mr. khamenei, because he went with something to clarify the situation and the result is a mess. and it is that dynamic that makes the predictions that were made prior to election rather problemat problematic. within the iranian political context it is always the expectation that whoever consolidates power will ultimately make a deal with outsiders. in fact, the argument has always been that the reason reformers were not allowed to make a deal with the united states was because the hardliners did not want the reformers to become powerful. and now that they are going to be powerful, they are going to make a deal to assure that they will stay in power forever. i think a lot of that has to do with iranian pathology and secondly i think what has happened has completed changed the dallas. mr. khamenei is faced with the serious question, not only has he undermined his office by taking sides. he's now accused of mismanagement of a serious crisis facing iran. and he has to find a way to address the questions that has to do with the fact that he has mismanaged the whole situation in very

mr. khamenei as the absolute ruler, the leader who when he spoke all discussions ended, that has already ended. he no longer has that authority. people defy him. people go against him word on a regular basis now. so what might come is either much more brutal, much more mill tarized regime, or a much more democratic alternative. and i think some of the shiite clergy who are speaking out recognize this and are trying to avoid that much less likeable, much less fortunate alternative, because it will be an alternative that will leave this regime with absolutely no legitimacy domestically and internationally. >> let's turn our attention to the michael jackson story. news media's role in all of this. i'm joined in los angeles by the reverend al sharpton. before we talk, reverend sharpton, i want to play a comment you made today that caught all of our attention. >> i have seen other musical icons die where there were serious questions about them, and i have never seen it dominate the news before their funeral. >> so, reverend, also in a sermon today, you were preaching, you were actually in the

mr. ayatollah khamenei and mr. ahmadinejad that this is not going to die away with incarceration and arresting people and putting them in jail. if our brothers and sisters are arrested in iran, there are millions of iranians around the globe who will rise up. >> the message is to the u.n. and obama administration to do something to apply pressure on the iranian leadership to rescue and free some of these prisoners. there is the scene here. you'll see song writers -- >> oh, unfortunately, it looks like our signal broke up just a bit with reza sayah but we will stay on top of the developments there once again. that hunger strike begins today in the united states in support of iran for the next three days. >>> this story to tell you about now. paying taxes to smoke pot. a first for the nation. we go to oakland, california where voters have opted to tax medical marijuana. >>> i'm rob marciano in the cnn severe weather center. we had record heat in spots, record rainfall, and an eclipse. we'll show you video of that whe

mr. alex damany's making this a systemic problem to making the argument that this is a crash -- despite khamenei's makin this is systemic problem, to making the argument that this is a crash. i think outside governments might start thinking about policies that actually directly harm individual members of that government. who ever is identified in terms of ambassadors, in terms of people they send out side. people have talked about the possibility of political sanctions. individual members of this government. things are working out so fast that i do not think it is time pro -- for the obamas situation -- i think it is time for obama to assess this situation, but that introduces us to new possibilities of policies that obama can pursue. old ones on the table will still be as ineffective as they were before all those things happened. >> let me expand on what was said about the report. the report from the head of the mossad. that is described in an article in "the daily star" yesterday. published in beirut. the head is quoted as saying that iran's military program would mature in 2014. this is a consi

defiant stand of ahmadinejad and his benefactor, khamenei, president obama recently has reiterated his intention to pursue diplomacy with the islamic republic. but mr. obama acknowledged that the dubious election, and the state's violent reaction to the ensuing protests, have complicated matters. he spoke on cnn on tuesday. >> we have to wait to see how the dust settles. right now, we have to continue to speak out and bear witness to the fact that the iranian people need to be treated with justice and fairness. but it certainly complicates our efforts, because there's the possibility that those who are now in power in iran choose to retrench and dig in as opposed to open up. >> reporter: yesterday, mr. obama and the other leaders of the g-8 summit in italy issued a statement deploring the post- election violence in iran. >> lehrer: now, the views of karim sadjadpour, an associate at the carnegie endowment for international peace. he previously worked in iran for the international crisis group. and trita parsi, president of the national iranian american council and author of, "treacherous alliance: the secret dealings of iran, israel, and the united

mr. khamenei himself.e from the fact that the history of punditry the reality of iranian politics seems at once more complicated and yet more simple. if this was an attempted coup, because of the way it was conducted, despite the fact that it can probably, as robin suggested, can count some people for a period of time to accept the new arrangement, it has exposed deeper risks that exist in iran and iran's place in the world. and the contours of state society relations that cut across all institutions and strata of the society. it is a fact that as we sit here today and, for example, talk about revolution narrow guards in rebecca -- revolutionary guards in iran and their take over of the political system, none of us has any sense of the structure of the revelatifus re narrow guard and who runs them, yet we feel free to make commentary about this reality that presumably an institution that there's been a military coup in iraq. what i suggest is the deep risks exposed in iran the past couple of weeks ago sugg