>> thomas erdbrink: once upon a time, on a dusty road, i met a girl.) >> (laughi >> 17 years later, i'm still here. >> joining us now is tehran c bureef for "the new york times..." >> thomas erdbrink, welcome to the program and thank you forg joinin. >> erdbrink: ta-da!rt >> tonight, two of "our man in tehran." (speaking local language): >> more stories from a country at the brink of change. >> in th country especially, if you live with fear, you're done. (woman screaming): >> as the hardliners push back... (people yelling) >> ...some iranians dream america, while others can't forget iran.

>> it's a map of iran. (erdbrink speaking): get back in the car. >> and yet, life and love goes on. g >> erdbrink: we'rena make baby! >> why are you... (gun firing) >> three years later, "our man in tehran." >> frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like yo thank you. and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major support is provided by the john d. and catherine t.hu macafoundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information is available at macfound.org. the ford foundation: working with visionaries on the ont lines of social change worldwide. atordfoundation.org. additional support is provided by the abrams foundation: e committed ellence in journalism. the park foundation, dedicated to hghtening public awarenes of critical issues. the john and helen glessnerly farust. supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and

inspires. and by the frontline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. ad antional support from joseph azrack and igail congdon. rone humming) >> erdbrink: there's one big change compared to the last time that we were filming here in iran, and that is that this time, we have brought a drone, a flying camera. but in iran, in the capital, tehran, drones are shot t of the sky.hi (m gun firing) the last time that somebody flew a drone in tehran, there was a huge panic. (gun firing) (man crying out) (gun firing)

rooftops across the ci from anti-aircraft fire was opened to take the dro down. people crouched down in the streets, duck and covered behind cars it turned out that the drone was operating in the vicinity of the compound of supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei, and that urse. a security risk, of ♪ our camera team and their drone had just arrived in iran when i got a call from the media agency of the ministry of information. i had to hand over the drone immediately. the director, mr. taheri, is an important man. (speing local language) onhe has to give us permisor

whatever we want to film in iran. (taheri speaking): >> erdbrink: his job is not an easy one. he must help me and, at theim same take care not to displease his political and religious superiors. i'm curious to hear his opinion about our last film, knowing that the iranians always start with the polite answer. (taheri speaking): (taheri speaking):

(laughing) in(newsha and erdbrink speg): (woman and newsha speaking): (man and newsha speaking): (laughing) (woman and newsha speaking): (erdbrink and newsha speaking): (laughing)

(chanting): (erdbrink speaking): (taheri speaking): (chanting) >> erdbrink: the images of mr. big mouth caused a stir in iran. modern iranians felt he was a caricature. a disgrace for the country.

and even his fellow religiousre militants unhappy with thehe way he put them spotlight. and there was another downside, according mr. taheri. (taheri speaking): so (erdbrink anayeh speaking): la

(speaking locauage) ♪ is mr. taheri ght? did e first film show too little of the modern and carefree side of tehran?rh pes i should take my cue from state-owned press tv's sunnieprograms. >> typical iranian house, typical inian car. this is how it is. not! i'm about to show why. l-u-x-u-r-y, luxury.

this is what we drive, a beautiful porsche. iran's second-largest active industry? the autobile industry. and everybody loves a xury automobile. t you're goingo buy this car? >> yes, in cash. >> in cash? >> yes. >> i love it. >> okay. cash, he's gonna buy it. i love iran. l >> erdbrin-x-u-r-y, luxury, in tehran. i decide to tag ong with two gentlemen who are better at home in this world. so, this is reza nayebi. >> hello. >> erdbrink: this is mr. tasty. >> mr. taster. >> erdink: and this is another person. >> yes, yes, yes. >> erdbrink: yes, but this is not a modern sight of tehran, is it? >> no, this is not a.. modern sight o (all speaking local language) >> erdbrink: first, they want to get rid of him. he has no place in their modern tehran. >> i want to show you a neighborod. i want to show you a clothing designer. and he is mr. taster, and he s wants w you a couple of restaurants. >> yeah.

fancy district with veout for a expensive homes. so, why this neighborhoo >> this is probably the best neighborhood i know of. it's bukan, located in niavaran. this is probably for the uber-wealthy. if you look to your right, this building right here, this one comes in at abt $11,000 a meter, a square meter. >> erdbrink: what kind of peopl? would live h >> rich. >> erdbrink: but just, just-- just try and describe th a bit more. >> materialistic. people that love things. and there's nothing wrong with being materialistic. ♪ >> erdbrink: and then we go out with mr. taster, a celebrity in tehran. >> mr. taster, mr. taster! (laughing) (mr. taster speaking): (erdbrink speaking):

>> erdbrink: at first glance, all these luxury visits make iran look more like a normal, western nation. ♪ this is mostly because of the sudden popularity of instagram and all the silly events thatit are associatedit. so all these people here arein officially here to brmed about having weddings in thailand. l iraniae to marry in other co ctries, because then they have mixed wedding parties. but another reason for people be here is because they're a instagram sts. this guy over there, 200,000 followers. these three girls, maybe a million.

this is a place to be seen and to see. and we've definitely seen her before. a few years ago, she and her friends were arrested after making an iranian versionn of a wesusic video. ♪ clap along if you feel like a room withoua roof ♪ >> erdbrink: for their indecent behavior, they had to make a public apology on iranian state television. (woman speaking): en ardbrink: they were g suspended sentence of 90 lashes. but today, three years later, the rl from the banned clip has become a celebrated instagram star. >> hello. (erdbrink and woman speaking): (woman and erdbrink speaking): (erdbrink and woman speaking): (erdbrink speaking):

(erdbrink anwoman speaking): (erdbrink speaking): (woman speaking): in (spelocal language):

>> erdbrink: president rouhani made himself enormously popular after being elected by a bringing aboenfold increase in the speed of the internet. everyone is on instagram.ce look, for instansupreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei. there he is.ow 1.6 million fos. speeches, photos, denunciations of other countries. more politics. hassan rouhani, the president of iran.ni hassan rou1.9 million followers. does that make him the mostra famous inian on instagram? no. that honor goes to taraneh alidoosti, an actress with 5.1 million followers. when she speaks out on instagram, the country listens. thanks to the internet, western influences are pouring into the country. like here, another modern arrival in present-day iran.

