nbc's ayman mohyeldin is in cairo tonight with the lates good evening. >> reporter: good evening, kate. the street of public opinion could not be any wider. today it was on display just miles away from each other. behind me today in tahrir square, the number reaching close to 25,000. the prodemocracy activists supporting calls for the military to step down from power and to hand over power to an elected government as quickly as possible. they feel the military has exhausted its mandate and is unable or unfit to control more. across the street a short while -- distance from here the egyptian military and their supporters took to the street. there are those who believe the egyptian military retains a great deal of popularity. they say the military is the best institution and the most credible institution to lead egypt through the transition to democracy. they say egypt's military has been acting within restraint and leading the country to a better path. back to you, kate. >> ayman mohyeldin in cairo tonight. >>> when "nightly news" continues on this friday evening, the war on cancer decl

nbc's ayman mohyeldin has our report from neighboring jordan. >> reporter: nine months into the syrian uprising, hundreds of thousands of syrians took to the streets today, protesting a regime that shows no signs of backing down. in this year of the arab spring a wave of change that toppled hosni mubarak of egypt and moammar gadhafi of libya. bashar al asad of syria has so far managed to hold on to power. the cost, more than 5,000 lives since march with more killed each day, even as many soldiers defect and the uprising lurches toward civil war. nothing has slowed down the carnage. not even the presence of arab league observers. their job, to ensure the asad regime's compliance is an agreement aimed at ending the crackdown. while the syrian government has allowed the arab league observers in, it has all but banned foreign media from reporting firsthand from inside the country. >>> the opposition is using home video to get the message out and hoping the observers present will help them be heard. in this amateur footage not independently verified residents placed the body of a dead child

nbc's ayman mohyeldin joins us. eye ayman, good evening. >> reporter: lester, good evening. the military government broke up protestors calling on it to step down and hand over power to a civilian government. the prime minister for his part came out and defended the military's actions saying they acted with self-restraint against the demonstrators. but new footage has emerged showing some very disturbing scenes of the military opening fire on the protesters and aggressively beating the demonstrators, all in an attempt to prevent them from controlling tahrir square. now, this comes as health officials put the death toll of two days of fighting at ten, more than 400 wounded. all of it highlighting the tension that exists between pro-revolutionary groups and the military who says it will not hand over power to civilian governments until the middle of 2012. back to you, lester. >> ayman, thanks very much. >>> elsewhere in the middle east the war in iraq is officially over, but there are still u.s. troops in the country preparing to make the long journey home. it begins with a la

nbc's ayman mohyeldin reports from cairo. >> reporter: it was the largest women's protest anyone here has ever seen. thousands of egyptian women marched across tahrir square, calling on their countrymen to join them. and demand an end to the use of women demonstrators. this is what has sparked their anger. recent attacks against women protesters captured on video. one woman seen beaten senseless by egyptian soldiers, her limp and exposed body dragged away. a man and woman walking by are then dragged into the violence, they too are viciously beaten. the shocking images quickly spread around the world triggering international outrage and condemnation. >> women are being beaten and humiliated in the same streets where they risked their lives for the revolution only a few short months ago. >> the images were also broadcast on egyptian state television, helping unite political forces against the ruling generals. >> the targeting of women have angered many across the society. and today organized protests to send a very clear message to the military rulers, that abuse of women at the hands o

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ayman mohyeldin is joining me now live. what's been the most crucial piece of testimony so far?stimony is one that no one has seen except the lawyers and judge. and that was from the field marshall who is the commanding officer in charge of the de facto ruling in the country. at the described whether or not the president ordered him to open fire on the protesters, that will not be made public until a verdict is actually reached in the trial. >> more than 100 people have been killed since mubarak stepped down. a fact that the defense team is trying to play up. how is that argument holding up in court? >> well the, defense really is trying to bog down this trial with so many procedural challenges, that it's really going to be a long trial, to say the least. their argument as you mentioned really rests on two pillars. one is that the president did not directly order the military or the security forces to use live fire to suppress the protests, and two, they're even going so far as to say that weapons were stolen, uniforms were stolen, that these officers and men that acted to kill

ayman mohyeldin, the only time 100 honoree here. he used to be -- he worked for nbc many years ago. then he migrated to al jazeera where he had opportunity to do something that was a one left on -- once in a lifeti a lifeti. you're at the epicenter of something that i think is truly transformational. ayman has cast that in and is going back to nbc as a foreign correspondent. only in american media company would call an international correspondent of foreign correspondent. any place that is not america is far and. -- foreign. you will fix that. jim warren managed to figure out, how do i keep the best and most important of old media, shoe leather journalism, talking to people and going out and reported which he still does, mashing that with new media, twitter, facebook? jim was the managing editor of the "chicago tribune." he now writes for other magazines and i think you will talk a little bit about that when we start talking. we're going to figure everything out for you today. we chatted beforehand and basically this is a conversation that all journalists have all the time. what is

so ayman mohyeldin was the face and the voice for many of us of the biggest story of the year, arab springing that is, i think, truly transformational. and ayman now has cashed that in and is going back to nbc as a foreign correspondent. only an american media company would call an international correspondent a foreign correspondent. you'll fix that. now, jim warren, i'm sure, is familiar to all of you, right? he is the dean of the chicago press corps. and one of the things that's fantastic about jim is that you're one of the few people in the business -- and we're like the same age, right? -- who actually managed to figure out how do can i keep the best and most important of old media, of shoe leather journalism, of talking to people, of going out and reporting which he still does, and how do you mesh that with new media, with twitter, with facebook. so jim was the managing editor of "the chicago tribune", he's now writing for the atlantic monthly, the new york times, and you've started the chicago cooperative which i think you'll talk a little bit about. when we start talking. so, um, so

ayman mohyeldin, the only time 100 honoree here. he used to be -- he worked for nbc many years ago. to do something that was a one left on -- once in a lifetime thing. you're at the epicenter of something that i think is truly transformational. ayman has cast that in and is going back to nbc as a foreign correspondent. only in american media company would call an international correspondent of foreign correspondent. any place that is not america is far and. -- foreign. you will fix that. jim warren managed to figure out, how do i keep the best and most important of old media, shoe leather journalism, talking to people and going out and reported which he still does, mashing that with new media, twitter, facebook? jim was the managing editor of the "chicago tribune." he now writes for other magazines and i think you will talk a little bit about that when we start talking. we're going to figure everything out for you today. we chatted beforehand and basically this is a conversation that all journalists have all the time. what is happening and what is the future? we will talk about what