in the presence of the -- holy koran and in the presence of the iranian nation hereby swear in the name of almighty god to protect the official state, the system of the islamic revolution, and the constitution . and to use all my expertise and all i have in my power in the discharge of responsibilities that i have undertaken and to devote myself to serve the people and to the glory of the country, to the promotion of religion and morality and to support righteousness and to spread justice. and to refrain from being autocratic and represent the freedom and dignity of individuals and the rights the constitution has recognized for the people.

the ir iranian nation does not give congratulations to your smiles. >> the president is reaching out in order to ensure they don't develop a nuclear he weapons program. those will continue to be our goals. >> does the administration recognize that ahmadinejad is the legitimate president of iran? >> he is the elected leader. bret: robert gibbs creghtded that today "let me correct a little bit of what i said yesterday. i denoted that mr. ahmadinejad watt was the elected leader of iran. obviously, the iranian people still have questions about that and we will let them decide that. " we're back with the panel. charles. >> well, that was a kingsleyian gaffe in which a politician speaks the truth, or at least as he understands it. it is not the truth about iran itself. the guy who was sworn in today is not elected. it was a fraudulent election. everybody knows t however, it reflects what the administration wants in iran. it wants him in power t did not want the demonstrations. it is somewhat a nuisance and it got in the way of the grand scheme of negotiations in which obama sweet talks ira

. >> translator: i, as the president, swear to god before the holy quran and the iranian nation that i will protect the official religion, the system of the islamic republic and the country's constitution. >> reporter: then a faultless embrace with the head of the iranian judiciary. maybe they'd been practicing since this embrace with the supreme leader two days ago seemed so very malcoordinated. today, mr. ahmadinejad went on to tell the western government who had not congratulated him and that includes britain that iranians didn't care. >> translator: nobody in iran is waiting for your congratulations. the iranian nation does not give importance neither to your friends and threats, not to your congratulations and smiles. >> reporter: but even inside parliament always is not as it seemed. many had boycotted the ceremony, including former presidents mohammad khatami and akbar hasemi rafsanjani. the seats apparently filled out with sports stars and celebrities. mr. ahmadinejad's troubles are not over. >> we've got a president of time where he's trying to build a cabinet with his challe

the iranian nation does not give significance to your friends or threats and congratulations and smiles. >> in many ways, the president's problems are just beginning. the opposition includes zero former presidents -- includes a former presidents, including the man who believes he won the election and a number of consecutive former allies. and the west is ramping up talks on the nuclear issue. >> the country is more divided than it has ever been since 1979. ahmenijad is the most divisive political figure in the history of the islamic republic and he has shown no interest in yielding. >> once again, thousands of demonstrators and alicia presence outside the parliament. -- a militia presence outside the parliament. >> the police, they are in the square. never let any person stand in front of the parliament to make any demonstration or shot or anything else. >> despite the show of unity, president ahmenijad starts his own term with an election victory and increasingly the whole iranian system of government under question. bbc news. >> more news for you briefly. the world health organization

prospect in the future for the iranian nation. people are vigilant and aware and rely on god, they are present on the scene. they have shown their will and determination, they have exercised the power. the victor is all the people, the revolutionary values, and the establishment and the islamic establishment. people's vote is the continuation of the path of the revolution, the candidates of the past four years, all these have been civilized by people's votes and confirmed. prevailing justice, fighting concessions and run, national dignity and defending threats and persisting and resisting against the demands of our fully prevailing brotherhood of justice are the major basics of this. people through their presence have one more time stressed the capability, self-reliance, and the great capacity on national level for moving toward their aspiration piece. they have stressed this through their presence. in the election made for maintaining independence and dignity of the people, as well as national unity, all these were demanded. this

the recent presidential election indicated the great aspirations of the iranian nation. .at decisions and great measures, great actions. stride's need to be taken. we're not given such chances all the time, so we should make the best of our chances. the past four years have shown that our capacities are abundant in the country. there have been some shortcomings and some problems did not allow us to make use of all of them. as a representative of the people, i hereby announce that in the new term and, the government is determined to use all of its forced to serve the nation and to use all of the potentialities and to activate the mall. this requires cooperation and support of the iranian parliament and other branches of the government. i was once again like to mention some of the outlines of the plans. the first one is culture. maintaining the identity and our cultural values requires maintaining the elements -- our cultural elements -- seeking justice and dignity, acquiring knowledge, affection, sacrifice, love, pure it, and good deeds and moral values. the arts, literatur

