. And, you know, you may remember that the president said in a letter to Congress...

COHEN: Actually, you made a great point, Linda. You made a great point. You named some specifics in there -- electronic medical records, other provisions that are supposed to save money. And Mr. Elmendorf looked at those provisions and he said, no, I don't think it's going to save money.

DOUGLASS: Well, you know, there's a couple of different ways of looking at saving money. One is making specific reductions to Medicare and Medicaid.

Those are amounts of money that Congress can -- that the Congressional Budget Office can tabulate, and they can be absolutely measured precisely. There are many other measures that are very important that are also included in this legislation which clearly will lower costs that cannot be measured in that way, which he absolutely acknowledges.

And don't forget, by the way, Elizabeth, that the president also said he was open to the idea of a commission, an independent commission that would begin to determine how doctors' services and other kinds of payment reforms are going to be carried out in Medicare and Medicaid. So, this would be an independent commission that would make these determinations separate from the political process. This was an idea that the president said he was open to, and they've been talking about that this week.

HOLMES: Well, Linda, let me ask you something else the president is open to. I'm trying to get two more things in here in the next 30 seconds. I want to get a blog comment I want you to answer that someone sent into us.

But first, is the president in favor of the proposal out there that would put a surtax on those making $350,000 or more in order to offset some of the costs of health care? Anyway I can get a "yes" or a "no" from you on that?

DOUGLASS: Well, you know, first of all, the president has made his own proposal, which is returning the rate of itemized deductions for the very wealthiest Americans back to where they were when Ronald Reagan was president.

HOLMES: But on the surtax specifically?

DOUGLASS: That is the proposal that he has been putting forward.

This is also an idea that clearly is being looked at very closely, and the president says there are a lot of good ideas, including this one that are being evaluated right now through the process. He likes his idea.

But the important thing is that this is -- these are proposals out there that do not affect people who make under $250,000. And these are ideas that will begin to remove the burden of rising health costs on our economy and businesses, the very most important economic point we can make about the importance of health reform.

HOLMES: So, was that a long yes? He would support that surtax?

DOUGLASS: What I said was the president likes his proposal. The Finance Committee, the other committee, the Senate committee, has not yet come forward with its proposals. And these are all ideas that he considers to be very, very interesting and worth considering.

HOLMES: But does he support this one, Linda, this particular surtax? I know he has his, but they're not talking about his, they're talking about theirs. So...

DOUGLASS: And he said that this is a good idea.

HOLMES: OK. It's a good idea.

DOUGLASS: It's a good idea that is out there. He also has been promoting his own idea, which is being evaluated seriously by the Senate Finance Committee, the other body that will have a proposal.

Also, let me just make a very important point. The president wants the majority of the funding from health reform to come from savings. You know, these are dollars that are already in the health care system that will be redistributed to start lowering costs and expanding coverage. That's where the majority of the money should come from.

HOLMES: Right. Well, Linda, we're going to have to leave it there. We could spend the rest of the hour talking to you about this stuff, of course. But we appreciate you, as always, being here. And, like I said, it takes two of us to the one of you out there, Linda. But thank you so much.

Elizabeth, thank you so much, as well for being here.

We'll see you next time, Linda. Thank you so much. DOUGLASS: Thanks for having me.

HOLMES: All right. We will stay here.

We're going to, of course, continue to follow health care. We have several breaking news stories today as well. We're keeping an eye on what's happening in Chicago, where there has been an explosion at a biodiesel plant there.

Also, we're keeping an eye on what's happening with the bombings, the terrorist attacks over in Jakarta, as well.

So, stay with us. Neither one of those stories will be too far, certainly not far from our radar here at all.

Also, we're going to be talking about what's happening in Iran. A warning from Iran on Islam's holy day, and protests in the streets as well. The chaos captured on tape.

Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Ah. For students, college is a time of firsts -- your first love, your first heartache, but, really, your first loan, your first credit card, and a whole host of problems, the bills that come with all those firsts sometimes.

CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis joins us with today's "Top Tips." And we have a few questions here.

Hello there to you.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hello, T.J. It's good to see you on a Friday.

HOLMES: Oh, good to be here with you.

