reza: mr.sen fakrizadeh, he was, your colleague, one of iran's leading scientists, he was assassinated. reza: does it make you question iran's security structure, like how could this happen on your soil? mr. salehi: this is not a vy complicated issue. if you want to kill somebody and they can always hire some people to kill somebody. reza: your government accused israel of carrying out the assassination. mr. salehi: certainly it is israel, yes, with the support of the united states. reza: something they they both deny or haven't commented on. do you worry about your own safety? mr. salehi: i don't worry about it because we believe in destiny, destiny is in the hands of god. eventually we have to die, sooner or later. you die as a martyr, so much the better. judy: fascinating interview. that was special correspondent, reza sayah, in tehran. the biden administration is struggling to respond to a new surge of migrant children at the country's southern border. our yamiche alcindor takes a deeper lo

reza: what are you asking?, you are talking to an american audience who have seen some horrific images. tell the american people what hamas plans to do to end the fighting. >> hamas is looking for justice, and they are adapting. reza: what can you do right now? >> i am telling you. we are adopting the right that has been granted for the masses, the nations. reza: the right to fight back? >> the right to fight back. reza: so you're suggesting the conflict is going to continue? be specific. what do you want to happen immediately. >> releasing 7000 plus prisoners. they are heroes, not criminals. finishing the occupation. we can draft it. you are asking something which is not fair because it is always me. reza: no, it is not. i have you now, so i am asking. >> palestinians are living under occupation. we have only two ways. either the international community excess pay the tax of independence of the palestinians, or we will do it all ourselves. reza: what hamas decides to do from here is a daunting open question. w

[applause] reza, reza, reza, reza, reza... >> john, john, john, john, john. >> john: talk about jesus you've heard of jesus? >> john: i think everybody has heard of jesus. i think everyone in the world has a relationship with jesus whether they want one or not. this book is about jesus the man, not so much jesus the christ. >> it's about the historical jesus, not the christ of faith. but, i mean, the fact of the matter is whether you believe that jesus was god incarnate, god made flesh or not, you believe that he was also man, and if he was man, then he lived in a specific time and place, and that time and place kind of matters. it's like if you really want to know who he was, you have to put his words and his actions in the context of the world in which he lived. the teachings have to be seen according to the social ills that he confronted and the political forces that he confronted. >> john: i loved this book. >> thanks. >> john: and the time and place in which he lived, it was total, total chaos, possibly the most chaotic time in that region, and that region is the middle east. [la

reza: did russia have any -- >> no.ouple of days ago in moscow and we had reception with them. we chatted over many things. they were very warm, and they are our friends. reza: these days, he gets plenty of warm receptions in government organized events in tehran, where he criticizes the israeli government's bombing campaign of gaza, occupation of public land, and defends the october 7 terror attacks that killed more than 1000 civilians in israeli towns bordering gaza. you say the occupation and the illegal settlements are the root cause of this conflict. you say israel is to blame. but i have to ask you, how did the attacks of october 7 help resolve these issues? >> the attack of the seventh of october is a reaction to the big action of occupation. sometimes you do it with a stone and sometimes you do it with rockets. that has shaken the israeli army. now you have awakened the international community that palestine is not to be wasted. for us, when the so-called peaceful solutions are exhausted and the peace process fa

. >> reza aslan, author and scholar. he a muslim who was once an evan evangelical christian. >> when a muslim who starts to write about jesus, all of a sudden the knives comes out. >> the life and times of jesus of nazareth. >>> reza aslan. pleasure to have you. >> thank you for having me. >> look at the conversation you started with this book, "zealot", the life and times of jesus of nazareth. the jesus that so many of us came to know through the bible through pastors was also the jesus of your youth. >> that's right. yeah, when i was 15 years old, i heard the gospel story for the first time. it was a transformative story for me. i didn't grow up with much religious teaching. when we came to the united states to iran, we scrubbed our history, the 1980s was not a time to be of iran ian origin. i was deeply spiritual kid. didn't have much instruction. but maybe what it had to could with childhood images of revolutionary iran, the way in which i experienced in a deep and profound way the way that religion has a power to tr