. >> the iranian nation does not get importance to your congratulations or smiles. >> but in many ways, the president's problems are just beginning. and the west is talking about the nuclear issue. >> the country is more divided than it has ever been since the 1979 revolution. mahmoud amended a judge is a disputed figure, and has shown no interest in healing the political rift. >> death to the dictator, shouted demonstrators, as they made their way to new protest outside the parliament, defying a huge police and militia presence. demonstrations not big enough to unseat the government, but enough to keep the new administration of balance. >> never let any person standing for the parliament to make any demonstration, and the shouting or anything. >> despite the show of unity, minutes of starts his new term with the system of government under serious question. >> the world health organization announces that there has now been 1000 deaths from swine flu worldwide. this week, india confirmed its first death, a teenage girl. the announcement led to panic and scuffle. a new trial started in m

the iranian nation does not give importance either to your frowns and threats or to your congratulations and smiles. >> but in many ways the president's problems are just beginning. he has two weeks to form a government which must be endorsed by the increasingly hostile parliament. the opposition now cluss rafsanjani and a number of former allies. and the west is ramping up the pressure on the nuclear issue. >> i would argue that ahmadinejad is the most divisive political figure in the 30-year history of the islamic republic and he has shown no interest in trying to heal these political rifts. >> once again thousands of demonstrators defied a huge police and militia presence outside the parliament to stage a new protest. not big enough to unseat the government perhaps but enough to keep mr. ahmadinejad's new administration off balance. >> lots of police deployed there and never let any person stand in front of the parliament for make any demonstration or shouting or anything else. so despite today's show of unity, president ahmadinejad starts his new term with his election victory and in

[laughter] [general crowthursday for a rese iranian nation. reachewe are reaching a chapter development for humanity. we need to realize our status but we need to fill our divine duty. we should come to believe that iran can stand on the peaks of progress. we can reach this and we should have our eyes cast upon the heavenly aspirations that will lead a side shortsightedness. we should believe that we can reduce that the government of justice is around the corner. [unintelligible] we believe in the dawning [unintelligible] i thank you all represented -- represented does, the people, the speaker. and also the respective heads of the judiciary and people of the guardian council. the ambassadors participating in the ceremony, people from different walks of life, i thank you all. >> you are watching public affairs on c-span. up next, a senate hearing examined autism research in the u.s.. after that, and update on the two journalists held by north korea to return to the u.s. today. >> sunday, a look of british politics on the bbc, including the expe

the iranian nation does not give importce neither to your friends and threats, not your congratulations an smiles >> repter: but even inside parlment always is not as it emed. many had bcotted the ceremony, incling former presidents mohamad yosef hammoudhatami and akbarrafsjanrafsanjani. mr. ahmadinejas troubles are noover. >> we've got a president of time where he's tryinto build a cabinewith his challengefrom his own conservative size as well as fr the reformist and position camps over the next few wee until he's -- to the cabinet. >> reporter: outsidearliament a few pictures have been smuggled out o riot pole motorbikes but media abanned from filng demonsations. as the ceremony ended, witnees said there we hundreds of protesters outside and at least ten arrests. and theclampdown continue its emerged that spectato will be banned from football match later this wk to avoid any risk of political unrest. >>> a reminder o the cold war tonight. "the new york times" is reporting tat two ruian nuclear-pored attack submarinesor a rare ssion off the east coastf the united stes. the b's in inter