they're popping up everywhere: cappuccino cafés. were banned for years:s that listen to western music, share t table wi opposite sex, and wear your headscarf balancing on that sudden freedom los like a od call by the governmen "go on, drink as many cappuccinos as you like while roaming the internet, as long as you keep your nose outf our politics." it seemed to work for a while.di these customer't look like they were hoping to overthrow the religious leaders. simmering with discont, iran is everywhere. the volcano can always erupt, at any given moment. (woman speakin:

>>rrdbrink: women waving th headscarves until passersby had filmed them and spread theco images around thtry. (horns honking, people clapping) (man speaking): >> erdbrink: it's a dangerous protest. because for years, the religioum police have d down on women who violated the dress code. their green and white vans had disappeared from the streets for a while. (woman speaking): >> erdbrink: but it's now apparent that they never really left. (woman screaming): >> erdbrink: if you thought that these images belonged to the past, this is a rude awakening. ♪ (woman shouts)

♪ >> erdbrink: the next morning, i afsuddenly see my friend be appear on instagram. those cappuccino cafés.om one of for 20 minutes during rushad hour, she waves her arf on a stick. and she's lucky. she doesn't get arrested. (erdbrink and banafshe speaking): ♪

(laughing)

(erdbrink speaking): ♪ d set all her hopes on woman president rouhani last year.or he would bringfreedom. later, i watch her predent defending protesters on tv. (rouhani speaking): >> erdbrink: but he is overruled by supreme leader khamenei. in the end, he and the revolutionary guards decide what is and what isn't allowed.

♪ even though the president has less of a say in matters than he'd like, his job is still inem highand. at the ministry of interior, an event takes place that will surprise many western onlookers. for three days, an uninterrupted stream of iranians pour inside here.th they line up to put selves forward as candites for the presidency. (people calling) >> erdbrink: so it turnsut that anyone in iran can try to become the next president. that seems very democratic, but everyone knows that only a few candidates will be declaredn eligible to rur office. of the many thousands of candidates, only a handful remain.

♪ this year, there are also some female candidates, but they stand little chance. of course, there are also somedb ls, an attention-seeker, and a man who is against everything. >> erdbrink: but what i missed that morning was the arrival of an old acquaintance, who apparently also sees himself as presidential timber. (erdbrink anman speaking): (erdbrink and man speaking): >> erdbrink: so even mr. big mouth wants to become president

now. ch a lot haged since we filmed here three years ago.ce in my ofor the new york time, my assistant sommayeh's desk has been empty for a while. after the first fi ran on dutch television, she received many marriage proposals. she swept them all aside and left for the united states, t more about that later. in my mother-in-law's house, time hasn't stood still, either. back then, every day at lunchtime, iwas a hive of activity. everyone was talking all at once. (talking and laughing) >> erdbrink: but when i visit newsha's mother today, she sits in her kitchen all alone.

>> erdbrink: grandma died a ar ago. my brother-in-law finally decided to get married and moved out of the house. and newsha's sister, negin, went to seek her fortune in america. (erdbrink speaking): >> erdbrink: it's a recurrent theme in my mily. and my mother-in-law is expert at bringing it up when i least

expect it. "why don't newsha and i have any children yet?" >> erdbrink: and once my mother-in-law gets started, she doesn't stop. (erdbrink and mother speaking): >> erdbrink:veryone in this country gets to have an opinion about our procreation. it's great that newsha is busy

with a new exhibition of her photos. but too busy to have children? that is unacceptable in this country. although newsha has other fish to fry, and i am one of them. >> it's just first time he's here. he didn't help me at all. at all. yes, please film him. he should shy now. lo at the camera and say sorry.he he didn't me at all and he was just busy with himself, so... (laughs) yes. (man speaks inaudibly) yeah. (erdbrink whispering) >> yes, that's true. he says, "i help you a lot sometimes"-- i say yes. " >> erdbrink: sayin, why they don't have baby?"g we're goin make baby!

>> why you should... >> erdbrink: because i'm happy, i want to have a baby. >> yeah, but the thing is, everybody wants me or him to do what they love, but i think when i'm 80 years old, i want to look out of the window, and when it's snowing, and think, rethink, and reflect, and i want to be this 80-years-old happy woman to be, i'm proud in any decision i've ever made. and this is what i love to do. i'm not going to let anyone force me. my family, friends, society, nobody. >> erdbrink: in holland, it's exactly the same. everybody asks me, "when you're going to get a baby?" and so, okay, you know, maybe--t maybe we can'tabies. we don't know. i mean, we're just-- you know what i mea so... >> no, i'm sure one day, we will be parents, but not now. >> erdbrink: and now that newsha started working as a magnum photographer, the babi will

have to wait even longer. ♪ meanwhile, i just have to find out how mr. big mouth is doing,n f it makes some officials unhappy.he i want to know itill fiercely opposes the internet and women wi driver's licenses. or is he too embracing modernity? >> thankou very much. >> erdbrink: thank you. rd brink and ahmadabadi): speaking (erdbrink speaking): eaking):adi and erdbrink

(ahmadabadi speaking): (erdbrink speaking): (erdbrink speaking):

(erdbrink and ahmadabadi speaking): >> erdbrink: so even mr. big mouth has been swayed by the social change in iran. a few years ago, that seemed inconceivable. now his computer is on 24 hours a day. and his wife no longer hides away in the kitchen.s and more, she recor entire conversation on her own cell phone. (eebrink and ahmadabadi's w speaking): (erdbrink speaking): (erdbrink and ahmadabadi speaking):

(ebrink and ahmadabadi's wife speaking): (erdbrink speaking): (erdbrink speaking):

(erdbrink speaking): (ahmadabadi speaking):

>> ebrink: mr. big mouth always makes me chuckle a bit. but make no mistake, his ias he is still the same religious zealot.y equallalous, the religious police have been confronting women on the street, protesters e o dare to climb up on on these power boxes withoua headscarf. on instagram, i see how the situation gets more tense. when this woman refuses to climb down, an officer steamrolls her. (crowd gasps and yells)an she lands badly d breaks a leg. (woman crying): >> erdbrink: she was arrested years in prison.tenced up to ten hi when i seevideo on instagram, i'm amazed at howe cheerfully banafld me a few days earlier how she got the

idea for her action. (erdbrink and banafshe speaking): ea (banafshe spng):

(erdbrink speaking):

