until the cia came up with a daring plan off the field and resume play. byu had one last chance to to bring them home. the top secret mission was the subject of the academy award winning throw a 50 yard touchdown pass to win it but they couldn't film argo. here's how it make it. and so the students, why not? they rushed the field really happened again. that's a huge win for the sun devils. and they now control their own destiny for the big 12 title game. if they can win at arizona on saturday. ohio state can clinch a spot in the big ten title game against oregon if they beat their arch rivals michigan and texas, and our three local employees had texas a&m will face off for a decided to go buy some cookies as a snack for everybody, and spot in the sec title game. the all of a sudden the two came winner of that will face back. georgia, but kayla so much can >> they were out of breath. change between now and the they were visibly upset. something was wrong playoff, and there's surely going to be a lot of chatter and no doubt some controversy between now and then as it does our embassy. don riddell. >> the american embassy >> thank you. and thank you for joining me. this thousands of people and the demonstration got greater and greater as time went by i could

hear the demonstrating, getting closer and closer and louder and louder. >> and here are these people are chanting death to america and all of a sudden, they'd gotten in there, coming over the walls or coming over the emotions were running extremely high, but i felt pretty secure in the embassy. walls. >> the place was just overrun >> i thought we were being with people we were over in the protected, but then we could hear them on the roof. >> someone was trying to come the marine house, and they came in through the window and we had to hide. in and started kicking doors down and we could see them >> we were trying to buy time with the expectation that we taking other state department would get to leave and and defense attache people out and lead them across the unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way. >> they take us from the room compound. you don't know what's going on. you don't and they blindfold us. know if you're ever going to get out of there. >> they could do whatever they >> my adrenaline was gone. wanted to with us at any time i people were pounding on the door, and i'm putting rounds into my my pistol. and then all of a sudden, they start bringing people to the door and saying, hey, they got a gun to my head. if you don't open the door, they're going to kill me we called the state department. >> what do you want us to do? they actually told us make them kick the door down, and then you just i want you to

really happened. >> i'm jesse l martin. surrender. so that's what we do. sometimes it seems like the told to stand down. >> all it would have taken is world is on fire that terror is one word from those in charge the new norm and hostage and all they would have had to taking, bargaining for human do was say, fight and every marine there. we'd all have life is all too common. but fought to the death what happens to these hostages while they're in captivity? are they treated humanely? are were the first ones out. they tortured, or do they try >> arms behind your back and to escape? when iranian blindfold you and tie your hands up and i was being led across the embassy compound. students stormed the u.s. embassy in tehran in november of 1979, they took the embassy >> people were running up to me shouting, death to america staff hostage and held them for shaking their fists at me 444 days. only a handful spitting at me. i was taken managed to escape, but they from there into one of these little houses. there were probably 20 other hostages in there, and my feet were tied. my hands were tied behind my back that's how it started for me. i was 21 when i was taken hostage american embassy and took us hostage is the day that the war on terrorism started i

that was motor pool gate. >> that's the southwest. west corner of the compound. >> and so we locked down in the consular building, which was separate from the embassy and from the warehouse and from the residences and they could not get into our building. >> at first we couldn't see into the compound. so everything we knew was based on what the marines were putting out on the radio and we knew that the iranians were increasingly taking over. >> and then we heard footsteps on the roof of the building. >> the power went out they shut that down. >> shortly after that, it was

decided we should leave the building. >> we had access to the back of the embassy compound and so the thought was that we could get out the back streets. there and make our escape that way. >> the consul general told us we should go to the british embassy there was bob andrews cora and mark leejack joe stafford and his wife kathy. >> they were caught up in a in a crazy scenario. >> we went out the door turned left, headed west in the direction of the british compound that group or to stay behind, and i decided that i would stay and then we were taken prisoner. they got caught right away and we didn't

were being held hostage you're thinking, okay, this is going to end pretty quick. >> the government's going to come in. they're going to take control and it'll all be over. >> and it didn't work out like that that night, splayed out on the couch. feet are tied. hands are tied. all these iranians and they're gathered around this. literally this little transistor radio and you could hear somebody on the radio speaking farsi. and i didn't know at the time that it was ayatollah khomeini, ayatollah khomeini led the islamic revolution. >> they thought he was the savior of the poor people. they thought he was going to bring democracy and fairness and equality to the country initially, it looked like he was going to question the

action of the students and then ayatollah khomeini announced that he is in full support of the takeover of the united states embassy. >> he blessed them and then that was it. >> they became iran's heroes. >> this now became a test of wills between the iranian government, the revolutionary government and the american government. >> and that's when i knew we were going to be there for a while i am all right. >> i do expect to come home when i don't know everybody that was there suffered. >> make no mistake, there was bad treatment >> it's a night that. join ande and laura coates for cnn heroes on all star tribute.