and i do want to get, reza, your views of

reza: what iranian women say they want our better lives.e iranian government to deliver. failure to do so will likely fuel the discontent that sparked iran's women led protest and still bruise one year later. i am reza sayah in tehran. ♪ amna: princeton graduate student elizabeth tsurkov has been missing for six months. a dual russian-israeli citizen with family in the u.s., she was conducting research for her doctoral degree in baghdad when she was believed to be kidnapped by an iraqi militia. i spoke recently with her sister, emma tsurkov, who lives in the u.s., and has been trying to get government officials and princeton to do more to bring her sister home. i asked emma how she first learned her sister had been taken. emma: we are very close, we text each other daily. she loves my son so much, truly the apple of her eye. no matter what is going on and even if she is mad at me, she will always respond to pictures of him. so i sent her a picture of him, and then a few hours went by and then at the point at which it was 12 hours and she ha

he says "reza aslan is not a new testament scholar. book is educated amateur summary and synthesis of a particularly skeptical but quite long-established line of new testament scholarship presented to us as simple fact." what do you say to that? >> i think the opinion about the scholarship is perfectly fine. that's a good opinion. i actually cite all the scholars who disagree with every single point that i make in the book. and i cite all the scholars who agree with me. i mean, it turns out that people have been writing about jesus for a very, very long time. and so, you know, i'm immersed in that studies. but to the credentials part, and i really hate doing this because there is nothing more annoying than somebody having to talk about his credentials, but all right, here we go again. my bachelor is from santa clara university, in scripture and tradition which is fancy talk for new testament. i have fluency in biblical greek. master's of theological study from harvard. my ph.d. coursework was all done in history of religion. dissertati

one of our guests tonight author reza aslan is on the program this evening. we'll pick off where we left off last night with the united states congress. if you tuned in you might have seen this how this, the 113th congress is perhaps the worst congress -- [ laughter ] -- in the history of not just this nation -- [laughter] -- so we thought we would check in on what today's congressional (bleep)ry was what do they do today? pass a resolution demanding preapproval of all presidential handshakes? [laughter] refuse to vote on anything except whether to add cronuts to the congressional brunch. [laughter] sitting around saying that sax by chambliss is an acceptable name. it's not. it's not okay. it's just not okay. [laughter] my apologies to apologies to ths family. what is congress up to? congress may be ready to call a truce in the budget wars. >> a bipartisan budget deal has been reached to avoid another government shutdown. [ laughter ] [laughter] >> jon: deal? deal? what type of witchcraft is this? deal? the elders have spoken of such wonders but i thought lik

so reza, back to you. listen, we cannot say conclusively here on-air that the cease-fire is over, although it appears from israel that they are saying it is. remind us, with the breaking down of those talks there in egypt where you are, the last time, it seems to me the key issue at least from the side of hamas was the blockade. >> yeah, and i think before we get to that, it's important to point out, if indeed a rocket was fired from gaza into israel, it would be identical to what we saw last week. the last hour. literally, the last hour of the cease-fire talks. rockets were fired from gaza into israel. hamas immediately denied they were responsible. i believe islamic jihad took responsibility, and then things fell apart. if that's the case again today, again, it would be an identical scenario to last week. back to the talks. the sticking point. the reasons for the impasse have remained the same. on one hand, you have hamas. they say they have come too far to back down, not to get some concessions from the

how many women -- >> but reza, be honest, though.ost part it is not a free and open society for women in those states. >> well, it's not in iran. it's not in saudi arabia. it certainly is in indonesia and malaysia. it certainly is in bangladesh. it certainly is in turkey. i mean, again, this is the problem is that you're talking about a religion of 1.5 billion people and certainly it becomes very easy to just simply paint them all with a single brush by saying, well, in saudi arabia they can't drive and so therefore that is somehow representative of islam. it's representative of saudi arabia. >> but hold on. i think that bill maher's point is that these aren't extremists. we often talk about extremists and that we should crack down onists and why aren't muslims speaking out about extremists. in saudi arabia when women can't vote and can't drive and need permission from their husband, that's not extremists. why aren't we talking more about -- that's commonplace. why don't we talk more about the commonplace roles happening in these cou