they tried to depict a bleak prospect in the future for the iranian nation.ut people are vigilant and they are aware and they rely on god. they have shown their will and determination. they have exercised their power. the victor is all the people, the revolutionary values, and the establishment -- and the islamic establishment. the people's vote is the continuation of the path of the revolution, the activities of the past four years, all these have been symbolized by boats and confirmed. prevailing justice, fighting, concessions, the national dignity, and defending the repressed and persisting at resisting against the demands or believes and also prevailing the brotherhood and friendship and social justice are the major basis of this dialogue. people, through their presence, have again stressed the self- reliance and a great capacity is on a national level for moving toward their aspirations. they have expressed this through their presence. in the election, the need for maintaining independence and dignity of the people, as well as national unity, all these w

. >> ( translated ): nobody in iran is waiting for your congratulations, the iranian nation does notive importance neither to your frowns and threats, nor to your congratulations and smiles. >> reporter: some cheered, but it won't be easy for him to form a government, because even his conservative allies dislike some of the friends and relatives he has indicated he would like to appoint. on the streets, protesters gathered. six weeks ago, they were calling for a rerun of the election. that's not going to happen. now, they're protesting against the system itself, and the militia and revolutionary guard will use brute force to guarantee mr. ahmadinejad's position. as they came up the escalator on the underground, they shouted, "death to the dictator." tomorrow, more protesters and those accused of organizing dissent are expected to appear in court, despite widespread allegations that they'd been tortured. president ahmadinejad will struggle to assert his authority as competing senses of power are likely to squabble over who controls the leaders of government. >> ifill: in a related dev

sanctions in iran and developments theres trita parsi, founter an president o the nonprofit national iranian cou nil washingtond.c. thanks for eaking with . >> thank youor havi me. what do you think will happen ifhe united states were to try to impose gasoline sanctionsn iran? >> well, i think first ofall, is going to be veryifficult to impose effective gasoline sanctions on ira because you would haveo get the corporatn of all of the countri and the security council, inuding russia and china. if one tries to impose gasoline sanctions through it would have o be -- to be effective enable brocked a, withoutecurity counci authorization and then would that be nsidered an act of warnd would that be a ver very risky strategy fr the obama ainistration to undeake. >> and thethe's the qstion that if the sanctions were imposed, what wouldthe affect have or be on the opposition moment? >> well, that's the otherspect this. that the government obviously is better equped tody with the cost -- the imct of the sanctions of ordinary people andthese gasoline sanctions are extremely bad based. so its quite lily

this was the greatest calamity that affected the iranian nation.ple in iran have great resentment about what happened because on that date democracy die. -- democracy died. there were traders who corroboratecollaborative. in your book, you make the could it taught insignificant. you say that the hostages taken in iran by the students of the revolution overcompensated with the damage was done by the america to iran, which i think is disproportionate. i would like to invite mr. baer to look at the website and learn about the resentment and a disappointment. americans at the time really thought america was for liberty and freedom of the small nations. we feel very betrayed by it. host: let's hear from our guest. guest: i certainly see the point of view. if we look at the record which has been published you will see that british petroleum, the british secret service, the ambassador, though shah himself, and even the father of the general purport of this coup. we can spread response building -- was even part of the coup. if a foreign government comes in

we see employees of the british and french embassy now put on trial by the iranian authorities, including one french national. so, the risk here i think is very real, and the concern about giving in to these in fact terrorist demands, something i think should concern us greatly. >> eric: we have the freedom we are looking at for these two and there are three american hikers now held by iran and seems sometimes these innocent americans can be pawns in the international chess board by these rogue states. ambassador john bolten, fox news contributor, former alabaster to the u.n., always food to see you, thanks for joining us on this sunday. >> thank you, eric. >> eric: jamie. >> jamie: a police chase ends in a horrific scene in california, there are 7 people dead, 4 of them are children. and there are lots of questions now about the suspects in the case. and how police hand the whole thing. the search for answers, just ahead. serving and a whole lot of prisoners on lockdown now, security in question, after there was a rout, breaking out at a medium security prison out west. we'll find out what caused the riot,