JHR sent this into us. We'll start here. It says, "I have a federal student loan that I've had for a while. It's in deferment right now because I'm currently unemployed. Are there any new programs available through the government that can help?"

I bet a lot of students, or former students, are in that same position.

WILLIS: Well, good news here. On July 1st, the government introduced a student loan repayment program, and that pegs your payments to your income. And guess what it's called? The Income- Based Repayment Plan. And it applies to old and new federal loans.

Given that you have no income, you could be a good candidate for the program. Just go to the Department of Education's Web site at studentaid.ed.gov to calculate if you could benefit from the program. And make sure you talk to your lender. They're the ones who will actually calculate your eligibility. HOLMES: All right. I got one here from Amina (ph) as well. It says, "I'm now a sophomore in college," has no credit. It says, "I recently applied for a student credit card. Is that the right way to go?"

Now, we all remember those college days. They all had those tables set up, hey, come get a free T-shirt and you get a credit card.

WILLIS: Right. Well, you know, look, getting a credit card is the first step to creating a credit history, and using a student credit card is a good way to go. But you have to have good credit practices.

For example, don't charge more on your card than you can afford. And don't use your credit card for anything that will be gone by the time you get the bill, like pizza or beer.

Also, strive to always pay the balance in full and make sure you send your check in on time. Once you graduate, you'll want to transition to a regular credit card because you'll get a better interest rate and a larger credit limit.

HOLMES: All right. I think we can get one more in here from Maria. It says, "Gerri, where can I find a genuine government site that provides information on educational-related grants?"

WILLIS: Good question, Maria. Well, check out grants.gov. This site has a database of over 1,000 grant programs. It's run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

And you can search for grants in a number of areas, including education, the environment, and business. You can also check out educationgrant.com where you can find out about government grants like the Pell Grant or other need-based grants.

And, of course, if you have any questions, send them to me at gerri@cnn.com. We love to hear from you. And we answer those questions right here every Friday.

HOLMES: All right. Well, Gerri, we appreciate you. Thank you so much. Good to see you.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

HOLMES: We want to turn now quickly -- we're going to go to Pensacola, Florida, for a news conference going on right now. This is having to do with that couple with all the kids that were murdered down there.

Let's take a listen. I believe this is a brother. The funeral is today. Family members giving a press conference. Let's go ahead and listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

DR. ED BROCK, BROTHER OF MELANIE BILLINGS: ... and their enduring spirit. Today is a day to challenge ourselves, to embrace the differences among us, and to find the kindness in our hearts.

By example, Byrd and Melanie taught us to overlook disability, to be colorblind, to be patient with others, and to give of ourselves. Their lives centered around children, their family and each other.

They loved deeply and unconditionally. They embraced the complexity of raising children with special needs, and they were their advocates. They gave these children a joyous childhood and a much- needed voice. Their lives were cut way too short, but their legacy will live on.

As Albert Einstein said, "Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children."

Bud (ph) and Melanie will live on in our hearts forever. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, and thank you for respecting the family's privacy.

HOLMES: All right, so that was a quick press conference there, again, with one of the family members related to Melanie and Byrd Billings. This was the couple that was murdered.

This has certainly gotten a lot of attention because this couple was known for having 17 children, I think 12 or 13 of which they had adopted, and many of them had special needs. So, now, this new information, the funeral is happening, expecting to happen at the top of the hour here. There was -- 1,000 folks showed up yesterday for visitation, even, so they're expecting a lot more folks to show up today for the funeral, as well.

But some new information that came from authorities as well. Our Ed Lavandera has been on this case. Ed, you jump in here with me. This case, of course, has taken so many twists and turns. We know that eight people have been arrested. Six men and a teenager have been charged in the death, and also a woman charged, as well. But people are trying to figure out exactly what was the motivation behind the crime, and we were thinking maybe robbery, but it sounds like some of the things that were taken didn't turn out to be of much value.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, we're still trying to figure that part out of it, T.J. You know, as you mentioned, all of these different people arrested. There are still great questions about why it took so many people, why did so many people come together to pull off these murders, if what authorities say -- are saying here are true.