>> thank you guys. >> meet the honorees and celebrate their life changing achievements. >> they're ordinary people doing extraordinary things. >> then find out who will be named the cnn hero of the year. >> it's really incredible. >> plus, don't miss a special tribute to this year's legacy award honoree, michael j. fox, cnn heroes an all star tribute. sunday, december eighth on cnn. >> it's time for the main event. wayfair's black friday savings spectacular is here right now. get up to 80% off furniture and cookware, holiday decor and more at wayfair's. lowest prices of the year. plus score 24 hour flash deals. you have to see to believe. and get free shipping on everything. save up to 80% off wayfair's black friday savings spectacular now through december second. wayfair every style, every home stay ahead of your moderate to severe eczema and show off clearer skin and less itch with dupixent. >> the number one prescribed biologic by dermatologists and

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over the wall of the american embassy and took these diplomats and others hostage i was taken aback. >> like aback. i grew up in iran, and we had a very normal, fabulous childhood. and then everything changed. it was unprecedented happened was because president the exiled shah for urgent medical treatment. >> the shah became unpopular at home for his ostentatious lifestyle and the torture of dissidents. that all changed ushered in change forcing the shah to flee the country. >> when he was admitted into the united states for cancer treatment they just thought that was a step too far. >> many iranians were very, very angry. they thought that

the shah was evil and they were very afraid that america was planning to help bring the shah back against the american nation, but was a protest against the policies of the american government i think it was sunday morning. >> we were early. the neighbor across the street looked at me and says, they got your dad, don't they? my father knew it was dangerous and i remember when we came back from dropping him off at the airport, his will was on the dining room table the phone to washington, trying to find out what had happened. >> our government would not release any information who was being held. what are their names? what are their

positions? so i was never sure. for over a month one of the people who was taken. they wouldn't confirm anything >> i mean, the first 30 days was hard because you were, you know solitary as you sat tied to a chair and at night they'd tie you to your wrist, to your ankles. and that's how you slept. >> i had two interrogators, a female and a male. they said to me, you're a member of the nest of spies. they were paranoid. they thought that we were always spying on iran we were doing something evil. >> we have found no evidence that proves that these people are diplomats. all evidence proves that these people are spies my father became one of the, quote, unquote spies. >> he was much of the time, not allowed to talk to the people with him.

>> most of the time we were blindfolded. all i had were what i could hear the chanting crowd, which kept chanting death to america and america >> you could hear individuals shooting, and you don't know what they were shooting at escaped out the back gate of the embassy. >> the day the embassy was being overrun. and there they were in the middle of tehran. not quite sure where they were going. looking for refuge wherever they could find it it was like a bonfire. >> iran was. and these six americans got caught up in it and were stranded. >> bob anders and the likes and the stafford's and lee schatz. there was really nowhere to turn except for other embassies. that was the only hope that they had. but in order to get to another

embassy, you're out on the street where the americans were not popular in tehran. >> we went out in the direction of the british embassy. when we got within about a couple of blocks, we could see there was a demonstration going on in front of it. if we had been found, we would have been hostages as well. bob said that his apartment wasn't far away. >> we went to my apartment. we didn't know what was going to happen. >> it was time limited. how long we could survive in that apartment. basically, we knew that eventually they would search all of the houses. they would get into the office where the records were kept or the embassy leases, and they would send teams out. they would find everyone. so we were going to move. >> we moved around to several different places, and i have a ace in the hole. i hope bob andrews reached out to his counterpart at the canadian embassy, john sheardown.

