our reza sayah is following all of these developments from our iran desk. re reza?>> we have new video coming in to the iran desk, but before we show it to you, let's give you some perspective where it is. this is where the protest started about three hours ago. police dispersed some of the protesters. they went north. and this is what we're going to look at. this, according to this video, are protesters who dispersed from revolution square. we cannot confirm the date and the location, but it does match what observers have been telling us over the past few days. we also have video from earlier in the day that came to the iran desk. and that shows some of the clashes between security forces and protesters. these are the first clashes that we've seen in about two weeks. police officers, police officials, had warned people not to come out to the streets. otherwise, they warned, a crackdown. some of the eyewitness accounts coming to the iran desk, one eyewitness said a man with a bloody face was being encouraged to go into an ambulance. he refused. several eyewitnesss r

let's bring reza sayah into this now.e was the man who was covering this story for us for the longest time. >> he was there, a freelance journalist, a young man covering the elections and it's aftermath. i haven't spoken to him. it is very likely he covered some of the protests an the dem on strag demonstrations they considered illegal. if you go, you are breaking the law they told him. it is very likely that he, along with many others, went through -- >> you want to do this with me? let us bring him in. this is president of the national iranian-american council. he is good enough to join us. do this with me. how important is it for americans to see and we'll start with this. how important and why is it important for americans to see this story's coverage on the air? not so much in fact americans but the entire world. your words. >> people on the ground in iran have said, if the world forgets and brings too much attention just to michael jackson and to other stories, then it will be much easier for the hard line elements

our reza sayah over at the iran desk because reza, i understand we're learning more about a lot of people, maybe in the thousands right now that are gathered in tehran to mark this anniversary, the 1999 protest. >> yeah, heidi, things really heating up in the streets of tehran. the clouds were in the hundreds according to our observers about a couple of hours ago. now they say between 2,000 or 3,000 people, and we can confirm at least five clashes between security forces and protestors. let's tell you where this is happening, this is happening in revolution square, which is right here, very close to tehran university. this is a protest to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of another protest ten years ago. crack down killed several students that were supposed to gather here and also protest the vote of the government had said don't come out or there will be a crackdown and that's exactly what's happening. of course, we don't have the ability to show you pictures from there because of the international media is banned, but a lot of the things that we're confirming from observers on the gr

reza sayah is at cnn's iran desk. how significant is this, reza? what does it mean?ot quite sure what it means at this point. but this is very, very rare. if my memory serves me correctly, this isn't something we've seen before. remember, all television stations in iran are funded and run by the government. so, they usually don't cover events that are not favorable to the government. but today they did. press tv, the english-language, state-funded television station in iran, at this demonstration at tehran's main cemetery, according to sources, about 3,000 people showed up there to remember 26-year-old neda agha-soltan, the young woman, who along with several other people were killed during the june 20th protests eight days after the disputes vote. and they're covering the event, showing pictures of security forces charging the protesters was press tv. in fact, they had a reporter there who was doing live telephone reports. very, very unusual. again, not sure exactly what this means. >> right. >> but press tv was there. we also want to show you, tony, some dramatic v

reza sayah. >>> now take you to iraq. the iraqi government says six iranians are dead in clashes with iraqi security forces at a camp north of baghdad. camp home to 3,500 iranians. set up in 1996 for iranian fighters helping saddam hussein. 35 people at the camp have also been arrested during two days of clashes. >>> more bloodshed in northeast nigeria where a fundamentalest sec. they killed more than 100 rebels today and searching for others. the militants launched their attack on sunday. at least 400 people, civilians, rebels and soldiers have died so far. >>> police say a baby girl cut from her mother's womb has been found alive and seems to be in pretty good health in a hospital this morning. police arrested a 35-year-old woman in new hampshire after getting tips from acquaintances who became suspicious when she turned up with a newborn girl. the suspect has been charged as a fugitive from justs and is due in court today. the baby's mother was 8 months pregnant when she was found dead in her massachusetts apartment on

. >>> let's go straight to reza sayah who is following this for us. what have you got? >> haven't seen protests in tehran for about 11 days. that changed today. protests and demonstrations and clashes. new video coming in to the iran desk being posted on the internet. we emphasize we can't confirm the location and the date of this picture, but it does match what our eyewitnesss are saying on the ground. you can see demonstrators there. some burned trash bins. also today some new video coming in. this is protesters on kharghar street, right north of revolution square, where this protest started. let's give you some perspective where this all started. this is a map of where the protests started, about 8:00 a.m. eastern time, 5:00 p.m. local time. the protesters met with a bunch of security forces, thousands of them, according to eyewitnesss. they dispersed and now what we're hearing over the past hour, pockets of protesters in side streets, kharghar street where you saw the video. and we can show you some video from earlier today coming in to the iran desk that actually s

