but ahmadinejad walks around like mr. magoo, says everything is ok, we're going to withstand, it's going to make us stronger, as if he operates in a parallel universe that bears no relation to reality. >> charlie: as you suggested to me earlier, you have never seen a head of state that you think is prepared to say more untruths? >> i have never in my life seen a head of state look an interviewer in the eye -- look the camera straightforward and lie about something he knows the international community has been filled about the stories -- the story of the stoning. he said, "no one has been accused -- condemned to stoning in iran." for three weeks, that was the top of the news inside and iran and outside iran. he looked into the camera and he said, "i am the head of state, i say no one was stoned, end of story." >> charlie, whenever i watch ahmadinejad doing interviews, i am reminded of a famous "seinfeld" episode where george costanza asked the secret of lying and george said to jerry "it's not a lie if you believe it" and

mr. ahmadinejad's comments as "appa morant and delusional." t and delusional."poke to a senior american official today who said there have been a number of contacts from senior iranian officials with americans seeking back channel diplomacy, but as yet, they have not found anybody with a thought represented the supreme leader and they do not want to be drawn into the different factional -- actionable -- factional battles in iran. >> syria has held a series of urgent meetings trying to set -- to sort out the crisis in delhi. india is now calling the event the shame game. but more countries have announced that they will be sending their teams. chris reports from delhi. >> pictures obtained by the bbc about such -- about what some of the accommodations in the athletes' village looks like -- look like in the last couple of days. several teams have now delayed their arrival. on the road leading toward the village, barefoot workers are as the on the street with last- minute road repairs. this is not the image that delhi wanted to convey to the world. and the first tim

mr. ahmadinejad has yet again chosen to spout vile conspiracy theories and anti-semitic slurs that are as abhorrent and delusional as they are predictable." ahmadinejad also referred to, quote, the ugly and inhumane act of burning the holy koran. pastor -- ahmadinejad held up a koran, and a bible, saying he pays respect to both of them. >> don't let the blustering confidence fool you. ahmadinejad is in a lot of trouble back home domestically. it's just an attempt by ahmadinejad to change the subject, to change the focus from him and his stewardship to issues that he's confident talking about. >> reporter: administration officials insisted today's tirade is irrelevant. that the u.s. and other countries to pressure iran to come clean about its nuclear program and end its suspected nuclear weapons program. and the president is going to give an interview to bbc, and it is anticipated he will take those comments head on. >> jake, thank you. and as you have been reporting, this is the day significant changes in health care insurance go into effect in america. and, today, we got to listen in on

mr. ahmadinejad and hopes that iranian government would show the same leniency to her two friends that they have shown her. britain has for the first time published its threat level for northern ireland-based terrorism, raising it from moderate to substantial, the third highest category. the home office said there was a strong possibility that dissident irish republican groups opposed to power sharing in northern ireland would attack the british mainland. >> violence on the streets of northern ireland has been rising all year, and now it could be about to spread. dissident republicans haven't attacked the u.k. mainland since 2001, when they exploded two car bombs in london. neither security services believe it could happen again. the threat level in great britain has gone up from moderate to substantial. the home secretary said the change was being made public in the interest of transparency and to encourage people to remain vigilant. the head of mi-5, jonathan evans, said last week dissident republican groups posed a real and rising security challenge, saying we were giving insufficient wi

mr. mahmoud ahmadinejad said that most of the world believes the u.s. staged the attacks to benefit israel. president obama told the bbc he considered the speech hateful especially since it was delivered in manhattan so close to ground zero. >>> just before fleet week, b.a.r.t. is promoting its free pass program for troops on leave from iraq and afghanistan. it was announced this afternoon that b.a.r.t. will conduct their free passes. any service member on leave can go to oakland's lake merritt station to apply for a pass. >>> for some the san bruno site, cleanup has become a daunting task. >> up next, we'll take you inside the fire zone to get people's lives back on track. >> reporter: for the past couple >>> a chain reaction crash near the oakland airport tonight smashed up four vehicles on the 9700 block of corral road. police say the driver of a stolen toyota slammed into an suv which in turn hit the cars. officers say they arrested a young man on suspicion of reckless driving t appears no one was seriously injured in the crash. >>> three to four we