>> they called sheardown and asked if he >> john said, why didn't you call sooner? >> it all started on a sunday and then saturday we were finally in safety. we thought we were thanksgiving parades around the country with special appearances by chef bobby flay jennifer hudson, t.i., and more. >> john berman and erica hill host, cnn. thanksgiving in america live coverage starts at 8:00 on cnn sheila ross u-box it's >> paint it up, powder it up and you ought to be glad oh, good. good girl. we're gonna go back. >> you were made to chase your passions. we were made to put them in a package.

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>> welcome back to how it really happened after the siege at the u.s. embassy began, some of the hostages were being subjected to public humiliation by their iranian captors. others were reportedly being tortured behind the walls of the compound. anger and frustration in the united states was at its boiling point. but the worst was yet to come sukhumi, united states marine corps. >> i tried to do my love and my family wasn't getting better. >> it was getting worse. >> it was bad. they could do whatever they wanted to with us at any time in the bam! door comes blasting open. two guys in military uniforms against the wall. put your

hands up against the wall. and we could hear them doing this all the way up and down the hallway where they had everybody. >> and so they took us all intoo a room, and they lined us up against the wall. >> and then all of a sudden, somebody yelled out a command and they started making noise like they were jacking rounds in the chamber. and then it got real quiet, like they were waiting for a command to fire i really thought i was really about to die but then they took us one at a time. they strip search us, and they took us and put us back in our room. >> we were stripped of our freedom, our dignity and our pride the iranian hostage crisis. >> it's a very definitive moment in american history. now, the one bright spot in that moment is that six state department officers were able to get away and they took refuge in the canadian embassy. we knew broadly speaking, what was happening at the embassy we

assumed the hostages were not being very >> that was, you know, heart rending. i mean, there are friends. for us, it was mostly a matter of just getting through the days. >> at first it was quite comfortable. >> most of us read books or we played games or slept a lot. just going day by day then as time went on, we could start saying, there are some people missing. >> where are they? and then actually really go looking for them. it could have been really dangerous in early january, we had been there almost two months and we began to realize that as more time went on, there were bigger chances of us being found by accident or somebody got sick or needed to go to the hospital and it just

was inevitable that something would happen. >> there was no movement on the hostages we can't stay here until they negotiate their release. >> if the hostages had been released, we felt we could be a problem. >> we started to realize that we couldn't just join up with the other hostages when they would be released because they would say, where have you been that everybody at the american embassy was a spy. >> they really did. the fact that these six people were hiding would only have confirmed their suspicions. >> it just seemed like we were pushing our luck. we had no choice, you know, we couldn't stay there we're leaving. the only question is how. >> there was no good way out. someone was going to have to come and get them the picture because one thing cia is very good at is getting people out of really sticky

situations. it came in a memo the state department people, they sent a memo to the cia saying, we've got to try and figure out how to get them out. >> and so tony mendez who was solution. >> tony mendez and his team in the office of technical services, that's what they do. >> we're getting ready to do what we call an exfiltration. we were running out of time and he came up with the idea just kind of randomly and it was a ridiculously good idea about it. >> is this really true? >> never this could happen mom and dad said you were kidnaped from a hospital. >> i had no idea. >> i declare to be your only savior come on. >> poisoned seriously

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price tag. go to harry's dot com slash tv to claim your $5 trial. >> cnn this morning with kasie hunt. >> weekdays at 5:00 eastern five tal kopan on it was a wildly violent and dangerous time in iran. >> so the six american officials that escaped, if any iranians knew that they were there, then we've got problems every day was compounding the risk of something stupid happening my husband tony mendez, he had to try and figure out how to get them out. >> that was tony's business. >> i was working as a identity transformation specialist,

which is a bureaucratic way of saying we made disguises and false identities. >> tony was an artist, and he saw an ad in the paper in denver that said, wanted to work for the u.s. government. an artist work at the cia. they were looking for a counterfeiter, forger and and he was in they hired him. he then became chief of disguise. >> it's all about magic and illusion. >> and it works. the president of the united states, he made the final decision i got a message from washington that said the president has approved your mission. good luck. we were ready to roll al-qaim >> there's a knock on the door. i opened the door and there's two guys standing there in trench coats. >> tony mendez and ed johnson. people whose expertise is to get in and out of dangerous places they said, okay, we've got some plans to get you out

