many of those come from california, and joe montana, in case you didn't know, is the pitch guy for the avocados. there's some sausages and stuff going on. 6% is the number of people who call in sick monday after the game. so now you know. good night. crisis in cairo. thousands of protesters remain defiant saying a major political shakeup today is not enough. demanding mubarak must go. out of egypt. an american grandmother trapped and vowing to defend herself against the violence finally gets out. our exclusive interview tonight. super mess. dangerous snow and ice on the eve of america's big game. when will the wild weather end? and reagan at 100. a new look at the life and times of the 40th president, a gift a new look at the life and times of the 40th president, a gift from the former first lady.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening from jordan. the standoff in neighboring collective political blood pressure all across this evening is showing more signs tonight of becoming an endurance contest between hosni mubarak and those demonstrators packed into central cairo. on day 12 of the crisis, all was relatively calm in the capital even as the senior leadership, of the ruling party, including hosni mubarak's son, resigned. it means the younger mubarak, wildly unpopular with critics, will not be taking his dad's place. sand some suggesting it may just be a token reform offering by the elder mubarak to try to outlast the protestors who are against him. our correspondent richard engel remains in cairo tonight with more on the high-stakes showdown.

richard? >> reporter: good evening, lester. there is still a lot of mistrust here. but serious negotiations are under way to guarantee that the democratic reforms promises by mubarak are actually carried out and that power is gradually transferred away from the president and his son. protesters are still camped out in tahrir, shouting, calling for more democracy and president hosni mubarak to leave. the protesters remain nervous they'll be attacked. today they resisted when the military tried to remove bare xaid cades they've set up. the army wants to reopen tahrir square to traffic. for 12 days the government has struggled to deal with the protesters. first it fought them with police, water cannons and tear gas, but the protests got bigger. then it sent goon squads to

attack the demonstrators, although the government denies it was responsible. the protesters fought back and then showed off their wounded in a victory parade. now the government seems to be settling on a more sophisticated strategy, giving the demonstrators most of what they want and waiting until others egyptians turn on the protestors for stagnating egypt's economy. the egyptian government is trying to slow this down by promising reforms and making some changes to convince the people that they can get what they want without a full revolution. egyptian state television tonight announced that president mubarak's son gamal has been removed from the leadership of egypt's ruling party. gamal has long been groomed as a successor. it's a big succession. but it's now just one of many. president mubarak has said he will step down in six months and not run again and establish term limits. he has fired ministers responsible for abuses by police

and vowed to investigate electoral fraud. but the protesters want him to leave the country in exile like tunisia's humiliated president. mubarak, president for three decades, says he'll never go like that. and not all egyptians want him to. for the first time in this crisis, we're hearing a very different tone. these carpenters and blacksmiths told me they want reform and more democracy but wanto back t. mubarak is making changes and leaving in six months, anyway, said one man. our people are suffering, the longer the protestors destroy the country. these demonstrators want everything to change at once. even god made the world in seven days. they want to remake it in one, said another. president mubarak represents the presidency. we have to respect that, a woman added. >> for the protesters time is the enemy in many ways. they've got to keep the international media spotlight on themselves, they've got to keep

the regime's feet to the fire. the longer that things go on, the harder it's going to be to maintain international opinion, international focus on them. >> reporter: while the united states has pushed for reforms, arab states are fearing that if mubarak goes, they will be next. and protests confined to central cairo, will spread across the middle east. egypt's vice president and former intelligence chief omar suleiman is seen by many here as the person most likely to guide this transition to power. >> and richard, i get the sense tonight that not only this news by mubarak not welcome by the protestors but almost had the opposite effect. are they going to crank it up even more after this? >> reporter: the protestors in tahrir square are really the wildcard. there are negotiations taking place on their behalf, but many of the die-hards who are in the square -- and there are many of them -- say they will accept

nothing else than president mubarak leave the country and they're not going to change that demand. the protestors are calling for major demonstrations all week long starting tomorrow. this is it supposed to be called the week of resilience. >> richard engel in cairo for us tonight thank you. as you just heard, many are getting tired of the crisis because it is hitting them hard in the pocketbook. nbc's ron allen has more on that part of the story. >> reporter: every day passion and energy fill liberation square. while, at the same time, much of egypt grinds to a halt. one stark example, the pyramids. perhaps the nation's most famous sight and symbol empty today. about 160,000 foreigners have fled egypt since the crisis started. untold numbers have been afraid to come. >> foreigners i think will be scared off from the economy for some time. >> reporter: as the protests

rage on, businesses, schools and government are shut. this nation of deep poverty and high unemployment loses about $300 million every day. about $3 billion total so far. that is a huge toll on workers like this taxi driver. >> translator: i have to earn money daily. he don't have a salary, he explains. now i don't have money to feed my family. >> you feel pride. he feel like free-spirited. >> reporter: nadal is an egyptian of-american activist helping coordinate the protests on the front line every day, now facing the challenge of motivating ordinary people to fight a revolution instead of meeting more basic needs. >> if you do not have life with freedom and dignity, there is no point of living. >> reporter: meanwhile, the government insists it has made changes and the crisis is over. banks, the courts, some big factories are supposed to open sunday when the workweek starts