national deficit over the next 10 years. there seems to be no let up in the campaign by iranian authorities against academics accused of provoking unrest following the june's disputed election. the opposition of foreign governments and the united nations says that these art show trials. >> they are becoming a familiar themes. in an iranian court house, the opposition figures, academics, and journalists are in to prison uniforms. they are accused of stirring up the post-election demonstrations. also conspiring with foreign powers. iranian news agencies report that one of them has recanted. they include foreign ministers, government spokesman, academics, and an economist -- a prominent and vocal critic of the iranian government. the government has said that around 4000 people were arrested during the unrest that followed the disputed presidential election in june. summer protestors picked up on the streets. others were key supporters -- some were protesters picked up on the streets. others were key supporters found in their homes. while they face specific charges in court, it also looks like there is a wider indictment of those ye

. >> in terms of what he is accused of, the iranian government, of course, accuses him of helping endangering iran's national security. the iranian media quotes him as having stated as a journalist and a member of this great western capitalism machine, he said he had either blindly oregon on purpose projected doubts does that sound like anything he would say of his own free well? >> absolutely not. excuse me. maziar is incredibly fair minded. his reporting has always been very balanced. it's certainly not something he would ever say at all of his own free will. maziar is known and respected for his balanced work. and even in iran has always been given appropriate credittation throughout his long career for working in iran. and it is proposterous now that they can say that he's been a danger to national security when he was simply doing his job in the fair manner in which he's always done it. >> one last question for you. people watching this now are moved to try to help, i know that you, other members of your family and supporters and "newsweek" and others have decided that it's in his best interest that the

. >> do you think this kind of appeal to nationalism that the iranian regime is trying to employ works? that is to say, we may say look, this is absurd, obviously the west is not involved. but iran is a proud country, traditionally a country of nationalism. might it be true that the united states and britain have interfered in the past? as you probably well know, one of the great best-selling books in iran is called "my uncle napoleon," and it's basically a book about how the brits actually control everything that's going on in the country? so does it work when they say, you know, it's all this western interference that's causing our problems? >> fareed, no, i don't think it works. regime has certainly made these charges against the demonstrators and the leadership of the opposition, but what we have to remember is mousavi and others were all extremely close to khamenei. they have impeccable credentials. they were there at the beginning of the revolution, many of them were there in exile with khamenei. they are not susceptible to charges they're taking money from the cia or outside. i

. >> bob barrett, do you think this kind of appeal to nationalism that the iranian regime is trying to employ works? that is to say, you know, we may say look, this is absurd, obviously, the west is not involved. but iran is a proud country, a prickly traditionally a country of nationalism. might it be true that the united states and britain have interfered in the past? as you probably well know, one of the great best-selling books in iran is called "my uncle napoleon," and it's basically a book about how the brits actually control everything that's going on in the country. so, does it work when they say, you know, it's all this western interference that's causing our problems? >> fareed, no, i don't think it works. the regime has certainly made these charges against the demonstrators and the leadership of the opposition, but what we have to remember is mousavi and others were all extremely close to khamenei. they have impeccable credentials. they were there at the beginning of the revolution, many of them were there in exile in france with khamenei. they have absolutely no important f

nations. >> he had ties in saudi arabia, he dealt with the libyans, the iranians, north koreans and who knowswho else. in the case of north korea, it was a matter of getting rocket technology in exchange for knowledge. >> reporter: eventually pressure ing thwe stled to kahn be placed under house arrest for in five years. but pakistan's version of house quite a moun to lavish lifestyle. >> you joke about -- he joked about the fact he had a hotel in timbuktu, although no freedom of movement around the country or to leave the country. >> reporter: and house arrest did not include pakistan offering the united states a chance to interrogate khan. >> they have never given us access to him. and that's a real sore spot, and we accepted it because that was the price for keeping, we thought, pakistan cooperative in the war against al-qaida and the taliban, so we paid their price. >> thanks, andrew. weinbalm says the real problem for the u.s. is not knowing whether secrets could have been shared with al-qaida or other rogue organizations. he is no longer under house arrest, but today is not allowed to l