of here. >> and they told us three possible cover stories. >> one, that we were engineers petroleum engineers. >> that's a field where you need to know something. and it would be easy for somebody to realize that we didn't two, we were teachers the international school was closed, so being teachers looking for jobs didn't make sense. >> these were unlikely to hold up to real scrutiny and they came upon a really wild idea that that wound up being the perfect idea. >> the third was the hollywood story. >> we're going to go make a fake movie, and they immediately discarded the teachers, and they discarded the other. and they said, we like the hollywood thing in their business. >> typically you want to fly below the radar. and they went completely the opposite way the story of argo

film argo, ben affleck plays the real life cia disguise expert tony mendez, who can't afford to wait around till spring. >> the only way out of that city is the airport. >> tony mendez had been the chief of disguise for cia, so he had reached out to people in hollywood. he had a friend named john chambers who actually won an academy award for planet of the apes, and john was the one who told tony, just say you're part of a scouting location crew for a hollywood movie. you'll be able to go anywhere. >> you know the science fiction movies, star trek, star wars. >> they need an exotic location to shoot. moonscape mars. desert. you know i fly into tehran. we all fly out together as a film crew and so that was the genesis of this exfiltration idea. >> they were a film crew based in canada, and they were looking for a place to film this scenario. >> i thought was brilliant. who better than hollywood people to show up in the middle of a revolution and try to shoot a movie? >> it was a compelling thought. everybody knows that people

from hollywood are a little eccentric so the idea was set up, a movie company and come up with a movie that would make sense to send a location crew to tehran during this time period. >> it's going to be a middle eastern sci fi thriller. >> fade in on a starship landing an exotic middle eastern vibe. women gather offering ecstatic libations to the sky. gods. argo science fantasy adventure they found a script. >> they named it after a kind of foul language. knock knock joke that we used to tell. >> what does argo mean? >> argo was a short way of saying, oh, go yourself. >> it means argo yourself. >> we started putting together studio six productions. the reason we call it a studio six, by the way, is because there were six people who were rescuing them. so that was part of the fun just to have that right up in front. >> the hollywood scenario came

with all the trimmings. >> he had a script. we even had some drawings and there was somebody back in hollywood that would answer check on us character information where we were from, background information to learn one of them is the cinematographer one of them is the director. >> one of them is the script writer i was terry harris. >> i i had the script. >> i was a location manager i have a business card here. it is studio six. my name there was robert baker, location manager they're going to have to learn it and live it in order to get through the airport. >> and then off they went in tehran the iranian parliament met to discuss the hostage

crisis and demanded that the united states repent what they called its crimes under the shah the actions of iran have shocked the civilized world everybody now had a television in their living room and they tuned in to the hostage crisis. >> every single night. and watched what was not going on because there was no change. >> this was a week of frustration for the families of the american hostages in iran. there were many signs that pointed to a release of their loved ones, but by week's end, they were still being held captive but then khomeini decided that the really smart thing to do would be to release the women and people of color. >> and so they did 13 people. they actually told us we released these people. so that in solidarity with the poor, oppressed peoples of the united states

that americans would say, oh they're really good guys. and basically divide the american people and get a lot of the american people on their side of course, it didn't work that way at all they always told us in our interrogations, it's not you, the american people we hate. >> it's your government. but we will use you to humiliate your government night that's good for the soul. >> join anderson cooper and laura coates for cnn heroes, an all star tribute. >> thank you guys. >> meet the honorees and celebrate their life changing achievements. >> they're ordinary people doing extraordinary things. >> then find out who'll be named the cnn hero of the year. >> it's really incredible plus, don't miss a special tribute to this year's legacy award honoree, michael j. >> fox cnn heroes, an all star tribute sunday december 8th on cnn happy holidays. >> we're going to need a

