Iran Protests: Reports of Deadly Crackdown and U.S. Options (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Leave now, that is a warning from the State Department to any American citizens inside Iran right now as the regime faces its most serious anti-government protests in years. President Trump ratcheting up the pressure on Iran, saying he's putting a 25% tariff on any country that does business there, quote, effective immediately. The violence inside Iran is growing worse amid a brutal crackdown, with one human rights group confirming the deaths of more than 500 protesters. It is an incredible black box, and to think that such a black box could exist in a world of social media like this. But Jamana Karadja is out front, and I want to warn our viewers that some of what you're about to see in her report may be disturbing.

[00:00:45] Speaker 2: From behind the walls of the Iranian regime's censorship, a chilling video has emerged. Every movement of what may be a hidden camera resounds. It reveals a terrifying picture of what's been unfolding on the ground. They butchered him, this mourner wails. Families gathered at this medical center outside Tehran, searching for loved ones. Lines of lifeless bodies are stored in a warehouse-turned-morgue. Inside the center, distraught family members stand anxiously in front of a screen that flashes photos of their loved ones. The media had its own pictures and narrative, reporting the majority of the bodies are those of, quote, ordinary citizens. They blame their deaths, like the protests on foreign-backed terrorists, carrying out what they say are indiscriminate killings. These pictures the regime decided to air, perhaps a warning to those who dare take to the streets. It's almost impossible for us to get real-time updates from Iran. The regime's shut down communications across the country on Thursday, just as nationwide protests against the clerical establishment drew larger crowds to the streets of every province. It's a tactic out of its playbook on crushing dissent, cover it's used in the past to unleash bloody force. The little testimony and images that have been trickling out. Only a small window into what a ruthless regime doesn't want the world to see. Videos like this that purportedly captures the feared state security forces out on the streets are slowly surfacing. Aus indoors mode is on. Sent out by those who are risking their lives to get it out. Ebola virus journey.

[00:02:48] Speaker 1: A motivator for the spread of the virus.

[00:02:49] Speaker 2: A new batch of allergen-issuances is made available. Not scary... But Gen. powers are packed and tightly flocked in. An irregulatory White House Chinese healthy measures have the ultimate only chairman. The American rule. Fox News. Amerisong. Fox News. ABC News. hard if the regime kills protesters. President Trump now saying Iran has reached out to negotiate.

[00:03:01] Speaker 3: DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States, But we may have to act because of what's happening before the meeting.

[00:03:07] Speaker 2: JANE FERGUSON, In this one location, an estimated 250 bodies, with hundreds more confirmed killed elsewhere, according to activists, the world now braces for what may come when Iran finally emerges from the dark. Jamana Karadzic, CNN, London.

[00:03:27] Speaker 1: And out front now is Skylar Thompson in the wake of Jamana's reporting. She's the deputy director at Human Rights Activists in Iran. It is an organization that is closely tracking the turmoil unfolding. And Skylar, I mean, it's just incredible. As I was talking about it with a black box, you have a view inside that box. You know, the reports that we hear, violence inside Iran has skyrocketed in the last few days. And I know that you're getting more information about that, but also from inside hospitals. What are you learning tonight?

[00:03:54] Speaker 4: SKYLAR THOMAS, Yeah, a black box is a really, unfortunately, accurate way to put it. We've now seen an unprecedented shutdown of communication, surpassing 100 hours. So it's really difficult information. It's reduced to a minimum. But what we are able to glean from our network is absolute brutality. Jamana's package correctly mentioned bodies upwards of 250 in one place. And we've, you know, documented over 500. JANE FERGUSON, CNN, London. Jomana's package correctly mentioned bodies upwards of 250 in one place. And we've, you know, documented over 500. Jomana's package correctly mentioned bodies upwards of 250 in one place. And we've, you know, documented over 500. Jomana's package correctly mentioned bodies upwards of 250 in one place. And we've, you know, documented over 500. Jomana's package correctly mentioned bodies upwards of 250 in one place. And we've, you know, documented over 500. As you mentioned as well. But we have over 500 cases still under investigation. So it really sort of paints the picture of what kind of brutality we're looking at inside hospitals. We have collected documents from doctors that show people impacted with tear gas, people shot at close range. And oftentimes they can't even seek appropriate medical care because doctors are stretched thin or they're being taken directly to a detention facility rather than getting the care that they need.

[00:04:57] Speaker 1: I know that you've also been reporting, Skylar, on state television in Iran, and that there's been an unprecedented number of forced confessions that they have actually broadcast on state TV. What more can you tell us about that?