re reza sayah, we have your mike fixed up. >> new video coming in. these are the protesters that showed up to her grave site heading home in a subway chanting, death to russia, death to china, china and russia, of course, two countries that supported iran's elections. the protest happened this morning, 3:30 p.m. local time in tehran. let's take a look at video from neda's grave site. 40 days ago that she and 40 others were shot and killed. it is tradition to commemorate someone 40 days after they pass away. opposition leaders had asked permission to commemorate this day. they had been rejected in defines. iran's opposition leaders, including that man right there, with the white turban, showed up. so did about 3,000 opposition supporters. that's where they were met with security forces carrying batons. they charged them, tried to dispurse them, firing their guns in the air, firing tear gas. for the next few hours, the crowds disbursed and they headed up north to parts of downtown tehran. we are going to show you some video of what happen at this locat

reza, what exactly does that mean for iran right now? you've got these nocturnal demonstrations, these clerics coming out against the election. what does this mean for iran? >> don, the government crackdown ended the mass street protest and demonstration in iran. the question is now what? is the opposition movement over? when you have a powerful group come out and make a statement like this, the answer is, no, it's not over. there is still dissent and defiance, but it looks like it has shifted into a different forum and there continues to be strong evidence that cracks and divisions are forming within the religious establishment. >> yeah, people may say, well, what does it mean that these clerics are coming out? isn't president mahmoud ahmadinejad, isn't he the president? it's not like being a president here in the united states. these clerics really have a lot of influence here. >> and let me put it to you in perspective. iran calls itself a democracy, but islam and the word of god trumps all laws and all democratic institutions. that's

res reza joins us with the latest. has anyone complemented you today? coming up. >>> first, time for a couple of holy mackerel stories. today saw one of the stranger moments in american journalism about our war in iraq. the "new york times" website for a large portion of the day front page in the story about a memo written by an american military adviser in iraq named colonel timothy rees who says u.s. forces should plan to come home sooner rather than later, a good idea to leave next year instead of the year after that. as the old saying goes, guest it's like fish begin to smell after three days. we are guests in iraq and after six years, we now smell bad to the iraqi nose. now, roughly the same time the "new york times" was putting this on their front page, spencer ackerman of the "washington independence" and shortly after, zachary, talking point memo, looking into this story as women point offing out that the army officer who authored this memo appeared to have first posted it on his personal blog. which is titled "tim the enchanter." right wing web

reza, what exactly does that mean for iran right now? you've got these nocturnal demonstrations, these clerics coming out against the election. what does this mean for iran? >> don, the government crackdown ended the mass street protest and demonstration in iran. the question is now what? is the opposition movement over? when you have a powerful group come out and make a statement like this, the answer is, no, it's not over. there is still dissent and defiance, but it looks like it has shifted into a different forum and there continues to be strong evidence that cracks and divisions are forming within the religious establishment. >> yeah, people may say, well, what does it mean that these clerics are coming out? isn't president mahmoud ahmadinejad, isn't he the president? it's not like being a president here in the united states. these clerics really have a lot of influence here. >> and let me put it to you in perspective. iran calls itself a democracy, but islam and the word of god trumps all laws and all democratic institutions. that's

cnn's reza sayah recently back from iran is now in d.c. reza, what are you seeing there?> reporter: yeah, tom, over the past couple of weeks we've seen more pro-democracy rallies outside of iran than we've seen inside and that's because protesters are free to hold rallies outside of iran. the latest one taking place in washington, d.c., today. let's take a look at some pictures. this rally started about an hour ago. not a huge gathering. hundreds of people, but it is growing. it started at the reflecting pool, and it's working its way up here to lafayette park in front of the white house, where they'll have some speakers and some music. there's some americans part of this rally, but most of them are iranians, part of the iranian diasporo who left iran because they haven't been happy with the conditions there. they wanted more social and political freedoms and they've been concerned about the post-election turmoil and really inspired by the uprising there. joining right now is mrs. sona sonsanny, part of the freedom movement. you helped to organize this. you are thousands

reza sayah for us at our iran desk. reza, thank you.>>> is pakistan ready to do more in the u.s. fight against the taliban? we have a report from the region. i just want fewer pills and relief that lasts all day. take 2 extra strength tylenol every 4 to 6 hours?!? taking 8 pills a day... and if i take it for 10 days -- that's 80 pills. just 2 aleve can last all day. perfect. choose aleve and you can be taking four times... fewer pills than extra strength tylenol. just 2 aleve have the strength to relieve arthritis pain all day. concierge claim centers. so i can just drop off my car and you'll take care of everything? yep, even the rental. what if i'm stuck at the office? if you can't come to us, we'll come to you in one of our immediate response vehicles! what if mother won't let me drive? then you probably wouldn't have had an accident in the first place. and we're walkin'! and we're walkin'... making it all a bit easier -- now that's progressive! call or click today. ies who need assistance getting around their homes. there is a medic

reza sayah for us the very latest out of iran.preciate it. >>> meanwhile, the tourist strike in the heart of a tourism district. two luxury hotels hit in jakarta, indonesia. talking about the marriott and ritz-carlton there. right now, looking at new video just coming into our newsroom from the explosion from inside the jw mauruate. several americans are among the casualties. we'll just wait here and watch for a moment. once again, brand-new video just coming into the cnn newsroom from inside the marriott hotel. i can tell you a couple things about this, indonesian authorities have detained several witnesses now and others for questioning. there you see the explosion just going off, boy, right in the lobby there, where you would expect quite a few people to be. so, clearly, the plan was to get as many people as possible in all of this. six people were killed, along with two suspected bombers and five of them were inside the ritz-carlton and then one inside the marriott there where you just saw. let's go ahead and look at that vide