mr. mahmoud ahmadinejad said that most of the world believes the u.s. staged the attacks to benefit israel. president obama told the bbc he considered the speech hateful especially since it was delivered in manhattan so close to ground zero. >>> just before fleet week, b.a.r.t. is promoting its free pass program for troops on leave from iraq and afghanistan. it was announced this afternoon that b.a.r.t. will conduct their free passes. any service member on leave can go to oakland's lake merritt station to apply for a pass. >>> for some the san bruno site, cleanup has become a daunting task. >> up next, we'll take you inside the fire zone to get people's lives back on track. >> reporter: for the past couple of years, san francisco's cruise business has been on the decomplain. now there's -- decline. now there's hope. that's next. >>> a chain reaction crash near the oakland airport tonight smashed up four vehicles on the 9700 block of corral road. police say the driver of a stolen toyota slammed into an suv which in turn hit the cars. officers say they ar

mr. ahmadinejad's agenda? to attack the united states and reveal the fact that mr. madinejad is a truther! >> that some segments within the u.s. government orchestrated the attack to reverse the american economy and its grips on the middle east in order to save the zionist regime. >> fantastic. so the u.s. government was in on it. >> here's the problem. people in the u.s. knows he's a nut job, ok, they know he's a nut job. when they hear that stuff, they go here he goes again. the problem is that speech is seen around the world and what does that speech do to the rest of the muslim world. that's my concern about this whole thing, that he's allowed to come to this country and believe in our free speech rights and say that. i wonder how that affect people around the world. >> the u.s. delegation walked out but look at how many empty seats there were. by the end of his presentation, about half the chamber was empty. >> when are we going to understand that you cannot deal with these people? and he -- there's people to the right of that guy, ahmadinejad, 30 nations got up

mr. mahmoud ahmadinejad, who is currently in new york fork the u.n -- for the u.n.eneral assembly. >>> a two-day hearing is underway on the franken dish. it's ginn netically engineered salmon that grow twice as fast as natural salmon. critics say it could cause unknown allergic reactions and contaminate the gene pool. tomorrow the company will argue against labeling, saying consumers don't need to know if it's a modified product. >>> this week, ktvu and our parent company, cox enterprises, are being you the stories of five people who are making a difference in your community. today, bill martin introduces us to gordon piper. a wildfire destroyed his home and gave him a purpose in life. >> reporter: we first met gordon piper in 1991 after his home burned down in the east bay hills fire. >> the chimney on our fireplace, it fell into the hot tub where it still resides. >> reporter: gordon and his wife decided to rebuild. gordon committed to do even more. >> why rebuild unless we did a better job of maintaining our open space areas. >> reporter: he's helped to establish

mr. ahmadinejad, he's already made some comments, interesting comments about the american hikers. and he will be there speaking as well. president hamid karzai of afghanistan will be there. so, you've got a lot of possibilities for interesting bumping into each other and discussing major events. >> all right, jill doughtery, thank you very much. we appreciate that. watch "larry king live" on wednesday, he will be interviewing the iranian leader. their conversation starts 9:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. >>> up next -- >> translator: are you going to deport me? i'm a u.s. citizens. >> a u.s. citizen is deported for three months. a careless mistake or racial filing to the extreme? >>> we have the answer to the famous question, how do you get to "sesame street"? stay with cnn because elmo and cookie monster are in the build. [ male announcer ] what if clean sheet day became clean sheet week? new ultra downy april fresh has scent pearls that give you a whole week of freshness with just one wash. ♪ and from day 1 to day 7, ultra downy april fresh lets you climb in to more freshness than this

mr. ahmadinejad has yet again chosen to spout vile conspiracy theories and anti-semitic slurs that are asorrent and delusional as they are predictable. ahmadinejad also referred to the ugly and inhumane act of burning the holy koran, presumably a reference to the florida pastor who had planned a burn the koran day earlier this month. ahmadinejad held up a koran and a bible, saying he pays respect to both of them. >> don't let the blustering confidence fool you. ahmadinejad is in a lot of trouble back home domestically. it's just an attempt by ahmadinejad to change the subject, change the focus from him and his stewardship of iran to issues he's much more confident talking about. >> reporter: administration officials insisted the u.s. and other countries continue to pressure iran to come clean about its nuclear program and end its suspected nuclear weapons program. friday morning, president obama will give an interview to bbc persia which airs in iran. it is anticipated he will take on ahmadinejad's comments head-on. jake tapper, abc news, with the president in new york city. >>> in seattl