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funny. >> and it's all to go i was getting letters from barbara i would like to send my love to my wife, barbara, and my two children, alexander and ariana the press literally parked outside of my parents home in brooklyn. >> they walk out. what's happening? what's happening my son, as a three year old, how do you deal with the uncertainty of not knowing what's happening to to daddy will he come home we didn't know what he was going through and that's something that we had to live with. and that is hard we were brought to evin prison automatic time it brought great profound fear in our hearts i got to go outside once a month on

average, but there were months. >> there were 2 or 3 months when i didn't go outside at all most the time we were just locked up inside they didn't give us any news. they didn't want us to know anything the whole fight was and my children are well and happy and communication was fairly limited. >> you'd always be stuck in front of the television and sometimes you get a glance where they had a picture of him. it was very very tough on my mom here she is, her husband is being held. what's going to happ happen with her life and what is she going to do? >> i need my husband, my children need their father still dark. >> i think tony wanted to do it early because people are sluggish at 5 a.m. and so it

was a good time for us to go through the formalities. >> and then when we got to the airport, the lights just seemed so bright. we had not been in public for months at that point, and we're supposed to look for tony and he's over there at swissair and he's smiling, which is the sign that we're good to go we had to deal with immigration and that was the scary part. >> you know, that was where if this was going to fail, that was what was going to be the cause the eight of us arrived at immigration, put down our authentic looking, phony document packages. >> we had been told to destroy anything with our real names on it. >> the canadian parliament they gave us real passports for those folks with cover names. >> the problem with brand new passports is when you come into a country, your passport gets stamped to show that you've entered the country. but with these brand new passports, they don't have that. so tony and

ed put in the documentation. so that it will look like that they've already been there all along waiting area, so that was a little bit scary because a lot of people had seen my face and kathy and joe's face because we were all doing the visa interviews and we probably saw more iranians than anybody else so i was worried about one of us being identified and they called our flight. >> when they call your flight, you go through the security check and into a smaller waiting room they announced that there was a mechanical problem, and it would be three hours. >> of course, that was a panic because three hours could turn into six hours. >> there's always the realization that this thing could fail, that some something could happen. >> when they started making the movie argo, tony said, you know, they're going to change some things in real life.

>> real it will be as boring as possible, that there won't be any hiccups, that there won't be any last minute surprises diddy get off. >> then it cannot. >> unlike the movie in which there's gunmen, you know, chasing after them down the runway anticlimactic at the airport, they get on the plane and they fly off to freedom. >> it was a relief to get in the plane and on a seat. the first step of the journey of actually leaving. >> we were lucky that that's all you can say for american diplomats. and wives of two of them were spirited out of iran over the weekend by canadian embassy officials. they'd given the americans secret refuge since militants took over the u.s. embassy last november. >> i asked them to not ever let on that cia was involved if it

was a secret, and to make world knows that this is a canadian operation. and therefore the the attention won't be turned on the americans in the embassy who were being held this dramatic escape is bound to refocus attention on the hostage crisis. >> and in this volatile climate, there is concern about what happens next thanksgiving parades around the country with special appearances by chef bobby flay jennifer hudson, t.i., and more. >> john berman and erica hill host cnn thanksgiving in america. live coverage starts at eight on cnn eligible. >> owners can receive up to $2,000 on a new gv70 or gv80 exclusively at your local genesis retailers. >> after last month's massive solar flare added a 25th hour to the day. businesses are

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you can save anderson cooper 360 weeknights at eight on cnn was frustrated that the negotiations what little there were weren't going anywhere. >> president carter tried to negotiate. he was so embedded to make sure that we all came home. >> we have tried every possible and feasible effort to resolve this crisis means. we are still continuing those efforts. >> the first few days of april that i had had a visit with a couple of people from the state department. this was not an official state department position, but they came to me ever going to take any action to do anything about this, now is the time. that was when everything went into motion

together with the aircrews, embarked on an operation to prepare for a rescue of the u.s. >> citizens held hostage in iran. >> they went for eight helicopters and helicopters, as we know, are tricky creatures and three had developed a unfixable problem and they got to the landing site. they called it off. and then in the process of getting out of there and flying home they had a collision on the ground. >> eight people lost their lives, eight individuals. they had the guts to try to come over to regain our freedom that any of this was going on and they didn't until jimmy carter went on the air and told them about it. >> i share the disappointment

of the american people that this rescue mission was not successful and i also share the grief he took this very, very personally. >> the iranians, they went into panic mode all the hostages were supposedly all in the compound of the american embassy after the failed rescue attempt, we were spread out around the country because they don't want the united states to to find us ago, this sunday, the hostages were seized in iran. >> yes. is there any reason to hope that they are any closer to being freed you make yourself. >> maybe we'll be home by christmas or maybe we'll be home by my birthday. maybe we'll be home in the summer.