reza, appreciate it. thank you. >>> bombings targeting mosques across baghdad killed at least 27 civilians and wounded dozens more today. the roadside bombs exploded near five shiite mosques in the iraqi capital. the bombings shattered a period of relative calm in baghdad and come a month after u.s. troops withdrew from major urban areas. >>> who will be the cnn hero of the week? well, when u.s. troops withdrawal from iraq, why one man will stay behind. >>> progress slows to a crawl on president obama's top domestic issue, health care reform. how is the administration responding to the delays and the setbacks? let's check in with senior white house correspondent ed henry. he is on the air right now the now with his weekly radio show, 44 with ed henry. and ed is inside, wow, the radio booth inside the white house. >> reporter: yeah. this stour digs. by the way, i've got some rootbeer here for the rootbeer summit for the show. we just had bill burton, the deputy white house secretary wag talking about healt

let's go ahead and head over to reza sayah. he's still over there at the iran desk working this story for us. and it's been a while since we have talked. that doesn't mean the story has slowed down at all. >> it certainly has not. a very, very busy day here at the iran desk. lots of pictures and video coming in. perhaps one of the pictures of the day is this one, coming from our i-reporters, this is mehdi karroubi, the opposition leaders. a lot of information coming in that he was attacked by the basij. this picture appears to show him disoriented with his turbin on. a let of eyewitnesss telling cnn there were clashes between security forces and opposition supporters and there you see a man with a bloody head. also in attendance today, opposition leader mir hossein mousavi. he was not attacked. again, according to this picture. he was there. show you some video that came in to the iran desk earlier today. let's go to aza over here. this gives you an idea of how many people showed up. tens of thousands, according to witnesses, a

i want to bring in reza sayah. he is running cnn's iran desk once again today. give us a sense of how would you describe what's happened today on the streets of tehran? >> well, today told you that despite seven weeks of fierce crackdown by iran's leadership, this opposition movement still has plenty of momentum and is not going away. keep in mind, the opposition leaders went out to the leadership of iran and said, look, let us do this. let us commemorate this day. we are not going to make any noise. we are just going to read the koran and pray in silence. the government said, no, no more gatherings linked to the election. not only did supporters come out but the leaders, defiant and energized. >> history would show us that whenever a toe tall tearian regime tries to thwart or stop a public display of emotion as we are seeing in iran, it backfires on them? in fact, you could argue that they have now found this jail where there are reports that people are being beaten and tortured and killed. that would innocence the public even more and make them want to come ou

. >> reza, talk to us also about the british embassy employee. the british government had a very stern warning to the government in iran. >> reporter: they have. this is at thtehran and london locking horns. they're shifting and blaming all the turmoil of the british government. they have one in custody, and here you have the for her rin men ster david milli ban saying if he's mistreated there's consequences. the face-off continues. >> reza, we appreciate your reporting. thank you very much. >>> in the meantime in central america, high drama in honduras tonight. zelaya ousted one week ago anyway coup took out from dulles airport. he's on a jet bound for the capital of honduras. the announcement that zelaya was returning home sent cheering supporters into the streets, but it is not clear, not at all clear zelaya will actually arrive or what will happen if he does. a live report from carl penhall just moments away. >>> in just two hours president barack obama leaving for russia and a two-day summit with medredev. ed henry is in moscow with a previe

reza sayah is in new york tonight.efore we talk about the concert there, is some developing news about the resignation of a key government official. >> this does not look good for the ahmadinejad administration. three days after president ahmadinejad appoints a new vice president, the vice president resigns under fierce criticism from hardliners. these are hardliners, supposedly supporters of ahmadinejad. let's tell you about the former appointee. his name is raheem mashai. ahmadinejad's son is actually married to his daughter, but that wasn't the problem. the problem came last year when the vice president who was head of iran's cultural tourism said iranians are friends with everyone, including israelis. this did not go down well with the hardliners. he came under harsh criticism. that's why when three days ago ahmadinejad appointed him as the new vice president, there came another wave of criticism and he resigned. this is significant because it's the first sign of in-fighting among hardliners themselves. of course,

that's where we find reza saaya. looks like a big turnout behind you, actually. >> yeah, the big apple seeing a lot of green today in the rally, march, for the opposition movement in iran. the official color of the movement has become green. seeing a lot of it today. let's take a look at the crowd in front of the u.n. an hour ago this crowd was at times square. a rally there. then they started a march. wining their way through the streets of new york. arriving here at the u.n. a few minutes ago. this rally part of what is called a global day for action. rallies all across the world. in places like san francisco, los angeles, berlin, and also, amsterdam. that's where one of our ireporters shot video of human rights activists and nobel peace laureate, one of the sponsors of the rally, everybody here, and through out these rallies, she is condemning what she is calling flagrant violations of human rights in iran and calling for release of hundreds of detainees taken into custody after the disputed vote on june 10th. why