[00:05:14] Speaker 4: Yeah, it's absolutely something that we haven't seen before. This number really concerns us. People are being arbitrarily arrested, as we've documented, thousands, tens of thousands of people. And what happens is they're arrested, they're taken to a detention facility, unknown at times. Sometimes we don't even know, you know, where a person is being held. And then suddenly they appear on state television confessing to, you know, being part of rioters, terrorists, being associated or influenced by foreign elements. And what's so concerning is these confessions, confessions happen under torture, psychological or physical sometimes. And then they carry the death penalty, the charges that they're that they're admitting to under coercion.

[00:06:03] Speaker 1: What do you see is different? I mean, there are some out there saying, OK, this is this. This could be it. And then there are others who say, no, the protests have been massive before. Look at 2009 in the Green Movement and of course, the death of the young woman in police custody that had sparked mass protests in twenty two thousand twenty two and two thousand twenty three. Is this different?

[00:06:25] Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, the first thing I would say is that we owe it to Iranians to believe in them. Right. They are risking their lives coming to the streets. They risk their lives to send us information. So it's really important that we that we believe in them and everything that they're saying. We have seen protests in every province across the country, in hundreds of cities. And I think that really shows the united nature of this, this moment. And we're all, you know, also seeing it, I might add, across class, across class, across ethnicity. So that's really unique. And I think, you know, on top of that, we don't just have a single trigger like we did in twenty twenty two. People are out on the streets because they simply can't live a good life. They can't buy oil. They can't buy rice. Money is is not stable. And there's inflation. There's corruption. Women don't have rights. This is just like a storm of a situation. That's really unfolding.

[00:07:23] Speaker 5: Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton, Massachusetts, who sits on the Armed Services Committee. He's also a Marine Corvette who served four tours in Iraq. Congressman, the White House is saying that what the Iranian regime is saying publicly is, quote, quite different from the messages the administration is receiving privately. What do you think the administration should do? What do you think is possible for the U.S. to do here?

[00:07:45] Speaker 6: Well, first of all, we, of course, stand with the Iranian people and we all hope that this regime gets toppled. But what we're really hoping for is a better regime. And so we've got to be very careful to ensure that whatever we do ostensibly to help the protesters doesn't actually empower hardliners in Iran and therefore lead to an even worse regime than we have. There's a real risk there. And that's why we have to have a serious plan. We can't just go in guns a blazing like the Trump administration likes to do and think that it will solve the problem.

[00:08:18] Speaker 5: President Trump has said he's looking at what he calls very strong options that the U.S. could take against Iran. He's also said previously the U.S. getting involved doesn't mean boots on the ground. What kind of options do you think the U.S. has?

[00:08:32] Speaker 6: Well, we have a very wide range of options. And if the president is talking about going in and bombing Iranian sites, I would ask him to very seriously consider other options that might do more to help the protesters and not actually turn some people against America. Anecdotally, we've heard that after the B-2 raid on the Nile, there's been a lot of talk about the U.S. taking the U.S. out of the country. There's been a lot of talk about the U.S. taking the U.S. out of the country. There's been a lot of talk about the U.S. taking the U.S. out of the country. There's been a lot of talk about the U.S. taking the U.S. out of the country. There's been a lot of talk about the U.S. taking the U.S. out of the country. on not just the Iranian nuclear facilities, but on officials living in downtown Tehran, where there is historically a lot of pro-U.S. sentiment, that the Iranian people really were angry at the U.S., that sentiment turned against the U.S. in the wake of those attacks. On the other hand, we have cyber capabilities, for example, that could really serve to open up the Internet, to empower the protesters, to encourage sentiment against the regime. Those are the kinds of options that the U.S. could take. And if the U.S. takes the U.S. out of the country, we're going to options that should really be on the table here. And I'm a bit concerned that, knowing the track record of the Trump administration, they're just thinking of military options alone.

[00:09:31] Speaker 5: There have been, obviously, widespread protests in Iran before, most recently in 2022. Given the way that those were ended, cracked down, what happened to many protesters, public executions, first of all, the courage of these protesters is extraordinary, given what happened just a few years ago.

[00:09:51] Speaker 6: It's extraordinarily courageous. And, I mean, these are real modern-day freedom fighters, much like the freedom fighters who are in Ukraine today, fighting for their freedom, their chance at democracy. So we want to do what we can to stand with them. And there's been plenty of criticism that the U.S. in the past has not done enough to topple the regime, to push, to get past the tipping point here. But we just have to be very carefully calibrated with our actions. And what we've seen in the most recent military adventure of this administration with Venezuela, they couldn't even decide what the justification was for going in. First, it was fentanyl, then it was cocaine, then it was not regime change, then it was regime change, and then it was oil, even though the oil executives now say they don't even want to invest in Venezuelan oil. So, clearly, the administration did not have a clear plan for Venezuela, and they don't have a plan for the day after. So let's make sure that if we do anything in Iran, we have a plan, we know exactly what it's set out to achieve, and then, there's some sort of plan for the day after that makes sure that moderate elements in Iran are empowered to have a pro-Western regime in the wake of this conservative regime being toppled.