mr. ahmadinejad was holding out the possibility if iran comes clean and says that there is peaceful, reallybe dialogue. >> we'll see. jill dougherty, thanks. >>> coming up, we'll be talking live with sarah shourd, she is the american hiker who was freed after 14 months in an iranian prison. her fiancee and good friend are still being held and she wants to talk to ahmadinejad about their release. >>> meantime, if you're trying to figure out how much money to hand over to uncle sam next year, you may have to wait a while because any chance of a vote on tax cut extensions for middle class americans abandoned by senate democrats. >> they have decided to wait until after election day to take up the matter of your take home pay. candy crowley, host of "state of the union" joins us now from washington this morning. so candy, they want to raise taxes on the highest income earners and have a sense that's not political palettible prior to the midterm election, it would seem. >> first, any time a vote is postponed in the senate, it means they don't have the votes. the majority doesn't have the vote to

mr. ahmadinejad said as well, war is not just about bombs.'re talking terrorism in the streets of the united states. what should this president do? >> what he should do is get serious about stopping iran from nuclear weapons and failure to stop iran is a huge failure for the organization. i can virtually assure you. that's not what he's going to do. he's foreshadowed again and saying he wants to sit down and negotiate for iran and it's a prescription for iran to get nuclear weapons. it's that simple. >> i agree with him. i think iran already has them. i think -- but i also think he needs to be honest whether or not they want him to move forward. there was an article that came out in the newspaper a couple of days ago in israel that talked about the fact that israel is getting contracts for foreign companies that have contracts in iran. here we are pushing for sanctions trying to get, you know, international companies from denmark and germany out of iran and israel is not cooperating. >> ralph? >> look, this is a regime that is the leading sta

mr. president. iran's president mahmoud ahmadinejad is taking credit for sarah shourd's release but says the fate ofiance shane bauer and their friend josh fattal both still in jail is not up to him. >> i think we should let the judge and the court deci about the case. and i think -- >> reporter: iran's government has been encouging protests in tehran. trying to exploit anger against the u.s. because of threats to burn the koran and the controversy over the proposed islamic cultural center near ground zero. president mahmoud ahmadinejad who has denied the holocaust blames thought on what he calls a zioni conspiracy. >> we believe that there is a minority behind this and they are violen they have no religion. what is in islamic countries are what people are against. the ugly behavior. they are not against th people of the united states. >> reporter: president mahmoud ahmadinejad was equally combative abouthe iaea which sharpl rebuked iran for denying access to the new leading experts on the weapons inspection team. the president mahmoud ahmadinejad is showing no change in the stand-off even has the t

mr. obama found the remarks deeply offensive. >> it is an attempt by ahmadinejad to change the focus from him and his stewardship of him and iran to issues he is much more confident talking about. >> today obama has an interview scheduled with bbc persia. he says it will be an opportunity for him to talk directly to the iranian people. >>> a vote to push back the bush-era tax cuts. a vote will take place in november. president obama only wants to extend tax cuts to americans making less than $250,000. republicans want to extend all the tax breaks. >>> well stephen colbert will be appearing before congress today. >> he will testify at a house hearing on farm workers who are illegal immigrants. last month colbert picked vegetables at a farm, and he took part in a effort to replace illegal immigrants that work on farms. >> i went out there, and i worked 10 hours in the field, and i had to stop because my doctors told me i developed a condition known as a blister. >> he and fellow comedy central host jon stewart will be on the national mall. >>> good news heading into the holiday season. rob

mr. president. >> iran's president, mahmoud ahmadinejad is taking credit for sarah shourd's release but said the fatef her fiance, shane bauer, and their friend, josh fattal, both still in jail, is not up to him. > . >> translator: i think we should let the judge and court decide about the case and this will be help to all of them. >> reporter: one department spokesman on twitter, he tweeted you could take the two men on your airplane to new york, when you go to the united nations. what's your response to that? >> translator: that was a good proposal, if they had not violated our border, they would have been at their homes for over a year, for more than a year. >> reporter: iran's government has been encouraging protests in iran, trying to exploit anger against the u.s. because of threats to burn the koran, and the controversy over the proposed islamic cultural center near ground zero. president ahmadinejad, blames all this on the conspiracy. >> translator: they have no relation, they are in no relati relation- >> reporter: there are jewish leaders working with muslim leaders to build the cultural ce

mr. president, thank you very much. >> and you can see more of my interviews with president ahmadinejad and secretary of state hillary clinton on our website at abcnews.com/thisweek. >>> and next, reaction to ahmadinejad, analysis of the middle east peace process thus far and the delaware tea party surprise. we go back to washington for our roundtable and all the week's politics. ♪ [ male announcer ] at ge capital, we're out there every day with clients like jetblue -- financing their fleet, sharing our expertise, and working with people who are changing the face of business in america. after 25 years in the aviation business, i kind of feel like if you're not having fun at what you do, then you've got the wrong job. my landing was better than yours. no, it wasn't. yes, it was. was not. yes, it was. what do you think? take one of the big ones out? nah. sadly, no. oh. but i did pick up your dry cleaning and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation at the sushi place around the corner. well, in that case, i better get back to these invoices... which i'll do right after making you