reza sayah, cnn, new york. >>> the trial resumes tomorrow in the case of a man accused of killing his sick daughter by praying for her instead of seeking medical help. prosecutors told a jury the father ignored the 11-year-old girl's deteriorating health and considered her illness a test of faith. but his attorneys are saying the man had no idea that his daughter had diabetes and strongly believed his prayers would help her. the girl's mother was convicted of reckless homicide and could face up to 25 years in prison. >>> a lot of people in texas are worried that their tap water may dry up. the state has been hit by heavy drought, combined with 100-degree weather. you can see here, these consequences are from that drought. those boats near lake travis pretty much grounded. 230 public water systems are under mandatory restrictions as well, including dallas, houston, san antonio, and austin. one climb toll giatologist says drought will linger for at least a month. >>> the vote for sonia sotomayor could take place on tuesday. jeff sessions of alabama won't publy s llicly say how he will .

reza sayah is in new york tonight.efore we talk about the concert there is some developing news out of iran about the resignation of a key government official. tell us about that. >> this does not look good for the ahmadinejad administration. three days after president ahmadinejad appoints a new vice president, the vice president resigns under fierce criticism from hardliners. these are hardliners, supposedly supporters of ahmadinejad. let's tell you about the former appointee. his name is raheem mashai. these two men are very close. ahmadinejad's son is actually married to his daughter, but that wasn't the problem. the problem came last year when the vice president who was head of iran's cultural heritage and tour organization said iranians are friends with everyone, including israelis. this did not go down well with the hardliners. he came under harsh criticism. that's why when three days ago ahmadinejad appointed him as the new vice president, there came another wave of criticism and he resigned. this is significant

new york and that's where our reza sayah has been standingby. what's it look like right now? >> reporter: yeah, fred, in about an hour this portion of times square will see lots of green. green, of course, the official color of the opposition movement in iran. and today we're going to have a rally in support of that opposition movement. if you look behind us, the volunteers and crews ready to set up a stage here at times square. once they have some speakers, address the crowd, they're going to rally and march on to the u.n. this rally, part of what's being called the global day of action. rallies all across the world, in fact, we believe we have video of the rally that took place earlier in berlin, rallies taking place in cities like san francisco, los angeles, paris, amsterdam. all of these groups are calling for the release of hundreds of detainees arrested after the disputed vote on june 12th. and with me right now is the son of one of those detainees. tell us what happened with your father. >> well, a few -- i think it's almost two months back, they raided our house, and

cnn's reza sayah is there. reza, what do you think about the turnout?> reporter: yeah, kyra, the crowd has been growing ever since 8:00 a.m. here at this street corner in new york city, right in front of the u.n. stars and celebrities are going on strike. now, you may not recognize many of these stars and celebrities, but if you're iranian or of iranian descent, you definitely will. these are a lot of iranian movie stars, singers, song writers, authors, who gathered here for this three-day hunger strike in support of the opposition movement in iran, and they're also calling for the release of these individuals. these names that you see here are detainees who were arrested after the controversial elections on june 12th. these celebrities have gathered here to put pressure on the u.n., to pet pressure on the obama administration to do something to help these detainees. so, a lot of big names here, none bigger than legendary iranian singer gogoo. she arrived here a couple hours ago, she was mobbed here by her fans here, and this is what she had to say -- >

that is a new chant as your correspondent reza sayah pointed out.i is the son of the supreme leader ayatollah khamenei. the supreme leader has veto power over much of the state. and he has been chief of staff to the supreme leader's office, essentially running his office. but they also, the story that has he merged in iran, is that he has taken over the hard line basij militia and has been the master mind between this crackdown on protestors. and from the very beginning of the election dispute, there were many in iran saying that he was the man behind this massive rigging of this election, as well. in a way this man who had been working behind the curtain to use a persian term has been exposed. and i think that's quite significant. >> yeah, very interesting. does that make the supreme leader himself less powerful? >> i think the supreme leader has certainly been diminished by all of these events over the past month. the supreme leader likes to think of himself as an arbiter. he was never much of a balancer, he did lean towards the conservatives. but

reza sayah is our point man on this.re getting new stuff that we haven't seen for a while. >> the iran desk is working hard and so are our i-reporters. i want to show you some of the most important pictures coming in the past couple of hours. this is mehdi karroubi, the opposition leader, without his turbin. over the past couple of hours we've had a flood of reports from the ground that mehdi karroubi was attacked by members of the volunteer militia, the basij, at friday prayers. this picture appears to corroborate that. we certainly can't say defin tev tively he's beeni ing attacked , but his turbin is off and it could be that he is being attacked. another picture here showing what looks like someone with an injured head. we've had reports of people before the sermon and after the sermon, clashing with security forces. these are all from i-reporters. we encourage anyone who has pictures to post them on i-report. also, lots of video coming in to the iran desk. this one, this gives you an idea of the crowd that's out ther