>> erdbrink: banafshe's almost carefree tone is in stark r contrast to the stroctions from the religious side. and it was only a matter of time bedre big mouth also weighe in. on instagram, he threatens to kill one of the promoters of the campaign. when you read his rds, he suddenly becomes a lot less funny. "we warned you plenty of times," he writes, "but you haven't changed your ways. one of these days, you will beou slaughtered inhouse. time to say goodbye to your family." first i hoped it was a sick joke. but when we called him, he only doubled down.

he literally said on the phone, "i will sell my pomegranate orchard. i will offer up the $500,000 that it will yield as a reward to anyone who manages to kill her. in addition, the killer willhe receive the weight o tongue in gold." ♪ of course, big mouth mayeem crazy, but after reading his threats, i'm suddenly worried about banafshe. her friends tell me that she has left the country for a while. she didn't tell her friends how long she plans to leave iran. then i find another surprise on instagram: banafshe and her friends singing in the tehran subway on international women's day. >> (singing):

♪ ♪ ♪ >> erdbrink: it is unlikely that the religious leaders will evere allow woto take off their headscarves in public. tohem, that would mean the beginning of the end of the

islamic republic. >> erdink: imagine, you're an average iranian. you're asleep. somebody wakes you up at night and whispers in your ear saying, "you get to go abroad tomorrow. which country would you like to visit?" i think that nine times out of ten, you would get the same answer. (woman and erdbrink speaking):

>> erdbrink: amrika. (newsha's mother speaking): >> erdbrink: there's one time of the day when i can't disturb my mother-in-law. that's when she, along with thousands other iranian moms, sits behind her laptop for her daily skype call with her daughter in america. (mother and negin speaking): >>rdbrink: about one milli iranians live in the united states. and among them are some bigfi . whether a journalist for cnn or t founder of ebay, c.e.o. at uber or vice o president at googl

security adviser to george w. bush, they've all reached the top and they're all of iranian descent. and they all have their roots in this country. ♪ this is hassan.'s 8. for as long as he can remember, he's worked in his family's rice fields. (erdbrink speaking): s

>> erdbrin why was hassan so happy? because hassan is actually one of the smartest kids in this country. he took part in the nationalsi univ exam called the konkour, and over a millionop pe participate in this konkour, and in his special fie.d, 150,000 people compet and they compete for, basically, for a spot. you became number...? >> 21. >> erdbrink: 21. 21 smartest kid... >> in country, and eight in my field. >> erdbrink: eighth in your field. so 21 national, and eighth in his field. this is a super-high number. >> erdbrink: since his results proved he's one of the smartest boys in ir, hassan has become a hero in the village. and he can't move an inch without the whole villagefo owing him. (erdbrink speaking): (villagers applauding) >> thank you, thank you. >> erdbrink: the first to

congratulate h was his grandfather. (erdbrink and grandfather speaking): rdbrink speaking): (erdbrink speaking): (grandfather singing) e brink: granddad is mightily proud of hassan, if

only because it gives him an excuse to burst into song. (grandfather singing) >> erdbrink: hassan is still a bit overwhelmed by his eighth place in mathematics. but now he wants the best of the best. so, he has done his homework on the best american universities. >> erdbrink: stanford.

>> erdbrink: hassan isn't much of a talker. they know that in the village. he's bound to miss them. the next day, he will lee to go to university in distant tehran. and everybody in the village knows that after studying in tehran, along with 98% of those other prize-winning smart students, he will probably go to e u.s.a. lucky him. ♪ hassan's villageeminds me of dolat abad, the town where my assistant, sommayeh, grew up. she took islamic studies there, but increasingly felt suffocated. t ngs seems frozen here. things do not change that much. you know, when i was a little child, it was almost this, likes that it ow. >> erdbrink: three years ago, shcouldn't be clearer. she wouldn't stay in iran.

(sommayeh speaking): (erdbrink and sommayeh speaking): (laughs) ♪ >> erdbrink: sommayeh left far sooner than i had expected.nt she o study journalism at new york's columbia university. i

i de to visit her, curiousng to see how she's doi i'd already read in her emails that it hadn't been easy. shhad to share a tiny room with a former model. her roommate needed the room for herself three days a week. she would have male visitors and needed sommayeh out of the way. whoa. oh, there is a window. >> yeah, there is a very small window at the end of this room. so, welcome to my last year room. >> erdbrk: which bed was yours? >> there. >> erdbrink: next to the window? >> yeah, and imagine that i had my own place, after years fighting to have my own independence in tehran, i got a very nice two-bedroom apartment in tehran and i left everying behind... >> erdbrink: you worked hard for it. >> and came here, yeah. >> erdbrink: so you had a roommate, you come from iran, and what was this roommate like>

ell, she was a very social girl, totally active, into a relationship, you know. i learned a lot from her, but i learned a lot from some slice of life that we totally don't have in iran.d like, it happecouple of times that i would come to my room and she was with her dates and it's a shared room. and, yeah, you know, i didn't know what to do. >> erdbrink: what did you do? >> i would say hi, just... st grabbed some stuff from myd, room and left the room whilei st had come home to. >> erdbrink: "bye!" >> yes, yeah-- "bye, sorry." >> erdbrink: that was quite a different take ofreedom from what she had expected. she and her fellow students now laugh about it. one calls she had to listeness to.

>> it was so funny that she would share every detail of any relationship that she d with d sometimes i'd just say,om. "oh, my god!" >> erdbrink: so how would it be? she would be on the phone, like, "hi, mom..." >> yeah, "hi, mom, thiss guy is doing t that." and it's not just what the guy would do at the, you know, restaurant, everything she would share with her mom. and it was-- oh, my god, i can never ever imagine i havei such a relatiowith my mom. maybe my best frie m bndomut? seriously? mmm, yeah, that was totally different. >> erdbrink: i realize what an enormous culture shock it must ha been for sommayeh. not so much her roommate-- she laughs about that now-- but american society, where seemingly everything goes. so, i can't think of a moreth different environmen tehran. you learn stuff, and it's so calm.