ambassador to the united nations, john about it en, about their fate and what the iranians could be up to. >>> a new look at surveillance tape from a deadly shooting in tel aviv, suggests the gunman was going after a specific target. police say a masked gunman entered the club last night and opened fire and when it was over, two people were killed. the at least 11 were seriously injured. thousands have been taking to the streets in an impromptu march after the attack and the door-to-door search has been underway there this morning. >> jamie: we are counting down for the health care take i don't ever and members of the house are now headed home for the ser breaks and many are planning get together with voters and the house energy and commerce committee approved a major health reform and said to be an overhaul bill on friday and it barely passed when every republican and five moderate democrats voting against the measure, as republicans warn about health rationing and soaring costs, the democrats are focused on expanding the insurance roles in defending their plans to pay for reforms. >>

iranian government to help us. shepard: plus, what were they doing there in the first place? captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- shepard: they are students and riders described as seasoned travelers there is a broad diplomatic push to bring them back home, we have learned their names now. sharon shroud student and journalist. joshua fatal another student all three said to be in their 20's. officials i said they entered iraq in turkey stayed in northern iraq for a couple of days and headed toward a resort area. that's where officials say the three americans went on a hike, got lost and wandered into american territory a fourth friend was supposed to be with them on that hike but stayed behind because he said he was sick. he says he got a call from the group just last week. they said they were in iran and surrounded by iranian troops. since then, only a few bits of information about what happened to the hikers. today, the u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton said the state department is going through diplomatic back channels but stopped short of accusing the iranians of

he poses absolutely no threat to the iranian government or its national security. e played absolutely no role in the election. he is a scholar. he is devoted his life to promoting understanding between the iranian people and the american people. he has scrupulously state politically neutral. i will close by saying that the world is watching what is going on in iran right now. we will bear witness to what is going on. >> as far as the hundred strikers are concerned, the secretary is going to do something? meet with them? >> i am just finding out from you that there are hundred strikers in front of the white house. let me see if i can find out some more information. >> family is divided by the border can begin meeting again. more than 100,000 u.s. citizens who have family in north korea -- do we have planned to meet north korea and discussed the family issue separate from the nuclear issue? >> first of all, let me say that we encourage and support efforts that are aimed at family reunification? these are important and emotional issues. these kinds of contact between n

nations. >> he had particularly good ties in saudia arabia. he dealt with libians, iranians and north korea and who knows who else. it was a matter of getting rocket technology in exchange for knowledge. >> reporter: eventually, pressure from the west led to khan being placed on house arrest for five years. but that amounts to quite a lavish lifestyle. >> he had a hotel in tim buck two. on the other hand, no freedom of moment to go around the country or certainly to leave the country. >> reporter: and house arrest did not allow us to tear gait khan. >> they never have given us access to him. and we accepted it because that was a price for keeping, we thought, pakistan cooperative in the war against al qaeda and the taliban. so we paid that price. >> reporter: so he says the real problem for the u.s. is not knowing if khan shared nuclear secrets with al qaeda or other organizations. at this point khan is no longer under house arrest. but to this day, he isn't allowed to leave pakistan. in the information center, andrew stack 9news now and wusa9.com. >> thanks for that, andrew