libreza para otros, reza por otros, dios te va a recompensar siempre que ores, ore por aquel que realmentey que dios me los bendiga a todos hoy mañana y siempre. y que reciban de mí, siempre, paz, mucha paz, pero sobre todo qué, mucho, mucho, mucho, mucho, mucho amor. ( ♪ música ) >>> gracias walter, >>> s buenos deseas para ti siempre >>> con este mismo amor nos vamos a una pausa mañana la desaparición de un estadounidense en argentina es un circulo de misterio que intentamos descifrar >>> en seguida sea testigo de un video que impidió que los hermanos estuvo viena en ieral l carcel, veremos más en "primer impacto". tp@gvñsrkph@h@h@tp@g. ( ♪ música) >>> una noticia que nos acaba de llegar le contamos que hay un nuevo desarrollo en el caso que le presentamos aquí en "primer impacto" y que es un duro golpe para todos los inmigrantes. un jurado falló hoy a favor del hospital del sur de la florida que discretamente contrató un avión para enviar ano un inmigrante con problemas cerebrales a pesar de la petición de su familia esta demanda pedía cerca de un millón de dólares para el costo de po

reza, good morning.he election the most free and clean election in the world. he also called for changes saying the structure of government should changes, changes in government should be considerable. sounds like he is making some concessions here. but if he's still in power, is it going to make a difference? >> well, i'm not sure if i would call it concessions necessarily. this is kind of a blusterous speech, vintage ahmadinejad in some ways. but you know what? it is interesting that there are some real cracks in figures starting to appear at the very highest levels at the regime. when ahmadinejad talks about changes, what he's talking about is something very fascinating. he's talking about an even greater role for the executive office. what's perhaps unexpected about the last four years of the ahmadinejad regime is as disastrous as it may have been for both iran and i think the international community, he has managed to put even greater power behind the office of president, which as you know, was not

reza aslan said the conflict has taken shape out of public view. >> this is far from over. the number of people on street have diminished, the uprising has shifted from the streets to the halls of power. >> in the halls of power, a heavy faceoff. on one side, the establishment -- president ahmadinejad backed by supreme leader ayatollah khamenei and the powerful security forces. on the other, the opposition. led by mir hossein mousavi, and former reformist president, all founders of the 1979 islamic revolution and disciples of the father of the revolution, ayatollah khomeni. >> it seems the two sides, the proahmadinejad and anti-ahmadinejad sides have solidified. the people in the center, the clerics, the religious establishment has yet to go one way or the other. >> in a country where the word of god outweighs democratic institutions, observers say it's the individual clerics that could be the difference maker. the indications are, they are even split, some siding with the option, others siding with the establishment. all eyes on teheran and other cities around teheran. sec

reza sayah joins us now live from new york with more. what's the deal? >> reporter: heidi, this group of celebrities want to do a few things here with this hunger strike. they've put up signs what they want to do. support iranian's quest for freedom, support the opposition movement. most of all, free all the political prisoners, the hundreds of people who have been detained after the elections on june 12th. the hunger strike started about 8:00 a.m., it will go for three days. among those striking is this man, preeminent historian, professor hamid. you think the supreme leader ayatollah khamenei is concerned about what's going on here? >> oh, absolutely. i have no concern that he's very much concerned. the fracture within politics, it is a very divisive thing that's happened. the speech on friday from the center of gravity in political culture has shifted very much to the side of the civil rights movement. as a result the message is loud and clear to mr. ayatollah khamenei and mr. ahmadinejad that this is not going to die away with incarceration and arres

reza sayah live outside the u.n. this is a hunger strike to protest the alleged repression in iran. >> yeah. this is a hunger strike in support of the opposition movement in iran and what these people are also doing are calling for the release of hundreds of detainees who were taken in after the controversial elections on june 12th in iran. but the crowd in front of the u.n. is growing. rain is in the forecast during this three-day hunger strike, so the tent is up. there you see the sign-in table with guests are arriving and putting their name, about 60 people, an estimated 60 people will take part in this hunger strike and they're celebrities. you may not know them, but if you're iranian or from iranian descent. some of them are actors, filmmakers, musicians, artists, professions, members of the academic society and among them is -- you are a historian, written a lot about iran and talk about what's happening right now. do you think the supreme leadser paying attention to what is happening right now on this street c

our reza sayah is there. and we're getting word of some kind of gathering, a rally?what do we make of it at this point? >> yeah, tony, sources tell the iran desk within the past couple of hours there were people attempting to gather at a major square in downtown tehran, and sources telling us they were met with a huge security force presence. this happening in tehran, one eyewitness saying there was about 300 to 400 security forces gathered there. another one saying 500 to 600 security forces, many with batons and clubs. there were some reports of clashes. we are working to confirm those reports. there was a lot of buzz that there was going to be protests today, because this is the anniversary in 1952. one of the most dramatic pieces of video that's coming in. let's go ahead and take a look at it if we can. this video appears to be security forces shooting in the direction of protesters. >> oh! >> we don't know the date of this video or where exactly it is in tehran. but you see there. >> yeah. >> what appears to be a security officer with a suit and another one with