So, there is still a lot of debate about exactly what was the motivation behind that. Authorities and prosecutors here saying that robbery and that home invasion is the primary motive, but they always add the caveat there that don't be surprised if there aren't some other motives, perhaps lesser motives. But that seems to be the primary. So, that kind of keeps that level of intrigue up on exactly what was going on here. And what you hear around town here, T.J., is that there's that sense that something bigger is going on here. But getting to the bottom of that has been rather difficult all week.

HOLMES: And Ed, do we know, have the police, are they done arresting people?

LAVENDERA: Actually, it doesn't sound like they are. We're told by authorities that even though eight people have been arrested, seven charged with two counts of murder, that eighth person, the woman that was arrested yesterday we talked so much about, Pamela Long Wiggins, she's been charged with accessory after the fact.

Authorities still say there are two or three other people of interest, and we we're told this morning that there could be another arrest coming next week. So, it's still -- even though they say the bulk of their investigation is over, they're still tying up some loose ends. So, it seems like it's not over yet.

HOLMES: All right. Ed Lavandera, thank you so much. And again, we're making a reference to there when I was going to Ed, talking about it doesn't seem like some of the stuff might have been much value. The safe that we know was taken from the home, turns out now according, we just got that information from the press conference, just had children's medications in it and some documents, so maybe nothing really of value there. So, again, Ed, it just leaves us all kind of scratching our heads what this was all about and why it took this many people to participate in this crime.

Ed, we appreciate you. We know you're on it. We'll be checking in with you plenty more. Thank you so much.

Also a warning from Iran on Islam's holy day. We see more protests in the streets, and some of it captured on tape.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, well, welcome back here. We're here, this is our international desk. Really, our Iran desk for the past several weeks given everything we've seen since the election there and the demonstrations and protest there.

Well, it continues there. Reza Sayah's been really our point guy on this. Hello to you again. We've got a powerful cleric there in Iran talking, first of all. But also, you've got some new pictures to show us. So, you tell us where you want to start. Where should we start?

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: New pictures that show a lot of people coming out to hear Hashemi Rafsanjani speak at Friday prayers. These were very big crowds. We haven't seen supporters of the opposition come out en masse for a couple weeks now because protests have been banned.

But take a look at these pictures coming in to the Iran desk. This gives you an idea of the amount of people that came out. All walks of life, it looks like, all types of ages. Some of these people, according to witnesses and according to pictures, clashed with security forces.

We move on to Azadeh here to show you this piece of video. Witnesses telling us that security forces at times using tear gas to disperse the crowd. This is a video that appears to show the crowds running away from tear gas. If they weren't using tear gas, at times, according to witnesses, they were using batons.

And if we roll some video, I believe we do have some video that shows security forces going through the crowd. Now, here you're seeing protesting, and in a few seconds you're going to see security forces on motorcycles, on those red dirt bikes coming through the crowd with their helmets waving batons, and then you see a surge of people moving.

But, T.J., this is something that we hadn't seen in a while, these types of numbers coming out, because protests have been banned. This was an official event, government-sanctioned, so they came out. Lots of slogans that we hadn't heard before, notably, "Death to Russia." Another chant, "Russia, shame on you, let go your dominance on our country."

Russia, of course, one of the countries that supported Iran's elections and the aftermath. The opposition supporters speaking out against Russia today.

HOLMES: Now, what brought them out this time? We're talking about Rafsanjani. Were they coming out to see him, where some of his words kind of sparked this?

SAYAH: Absolutely. Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former president, political nemesis of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, many call him a game changer, a key figure for the opposition. And there you see Mehdi Karoubi. He was one of the opposition leaders that showed up. But many were eager to see what Rafsanjani would say. Would he support the regime or would he support the opposition?

He did deliver some criticism to the leadership. It wasn't searing criticism. It was criticism nonetheless, describing the aftermath of the elections as a disease. He called it leprosy. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HASHEMI RAFSANJANI, SENIOR IRANIAN CLERIC (through translator): Doubt has been created in people's minds. We consider doubt to be the worst calamity. This doubt has attacked our nation like leprosy. There are two currents, though. One doesn't have any doubt and moving ahead with their job, and there are a large portion of the wise people who say they have doubts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAYAH: So, it was comments like that that really got the crowd going, especially the tens of thousands of people outside Tehran University who couldn't get in really gave a very loud response. He also called for all the detainees who were arrested after the elections to be free. And he also criticized the media crackdown.