>> yeah, welcome to columbia! (laugh >> erdbrink: and what's up with the hat? >> (laughs): so, umm... >> erdbrink: i mean, why not wear a scarf? >> i'mlanning to keep on... i'm thinking about goi back to iran someday, work from there. so i prefer to follow the rules, you know. in some ways, it sounds coward w that i follow a ruhout believing in it. but i believe in bigger things, like going back and changing not changing them to "bad hijabi" or not wearing hijab,t but if i w be a reporter over there, i prefer to follow rules to some exte, so i can work. so, like, i balance my expectations, so they also balance a bit withe, and hopefully it works.>> rdbrink: i think sommayeh is brave. whereas most iranians in the tu.s. don't want to go ba iran, sommayeh is determined. w

she dot to go back. and if she follows the iranian dress de, she can go back. but that isn't the case for all iranians in america. >> (singing) ♪ (music playing on phone) (mic stops) >> erdbrink: i'm sitting here at this near-abandoned parking loti next to the studiong for the persian superstar andy. andy lives right here in l.a., but he's known in iran as the "prince of persian pop." ery iranian wedding, people play his songs. (andy singing) (audience anting)

>> how are you, my friend? >> erdbrk: not bad. how are you? >> all right. >> erdbrink: nice to meet you! >> nice to meet you, yes. >> erdbrink: like many people, andy used to dream of becoming a rock star. and just before the shah was chased out of the country by khomeini in 1979, andy was about to make his big breakthrough. >> i managed to record one album because cbs record company had just opened a branch in iran... >> ebrink: in tehran. >> in tehran. they discovered me and they said, "hey, we have found thean n rod stewart, we want to take him to america," and all that. and i did a track, and we were on the right track to become the iranian rod stewart. and revolution broke out, so everybody fled and i lost contacts. >> erdbrink: and what made you decide to leave immediately? >> i was going to... that was my plan to leave, because i was discovered. i was going to be an american singer.

(singing) >> erdbrink: the iranian rock star, based in los angeles, became hugely popular in the iran of the mullahs. but soon, his sic was officially banned there. >> when we would do music here, it wou be recorded on vhs tapes. e brink: mm-hmm, video cassettes. >> and smuggled in iran, and people would watch it at home and suddenly it was the thing. it was amazing. >> erdbrink: yeah, so, then comes the point, you're super- famous, and then you would think, "okay, i should have a concert in iran." >> (laughs): right.ev well from the beginning, it was clear our music is banned in iran. our way of life is banned in iran, because we had female dancers. the iranian regime taserican for but thank god that we had the ndportunity to go to dubai the surrounding countries and

then later on, in armenia, uzbekistan, tajikistan, and people would come outside of iran to see us, and that was an amazing feeling, because when they come ouand see us, we feel like the beatles. (both laugh) >> erdbrink: because they were so enthusiastic. >> yeah, hungry for music. h then't seen the artists. (audience chring) (andy singing) >> erdbrk: some of his fans spent their last money on ao ticket tbai or armenia, so that they could see their idol at least once. but the millions of fans inside iran can only dream that the clerics will ever leandy perform in his o country. you actually, you even have one video clip that you, as a sort of animated figure, go back and you fly over iran and then you jump out of a plan it's a

but then you actually a motorcycle and you tour the whole country, and everywhere eople are waving, "welcom back, andy!" >> sure, it's very sad. it's sad because we should be there. we suld be touring every cit every village. i grew up in that country d i love that country. and i always thought that's possible, although it's been 38 years already, maybe more. but i keep thinking that's possible and it will happen. (andy singing) ♪ (fireworks exploding)

♪ >> erdbrink: it's usually in a secret location, pferably far from tehran. the members share information on instagram. what time? how many people? and most importantly, ere? times a year: andy's i a few fan club. it's all very innocent. they onlplay his latest songs. and today, there is a surprise guest, an andy impersonator. he performs all over iran under a surprising name-- mandy.

(erdbrink speaking): (laugh) >> erdbrink: i have a surprise for them. a live connection with their idol in los angeles. we have a lot of people here that are very intereo ed in talkingu. >> erdbrink: like star-struck teens, they waitn line to talk to their hero. some of them have driven for hos to get here. (woman speaking):

>> erdbrink: none of these fans ever saw andy perform iran. they're too young for that. >> (singing along to song) >> erdbrink: this is one of those moments wh i realize what a bizarre country this sometimes is. thespeople have come togethe in secret because the nation's leaders have banned their favorite singer, who sgs innocent songs about love.e even when the wholuntry listens to those songs. (mud squelch kids in the country.the smartest this could be the last day that he trudges through his family's rice fields. life in tehran.ll start his new

(hassan's mother speaking): (erdbrink speaking): >> erdbrink: hassan, with his predection for numbers, 's precisely 10,142 kilometers from h mother's lap to times square, new york-- one way. the return journey is something that most exam winners rarely undertake once they've reached america. (hassan's father speaking):

♪ >> erdbrink: for the last time, hassan will lay his big brainy head to rest in his teenage bed on a pillow fluffed upy his mom. a

and what will he dreut? it's as clear as day. america. ♪ this is westwood, and everything here is iranian. i bet the first person i'llwi come acros speak persian. look, persian pizza. so many iranians live here,le peave started calling the area, "tehrangeles."

most of the iranians here are highly educa you'd almost think that every iranian studied to be a doctor or a lawyer. and what do you study? >> psychobiology. >> erdbrink: because all iranians study something really smart, right? >> yeah. >> erdbrin and you're going to be, like, doctor super-smart? >> hopefully a psychiatrist. >> erdbrink: why all iranians are so smart? >> i don't know-- because theyli had, like, a har in iran, so when they come here, they want to be the best they can be. and, like, i guess, a doctor is the best that you can be, educational-wise. ♪ >> erdbrin what is the american dream? get rich. and, if at all possible, get famous. iranian migrants, of course, want to achieve the same goals. and goorgen zargarian was successful in making it. he started a car repair shop, won the lottery, and also provei to be an a entertainer,

when a video clip he made promoting his mpany went viral on the internet. >> hey, baby. how does your car run? do you have ouble with your transmission? ♪ shift it, shift it, in forward shift it, shift it, in reverse ♪ domestic or foreign. i please you with my service ♪ shift it, shift it, in forward shift it, shift it, in reverse ♪ domestic or foreign i please you with my service ♪ ♪ >> hi, how are you doing? >> erdbrink: hi, how are you doing? good to meet you. >> you, too.in >> erd definitely! definitely. >> thank you so much, how are you?t' >> erdbrink:amazing to see you in real life. you're very famous! >> thank you so much! maybe you're famous more than me.hi >> erdbrink: i you're very, very, very more famous

than me. >> i'm lucky, yeah. >> erdbrink: what do i see here, "een degeneres"? >> i was into that, her show. >> erdbrink: how do you like america?ur >> of i like it here. it's good, yeah. i'm long time here, almost 29 years. >> erdbrink: 29 years? >> 29, my son is born here. >> erdbrink: okay, so this is, america is great. >> of course, i enjoy. >> 40 years, 40 years.