reza sayah is in islamabad. peter bergen and fran townsend. reza, i want to start with you. telling, this resolution condemns the united states, says the united states had no business conducting this raid. says nothing about pakistan's failures. where do you expect this to head in terms of relations between the country, is this just political pushback or a serious breach? >> reporter: yeah, i think this is nothing more than pakistani politicians giving themselves an opportunity to get behind the microphone and again talk tough against the u.s. it really shows that despite the crisis this government is facing, it doesn't want to plan on changing its approach when it comes to its partnership with washington. it's the same old finger pointing and the accusations. it's domestic damage control. this is a government that's obviously been embarrassed by this episode. it wants to push back and create the impression that it's taken a tough stance against the country that violated its sovereignty. obviously, the obama administration didn't want this. they want to see a government that

reza, that's pretty specific. iran according to agreement signed in geneva, it says it will never develop a nuclear weapon and as you know iranians have always maintained their nuclear program is designed for peaceful purposes but now they stipulate that directly in this agreement. how is the reaction going to be over there? >> reporter: for iran this is not a new position for them. that's what they'll tell you. they'll tell you that repeatedly they have said they're not building a bomb. they'll tell you that no unbiassed objective, credible organization or government has ever made public any evidence that they are actually making a bomb. not even the iaea. so this is an agreement they are happy with and they believe there are steps that western powers can take to verify that they're not making a bomb. what's been fascinating to observe over the last several hours is how politician leaders on both sides have cranked up their pr machine and spun this agreement in a way to make themselves look like the winner. and t

for the pbs newshour, i'm reza sayah, in tehran.mna: to break down what this means for iran's future and how it impacts foreign policy at this crucial juncture, we turn now to suzanne maloney, vice president and director of foreign policy at the brookings institution, a washington, d.c. think tank. let's begin with this helicopter crash. is there any reason to believe this was anything other than an accident, that this could have been foul play? suzanne: the most realistic explanation is the most obvious. it was very poor weather, based on some of the scenes from the rescue efforts. there was fog, rain, and it was a helicopter that was quite old. it is understandable there are conspiracy theories. iranians have a tendency to interpret events in the light of their own history. in particular the region has been aflame recently. iran recently struck israel in an unprecedented attack, and the israeli response was quite mild. given the past history of iranian assassinations of nuclear scientists, it is not surprising there are conspiracy

"believer with reza asland." i want to get your thoughts on the appointment of mike flynn to be the national security adviser, given the fact that mike flynn has called islam, quote, cancer, and that fear of muslims is rational. >> i think it's a dangerous appointment. i think that this is a man who is about to be in charge of what is a very important, very complex fight against an international cabal, a militant organization that does see the world in very cosmic terms. that does believe this is a battle between good and evil, between islam and christianity, between america and the very religion of islam. and having someone in the nsa, running the nsa, who is very much engaged in the same kind of rhetoric only bolsters the propaganda of our enemies, only makes us, i think, more threatened by the possibility of these kind of jihadist attacks. >> taylor, you are a trump supporter, a supporter of mike flynn, when you hear criticisms like this, your response? >> my response is that mike flynn is the exact person who

reza, you have heard several points raised. one is that muslims in this country are trying to bring sharia law. is there a shred of evidence for that? >> no, not a single shred whatsoever. i think somebody needs to remind franklin graham that we don't judge our values in the united states by comparing them to what the saudis do. this is a common refrain that you hear from a lot of anti-muslim activists in the united states including robert spencer that, well, if in saudi arabia, you can't have a church, then, therefore, in the united states, you shouldn't be allowed to have mosques. this is an appalling and laughable argument. >> you know, we can have an argument, and i'm not here to argue. as a christian, i believe that jesus christ is the way of the truth and the light and that no man comes to the father and heaven except through him. i don't believe in islam. i don't believe a word of it. i do respect their right to believe whatever they want to believe. my opinions are not based on hearsay. my opinions are based on 50 years