here. >> it is a huge dilemma. >> reporter: out here in the suburbs beyond the square there's another measure of how people feels about this. the traffic. cairo has some of the worst traffic in the world. and it seems to be picking up. however, a curfew remains in place, the military occupies the main roads. the president fights to hang on, the opposition vows to bring him down. and in so many ways this nation pays a heavy price. ron allen, nbc news, cairo. >> the obama administration put new pressure on egypt today to move quickly toward democratic reforms. nbc's mike viqueira has more at the white house. good evening to you. >> reporter: good evening, lester. the president spent part of his day on the phone and getting an update from the staff in egypt. at a previously scheduled summit of world leaders in germany, today secretary of state,

clinton publicly embraced the transition process headed by the newly installed vice president, omar seoul omar seouleiman warned things m derail reform. >> concrete steps that people who are engaged in it can believe is moving toward and outcome that will permit an orderly establishment of the elections that are scheduled for september. and that takes some time. >> reporter: but who would lead egypt during that time? while president obama and other u.s. officials have not publicly called for mubarak to step down before september elections, in recent days they have left little doubt that they think he should soon. >> the key question he should be asking himself is, how can i leave a legacy behind in which egypt is able to get through this transformative period? and my hope is that he will end up making the right decision.

>> reporter: but addressing the summit in germany, today frank wisner, the man president obama sent days ago to speak personally with mubarak says for now the egyptian president should stay put. >> the president must stay in office in order to steer those changes through. i, therefore, believe that president mubarak's continued leadership is critical. >> reporter: both wisner and the white house say he is not speaking as a u.s. official. but other experts agree and fear that siding with protest herbs and pushing mubarak to leave might force him to dig in instead. >> what matters isn't what happens in the next day or two. it doesn't matter whether mubarak is the president of egypt. what really matters is what the process to move beyond, to move beyond him? >> reporter: lester, with the statements, meetings and calls, white house officials remain eager to knock down the perception that they are in any way orchestrating events in egypt. as secretary clinton put it today, we are on the outside

looking in. lester? >> mike viqueira at the white house, thank you. this program note. tomorrow on "meet the proes," david gregory will have an exclusive interview with mohammed elbaradei. beyond egypt in the middle east, many americans are focused on what's going on in dallas this weekend. we're talking of course about the super bowl. and even before tomorrow's big game, this is already a super bowl to remember, or forget, as fans and others find themselves in a battle with the weather. nbc's janet shandly is in dallas for us tonight. >> reporter: lester, they are finally coming out of the deep freeze here. after several people were hurt yesterday from ice falling from the roof of the stadium, there are still safety concerns and now the possibility for more snow. today above the largest dome stadium in the world they tried everything to remove the ice. from workers wielding axes to firefighters trying to hose it off, even repelling down the side to get a better shot at it,

anything to get rid of it ahead of tomorrow's game. >> one, two, three! >> reporter: with temperatures warming, visitors are venturing out. >> i've never seen anything like it. >> reporter: steelers fans james and paulette finally reached the stadium but friends are still stuck. >> three from las vegas and i think they are on their way. some still in pittsburgh still having difficulty. >> reporter: it wasn't easier on the road as these fans learned the hard way. >> a lot of snow and ice and vehicles in the ditch. semis tipped over, snowplows stuck in the ditch. >> reporter: the blitz of snow and ice is devastating for the region's economic bottom line. restaurants and bars that should be packed are close to empty. but there's still hope for the weekend. >> it was slower than anticipated. but i think with the weather warming up like it is it and the amount of phone calls and volume we're having, i think it's going to turn right around.

>> reporter: snow predicted in the northeast is raising more concerns about more building collapses. this boston area town has seen more than 70 roof collapses. officials have cancelled school monday and tuesday for safety inspections. and there are still remnants of the last blast. as thousands in new mexico are still without natural gas. >> super bowl! >> reporter: back in texas, super bowl fans are vowing to make the best of it. >> go go go! >> thank god the sun is out. >> reporter: rain, snow, or shine. the weather channel says it could be a rain/snow mix starting at about noon, but no accumulation. lester, game time temperature, 33 degrees. back to you. >> thanks. this saturday night, we're going to continue from amman jordan with news on the american grandmother who found herself trapped by this week's violence in egypt. tonight she's finally on her way out. we'll talk with her. were were and later a look at the life of ronald reagan on the eve of his 100th birthday.

tonight, an elderly american woman caught in the cross fire of this week's violence in cairo is safely out of egypt and on her way back to the united states. many of you have followed our coverage of mary thornberry's chilling predicament trapped in her apartment by fighting that raged all around her. well, we're happy tonight she is reporting that story tonight from a much safer place. >> you've come to the right place. we're happy to have you here.