♪ hello, my name is goorgen. let me, i help you shift it. ♪ >> erdbrink: even celebrities like richard gere have their cae paired by goorgen. but despite his popularity, more than anything else, goorgenst l feels iranian. (zargarian andrdbrink speaking):

>> erdbrink: goorgen's big hobby is singing. and he sometimes performs. but he would never have thought of recording a commercial for his garage. (zargarian speaking): >> erdbrink: ♪ ♪ shift it, shift it, in forward

shift it, shift it, in reverse ♪ domestic or foreign i please you with my service ♪ft ♪ shit, shift it, in forward ♪ domestic or foreignn reverse i please you with my service ♪ >> erdbrink: goorgen didn't earn a penny on his video. but he doesn'tare. he enjoys all the attention. c and almost every americanthe talk show, from "ellen degeneres" to local radio stations. . the best local commercial of all time. >> yeah. >> watch the magic! erdbrink: and soon everyone on the internet ran away with it. >> ♪ shift iin forward ♪ domestic or foreign reverse i please you with my service ♪ in ♪ shift it, shift it forward ♪ >> ♪ shift it, shift it in reverse ♪ >> ♪omestic or foreign i plea you with my service ♪ ♪ (cheering and applauding)

♪ >> erdbrink: there are over one million iranians living in theun ed states-- persians, as they're called. and one of those persians lives right here in this house behind me. her name is azadeh, and she is my sister-in-law. (speaking foreign language): >> erdbrink: azadeh moved to the united states ten years ago when she met the love of her life, and she never wants to leave.t also here riw is her sister negin, visiting from iran. she's been here now for six aying in the u.s. orubting

going back to iran. and the third person who you'll see in this house is romina, azadeh's oldest daughter, who has been living here since she s nine years old. she's an all-american girl, but she has one deep wish, and that is to return to tehran, the cit wherything happens. school., i'm gonna go to nursing i'll be done in six years. i'll still be working here in a hospital, and i'll still be missing my country. >> erdbrink: yeah, but the way you live, i mean, how can you say, because then you are here? you... this is america, you have a stable job you have a good

life. >> i have a job, i have a stable t i still miss, i'd still have... >> you have freedom. >> erdbrink: freedom.ka >> i'm sorry, but my freedom there is much more, like, open than here-- yes... >> erdbrin what do you mean? i mean... >> here i'm so busy on social ke, just on my phone.hat's, over there i'm busy with my friends going out, doing stuff, for, like, experiences and... >> erdbrink: experiences, what do you mean? go to parties, experience? >> that's a very big experience, trying to, like, not get caught by the police, thaso another experience that, you know, is... >> erdbrink: exciting. >> it'more... it feels, like, more like you're living there, you know, rather than here. it's more like the routine of wake up, work, school, maybe, like, friends after, and then... ♪ >> erdbrink: romina went on holiday to iran last year. she had the time of her life. everything was so exciting. drinking on the sly, avoiding the police for not following the dress code.

it was a breath of fresh air in san francisco.ife of luxury romina's reasons for wanting to go back to iran are the same reasons why her mother deced to leave the country. >> i miss my family, i miss my friends, and i love iran, but i don't want to live in iran anymore. >> anymore. >> anymore. >> but you did but you did when you were a teenager, you lived in iran. >> i did, for 29 years, i did, but.. >> erdbrink: do you ever see yourself moving back to iran? >> yeah. h?ea>> (all laughing) >> what do you have in iran that you don't have it here? >> feeling like i am home. >> so here is not your home? >> no, iean, yes, it is my home, because i live here, i go to school here. but, it's that moment when you walk off the plane, and you're,i ke, "welcome to..." like, you know, it's, like, the scarf comes out, it's, it's...th there's g bad about it.

i don't... how is it... okay, look at me i'm mo liberal, like, i don't cover myself, it's, like, you know, i've totally, like, adapted to the way girls dress here, live here,ou know? but, if... isn't it funny that i'd be okay with covering myself for the whole summer in that weather than be here in shorts and bikinis all the time, like? what? >> i just don't get it. (music playing on speakers) (speaking indistinctly) >> erdbrink: i could easily find a thousand iranians who would gladly change places with romina and her american lifestyle. your friend in an old prius, blasting music in a parking lot as long as you like. >> i moved here when i w nine, so i completely had to adapt into the typical, like, "cali girl," you know?hawhy w

you ve a tattoon your neck that says... >> "god is with me" in farsi. >> yeah. >> yeah. is that, how is that cali girl? i still like to stay, like, close to my roots. that's why i have the tattoo. >> erdbrink: b in iran, no one has a tattoo. >> because they don't appreciatt it until they hamove away or they have to move out of the country. >> erdbrink: but what made you do that, that suddenly you think, "i want to put 'god is with me' on neck"? >> it just means something to me. it means something close to my heart. like, all my other tattoos have meaning to me. >> erdbrink: what is, what are e other tattoos? >> it's a map of iran. >> erdbrink: a map of iran? >> yea h,li o tf neut oit. (erdbrin):kispng get back in the car. >> (singing along with music):

(erdbrink speaking):

>> erdbrink: goorgen will always remember the day he left iran 3e s ago. ♪ for hassan, that journey is just starting. the first st on his way to stanford university is tehran. ♪ (hassan's grandfather speaking):

