bahari, a native'reian, has worked for "newsweek" in tehran since 1998. he's been living there with his elderly mother. he's also made several documentary films andd is a playwright. joining me now john meacham, the editor of "newsweek" magazine, and i'm pleased to have him on this broadcast to talk about this case and what is taking place. welcome. >> thank you, sir. >> rose: how did we get here? why was he arrested? what do you know about this? and what is taking place in order to get him out? >> well, as you say, the 21st of june, so nine days after the election, he was picked up, taken to prison, had not been granted access to a lawyer, as you said, no formal charges, given the... what we believe to be forced confession over thehe weekend where he said that the western media was, in fact, try to foment a revolution in iran, a statement that came in a forced press conference after six weeks of captivity, six weeks. >> rose: and no contact with the outside world in any way. no lawyers? >> no lawyers, four calls home to his mother on whom he's the sole s

bahari's wife. she joins us from london.anks very much for agreeing to talk with us. >> thank you. >> first of all, i don't know you and i hope you don't mind me asking because it is personal. do i want to ask just how you are doing, how you and your family are holding up through all of this. >> holding up through all of this. >> it's a very difficult time, one i could never have imagined would ever be like this, ever. i'm 6 1/2 months pregnant and so i just have to keep positive always and it's such a struggle to remain always with hopes and to get through this time. >> have you been able to be in touch with maziar at all or has anybody in your family been able to be in touch with him? >> maziar's mother has spoken very briefly with maziar a few times during the last month and a half. maziar's mother was able to see maziar in the prison with the maziar's brother-in-law, but i haven't had any details about that meeting, other than that it was very brief and i think maziar said he was okay. other than that, i've not spoken to

but free maziar bahari is their cause now, because maziar bahari is their reporter, and the government of iran has not only locked him up for being "newsweek's" reporter, they've also forced him to into a show trial. two weekends ago, bahari was one of 100 journalists and activists and opposition figures and iranians with dual citizenship who were all put on trial in one big group trial a la stalin, charged with helping foreigners undermine the government of iran by somehow orchestrating those massive anti-government protests that have roiled iran since the disputed elections there in june. mr. bahari, who has dual iranian/canadian citizenship, was even brought out solo to speak to reporters on the sidelines of that show trial. he gave what a "new york times" account described as a "chilling lecture" to those reporters on the media's rolling in fomenting revoluti revolution. it's chilling, of course, because it's forced. maziar bahari is a reporter. he's not an agent of any foreign power. he wasn't fomenting anything. he was doing his job as a professional, objective journalist, one wh

bahari and others are receiving. it is a show trial, there's no doubt about it, and it has caught up journalists and clerics and what was the government before the elections, and it is a sign of weakness. it demonstrates better than any of us could ever say that the iranian leadership is afraid of their own people and afraid of the truth and the facts coming out. we've expressed our concern about mr. bahari's confinement and now the trial. as you know, he's a canadian, and we have certainly told the government of canada that we would be willing to do whatever is appropriate. they have thanked us for that, thanked us for our concern. they believe they should take the lead on that and we're supporting them. >>> let me ask you about afghanistan. it's a little confusing, i think, for americans to understand where we are. it seems there was an afghanistan strategic review. but also, there seems, from a lot of body language, the final troops that president obama would receive. president gates said it would be a very hard s

bahari and others are receiving. it is a show trial, there's no doubt about it, and it has caught up journalists and clerics and former elected officials and what was the government before the elections, and it is a sign of weakness. it demonstrates better than any of us could ever say that the iranian leadership is afraid of their own people and afraid of the truth and the facts coming out. we've expressed our concern about mr. bahari's confinement and now the trial. as you know, he's a canadian, and we have certainly told the government of canada that we would be willing to do whatever is appropriate. they have thanked us for that, thanked us for our concern. they believe they should take the lead on that and we're supporting them. >> let me ask you about afghanistan. it's a little confusing, i think, for americans to understand where we are. it seems there was an afghanistan strategic review. the president made clear he was sending troops. but also, there seems, from a lot of body language, the final troops, secre

canadian news reporter bahari. mr. bahari later appeared at a press conference, where he said the media was a key element in this velvet revolution. he's not been seen by his family or his lawyer since his detention six weeks ago. it's not known how long the trial will last, but coming just days before president mahmoud ahmadinejad is to be sworn in for a second term, it will undermine the opposition movemen movement. >>> now, we mentioned that there was pressure from outside of iran as well especially on the issue of iran's nuclear program. new evidence of that pressure comes today in a report in "the new york times." it says, "the obama administration is talking with allies and congress about the possibility of imposing an extreme economic sanction against iran. if it fails to respond to president obama's offer to negotiate on its nuclear program. cutting off a country's imports of gasoline and other refined oil products. it goes on to say, "the option of acting against companies around the world that supply iran wit

and singling out canadian "newsweek" reporter bahari. he later appeared at a press conference where he said the media was a key element in this velvet revolution. he's not been seen by his family or a lawyer since his detention six weeks ago. it's not known how long the trial will last. but coming just days before president mahmoud ahmadinejad is to be sworn in for a second term, it will undermine the opposition movement. >> that was i tichlt n. make sure you stay with us. in just a few minutes i'll discuss this trials with a researcher and scholar with the carnegie endowment. make sure you stay tuned to cnn in just a couple of minutes. >>> an intoxicated man, a mysterious backback and an airport security checkpoint. it added up to travel kayous at new york's laguardia pair port and the effect disrupted flights nationwide for hours. police say the man was arrested when he approached security with a bag containing wires, and batteries. the main terminal was evacuated while the bomb squad determined that the bag contained a phony device. c