. >>> and cnn enter national says there's been an alarming spike in iranian executions. the cause sun clear, but it seems to have coincided with the disputed re-election of iran's president mahmoud ahmadinejad. there have been no less than 115 executions in iran in the past 50 days. it says 24 of them occurred in one single day. now, we haven't been able to reach the iranian government for comment on this. >>> indonesia's elite anti-terror forces spla won their biggest battle in their on going war with insurgents pap series of missions ending successfully. police say one raid stopped a planned as saying and a half the indonesian president, but their big er get is in central gentleman have a where indonesia's most wanted terrorist is believed dead after a long standoff and gun battle. dan rivers reports. >> reporter: this was the last house of the most wanted terrorist and the focus of a ferocious firefight in central java lasting 18 hours. indonesia's elite detachment anti-terrorist unit peppered the flimsy building with bullets. eventually it was clear the men inside we

interesting if this causes a precede annsir the iranians are holding three americans who have crossed their borders, and you wonder if it may cause other nations to grab americans. >> as happy as everyone will be to have the journalists home, the white house is quite anxious about it. they're anxious iran will say we know what to do with the hitchhikers in the mountains. >> thanks. >>> politics next. members of the house of representatives are already back in their districts in summer recess, most holding town hall meetings to see what's on their minds, and most of what they'rehering is about health care reform. that's causing the white house to push back. >> reporter: at a town hall meeting today, steny hoyer got an earful. it was just the latest such episode of peep protesting health care reform with visceral anger, sh as the not quite brotherly love in philadelphia over the weekend. >> you want us to believe that a government that can't even run a "cash for clunkers" program is going to run the administration. no. >> one was hung in effagy. >> one man was shouted down before he could even speak -- says there's nothing authentic about these

he has played absolutely no role in the election and imposes no threat to the iranian government or its nationalurity. as an independent academic, he has always sought political neutrality. the right to due process in iran, which includes the right to legal representation is not only addressed in universal declaration of human rights to which iran is a signatory. it is also ratified in its own constitution. so the world is watching what is happening in iran and will bear witness. and with those, i'm ready to take your questions. >> i also on iran -- >> they're working now. did you all get what i said previously? >> you're going to put that out, aren't you? >> we can if you'd like. >> mostly for the spelling of the names. >> yeah, absolutely. three americans, backpackers, probably, detained in iran, insinations there may be espionage being involved. and what is one lawmaker is suggesting spying. >> i have nothing -- i've heard nothing about any charges of them being spies. i know there are reports out there. i don't think they are credible at all. we've seen reports by the deputy governor of kurd

iranian law be folwed. they areot followi their own duerocess. the other thing that's unfortunate is iran clearly wants to be pa of the fami of nations they want to be taken seriously. they want to be part ofthe world community. but is is not the way o acts ifne wants to d that. >> rose: we conclude wi part one of a two part nversation with general tonyinni, a stinguished marine who seed in t mitary all of his life with obseations about amera's role with america's role in the world, especlly middle eas >> i've heard both sides, arab and israeli,nly you could do it, put it onhe table, i'm coinced that for it to be a comprehensive sustainable plan they have toork it out, put it onhe table wehould not be in the an of putng it on the table. >>. >> rose: the head ofkessler motorsas scheduled to tell us about his electric car, that interview willake place later. to want, president cnton in north rea, john meaam and general tony zinni when we coinue. captioning spoored by ro communications from our stuos in new york city, this is charlie rose. >> rose: bill clintoarrived in pyongyg on an unannounced visit. north koreantelevision is reporting the forme p

rice, according to the national intelligence estimate, the iranians stopped their reach for nuclear weaponsited states that iran is now actively seeking nuclear weapons? >> pat, i don't think that position has ever changed whether in the bush administration or the obama administration. our view is it's unacceptable for iran to acquire nuclear weapons. it has the right to peaceful use, civilian use of nuclear power, but we have a reason to believe that this is not in fact what they are pursuing. in that context we are to prevent them from acquiring any nuclear weapons capacity. >> we are talking about hillary clinton and the job she has done as second of state. tell us about the trip to africa? >> willie, i think she is off to a great start. she has been a tremendous secretary of state. the trip to africa has given her an opportunity to really dig in and show just how much wisdom and how much strength and sta a stamina she has. reaffirming and restarting what had been a complex and fraught relationship with africa, and in the last couple days she has been in the republic of congo, and pledge