So, he really left the door open for the opposition to continue its movement. That's something supporters like to hear.

HOLMES: So, this might start back up like we saw several weeks ago.

SAYAH: It's definitely not ending, based on what we saw today.

HOLMES: All right. Reza Sayah, appreciate you as always. We'll be checking back in with you and the rest of our producers and editors over here in the Iran desk.

Right now, want to hand it back over, shoot across the room to Reynolds Wolf keeping an eye on things weatherwise. Hello to you, buddy.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: Suicide bombers launched back-to-back bombings at the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta, Indonesia. At least six people confirmed dead, along with two bombers.

CNN iReporter. This one comes in to us from Greg. He was at the Ritz at the time of the blast. Authorities say it's not clear what group is responsible for the attacks. They believe the two suicide bombers had checked into the Marriott days ago. Many suspect they were members of an al Qaeda-linked group responsible for previous attacks, including one almost six years ago at the same Marriott. Our iReporter says security has been extremely tight since the bombing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN KUSUMA, CNN IREPORTER: Given the bombing that happened at the Marriott previously, you don't actually -- you can't actually drive into the lobby. You've got to come through -- or effectively, at the back of the building to get to the front of the building. Out there, there's major metal barriers. The vehicles are searched. There's armed guards at that checkpoint.

Once you go up to the lobby, you actually -- there are metal detectors. Your bags are searched before you go through those metal detectors. Now, there is another area where you go into the basement, and the vehicles are checked once again before you go into the basement. So, I -- that's the sort of level of security there is. You know, so, I just don't know how a person would be able to get that bombing unless there were some level of cooperation. I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right. Let's pick up on that point from our iReporter there. Let's bring in CNN national security analyst and terrorism expert Peter Bergen. Peter, I think you could hear what that iReporter was saying. So, how does one get in there with a bomb? How is security at -- around the country and particularly at a lot of these hotels?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I've been in Jakarta in 2005, and the security of these kinds of hotels is pretty intense. So, hard to drive a car up because, of course, the previous kinds of attacks tended to be vehicle bombs. How these guys got these bombs in is not clear, but it seems plausible that they might have taken in sort of component parts and assembled them in the bedroom on the 18th floor, where they were apparently registered as guests.

HOLMES: We know the human toll here. Six that we know of have been killed. But I guess, what kind of a blow is this to Indonesia, which has, as we know, been a pretty stable democracy in that neighborhood. How big of a blow is it for them to have this happen?

BERGEN: Well, I think it's something of a blow. I mean, tourism is a major industry for Indonesia. And consistently attacks by Jamaah Islamiyah, the al Qaeda affiliate which is widely believed to have done this attack, are being directed at tourist targets, whether in the tourist island of Bali in 2002, the tourist island again of Bali in 2005, the Marriott attack in 2003 that you mentioned earlier, and now the Marriott attack again, and also now the Ritz-Carlton.

So, you know, places where Western tourists, Western businessmen gather have been particular targets of this group. That isn't good for the investment climate in Indonesia, and it isn't good for tourism, clearly.

HOLMES: Do you buy what, again, picking up on what our iReporter was saying there, that is it possible -- I know you said maybe bringing components at a time for these bombs, but any way possible, would you suspect, just from what we know now, that maybe there was some help from somebody on the inside?

BERGEN: Could well have been. I mean, these are, obviously, large hotels. That's entirely plausible.

HOLMES What has -- I guess, what will Indonesia's response be? What has their response been in recent years when we've seen attacks like this?

BERGEN: Well, I think their response going back to the 2002 Bali attack, when 200 mostly Western tourists were killed, initially there was a certain amount of denial in Indonesia that this was really a problem, that Jemaah Islamiyah was an al Qaeda affiliate that really posed a threat. That has changed pretty dramatically over the last several years because of the other attacks that these groups -- this group has done, killing mostly Indonesians, not Westerners.

That's produced a real crackdown by the government, quite an effective one, with the help from the Australian government, who -- their embassy was attacked in Indonesia. Quite a lot of their citizens have been killed in these attacks. Also help from the U.S. government.

And so, I mean, T.J., I would say that, you know, that the Indonesian government's actually done quite a good job against this group, arrested top leaders, bombmakers. And the conventional wisdom, which I certainly shared, was that this group was really on the ropes. But these attacks seem to demonstrate that's not entirely true.