ahmadinejad as inexcusable. earlier, speaking at the united nations, the iranian leader speculated the american government may have been involved in september 11, 2001. mr. obama also emphasized that he thinks that president and manager of's views are out of sync with the iranian people. >> it was offensive. it was hateful. and particularly for him to make this statement here in manhattan, just a little north of ground zero, where families lost their loved ones, people of all faiths, all ethnicities, who see this as the seminal tragedy of this generation, for him to make a statement like that was inexcusable. it stands in contrast with the response of the iranian people when it 9/11 happen. there were candlelight vigils, and i think a natural sense of shared humanity and sympathy, and it just shows, once again, the difference between how the iranian leadership and its regime operates, and, i think, how the vast majority of iranian people, who are respectable and thoughtful, think about these issues. >> the first video was march of 2009. you spoke and he talked about how you were committed to diplomacy. and you also said this process of talking about all

mr. jones, to the thought of ahmadinejad being able to speak at the u.n.?st: it is a routine criticism. i am not one of those that think it is a bad thing. i think he looks crazy. i think there are very few things that undermines his argument more than being out there in front of the world speaking. he looks nuts. his arguments are outrageous and he has to say them in front of the entire world. i think it helps undermine what shred of report he has with other countries. so i do not have a problem with ahmadinejad speaking at the u.n. i think it displays his views to the entire world. this is an issue that the united nations is still grappling with. does it try to say you have to conform to certain standards in order to participate with certain kinds of decision making? i am in favor of going further in that direction. i think the ability of countries to participate in a serious way in major decision making bodies of the united nations should be tied to their performance on these issues. that does not mean that countries like libya should not be a part of th

ahmadinejad demanded the u.s. release eight iranians he said are held in u.s. custody. >> mr. i understand that the iranians, many of them, have been convicted of various sanctions-busting and arms-busting. are you saying you're holding the two americans as hostages for the release of the iranians here? >> translator: no, but how would you know those iranians are criminals? are you a judge? >> reporter: there was also good news from sarah shourd. she was released for health reasons. the possibility of a cancer scare. we learned from her that doctors examined her and declared her in good health. jim sciutto, abc news, new york. >> and iran's president ahmadinejad is in new york ahead of the u.n. general assembly this week. he insisted his government does not want an atomic bomb and iran is only seeking peace and a world free of nuclear weapons. ahmadinejad also challenged the u.s. to accept that iran is playing a major role in the world. >>> results of afghanistan's weekend election could be delayed for weeks because of a ballot fraud investigation. at least 4 million people vo

mr. jones, to the thought of ahmadinejad being able to speak at the u.n guest: it is a routine criticism. i am not one of those that think it is a bad thing. i think he looks crazy. i think there are very few things that undermines his argument more than being out there in front of the world speaking. he looks nuts. his arguments are outrageous and he has to say them in fnt of the entire world. i think it helps undermine what shred of report he has with other countries. so i do not have a problem with ahmadinejad speaking at the u.n. i think it displays his views to the entire world. this is an issue that the united nations is still grappling with. does it try to say you have to conform to certain standards in order to participate with certain kinds of decision making? i am in favor of going further in that direction. i think the ability of countries to participate in a serious way in major decision making bies of the united nations should be tied to their performance on these issues. that does not mean that countries like libya should not be a part of the human rights council. we could h

ahmadinejad insane or giving a great imitation. iran, giuliani said, must get not get nuclear weapons. that was president obama's goal, meeting with china's premier who is helping pressure iran. but mr. obama's main focus here at the u.n. was an arab/israeli peace deal completed by this time next year. >> we can have a new agreement, leading to new members of the united nations, an independent sovereign state of palestine living in peace with israel. >> steve hamndelsman, nbc new york. >>> now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. >>> in california, workers from sea word tried assisting a sea lion with a spear stuck in its back, but to no avail. officials don't know how the animal got speared, but say if it was done on purpose, it would be a federal offense. >>> an oregon bus driver is out of a job after a passenger got cell phone video of that driver reading an e-book, at one point driving with his elbow. he was initially placed on leave, but was eventually fired for posing a threat to public safety. >>> in florida, another issue of dangerous driving, but this time a sheriff deputy was the one accused of distracted driving. photos show the deputy o