. >> we continue with a conversation about islam with reza aslan will mccants shadi hamid and michael hanna. >> yes it's true. they are were good muslims. people fighting isis are also muslim. the people who support isis and the people who argue against isis are muslims. so what does this actually say about islam? not that much. >> rose: we conclude this evening with michael mann, the director of a new moviest called black hat. >> i am attracted to doing films that are on the edge of something. edge of, you know the world changing for the characters who are in it. the characters in conflict with each other w themselves ask themselves kind of the fundamental questions about the brave new world they're facing. >> the oscars islam, and a new film called "black hat" when we continue. funding for charl-year rose i >> rose: funding for "charlie rose" has been provided by: >> rose: additional funding provided by: >> and by bloomberg, a provider of multimedia news and information services worldwide. captioning sponsored by rose communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie

reza, we have a couple of minutes left.o want to say when we talk about fundamentalism and we're focusing on christian fundamentalism. you were christian at one point, you're muslim now. do you think that islam suffers from some of the same fundamentalist streaks that christianity does? we should be fair when we're talking broadly about world religions here? >> of course. i wrote a book about the historical muhammad called "no god but god." and i got a lot of ugly e-mails from people abroad and in the united states. it's not christians who are attacking this book. i've had a lot of great christian response. it's the anti-muslim islamophobia. they have different ammunition. >> the book is "zealot, the life and times of jesus of nazareth." reza, you won't see a bump because you can't go beyond one after this but i'm sure there have been some book sales juiced. thank you for your time. >> thanks, guys. >>> coming up, the jersey shore, lots of pork and deep seeded resentme resentment. if that sounds like a typical family reunio

please welcome back to the program reza aslan. [cheers and applause] >> all right.ight. >> jon: reza i just want to be clear you are a muslim. >> shhh. >> jon: why would you write a book on the sphownder of christianity. >> this is my secret muslim plan to destroy christianity. >> jon: i don't know if you remember this you went on fox and the lady was asking the questions and i was looking at it like oh, my god reza is going to strange this will person. >> i did okay. >> jon: you did wonderful. it was incredible. the book is so good. >> thank you. the perfect christmas gift for your jewish friends. [laughter] >> jon: yes. there's nothing we like better around this time of year. [ laughter ] nice picture of him looking judgmentally at us. nice menorah. yeah, hey, enjoy your potato latkes. [laughter] how are you doing otherwise? these are very exciting times for iran. >> absolutely. this nuclear deal has really changed the atmosphere in iran. so much excitement over it. frankly, a little too much excitement over it because it's not really that big of a dmeel so far as

reza it's good to see you.we know connectivityg able to get any word out has been an issue so fill us in. what is the latest on the ground? the latest is still a challenge because many iranians are just now getting back online, just now getting their internet service back. the big new today here in iran, thursday, ishat cell phone users are back online after being off line for the better part of two weeks. and it was a lack of internet connections for cell phne users that perhaps played the biggest rt in this information blackout we saw last week, an information blackout that made it very difficult, nearly impossibly for many people to conclusively report on the magnitude and the scale and the intensity of the protest. that said, indications are that the protests have died down, and when you drive around tehran today, nowhere near the security prence that we saw last week. >> nawaz: reza, let's talk about why these protests are happening now. we mentioned that hike in gasoline prices. do we have any idea why th

reza sayahsn tracking the situation for us. what are you hearing from rebel forc, reza?in this city viewed as the dividing line between the eastern front controlled by the opposition and the western forces. mostly controlled by gadhafi forces. rebel fighters over the past several days have tried to get in the key city. they've been relled by tank units.ey get help from the brit airportsnd a british military officials sayingri the british jets have targeted and destroyed several tanks that have taken aim at the city. this could help the rebel forces to answer the city. over the past 24 hours a lot of disturbing witness accounts of tactics. terrorized a sometime kill civilians. one witness said as he was exiting the city, he saw bodies in the streets. people werefraido recover these. another saying gadhafi soldiers and loyalists going house to house, going inside, taking young men and taking suspected fighters. these are the stories having the opposition call out for the international community to step up the efforts to come in with more help. >> you heard general carter h

