[Paula Zahn, Cnn Anchor:] Good evening, everybody. Glad to have you with us tonight. We are devoting a major part of this special hour to something that is rarely explored. After decades of struggle to overcome racial barriers in this country, there is still segregation everywhere. Think about it. We constantly voluntarily separate ourselves by race and culture. We do it in church. We do it at schools, where we live. But is there a right or wrong? Well, we're going to explore that in a special part of the hour, "Divided We Stand: Self-Segregation Out in the Open." But, first, there is a major breaking news story to talk about tonight. Iran is just about to release 15 British marines and sailors. As you probably know, they have been held captive for the past 13 days, as international tensions escalated and oil and gas prices soared. Well, now it looks like everyone is stepping back from the brink of an even more serious international crisis. Senior international correspondent Matthew Chance just filed this report.
[Matthew Chance, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] After nearly two weeks as prisoners in Iran, the moment the 15 British sailors and marines learned of their freedom. One by one, Iran's hard-line president bids them goodbye. With the world watching, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad takes each of them by the hand, accepting words of thanks.
[Unidentified Male:] We're very grateful for your forgiveness. We're delighted as this result here. Were you expecting this in the last few hours? No, no. It's come as a complete surprise.
[Chance:] This was Ahmadinejad's day of grand gestures. First, he awarded a medal for bravery to the commander of Iranian troops who captured the Britons. Then, with a final dramatic flourish, he presented what he called his gift to their country.
[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian President:] And I announce their freedom and their return to the people of Britain. I request the government of Mr. Blair not to question these people or to place them on trial for speaking the truth.
[Chance:] Since their capture in disputed waters between Iraq and Iran 13 days ago, tensions mounted hour by hour. Iranians suggested that the British personnel might be put on trial. They were paraded on Iranian television, making staged confessions that they had in fact been captured in Iranian waters.
[Unidentified Male:] Yes, I would like to say to the Iranian people I can understand why you are so angry about our intrusion into your waters.
[Chance:] Most recent images show the captives looking relaxed, evidence, according to the Iranians, the statements were not made duress. But British officials strongly objected to the constant displaying of the captives on television, and warned they would increase the pressure on Iran if there was no early release. The British prime minister appeared relieved his government's low-key diplomacy has apparently paid off.
[Tony Blair, British Prime Minister:] I'm glad that our 15 service personnel have been released. I know their release will come as a profound relief, not just to them, but to their families that have endured such distress and anxiety over these past 12 days. Throughout, we have taken a measured approach, firm, but calm, not negotiating, but not confronting either.
[Chance:] It was far from calm in the pubs and bars where friends and family of the captured Britons celebrated news of their freedom. And there are thanks all around these anxious days are finally drawing to an end. Matthew Chance, CNN, London.
[Zahn:] So, who are the biggest winners and lures losers, that is in this international drama? With me now, an international security expert, Jim Walsh, with MIT. Always glad to have you on. Welcome back.
[Jim Walsh, International Security Analyst, Massachusetts Institute Of Technology:] Good to see you, Paula.
[Zahn:] Thank you. So, we got to see Matthew Chance describing Ahmadinejad preening and gloating today, particularly in the glare of all these television cameras. In the end, did he gain anything?
[Walsh:] Well, you know, in general, these sort of dramas usually end up in a draw, in which both sides up a end up a little worse than where they started. In this case, Britain and Iran were both criticized through this last two weeks. And they both can claim that they got something. But, if you ask me, I think Britain comes out ahead. Tony Blair was criticized for being soft by armchair quarterbacks both here and in Britain, but, at the end of the day, he showed that prudence and patience pay off, and he got his people back. And I think he's the big winner.
[Zahn:] Well, let's let the audience hear a little bit more about how he approached this crisis. Let's listen in.
[Blair:] Throughout, we have taken a measured approach, firm, but calm, not negotiating, but not confronting, either. To the Iranian people, I would simply say this. We bear you no ill will.
[Zahn:] Well, certainly, he had to say that, that he bears the Iranian people no ill will, but couldn't he have been a little bit stronger when it came to the indictment of President Ahmadinejad?
[Walsh:] Well, you don't want to speak too soon, Paula, because those sailors are still not on British territory. He may offer a different set of comments once they're back in the arms of their family. Again, I think he handled this well. It's been two weeks, but he got all his people back. Britain did not apologize. And, if you notice, in Ahmadinejad's press conference today, he said as much. He said, he had hoped that they would get an apology. They didn't get an apology. So, clearly, Iran did not get all of what they wanted to get. They got some things, but they didn't get that. And, so, I think Tony Blair is quite happy with the way things turned out.
[Zahn:] Jim, we have heard a bunch of different stories about how this deal came together. What do you think happened?
[Walsh:] Well, you know, all day, we have talked about President Ahmadinejad, all the pictures. He was at the press conference. If you ask me, I think the real question here is, where is the supreme leader? What did he do? In the Iranian system, the president is not the decider. The supreme leader is the decider. My own guess is that the supreme leader, at some point, said, hey, you know, let's stop the bleeding here. Let's put an end to this. He gave this issue to Ali Larijani, his chief negotiator, essentially signalling that he wanted a diplomatic compromise. And, if you ask me, Ahmadinejad and the Revolutionary Guard really came out the losers within this internal battle about whether to hold on to them or whether to give them up. And, probably, Ahmadinejad was thrown a bone at the end by saying, well, you can make the announcement. But, at the end of the day, it was the negotiators who got the green light from the supreme leader, not the hard-liners.
[Zahn:] Right. And the hard-liners certainly got their wrists slapped in all of this.
[Walsh:] Absolutely. And I think, you know, in the end, Iran started out in a position that was tactically strong. That is to say, they had the sailors. No one could force them to give them up. But their strategic position was terrible and getting worse every day a U.N. resolution condemning it, a European Union resolution condemning it. And, the more and more this went on, I think it probably would have fed into anger on in Tehran among average voters, who want to see their economic situation improve...
[Zahn:] Sure.
[Walsh:] ... and who are not interested in cause stirring up the pot and causing problems.
[Zahn:] Jim Walsh, thanks for always making it clear to us.
[Walsh:] Thank you.
[Zahn:] Appreciate it.
[Walsh:] Thank you, Paula.
[Zahn:] And we're going to move on now, because we have a very important subject to bring out in the open tonight. Why is it that, starting in school, we Americans separate ourselves by race? I'm going to take you to a cafeteria where the dividing lines between blacks and whites are painfully obvious. Wait until you see what I saw when I traveled to Buffalo. You're also going to be shocked when you see just how far colleges will go to help the races stay apart. Our special report, ""Divided We Stand: Self-Segregation in America," begins in just a minute. Please stay with us.