(speaking indistinctly) (family offering goodbyes) (horn beeps) ♪ >> erdbrink: since he became onm

of thet brilliant students in iran,assan started dreaming of a future in the u.s. but most of the iranians living in the u.s. can't stop dreaming about iran. why do you think iranians, evena when they live a when they are, you know, at, like a beautiful campus like here, why you think they are still so busy with iran? i mean, i'm sure if someone from colombia passes by, they are not only busy with colombia, oron sofrom belgium, but iranians, they are so busy with iran. even when they live tens of thousands of miles away. >> there are so tensions about my count, you know? i think we are passing from very important... this, this passage from tradition to mernity is not easy. it takes maybe a couple of generations, so that we feel comfortable with what we are, who we are. i am here, i wear my scarf. i care about what i wear,

because i have hope to go back, and i know about the complexities over there. this country, i an, iran, keeps me constantly be aware of the decisions i make, because it's like a very sick child that you have, that you cannot ignore it. you know, that's not going to get better, but you cannot juste disappointed. you want to do whatever you can to help it. and i'm not disappointed, i'm still hopeful, and i do my best. >> erdbrin sommayeh is still hopeful that the sick child iran will one day recover. but the current american president doesn't share that optimism. >> this afternoon, in a little while, i'll be giving a speech on iran. >> erdbrink: if there was any

umdoubt about how serious was, it disappeared when heti appointed his new al security adviser. john bolton had overhe years made no secret of his plans for iran. >> ...policy of the united states of america should be the tehran.w of the mullahs' regime >> erdbrink: and said so ssidents in paris in 2017.anian >> the behavior and the objectives of the regime are not going to cnge, and therefore the only solution is to change (applause and cheering) and that's... and that's why, before 2019, we here will celebrate in tehran.h. thank you very m ♪ heers and applause) >> i am announcing today that the united states will withdraw from the iran nuclear deal. we will be instituting the

highest level of ecomic sanction. thank you very much. this will make america much safer-- thank you very much. ♪ ♪ ca >> erdbrink: when to live here 17 years ago, it was as if i'd landed on a different planet. as soon as i stepped off the plane in tehran, the door to the outside world was shut. this isolation ended recently, after internet and sial media opened up the country. iran is now rapidly becoming more modern.

some leaders do their utmost toc and i saw the ugly sidhat battle this week. kavous, the father of a friend of mine, was arrested ouof the blue. he was charged with spying. ♪ and just thr weeks later, i typed this headline for "the new york times." >> deloping news this hour. a prominent academic, believed to be a dual iranian-canadian citizen, has died in prison after being arrested last month. today his son, raam emami, posted on twitter that his father was arrested on the 24th of january, and that "the news of his death was released to my mom on friday. i still can't believe this."

>> erdbrink: i couldn't believe what i was hearing.-f i thought it was fched that he would be a spy, but now kavous was found d his cell. i asked his son to come over. the intelligence services have forbidden him to talk about the >> they said that he hg himself in his cell. and they showed my uncle some marks on his neck, on the back of his neck, and he had some bruises over his body, too. they said, "oh, this is probably when, you kn, he was hanging, he probably hit somewhere." um... >> erdbrink: but wasn't your h father in, like,h-security prison? >> you know, that's the thing. he was, you know, if he was such an important person in a high-security cell, how did it fogo, you know, unmonitore such a long time?al for them tw such a thing to happen?

>> erdbrink: when they called your mother, your mother hadn't seen your father in two weeks. what did they say to her? they finally said, "oh, so you want to see your husband. y we'll ta to him. he's dead." and my momtarted laughing, because she didn't believe it. she thought that they were just playing mind games wh her. and they're, like, "how dare you laugh in here? do you know where you are? and she was just hysterical,ou." because she couldn't believe it. and so they finally took my mom and my uncle, and they drove them to the coroner's office, where my dad's body was apparently, like, on tse steel medical tables, you know. and my mom just ke kissing my dad. and she couldn't believe it. she... obviously, she was just in complete hysteria. and... just... it was impossible for her to fathom, because this was, this scenario of this event happening the way it did was the last thing we ever tught would

happen to our family. >> erdbrink: aft studying in the u.s., kavous didn't stay in the west. head been granted a canadi passport, but still took his family back to iran, because he wanted to help build up the countr and he went on to do that for 30 years, until he was arrested and accused of spying.wo but whd they target your father, who was a professor for 27 years at one of iran'most prominent universities? why uld they target him? >> i mean, it's a question that i don't think i will ever know the answer to. that and my dad's real cause of death are these two questions that i don't think i'll ever get to know he full spectrum of the truth is. because, you know, while i'm 100% convinced and sure, and i think everybody else is, of my father's innocence in this story, there is a whol spectrum of a thousand things that could have happened that i can't speculate on.

i can't... and it'll just, like, drive my mind to go crazy, unless i have real, hard facts of actual why he was, you know, and this is what our lawrs are trying to do, too, through legal channels, arrested, why was hethis man interrogated, why wasn't he allowed to communicate with hisw family, and how, a was hideath, you know, so irresponsibly, you know, not prevented? ♪ >> erdbrink: so, the funeral was today. and, um, yeah, i mean, it was

dramatic. with rain.ll, it was pouring we were on top of this really cold mountain outside of tehran. there were around 100 people. now, kavous emami was a really popular guy in the city, but many people had been afraid to come to e funeral. and actually at the funeral, the were people who clearl hadn't come to pay their last respects, but to keep an eye on us-- men, you know, on cell phon talking, taking picture of people. and at the point when they, when they brought in the body, maryam, kavous's wife, just let out this primal scream. and she started, like, yelling, like, she said, "why didn't i talk to the press earlier? why didn't i throw a racket? whdid i keep silent and le and at that point, everybody

just started crying. i mean, it was intense. it was quite something. ♪ from the moment the news came out about raam's father dying in prison,omething in his environment changed. everybody s suddenly frightened. >> even after these events, so many people n't even answer our phone calls or come to visit us, or...y own dad's university mev't even called us to senend, you know, their regards or condolences. e brink: and he worked there for how many years? >> i think 27 years. >> erdbrink: and they didn'tev call? >> they haven't even called. >> erdbrink: why do you think people are so afraid?>> n this country especially, if you live with fear, you're done. you're done. they'll, they can smell that on you like a dog. and they'll take control of every single aspect of your

life.st and i efuse, not just myself, my brother, my mother... my mher has been so brave during this whole ordeal. um... we just refuse to give in to that fear. it's a crazy story, man, though. it's just, like, it's something... (exhales) ♪ >> erdink: the modern world invading the country is a serious threat to elements of thleadership. sometimes, normal people fall victim to thosfears. in this case, it was raam's fath. and although i've seen this happen before, i found it very difficult to get his story out of my mind that evening.

the next morning, i pulled open the curtains, and what did i see? nothing. well, almost nothing. i've suddenly had my filof tehran's polluted air. wrtunately, there's a qui to escape from it. ♪ to lift my spirits, i catch a train to the caspian sea. t thisin ride is one of the mo beautiful train rides i the world. it's winter now, so the trees are bare. but in spring and summer, it will be intensely green. look at the truccrashed over there. it just came down the mountain. i'm on my way to an old friend, isa saharkhiz, a seasoned journalist who loves his country, but refuses to keep his mouth shut when he sees

political ongdoing. ♪ as a result of his critical articles, it seems he's almost spent more time in prison than out. (saharkhiz speaking): (car door closes) (erdbrink and saharkhi speaking): (saharkhiz and erdbrink speaking): (erdbrink and saharkhiz speaking):