cnn's reza sayah is there for us.ed in for you, you were at a concert, they were trying again to bring attention to the plight of those in iran. tell us now about this hunger strike. >> reporter: these types of activities continue to happen outside of iran. what's happening today is stars and celebrities going on a hunger strike. now you may not know these individuals unless you're iranian. if you're from iran or are iranian decent, you probably know some of these people. we'll have movie stars, singers, songwriters, film makers, all going on a hunger strike in support of the opposition movement in iran. specifically they're calling for the release of these individuals. all these names are political prisoners detained after the vote. the names in red are individuals who have been killed, for example. the individuals here on this hunger strike are hoping to put enough pressure on the u.n. and international community to get these people released. will a hunger strike across the world have an impact? here is an award-win

. >> reza sayah, thanks so much. >>> he will be in a cast for a while. he is in good sfirt.ling pope benedict the xvi left the hospital. the vatican says he fell in his room overnight at his vatican home in the alps. he underwent a successful 20-minute operation. the cast has to stay on for months. he managed to celebrate mass before heading to the hospital. >>> nelson mandela turns 91 tomorrow. he doesn't want cards or gifts. instead, the legendary civil rights leader wants people around the globe to spend time doing good deeds for others. he and his wife hope this will start a social movement that will go on long after he is gone. mandela's birthdays are traditionally big celebrations. this time, he is spenting it at home in south africa with his grandkids. >>> an african-american president may soon be a latino supreme court justice. our carol costello will look at whether we really need affirmative action anymore. if you're taking 8 extra-strength tylenol... a day on the days that you have arthritis pain, you could end up taking 4 times the number... of pills compared to

>> reza sayah tracking this at our iran desk. >>> could that happy hour beer chat at the white house leave the president with, you know, a political hangover? joining me, paul begala and tony blankley. i want some analysis from you first, but first a little bit of a treat. late night, some call them comics or political analysts. how do they view this? >> obama really cut loose at the kegger. he -- he was -- he was wearing baggy dad jeans and sipping -- sipping a bud light. so, he was just -- >> president obama had a beer with harvard professor henry louis gates and the policeman who arrested him. yeah. you know, the meeting got off to a rough start when a neighbor called the police to say gates was breaking into the white house. there's a man going in there! >> laughing matter? much about nothing? case closed? >> yeah. you know, the president raised the temperature on this by commenting on this matter, and now he's lowered the temperature on it. maybe a little more coverage i think than he wanted. opportunity cost is real, distracted all of us, and some of it is our fault in the medi

. >> reza saaya, thank you from new york. appreciate that. >>> rallies are scheduled from the nation's capital to california. in washington, d.c., activists plan to march from the u.n. office there to the national mall. and then in san francisco, hundreds of people are expected to show their support for the democracy movement in iran. >>> a highly organized series of suicide bombings on three government buildings taking place in afghanistan. the taliban attacks took place in the eastern afghan city of khost, that borders pakistan. and the latest on the story, ivan watson? >> fredericka, this was an attack accord to the afghan defense ministry officials and nato officers as well, of at least seven insurgents wearing suicide vests carrying machine guns attacking a number of different buildings in this eastern town called khost. they attacked a bank, a military hospital, a police station as well. in one case, nato officers say that they went with a car filled with explosives and tried to blow open the gates with that. basically

and any of these types of events certainly gives them a boost to keep going. >> reza sayah for us thisg. thank you. >> you're welcome. >>> right now 55 minutes past the hour. we want to make sure that we provide responsible lending, and we want to make sure that we enable our customers to be successful homeowners. bank of america is lending. whether it's a purchase, a refinance, line of credit... we're here to assist our customers. so we try to make it as simple as possible especially for that first time home buyer. there's a lot of opportunity right now with what's happening in our economy to really get out and educate. this is responsible lending. it's a lot more conservative than it once was. but in reality, it's a lot smarter. we, at bank of america, have simplified the process by offering the clarity commitment. this is a one-page document, very simplified, letting the customer know what they're going to sign up for. and there's not a lot of loan mumbo jumbo that most people don't understand. it's about educating someone. it's about making them feel comfortable. it's not just one

reza porque siga la vÍa del diÁlogo. >> sin tardar algÚn tipo de explicaciÓn.e venezuela logrÓ luego la liberaciÓn de los comunicadores. >> ahora vamos a esta gustadisima >> ya no sea. permiso, ya vengo. >> yo tengo con quiÉn ir. >> el viene de mÉxico, entonces estátÁ solo,o, te lo puedes lle. >> yo tengo con quÉ ir, no me metas en problemas. ¿quÉ onda con premios juventud? >> resulta que ya, estamos en la semana que es la semana premios juventud, este aÑo viene con todo los motores encendidos, y ya tÚ sabes que premios juventud o a la personalidades especiales y este aÑo,las dos personalidades que van a tener este gran honor. son marc anthony, y arjona, es ÚltediciÓn, d ya ndo, Ésta hp h@nzaronlegar os stas qthr@starárkpn en e tÉstrÁque eÍa estÁ prepao eves thr@prlq÷kpthr@prpnda laan sicaler@preqh@h@r@pria h@h@thr@priapkph@h@thg]hkph@h@hÑ otro que se estÁ divorcien h@th tito el bambino. >> el amor es una cosa maravillosa hasta que se enterÓ tu esposa. el caso decir que quiere enterarse de todo lo que va pasar, a las siete va conversar con la alfombra que va te