not exactly a p popular defendant nation, they stayed in kurdistan for a few days, mostly staying in hotels. then on friday, they were camping right along the iranian border. it's a beautiful area full of mount, they were near a waterfall and that when they crossed into iran according to iranian officials and were quickly surrounded by iranian security and remain in detention. the u.s. state department has asked for some clarification and is starting to investigate, asking switzerland, which represents u.s. interests in iran to investigate. >> we note they're being detaineded a and not arrest ed necessarily, are any charges being discussed by the iranians? >> what we've been hearing from iranian media is that they were being charged with entering iran illegally, but this is a highly sensitive time t couldn't have happened perhaps at a worst time for americans to be caught in the area of suspicious in iran right along the border with iran. for the last six weeks there's been unrest on the streets of tehran and in several other cities about the iranian government blames outsers for instigating this unrest. >> and there are trials now getting under wa

iranian elections. so government, particularly the national security elements, cannot ignoreb& this. gowing, with bbc, basically says that the velocity of information in this space has so compressed the timelines for government decisionmakers to respond, they're going to have to invent new ways to address the problems. his estimate i think is on the order of three to five hours. if you don't have something on the street after a major event you run the risk of becoming irrelevant. the folks on the blogosphere and twitter, doesn't have to be accurate, the government has to be accurate. that puts enormous burden on the processes. you have to find a way to change the organization to address this kind of space. what can they do? let me talk about four years. first of all, is to make informed risk-management decisions, not just risk avoidance. second, to responsibly empower the workforce. third is to recognize there is more strength in responsibly sharing information than in hording it and the fourth is to avoid micro-managing. you have the capability to micro-manage, you have to train you

this is a real opportunity for the iranians to have a public relations coup that she can show they are still participatory in the community of nations by confirming these are students and releasing them. that would be their smart move. >> what about iraq then? what is iraq's involvement, if any, in this? >> i don't think iraq really has any involvement other than to help get them back. that part of the border up in kurdistan is ill-defined. it's very lush. there are caves, waterfalls. it's ill-defined. people have wandered across there before. it's not uncommon. the kurdish portion of iraq has been autonomous since the first gulf war with the no-fly zones that were created. this area has specific people who have interests. the question is going to be who is in possession of these students? is it iranian revolutionary guard corps? is it soldiers within the government of iran? or is it some militia? that's the unknown right now and how quickly they take them to the central government. >> people are wondering why are the swiss involved in the negotiations. explain that to our viewers, ken. >> well, in the iranian hos tage taking in the

be very careful about our relationship with the iranians, time is not on our side, the israelis are getting more and more impatient. this is a huge national security challenge for the president. and i want to work with him just as much as we can. the whole middle east could be in very, very serious crisis if -- unless something changes. >>> coming up, john mccain reacts to sarah palin's resignation as governor of alaska. you'll want to hear how the senator defends her decision to step down from office. "state of the union" will be right back. - hi. - crowd: hi! i hate my phone. what do i do? ( shouting ) this is crazy. you. let's run a free upgrade check. see if you're due for a new smartphone. don't i need to go to my carrier's store for that? no, you don't have to. we sell phones and plans on all the major networks. ok. well, is time travel possible? yes, i am from the future. announcer: phones, plans, and advice from thousands of people eager to help. >>> welcome back. and let's get to the third and final part of john king's exclusive interview with senator john mccain. >> let's bring the conversation back home. the woman you picked to

this is a real opportunity for the iranians to have a public relations coup that they can show that they are still participa participant tore in the community of nations by confirming these are students and releasing them. that would be their smart move. >> what about iraq, then? it's on the iraq/iran border. what's iraq's involvement, if any? >> i don't think iraq has involvement other than to try to get them back. that part of the border is ill-defined. it's lush, there are caves, waterfalls. people have wandered across there before, it's not uncommon. the kurdish portion of iraq has been autonomous since the first gulf war with the no-fly zones that were created. this area has specific people who have interest. the question is going to be who is in possession of these students? is it iranian revolutionary guard corps? is it soldiers within the government of iran? is it some militia? that's what's the unknown now and how quickly they take them to the central government. >> people are wondering why are the swiss involved in the negotiations? explain that to our viewers. >> in the iranian hostage-takings in the 1970s we lost all diplomatic relations w