>> reporter: escorted by an american embassy official, today for the first time we see the frail 76-year-old texan whose tough talk captivated americans back home. >> i'm going to have to whop them with my rolling pin. >> reporter: mary lived in a building above tahrir square, fending off mobs from her door front until rescue came yesterday during a lull in the fighting. >> reporter: what can you tell us about how you got out of your apartment? >> i would rather not go into that just in case some repercussions could come upon other parties. >> mary, i'm with nbc news. >> reporter: an nbc news producer caught up with her at the cairo airport today where she told me by telephone about her walk to freedom. >> i got to the foyer and people of course were all over the floor sleeping. and there were rocks and garbage and of course the streets were quite littered all the way,

littered, just garbage and a lot of rocks. there were barricades all over the place. >> reporter: today she spoke to worried family members back home who had briefly lost track of her overnight. her rescuer turned out, dropped her at the airport and she spent the entire night sleeping in the terminal. >> i was in bad shape by the time i got to terminal number one. in order to get there, several times i had to stop and sit for there was only a set of steps or a curb and rest before i could take any more steps. >> reporter: today, in the care of embassy officials, mary was put on this evening's evacuation flight and tonight arrived in europe on the first leg of her journey back to the u.s. but before she left, i had to know -- mary, did you bring your rolling pin with you? >> my son told me to. but i did not have room in my

little carry-on. i only brought one little carry-on. that's all i have. >> you may recall in some of our earlier conversations with her by phone, she was critical of the u.s. embassy, tonight she had nothing but praise for embassy officials here who helped her get on the plane and on the way home. up next, what happens to calls for protests from syria today?

for the u.s. and russia, a milestone today with an exchange of papers between secretary of state hillary clinton and her russian counterpart. the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty took effect today, the agreement puts the country on a new track to cut their nuclear arsenals well

beyond the original s.t.a.r.t. treaty which took effect in 1994. now back here in the middle east. for all the talk of reforms throughout the arab world, there is one country where that seems unlikely. that country is syria. anti-american, anti-israeli and for decades controlled by >> reporter: it was to be a day of rage but it is simply not going to happen. the streets are filled with secret policemen. authorities here are looking for people suspected of trying to organize the protests. the calls for protests were published on facebook, banned in syria and was supposed to mark the day in 1982 when the sir ran president put down an uprising by the muslim brotherhood. more than 20,000 people were killed including 1,000 syrian soldiers.

syria should be ripe for protest. 30% of the population is under the age of 30, unemployment is over 20%. but the syrian government is well aware of these risk factors and has already moved to make changes here. >> first of all is to control prices of commodities. two, promise jobs for university graduates. three, promise to give more freed freedom. >> reporter: the president in a rare interview with the "wall street journal" this week said, if you don't see the need for reform before what happened in egypt and tunisia, it's too late to do reform. if syria has escaped political turmoil until now, it may be because social and economic conditions are not yet ripe enough for revolt. and, when we come back, a new tribute to ronald reagan on his centennial.

finally tonight, tomorrow would have been the 100th birthday of president ronald reagan. and while there are a host of celebrations going on, the centennial kicks off with the unveiling of the newly renovated ronald reagan library in california. former first lady nooncy reagan is set to cut the ribbon for the public, but nbc's lee cowan got a behind-the-scenes preview. >> reporter: from parades to private moments, nancy reagan has been the caretaker of ronald

reagan's memory. and never has his library been so busy. for month it's's been a beehive of activity creating a 26,000 square foot birthday present at the direction ever tof the firs herself. >> she has approved just about every facet of what you see in the museum. >> reporter: the wife of ronald reagan as it says on her pass wort is a bill of a pack rat. from the presidential to the personal, it is all here. love notes, some in telegrams, she saved every one. even a piece of concrete from their first home. >> there was a side to him that was very emotional and he was always touched by heroism and patriotism and the sense of america. >> reporter: ken kachigian was the president's friend and speechwriter. very often he was the president's student. >> he gave me a lecture on how to keep the speeches short.

>> ooich and how to make them shorter and tighter. >> a man's talents may be used for good and evil. >> reporter: so much of was of his on-camera presence, but he was also a prolific writer. >> it gives me goose bumps every time i touch or hold these diaries. >> reporter: and while the public can't touch the same pages he did, they can get pretty close. visitors can now turn every page of the president's diaries in a virtual way. in fact, just about every new exhibit is interactive. >> we we've tried to do through technology in this new museum is to get out of the way and let the president speak to the visitor. >> whatever else history may say about me when i'm gone -- >> reporter: presidential ipods will be the visitor's guide with a camera included with e-mail pictures home. the great communicator is communicating in whole new ways. reagan's shining city on a hill

now better than ever. lee cowan, nbc news, simi valley, california. and that's nbc "nightly news" for this saturday. i'm lester holt reporting tonight from amman, jordan. i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today" and right back h ngood.ning. ngood.ning. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening. i'm diane dwyer. the san francisco giants are still reaping the rewards, of course, of the world serie