let's go now to reza sayah, what do you know about this? still no reaction from the leaders. but it looks like egyptian president mohamed morsy has made at least one concession to the opposition. there were two red-button issues that really fired up and angered the opposition forces, one was a set of decrees the president founta announced last month that game him expanded powers. the other was the draft of the constitution, they said was pushed by a panel that squeezed out the liberal and moderate voices. they demanded he cancel the decrees and postpone the nationwide referendum on that draft. just about an hour ago, there was an announcement that the president has, indeed, cancelled the controversial decrees that gave him additional powers. the announcement that he made last month. however, the nationwide vote on the referendum on the constitution will apparently go on as scheduled on december 15th. so clearly, one of the demands that the opposition had, apparently, the president has given in to that demand. cancelling, annuling the decr d

get to reza.rning to you, though. i'm carol costello. >>> a plane was on approach to an airport in birmingham, alabama. here is a picture of the burned-out plane. it was an a-300. the two people who are dead are said to be the pilot and co-pilot carrying ups cargo. ups flight 1354 originated in louisville, kentucky. those living near the airport awakened to the doom flight crashing into the ground. >> we were in bed and we heard something go over the house and it sounded like a plane had gave out a fuel and we heard this large boom. we really didn't know what it was. but we came out the door. we did see some smoke through the trees. but we still didn't really know what it was. >> unbelievable. well, let's get more on this accident. cnn's david mattingly is on the phone. what can you tell us, david? >> reporter: carol, unbelievable is probably a very accurate description. the homes were probably about half a mile away from where the aircraft eventually went down into this vacant field. no houses we

reza, all of this is moving with incredible speed.he opposition forces are moving very quickly towards tripoli. where do they stand right now? >> reporter: the rebel forces are playing more of a protetecte role all the way toward ras lanuf, the front line. it's right in the middle of the coastline in northern libya. that's the latest city the opposition forces have captured. over the past couple of days, capturing ajdabiya after a fight of several days and brega, a key oil town, ras lanuf and now they have their eyes set on the next town which is bin jawad but when you talk to people they are riding high on this momentum envisioning a libya without moammar gadhafi and they say their mission remains the same. that's mo move forward, move westward toward tripoli till they see gadhafi fall from power. >> how much can be credited toward the coalition strikes, if at all, reza? >> reporter: well, i think all you have to do is look at march 19th. that's the day when this no-fly zone was implemented and within hours, it seemed as if oppositio

please welcome back to the program reza aslan. ( applause ). >> how's it going? it is going very well. boy, your phone must be ringing off the hook. as a man who study-- >> the god business is very good. >> jon: very good right now. because of how bad it is. >> there's always something to talk about. >> jon: why-- you know, i've always said religion has given people great comfort in a world torn apart by religion. ( laughter ) why hasn't god just settled this? >> yeah, he really should, because who's right. just get it over with. >> jon: why? doesn't he ever think, okay, okay, this has gone on long enough? >> well, look, the thing about religion that people have to understand is that it's far more a matter of identity than it is just a matter of beliefs and practices. i mean, those things are important. when you say, "i'm a jew, i'm a muslim, i'm a christian," you're making an identity statement far more so than a statement of the things you believe. i mean let me put it this way-- seven out of 10 americans call themselves christians seven out of 10 americans. pa

reza sayah is overlooking everything in tahrir square. most of us were thinking that mohammed morsi really very much the peacemaker, key to the cease-fire between israel and hamas. doesn't even settle with the truce and then morsi announces this decree essentially a huge power grab. what is the significance? >> reporter: well, suzanne, the significance is until a parliament is formed here in egypt, until a constitution is drafted, he is the most powerful man in egypt, and, technically, he can do whatever he wants without any apparent oversight. that's why he is being called