>> erdbrink: i last interviewed isa four years ago.ed he was just relerom prison. but he always had a blue bag i packed and reahis hallway. just in case they came for him again. >> erdbrink:

>> erdbrink: that was four years ago. not long after that conversation, isa was incarcerated again. this time, the price was high:

r twaso yes. his health is poor, his wife left him, and he moved here, a village near the caspian sea. (erdbrink speaking

(erdbrink speaking): (continuing to call geese) >> ebrink: still, it must be strange for isa. being an activist and continuing until you wind up in prison seems to have fallen out of fashion.kh (sah speaking): ea (erdbrink spking):

(erdbrink and saharkhiz speaking): >> erdbrink: isa is finding it very difficult to keep his publication ban. he's itching to get back to work. hibut when he tries to wri children react furiously.

♪ >> erdbrink: it's a good question: is the new generation still prepared to pay the price for a truly free country without repression and tyranny? sleep behind their capos?to and do they mostly celebrate thv freedom theyon instagram? is this contentment only reserved for people who can afford cappuccinos? e

swers to all these questions came unexpectedly juse when i retfrom a vacation outside of iran. yes, yes.w we get sre in iran, too. but whenever it falls, it's always a surprise. schools are closed.nto chaos. people make snowmen, just like they do in the west. well, that element of surprise that comes with snow is also very present in iran's political situation. because you always know that, at some point, there wi be unrest, you just don't know when. well, for me, that surpriscame when i was on the other side of the world, in japan, on a skiing trip, and i started receiving all these videos on my phone-- videos of big, nationwide protests in iran. and these videos, they were quite impressive. in over 80 cities, iranians have tan to the streets, voicin

their frustrations. they were even angry with supreme leader khamenei, who wam called a dictator byof the protesters.nt (chag) also, president rouhani took some heat. (chanting) soon after tt, instagram waser blocked by thenment. i meet with my friend and "l.a. times" correspondent ramin for he couldn't be more sure: the majority of the protesters are people who find it hard to make ends meet. the promise of the nuclear deal was that things would get better for them. but they haven't. >> these people are challenging the day-to-day life, the daily routine.nt they don't have deob. they don't have decent, i mean,

payment-- they're underpaid, they are educated, sometimes uneducated, but they cannot achieve what they want. >> erdbrink: but they are saying, "change this!"nt why can't the governhange this? >> because the government has been failing all the time. i mean, this government cannot address these basic needs of th. peop they cannot, government cannot provide enough jobs. the private sector is unable toy doing for them. there is no foreign investment, there is no domestic investment. so there's no job. >> erdbrink: the security forces employed strong-arm tactics. 25 people were killed. around,000 protesters were arrested. ♪ but it was surprising that tehran was relatively quiet. the regulars at the cappuccino cafés didn't join the other protesters. because the middle classes

didn't join, the protests soon fizzled out. why the middle class isn't joining them? i mean, they are dissatisfiedns about everything, ntly complaining and saying, "this is wrong, that is wrong," and they have points. >> it's a matter of price. the middle class wants to achieve the goaljust by snapping the finger. what is that? just, "we participate in the election, we vote on fridays, and then everything will be promising, as has been promised to us in the campaigns of the elections." >> erdbrink: but they don't want to take to the streets for this. >> no. >> erdbrink: but ty did in 2009. >> they did in 2009... >> erdbrink: when they went by the millions, and they ptested the re-election of ahmadinejad. >> yeah, because that time, thatime, victory seemed very achievable, very near. the middle class is ready to take a risk when victory seems guaranteed. it doesn't seem now. >> erdbrink: do you think these protests will not lead to anything? >> it will accumulate

fre,trations and will re-eme like many previous ones, in different forms under different pretexts. ♪ >> erdbrink: when rouhani was re-elected lasyear, people were cheering in the street. but now ange is coming much too slowly for a generationne spoiled by the inter at the same time, they fear the new sanctions will only strengthen the hardliners and make change even more difficult. >> there is just, like, a general, sort of, resentment, disappointment that now has seeped through all of society on all different levels. people are, like, "oh, what happened, you know, after the deal? you know, nothing got better." and i think obviously the hardliners want that, beuse the more chaos, the situation, the more they can consolide their power. like, president rouhani, for example, had such a huge swath of the populion behind him.

you know, the biggest statement rouhani could make, that he's poweess in this government, to just resign. and it's pretty evident to a lot of people that the government is powerless, but it would make such a bigger statement if they themselves came out, you know, and just say it, you know? just say, "you know what? we can't, we can't help you, ♪ cause our hands are tied." >> erdbrink: so maybe president rouhani couldn't bring the changes his voters wanted, even though he'd given them an instagram revolution and access to a wildly faster internet. but, the internet has ado side, and that downside is that it gives information that iran's leaders don't want.

so, when there are protests in etis country, the internet - that doesn't mean, however, that iranians are isolated. because the outside world has penetrated this country a long time ago. for instance, in the shape of satellite television-- there are over 150 channels that transmit in persian straighty. into this coun and... wo

this is one of thehannels that ali says is very popular here in iran. it's called manoto, and it operates from london. now, as you can e, this is a show about cooking. a guy with tattoos is presenting it. it's much more "now" than like, "the solution of has, mathematical problems in twos" hor "a roundtable discussion between clerics." if youre a young iranian, naturally you're more attracted to this kind of tv, but just like iranian state television, manoto and the other channels have their own political endas. manoto, for instance, shows political documentaries about the time of the shah in beautiful technicolor colors. they show how the shah was receiving president carter back home, or they show how great life was, according to them, before the revolution. now, if you are a young person thwho has never experience

time, then naturally you look outside, you see the smoke, youn see the restrictionsyou think, "hmm, that time was muchr better than ththat i'm living in." so propaganda is on all sides: on state television, yeah, butrs also on the n channels operating from abroad. as a journalist, i try twatch iranian state televisionat least to understand the frame of mind of the people behind it. like last night, when they tried to prove that kavous and his environmentalist colleagues were all spying for the west. >> erdbrink: they used footage from the family's confiscated ho videos. cameras placed to film wildlife are lled high-tech spying equipment, aimed at monitoring iraniamissile movements. camping trips with theamily allegedly took place near secret

nuclear installations. (thost speaking): (man speaking): k: >> erdbrint turns out that security officials have taken the deed to the family home. now they have lost everything.w. it's the last st the two sons and mother decide to leave the count. this is how it ends.y exace month after their father died in his cell, both m sons and the leave iran. they head to canada.