>> reza, thanks for that comprehensive report.on top of this story involving iran here in "the situation room." we're not going to leave it, because the consequences, what's at stake right now, very, very significant. not only for that part of the world, but for the entire world. >>> china's government is taking no chances when it comes to the h1n1 virus. our own senior international correspondent, john voss tells us of his experience being briefly quarantined, even though he didn't have the flu. let's go to john. john? >> reporter: wolf, when it comes to the h1n1 virus, authorities here in china continue to take a hard line, enforcing some of the toughest measures in the world. all international travelers have their temperatures taken on arrival while still on the plane. and anyone with the slightest fever, like i had after recently returning from thailand, is taken away to quarantine. my temperature was only slightly above normal, but now have enough to bring out the hazmat team. after an hour on the ground, i was taken off the

cnn's reza sayah is there to explain what the leadership dispute really means. reza? reporter: well, for the first time, we are seeing cracks among hard liners and conservatives. in the past, we have seen reformists and modernists take on the hard liners. we have never seen them take on one another. that appears to be what's happening. the controversy surrounding the man president ahmadinejad appointed vice president, his son is married to his daughter. that's not the problem. the controversy came along when he said that iranians are friends with efrp, including the israelis. now, they are calling for his arre resignation. in new york, a three-day hunger strike by iranian exiles who are trying to put the pressure on iranian leadership to free hundreds of detainees arrested after the controversial election on june 12th. wolf? >> thanks very much. what's happening in iran by no means over at all. let's go to jack cafferty right now. he has the cafferty file. it's dramatic, this situation in iran. we don't know what the end result, jack, is going to be. >> no, we don't.

. >> la crisis que enfrenta este paÍs centroamericano reza el derrocamiento del presidente zelaya. participÓ en el fracasado diÁlogo con el vendedor de esta crisis hondureÑa, el presidente de costa rica varias. arias. mÁs de 500 personas asistieron anoche a una vigilia la comunidad del pueblo natal del soldado estadounidense, que fue capturado por los talibanes en afganistÁn. el presidente de estados unidos dijo que el pentÁgono hace todo lo posible para rescatar este soldado. las circunstancias de la captura, no estÁn claras h@teijzkl]qkph@ agentes federales confiscaron un informaciÓn sobre el historial mÉdico de michel jackson. el abogado responderÁ por Él en un interrogatorio general autoridades de la oficina del forense de los angeles. asÍ amanece el mundo, se entera con nosotros, mámÁs adelante tendremos mÁs noticias acusan a la policÍa dominicana de torturas. les contaremos quienes realizan esta acusaciÓn. el ex ministro de defensa de colombia, pide el espectro a venezuela, le diremos por quÉ. -respeto. ¿con el que trae este hip del ritmo integrado? >> como siempre pero de di

cnn's reza sayah is following this from the cnn iran desk.een picked up. is that right, reza? >> reporter: yeah, wolf. this is significant because this is the first u.s. citizen to be detained by iranian authorities during the post election turmoil. his name is dr. keyan, and according to sources close to his family, he was picked up by members of iran's revolutionary guard, dragged out of his home on thursday in front of his wife and a small child. it's not clear why he was detained but we can tell you dr. tajbakhsh was picked up before in 2007, spent about four months in a notorious prison and released. we spoke with one observer today, and he tells cnn this could be, we emphasize, this could be an attempt by the iranian government to drag washington into the post-election fray. wolf? >> let's hope he's out of there and out of there soon. we're also getting more compelling images coming in to the iran desk where you are right now. what are we seeing? >> reporter: video coming into the iran desk all day. we've picked out the best for you. th

reza sayah watching this for us. important story. condolences, of course, to neda's family. >>> a guidebook for taliban warriors is being passed around the mountains of afghanistan and pakist pakistan. rules to live by and fight by. cnn's stan grant picked up a copy of this little blue pamphlet. he's got the story from islamabad. stan? >> reporter: the taliban code of conduct has been drafted by the militancy leadership and distributed to fighters in the field. over more than 50 pages. it covers chapters such as prisoners, regional issues, and things that are prohibited. it sets down a very strict hierarchy and limits the use of violence. suicide attacks should be at high value and important targets because a brave son of islam should not be used for low value and useless targets. this is clearly designed to limit civilian casualties and go after coalition troops or government officials. it goes on. it is strictly prohibited to exchange prisoners for money. the imam in this case is taliban's supreme leader, mullah omar. he also has t