HOLMES: You are absolutely right there. Peter Bergen, again, it's good to have you. Terrorism expert, CNN national security analyst. Thank you so much. Good to have you with us today.

BERGEN: Thank you.

HOLMES: Well, we'll turn next to the CNN "Hero of the Week." He's using kicks and slams to turn kids away from drugs and guns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, let's turn to Wall Street now. The market has been rallying all week, thanks to some impressive profit reports from the nation's biggest banks. Susan Lisovicz, we are getting more and more of these good numbers, big numbers, positive numbers.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're early in the reporting season. Next week is really crunch time, T.J., but no question about it, Wall Street likes what it's hearing, because we heard from four big banks as you said. Think about it, these four big banks, JP Morgan, Citi, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, received $130 billion in TARP, our money.

So, it's not only of interest to Wall Street. It should be of great interest to Main Street. And the theme that we've been seeing is that they are all making money. And two of them, in fact, have paid TARP back.

Let's start with Bank of America. We heard from them today. The company beat Wall Street's estimates, made $3 billion in the last quarter. That's a three-month period. Ken Lewis, the CEO, says he's a little bit worried about what he's seeing ahead.

Why is that? They're making money on trading, but the consumers the problem. We've got a rising unemployment rate. They have a big credit card division. And people don't pay as much, they don't pay on time and sometimes they don't pay at all. So, that's a problem. Bank of America shares are down 2 percent.

Dow is down 9 points. Remember, going into today, Dow, S&P 500 up four straight sessions. Nasdaq's given back some, too. It's down 7. Nasdaq going into today up seven sessions. So, quite a win streak -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right. And you talked -- you mentioned some banks there. Another one we can't let you go without talking about, Citigroup. They also got a whole lot of our money, as you said.

LISOVICZ: A very, very good question. Citi also reported today. Citi also surprised the Street, made $4 billion, not so much on revenue. It shed an asset, in this case, the Smith Barney wealth division, so that's where it made the money. But impressive for Citi, because Citi has been one of the most troubled financial companies and, in fact, received $45 billion in TARP. Has not repaid us just yet. Emphasis on "us," T.J. Could use the dough, going into the weekend especially.

HOLMES: All right, Susan Lisovicz, good luck getting your money back before the weekend. Thanks so much.

Well, coming up in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM, California politicians have yet to agree on a budget that will close a $26 billion shortfall. One prominent business group is fed up and calling for -- get this -- a new constitution.

Also, our Fredricka Whitfield takes us to an environmentally friendly housing development in New York that may have some neighbors green with envy. Stay with us in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, Brazil is one of the most glamorous vacation destinations in the world. But for those who live in Brazil's shantytowns, it's far from glamorous. They have a daily struggle just to survive. But one man helping kids find hope despite some of that hardship.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is "CNN Heroes."

FLAVIO CANTO, CHAMPIONING CHILDREN: I've never seen anyplace as beautiful as Rio de Janeiro, but it does have its dark side. There is violence all over.

JOAO VICTOR, RESIDENT OF RIO DE JANEIRO (through translator): The bad things that happen here are the shootings.

CANTO: It's the kids who have the toughest here.

VICTOR (through translator): Sometimes I get scared.

CANTO: They don't have many options. Kids die every day making the wrong choice, but, you know, every time I see a (INAUDIBLE), the first thing that comes to my mind is potential.

My name is Flavio Canto. I'm a judo Olympic medalist, but the best part of my life is changing people's destiny through sports. I usually tell the kids that we can't let ourselves get used to the violence that surrounds us. We have to fight back somehow. Instead of fighting in the streets, they learn how to use their energy in the right way.

VICTOR (through translator): I feel less afraid. Flavio helps me win lots of championships, and he helps me feel very proud of myself.

CANTO: Helping kids avoid the wrong choice is one of our goals. They don't need to follow their destiny everyone told them they would have. They can change it. They're the true heroes. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, July is the last month to nominate a "CNN Hero" for this year. You can do that at CNN.com/heroes. You can also join the fans following "CNN Heroes" on Facebook. That's where you'll find exclusive photos and videos of all "CNN Hero" nominees.