i wait for them in frankfurt, where they change flights. i wond if the family has succeeded in getting out of iran. what happened? o >> they didn't l mom out. she couldn't leave the country.w e just standing at the last security control, and then someone walked out and staed calling her name... >> moments before the flight. >> erdbrink: le a guy in an official suit, or... just... >> like a plainclothes suit guy. s >> erdbrink: a plaincloty? >> yeah, and he basically was calling out my mom's name, and we immediately knew that something was wrong, as soon as we heard her last name. and, um... >> erdbrink: what did she say? >> and it was really close to the flight. we both wish they had just told us sooner. we might have call someone. it was literally, like, 20 minutes before, ten minutes before the flight. moments from before boarding. >> the last moment, yeah. >> erdbrink: and what did your, what did your mom say?

i mean, the dogs were already on the plane? you guys were allowed to go? >> yes. >> thesaid, "the two sons can go, but maryam has to stay back." >> and they said, "you justli have, literally two minutes to make a decision." i mean, "do you want to stay org do you want you have to decide now." >> and our mom forced us to, like, just get on the plane.an "iyou out of this country." i mean, that's like... she is so selfless and so full of love, like, she just wanted us to be out of here, and just safe and in one piece. and we luckily hadome friends at the airport with us, you know, who were with our mom, so we didn't just leave her on her own. there was, like, ten, 12 people with her, but they took her iranian passport away and saidth she can't leave the country now. >> erdbrink: so you think you guys... i mean, your mom is there, you think maybe you'll gl back if they don't her to come out? >> i just talked to my mom, and she told me, "don't ever come back." she said, "no matter what happens. even if i were to die..." (crying) like, she's, like, "just don't come back. i'm going to make su that you come out safe and sound."

(erdbrink sighs) >> mean, how much can one family go through in just a couple of weeks, you know?rr i mean, theyt with no evidence, my dad died in prison with no explanation; the case,co ing to them, is closed, and the legal channels are very limited... >> and they continue to smear our family. >> and they continue to smear our family, to bother our family, to pressure oufamily, to threaten our family. i mean, we're tired of it. >> erdbrink: and for what?or >>hat? i mean, aren't we living in a... where are we living? i mean, this is... this is not the iran we imined. this is not the iran we envisioned. this is not the iran my fathernt to be a part of. >> (sniffs)

♪ >> erdbrink: okay. so you guys are... it's b, so... now we're going to say... >> thank you so much, man. (erdbrink talking softly) one piece. (erdbrink laughs) ♪ >> erdbrink: a few weeks later, an extraordinary reversal. president rouhani's minister of intelligence declares th there

were no grounds for the accusation of espionage against their father. but it didn't change anything. kavous is dead, and his wife is still not allowed to leave the country. ♪ it's always the same in iran. life here is unpredictable. you get tossedack and forth between happiness and sadness. so, along with all the other oanians, i too feel momen doubt., but thlking in winding alleys, i stumble across a man with a plastic bag. he suddenly turns around, looks at me, and smiles. erhe thinks i'm a stranger who doesn't speak his language.

>> (singing)ngs me a song. goodbye, my friend, goodbye. >> erdbrink: and just as soon ae ppeared, he disappears again. so, even after 17 years, iranians never fail to surprise me. ♪ i wanted to show you an iran

different from the impressionns most america have from following the tv news. there is so much more to it than this... >> erdbrink: so i have mainly styk to those people i alre knew. people who trusted me and who, one by one, are willing to share their stories and thoughts in front of the camera. all honest and open people, brave without exception, and always up for a good laugh. (laughing) people and, of course,athose and her family, i feel at home here, in spite of everything. (erdbrink speaking): so there is one thing i know for sure: i'm not leaving anytime soon. i'm not done telling stories i about iran and tnian

people. not yet. ♪ >> got to pbs.org/frontline for more of frontline's reporting on iran and it's neighbors, the"b 3-hour serieter rivals" about the dangerous rivalry between iran and sau arabia. >> they started this sectarian mess, not us. >> nonsense, the iranians are the ones who are exporting terrorism.si >> then our films page where you can watch more than 200 frontline documentaries. community on facebook,ttere and s.org/frontline. >> hercomes the federal government saying that they own eirs, but my dad said hell no.is >> how one family's fight against the government. >> ...the armed standoff in bunkerville. >> this became sort of this rallying cry, for anti-government extremists everywhere. >> sparked a movement >> ...anti-government patriot grps...

>> ...ammon bundy is in federal custody now. >> free the patriots! >> the bundys defied three court orders, and the rule of law. >> next time on frontline... >> frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major support is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committedo to building just, verdant and peaceful world. more information is available at macfound.org. the ford foundation: working with visionaries on the front worldwide.ocial change at fordfoundation.org. additional support is provided by the abrams foundation: committed to excellence in journalism.n, the park foundatedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issu. the john and helen glessner family trust. supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. and by the frontline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler.

and additional support from joseph azrack and abigail congdon. captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> for more on ts and other frontline programs, visit our website at pbs.org/frontline. "frontline's" "our man in tehran" is available on dvd. to order, visit shop.pbs.org or call 1-800-play-pbs. "frontline" is also availablelo for do on itunes. ♪

you're watching the liit's time to select america's favorite book, in the great american read! come to the website and see our collection of america's 100 best-loved novels. is your favorite on the list? vote for your book, then share your choice so your friends and family can join in. the voting is open now! i'm meredith vieira. help us choose america's favorite book, on the great american read. me to pbs.org/greatamericanread and vote for your favorite today!

- [carlo after winning e super wl with the new york giants, michael strahan retired as one of the greatest defensive players to ever play the game. but when all is said and done, he may endp being remembered more for his career after football. - [michael] when you said black person, mark, every black person went, what? los] so what gave this hall of fame tough guy the stamina to tackle both personal and professional controversy on his way to breaking big several times over and becoming one of the most widely recevnized faces on tision? - [man] and good morning, america. a lot of news to get to this morning. - [carlos] what makes people successful? what are thexpected turns in life toat propel people greatness?