nation tour. don't miss that 1:00 eastern only on msnbc. >>> secretary of state hillary clinton is calling on the iranian government to help locate the threesing americans. u.s. is working through its diplomatic channels at the swiss embassy in tehran trying to find them. ken pollack from brookings joins us now. we've had a swearing in today and our own bureau chief from tehran who is in london writes it was different than it was the first time. first of all, there was a rather awkward kiss. he seems to kiss his shoulder rather than his hand. now the state news agency is saying that's because ahmajinidad has a cold. ahmajinedad's civils kept them apart. that doesn't seem likely, does it, ken? >> so hard to figure out these things. when we tried to figure out whose institution was up and down based on who was standing next to stalin, i think we're reduced to the same thing in iran. there clearly are differences from ahmajinedad and khomeini. we've seen that played out over the last couple weeks. we need to be cautious about reading too much as a kiss on the shoulder versus a kiss on the hand. >> when is a kiss not a kiss? >> exactly. i thin

this is a real opportunity for the iranians to have a public relations coup that they can somehow that they are still participatary in the community of nations by simply confirming they're students and releasing them. that would be their smart move. >> robinson said that border area is very ill-defined and tough to tell when you're crossing the line or not because it's so lush. >> iran has faced a lot of international tensions or internal tensions, he should say, since the presidential election in june. you hear about new developments there. >> state-run media reports says that iran's supreme court leader endorsed mahmoud ahmadinejad for a second term today. he will be sworn in on wednesday. iranian opposition leader mousavi has called the election results a fraud. iranian media reporting more than 100 people went on trial this weekend for arrests made during post-election demonstrations. >>> a half a million dollar lottery ticket disappeared from the winner's pocket. louis says he stashed his scratch-off ticket in his pocket while he got directions to the nearest lotto office in west palm beach, florida. on his way there he realized the tic

nation tour of africa in the men time. in kenya, mrs. clinton appealed to iran for them for illegally crossing the border from iraq. an iranian lawmaker say they are deciding whether or not to charge those men with spying. the three were believed to be hiking in northern iraq's region when they crossed into iran. >>> and an opposition group are calling for protest to coincide with tomorrow's inauguration ceremony for the president. several blogs and websites, they are encouraging the demonstrators to gather and solve the parliament. they will be sworn in for a second term. they claim that they stole that election back in june. and the government, they have violently cracked down on any demonstration in the past. >>> here at home after 20 years of debate, it's full speed ahead for the purple line proskwrebt, to connect all of theme th tycoun th county. un d today what he inanceun today what he locally lolly opt the digital correspondent, joining us live from out there and what will e venn dually be the start -- eventually be the starting point for this purple line. >> the governor, they say that the light rail, they are the lo

"the national review" levelled this devastating critique about obama, "sometimes he doesn't wear a tie." lately even in public appearances. that reminded me, i have no idea why, the iranianunned the necktie ever since khamenei pronounced it a symbol of western decadence. when bush didn't wear a tie, it was here-man stuff, but with obama it's ahmadinejad. what kind of tie would you like obama to wear, something like this or this? would this make you feel better? while thinking it over, try this on. weak. next, mad campaign of the week. miller beer is introducing miller high life in vietnam. the new ad campaign, it's american time, it's miller time. don't you think vietnam already had plenty of american time already and might not want to be reminded? what is this, the beer hunter? mascot fail of the week. after melanie walker won the 400 meter hurdle, she hopped a ride on the back of the adorable mascot berlino, then this. klutz. weak. >> everybody okay there? >> yeah. egos are bruised. >> seriously. it's hard to be a mascot. >> very hard. >> i won't tell you why i know that. thank you, kent. thank you for watching tonight. see you back here on monday. "countdown with keit