. >> you could see somebody with a stellar reza may who just walk on water academically, but if that person came in and was in any way rude to the staff of the courthouse or in chambers, thinking that the judge was unaware, it did not matter who the person was. i think it is a fundamental part of who she is as a person. it is very important to her that all of her clerks to everyone with respect and be good people, fundamentally. it is about being a good person. >> what was it like to work for her? she is known throughout the courthouse for her personality. she takes every case seriously. she truly things about the fact that individual people are affected by her decisions and the fact that i clerked for her on the court of appeals, when the circuit makes a decision, it is creating a precedent. as she prepares for cases in a way that is beyond what many judges do. she literally read every page of the records and she asks for more information and in order to be prepared like that, she works hard and her clerk's work hard. there was that aspect, but working for the judge means that if yo

. >> reza sayah, thank you. >>> what can we really expect from iran? stick around for that. plus ant. has antibiotic ointment directly on the pad. and now it's 100% waterproof. one-step infection protection from the brand you trust. ♪ 'cause band-aid® helps heal me! ♪ ouch! ow! oops! it's neo to go!® ready. aim. protect. neosporin® gives you infection-protection, and pain relief. neo to go!® plus pain relief. every cut. every time. everywhere. >>> with the unemployment rate approaching 10% now, some leading republicans are saying $787 billion economic recovery package has been a waste of money. still there is talk in washington circles about the need for a second stimulus bill. confused? here to sort it all out, cnn's christine romans. christine, i'm glad you're here to solve all of this for us. how well is this first stimulus working when you look at the promises that were made and where we are now? >> i would argue this is actually already the second stimulus because we had a stimulus last year. $168 billion. how well is it working. a gao report due out later today says it

. >>> our good friend and colleague, reza sayah is staffing the iran desk.ll protests? >> definitely. lots of internet chatter calling on people to take to the streets an iran wuonce again tomorrow, e tenth year anniversary of a protest that led to the killing of several students. also, a protest scheduled in more than a dozen

. >> reporter: reza sayah, cnn, new york. >>> the only surviving gunman captured during the mumbai terror talking. officials say he confessed today in a mumbai court. back in november, at least ten heavily armed men killed more than 160 people during a series of attacks in mumbai, india's financial capital. all the other known suspects were killed during the attack. indian officials say the man's confession came as quite a surprise. they say right now they are trying to verify if he is, indeed, telling the truth. >>> americans being recruited for al qaeda right here on american soil. the feds say they've been on the case since 9/11. cnn tonight at 6:00, we get to the root of this secret terror recruiting in "the situation room." make sure you stick around for that. >>> meanwhile, this. the space shuttle drawing closer to a forced retirement. so where does the u.s. space program go from here? the classic flavors of tuscany inspiration for... dinner bell sfx: ping ping ping fancy feast elegant medleys tuscany entrÉes restaurant inspired dishes with long grain rice and garden greens is it lo

thanks, reza, appreciate that. >>> michael jackson's death, we've heard a lot about the dangers of prescription drugs. we'll tell you more about prescription drugs and their dangers and the age group affected most by them. g hi. number two, please. would you like that to hurt now or later? uh, what? sir, it's a simple question. do you want heartburn pain, now or later? these heartburn medicines make you choose... between hurting now or later. pepcid complete doesn't. it starts to neutralize acid in seconds... and keeps it under control all day or all night. sometimes you gotta make compromises, man. no, you don't... man. pepcid complete, works now and works later. now with a great new taste. >>> well, some of michael jackson's doctors are reportedly not being supercooperative with the lapd. a source tells cnn some subpoenas have already gone out. in the meantime, a new window in the pop star's medical issues. he was reportedly taking pills of pills at one point, xanax in particular. in an interview in 2004, two jackson security guards said he popped more than ten xanax a night, down fr

monitoring all of it, let's turn to reza.tell our viewers what's going on. >> reporter: it's a little after 1:30 a.m. in the morning local time in iran. things are quiet at this hour. things really heated up earlier in the day. at times things got flat-out ugly. these were the first protests we've seen in about 11 days. let's show you some video that's been coming into the iran desk over the past few hours. really difficult to put a number of on the demonstrators that came out today. based on eyewitnesss we've spoken with, they put the number about 3,000 protesters. they started gathering at revolution square in downtown tehran between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. local time. they were met there with a few thousand security forces. obviously arrested people who were violent. that's what we saw. according to cnn sources on the ground there were numerous occasions where there were clashes. these forces managed to get the protesters out of revolution square. but according to eyewitnesss, the protesters spread out to surrounding streets an

for the purposes of this panel, the most relevant item on his reza made is that he was the assistant a general in the first george w. bush administration, and it was suggested among many people that he was very important in selecting justices. president bush did not make any appointments during that term but i suspect that he may have weighed in, for these appointments with regard to the administration and what they had in mind, i am happy to be here and we will proceed in the older where people are seated. justice o'connor and injustice -- then justice breyer and we will conclude. >> what would you like for us to start with? >> anything for judicial appointment, either at the state courts, especially west of the mississippi where they elect the judge, and the judicial elections by appointment, or the selection process, of the supreme court. >> we are watching the selection process work its way out as we speak, there is a vacancy on the supreme court with the retirement of justice david souter. and the selection of his replacement. i understand that soon a hearing will begin for just