nbc's brian mooar reports. >> reporter: in the streets of cry row, celebration and a sense of relative calm after the country's new vice president began a dialogue with opposition leaders. president obama is trying to turn up the heat on hosni mubarak without fanning the flames. >> the president wants change, he wants it immediately, he wants to be meaningful and he wants it to be orderly. >> reporter: former u.s. diplomats say it's difficult it know where egypt is headed because it's not clear who is in charge. >> it's like driving a car and you've got one foot on the brake and one foot on the accelerator and they're trying to get the right feet 37. >> reporter: although the unrest unfolded fast, resolution may drag on for months. here in the states, demonstrators are still speaking out in the way most egyptians can't. >> we're simply echoing the voices back home. >> reporter: and in egypt, there are signs life is returning to normal, but plenty of reminders that change is inevitable brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >>> julian assange has arrived in a london courtroom to find out wh

brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >>> an east bay fire district running out of money and could simply shut down. the east contra costa fire district expected to run out of cash by 2013 if nothing changes. at a meeting last night the board considered asking taxpayers to hike their own property taxes to help fund the agency. the district serves brentwood, oakland, bethel highland, discovery bay, byron, marsh creek and morgan territory. >>> contra costa county is facing its own grim budget picture this morning. and county administrators say workers are going to see furloughs and layoffs and pay cuts through 2018. while people living in the county will see services diminish. the drop in property values has hit that county hard. state cutbacks have hurt, too. cocoa county has cut a quarter billion from its budget sense the economic downturn. it needs to cut another $50 million next year. the administrator there says the budget troubles will extend through 2018. is. >>> the city of oakland is celebrating the life of a man known as the community dad. a candlelight vigil will be held for barr

brian mooar is live in washington with more on today's developments. morning, brian. >> reporter: hi, laura. we'll start out with the breaking news right here out of washington. the state department is ordering mandatory evacuations of non-essential personnel and their dependents out of the american embassy in cairo. this morning, of course, that huge million-person march is taking place. and it does look like organizers got the number of people they were looking for. all of them speaking with a very clear voice to president hosni mubarak asking him to step down. it is a peaceful protest as promised the military to date at this hour has not stepped in yet, has not done anything to stifle these protests, but the government has cut off rail service, has closed many of the major roadways, has cut the internet and has from time to time cut off cell service all to no avail. the united states is doing what it can to sort of urge things along in a very non-confrontational way hoping for a quick peaceful end to all this. again this morning, the u.s. is in an a

"today in the bay's" brian mooar is live in washington with more on today's event. >> reporter: good, laura. the government has done everything it could to stifle this huge demonstration to cut off cell phones, internet service, roads and rails. but the people keep on coming. and they are speaking with one voice loudly and the world is listening. they are calling on president hosni mubarak to step aside to allow democracy to work its way in this country. the government has been reshuffled by the president but so far he is refusing to step down. the united states is careful not to take sides in this. at this point it is calling for an orderly transition as facilitating the departures, the evacuations, really, of thousands of americans who want to get out before this chaos gets worse. for today, though, it appears more than a million people demonstrating peacefully. the military honoring its pledge not to fire on them, not to interfere. organizers are calling for an even bigger protest on friday. live in washington, brian mooar, laura, back to you. >>> thank you, brian. >> meantime the