but each one past we would go often to the candlelight vigils in front of the iranian embassy on mass avenue glory, glory hallelujah. >> just holding a candle and singing songs. and every sunday night we would say, i hope i don't see you next week but week after week after week, we were there and they were still held the amount of information that we had, but we found out on november 5th that ronald reagan was elected. >> americans across the country voted in record numbers in some states to make ronald reagan the 40th president of the united states,t made the difference. >> carter was the personification of the satan america and the iranian view of the shah. it was good that our presidential cycle occurred

when it did, because they could then not reward him with the release of the hostages the election through the offices of the algerians. we started to set a negotiation. and so jimmy carter, as a lame duck president, actually negotiated one of the more complicated arrangements that we've ever made my reaction was my bags are packed. >> it was time to go holly bowles bada holly bowles hostage. >> if ever a word has burned itself into the american consciousness it is this. for 14 months, the nation was obsessed with the fate of the americans held hostage in iran. then on tuesday, day 444, they were hostages no longer. >> it took 444 days. and it was only a change of american president that enabled the

release of these hostages actually be turning the job over to somebody else, carter spent in the oval office dealing with the final stages of getting this thing done reporting that the departure of our 52 american hostages is imminent. >> i talked to carter twice when he was in the car with reagan on the way up to the inauguration and i did get him the news that they were being released but they weren't out yet there >> everybody was blindfolded. we were marched outside and put

on busses. >> you drive for, i don't know, 30 or so minutes and all of a sudden it turns right and you hear a sound of a jet engine. and my heart is pounding took us off one at a time, down through the corridor with screaming people america. and they're spitting on us. >> and i could see on the other end of this pathway stairs going up on the algiers plane and by the time we got me halfway there, i was dragging them along rather than pushing me. >> we're boarding the back of this airplane. here you are looking at people that you hadn't seen since november 4th of 1979. >> everybody's saying hello and shaking hands and hugging. >> the pilot comes on and says, please be seated. we must take off very quickly. he starts accelerating, planes shaking and all of a sudden it comes back down to an idol. they turn the runway lights off i mean the iranians really wanted to

to stick it to jimmy carter. and so they waited until the inauguration before we were actually flown until he was out of office. and president reagan was in. >> i, ronald reagan, do solemnly swear. >> i ronald reagan, do solemnly swear. >> president carter was officially out of office. reagan was sworn in, and they let us go. >> we then knew that we were free and joy was enormous. >> just absolutely enormous brooklyn, and we just announced that you know, it was over. >> well the phone call just came, and now it is official. >> alex rosen in his mommy's arms and with sister ari with him, made the announcement. >> daddy's coming home. >> i said, tell everybody. and he goes, daddy's coming home

states. >> there were people holding up signs and thumbs up and high five and the whole bit. it was it was a surprise. it was truly a and very, very heartwarming. i really meant a lot to us. >> they were united in welcoming them home it was just unreal. >> it was the best way i can put it. you know, when you're sitting there thinking about coming home and dreaming about coming home and it didn't match what it was like to come home? >> it's hard to express this sense of joy seeing barbara. seeing those kids it was a mixture of tears and joy at the same time. i was a stranger in many ways but to see those faces and and the smiles that was wonderful coming home, it's a second chance in life. >> i have joe and three wonderful children. i've gone fishing with my boys my daughters walked them down the aisle. i've held my grandkids

my that was a good time. >> i had no idea that i would spend 14 months as a hostage. i never thought i would survive my father never talked a lot about what happened. >> but you could see a big change in him. he became a lot more closed in. he did not handle crowds at all. it was very different. very different. >> i'm just very appreciative that we were able to get out of there alive. there's a picture of me with my hands on my head being led across the compound in front of the embassy building. now there's a bronze statue of me like that and it's not the embassy it's the museum of the den of spies captivity the 52 hostages returned to the united states

as homecoming heroes. >> they were honored in a ticker tape parade in new york and greeted by newly sworn in president reagan at the white house. but despite the hero's welcome, many were left with both physical and psychological scars from their unprecedented ordeal more than four decades later, in 2022, congress passed the iran hostages congressional gold medal act, recognizing their resi