ahmadinejad about the september 11th attacks as it is usable. later, the iranian leader said that the american government might have been involved in the attack. president obama says that he believes that mr. -- that the iranian president's opinions are inconsistent with that of the american people. >> this was offensive, hateful, and for him to make the statement here in manhattan just a little north of ground zero where families lost their loved ones, people of all races and ethnicities who see this as a seminal tragedy of this generation, for him to make a statement like that was inexcusable. this stands in contrast with the response of the iranian people went 911 happened. there were candlelight vigils and a shared sense of humanity and sympathy that was expressed within iran. this shows once again the difference between how the iranian leadership and this regime operates and how i think the vast majority of the iranian people who are respectful and thoughtful think about these issues. >> in your first video message, he spoke to the people of iran and you talked about how you are committed to diplomacy and you also said that this process of talking about to the issues on the table wil

mr. obama said the door to diplomacy remained open, should iran choose toe walk through it. but that door seemed much more likely to close after iran's president took the floor. mahmoud ahmadinejad said americans were behind the september 11th terrorist attacks to help the american economy. and to save the zionist regime of israel. at that point, 27 others walked out. a white house official said mr. obama found the remarks deeply offensive, especially made so close to the site where the world trade center once stood. a spot the u.s. president mentioned in his own address. >> nine years ago, the destruction of the world trade center signaled the threat that respected no boundary of dignity or decency. >> reporter: some say ahmadinejad's words were not at all surprising. >> it's just an attempt by ahmadinejad to change the subject. to change the focus from him and his stewardship of iran to issues he's much more confident talking about. >> reporter: today, president obama has scheduled an interview with bbc persia. the white house says this is a chance for the president to talk directly to the iranian people. >> emily schmidt in washington this morning. thank you. >>> senate democ

mr. obama said the door to diplomacy remained open should iran choose to walk through it. but that door seemed much more likely to close after iran's president took the floor. mahmoud ahmadinejadwere behind the september 11th terrorist attacks to help the american economy and to save the zionist regimen of israel. at that point the u.s. delegation and 27 others got up and walked out. a white house official found the remarks deeply offensive, especially so close to the site where the world trade center once stood. some said mahmoud ahmadinejad's words were not surprising. >> just like him to change the subject, change the focus from him and his stewardship of iran to issues that he's much more confident talking about. >> today president obama has an interviewed scheduled with bbc persia. it will be a chance for him to talk directly to the iranian people. emily schmidt, abc news, washington. >> a computer worm that experts think was designed to attack an iranian nuclear power station is causing international alarm. they believe it caused the facility to malfunction in june. the worm has since spread and infected about 45,000 industrial networks around the world. experts say the

state department called mahmoud ahmadinejad delusional and the president called his remarks hateful and yet, the president still talks about diplomacy. why is it that mr. obama refuses to take no for an answer from the iranians? >> it is a little hard to imagine at this stage that he has not gotten the message, it is really kind of sad, and, worrisome that he cannot see that this guy is a crude little thug, there is no point in having a negotiation with, because you probably cannot trust anything he says or agrees to. he's a totally mercurial and changes from one day to the next on the things he says and tends towards saying out ranges and, yes indeed, even delusional things. and there is no indication that this mullahs who run the country behind the scenes are dissatisfied with him and would rather have some other spokesman out there, none whatever. the public may be dissatisfied with him but the president did nothing to encourage that, in my view he continues almost to legitimize the guy and it is a very foolish behavior on the president's part. >> chris: mara. >> i don't think legitimatizing him, saying the door is open does not, is not the same as

mr. obama said the door is still open to talks. >> the iranian government must demonstrate a clear and credible commitment and confirm the peaceful intent of the nuclear program. >> reporter: through his diplomats, mahmoud ahmadinejad has been signaling that he will. a big blow to ahmadinejad would be an israeli palestinian peace. >> now president obama has set his target, paleste independent, and a member nation of the u.n. by this time next year. at the united nations, i'm steve handleman, news4. >>> in about three hours, virginia is scheduled to carry out its first execution of a woman. in nearly a century. theresa lewis is scheduled to die by lethal injection at the greensville correctional center in garrett, virginia. she was convicted of hiring two men to kill her husband and stepson in 2002. tara joins with us more. >> reporter: teresa lewiss likely meeting with her spiritual adviser and her attorney. they can today stay with h until the moment of execution. earlier she had her final meal of fried chicken, peas and cake. the execution is set at 00 p.m. tonight for the murder for hire killing o her husband and stepson. eight years ago, she had hoped to collect life insurance payouts. earlier we spoke to a pri