when i was arrested once again in many 1983 -- in 1983, ayatollah khomeini had just become the president of iran. in prison they by chance took me to the very small cell where i had been locked up with mr. khomeini before. i remember it was winter when i had been transferred out of that cell in 974 -- 1974. on that day mr. khomeini who was very thin was shivering. i gave him my jacket. and with tears in his eyes, he told me, houshang, under the islamic government not a single tear will be shed by the innocent. houshang, under islamic -- excuse me. excuse me. he told me, houshang, under the islamic government not a single tear will be shed by the innocent, but, in fact, in the new islamic republic i had just been put in prison by the regime. my crime was that i worked at a newspaper belonging to a leftist political party that supported the islamic republic of iran. and in regime in which no tear was supposed to be shed, i learned of ideological torture. i have described this torture in my book, and it is very clear that its purple was to break the -- purpose was to break the person utterl

even ayatollah khomeini would never make a public statement directly to me. he would not permit any direct negotiations. we had all kinds of people want to go and negotiate. there were family boxers and others. mohammad ali fought because he was a muslim, he could talk ayatollah khomeini into allowing the house just to come home but he was not able to get there either. the algerians were the ones who finally did the intermediary. even the last three days, we had $12 billion of iranian money held. every message that went back and forth left here in english and was translated into iran. we had a three-way negotiations. we would talk about the intricacies of money and $2.2 billion in gold bullion located in 12 different nations. you can see the complexity of it. i finally got the hostages out my still held a $12 billion in iranian money. the agreement was that all the claims that americans had against iran would be fulfilled and the money left over would be given to iran which it was. >> as 1979 became 1980, this began to eat heavily in the political year of 198

the ayatollah khomeini... >> using satellites and cable, cnn took on the broadcasting giants with a simple but brand-new idea: all news all the time. >> you can depend on us being here all the time. >> ♪ experience life on cnn ♪ >> cable news network was the brainchild of ted turner. >> i had more courage than good sense. i was very young. i just figured i could do anything, and i could, and i did. >> for all turner's bravado, cnn was mocked by its critics for its low budget, inexperienced staff... >> here it is. ok. we need this little thing to talk. >> and rookie reporters. >> at billy bob's texas, you can always ride a bull, and i don't mean mechanical. >> people were calling us chicken noodle news and that we weren't real. but basically what they were trying to do is stop us any way they could. >> jan, where were you when cnn went on the air? >> i was the business editor of the "philadelphia inquirer." >> were you watching? >> yeah, yeah. i mean, ted turner is the ultimateews entreprene. i an, he invented it, and i think a lot of people are following in his footsteps today. >> chris? >

mahmoud ahmadinejad has irritated ayatollah khomeini and ultraconservative clerics by promoting a kind of folk =- shiite islam which is full also priof falsehoods. there have even been indications of some friction with members of the islamic revolutionary guard corps which is the institution upon which the survival of the regime rests. there was an article in an irg publication that criticized mahmoud ahmadinejad up for contending that the parliament was not the most important institution in government and it said that this contradicted the views of the leader of the revolution, ayatollah khomeini who passed away in 1989. i am not suggesting that khomeini is about to get rid of mahmoud ahmadinejad. i don't think that as possible. he called his re-election a divine assessment and he is stuck with him for the time being. there is a modest fortune and tension and the outlook is for more factionalism especially as iran is now phasing out consumer subsidies in the economy. it is also approaching more elections. they will have a parliamentary election in 2012 and new presidential elections i

of the country, with other branches of government, and even on occasion the supreme leader ayatollah khomeini. he has alienated traditional conservatives, members of the old party. this is a very significant group that still controls the bazaars and has a hold over important islamic charities. many of its members or prominent in the islamic revolution and were important members of the government afterwards. mahmoud ahmadinejad is on poor terms with the former nuclear negotiator and the speaker of the parliament. i believe he was just reconfirmed as the speaker of parliament. he's a member of an old clerical family, and his brother his head of the judiciary and was appointed by the supreme leader. ahmadinejad has also been irritated khamenei by providing a kind of shiite islam fellows superstition and by giving power to a member of his family come in wall who has made a number of controversial comments about israelis and irani and nationalism and so-called pyrenean islam, and there has even been indications with members of the islamic revolutionary guard corps which is of course the institutio

in government, and he said that this contradicted the views of the leader of the revolution, ayatollah khomeini, who passed away in 1989. now, i'm not suggesting that khamenei, the successor is about to jettison ahmadinejad. i don't think that's possible. he called his reelection a defined as has been, and he is really stuck with him i think for the time being. but there's a lot of tension and i think the outlook is for more of this factionalism, especially as iran now is facing out consumer subsidies in the economy. and it is also approaching yet more elections. it will have parliamentary elections in 2012 and new presidential elections in 2013. the factionalism is intensifying in part because of the economic situation, which is quite poor. this is partly due to sanctions which have tightened considerably this year, but they're also partly due to ahmadinejad's mismanagement of the economy. he squandered oil revenues when the price of oil was high. he handed money out to the poor, to numerous people, but without any kind of real plan. as a result, no jobs, or very few jobs have resulted from th

something that didn't necessarily mean that it was greed upon or ayatollah beherbty or the mysterious and never seen in public khomeini. >> that's right. >> hard to know how to talk to. was that a tough part of the negotiation? >> it was. yeah, because some of them would give me word privately or through hamilton jordan that the next week the parliament would decide to let the hostages go free, and i thought they would and then, obviously, they didn't. but it was a frustrating thing because even khomeini would never make a public statement directed to me, and he wouldn't permit any direct negotiation. we had all kinds of people that wanted to go over there and negotiate including famous boxers and others. muhammad ali thought since he was a muslim, he could go over and talk khomeini into letting the hostages come home, but he was not able to get there either. so the algerians were the ones that finally did the intermediary. but even that last three days we had $12 billion of iranian money held, and every message that went back and forth left in if english, got over there it was translated into -- >> farsi. >> no, pars