but there's a dueling protest at cairo university where the muslim brotherhood and islamists are calling out for their supporters to show up. this is the first time we're seeing the brotherhood flex its street muscle, if you will. and show their support for the president. there's thousands, tens of thousands at that rally already right now. this is a big moment for them because we haven't seen them come out and give their opinion and this comes as the president morsi embattled as he is, trying to push the country into accepting a new draft constitution, which should be voted on within the next 15 days. >> and i'm curious. have the rallies, have the been protests been pretty much calm or, i know there has been some fear about violent clashes or at least escalating a bit. >> well, muslim brotherhood initially called for their rally to be in tahrir square today, but at the last minute, they moved it to cairo university to avoid clashes. but yesterday we did see clashes between pro-morsi and anti-morsi protesters in the port city of alexandria. it is a very heated debate right now. this is d

near cairo university we have the pro-morsi. his supporters. the islamists there. first time we've really seen them flex any street muscle and their first time coming out to voice their support for president morsi. we're expecting a huge rally there later today and in the next couple of hours. the brotherhood is planning to start official kick off their rally, but we're already seeing the thousands of people at cairo university voicing their support for the president. >> there has been this power grab that anti-morsi protesters are calling. give us some details of what they accuse him of grabbing. what he's changed about the powers of the presidency. >> it definitely was apower grab. he has more power than what hosni mubarak did. he can issue any decree that he believes will help, will help egypt move forward. that is a very ambiguous decree, which means no one can really challenge it. when it comes to writing the constitution, he says the courts no longer have any oversight and only he can make any decision regarding the drafting of the constitution. that's a dire

supporters of president mohamed morsi have been filling the streets around cairo university just across the nile river. the opposition is urging anti-government protesters to fill iconic tahrir square in cairo. ian lee joins us by phone. it was quieter at tahrir square earlier this morning. tell me the scene there now. >> reporter: it's still pretty quiet compared to what we saw yesterday. a few thousand people in tahrir square compared to last night where we saw tens if not 100,000 people. today the big story is cairo university and the muslim brotherhood protests. this is the first time we've seen the muslim brotherhood flex some street muscle and send their supporters out into the street. from the estimates we're hearing hundreds of thousands of people are at cairo university in support of president mohamed morsi. and this comes as the constitutional draft was approved by president mohamed morsi and we will see a vote for it in the next 15 days. and one thing that should be stated here is that the islamists should never be underestimated. they've been underestimated since the revolut

thousands of his muslim brotherhood and other islamist supporters packed the streets outside cairo university looking more like a political rally than a protest. they needed to show up in big numbers to slow the opposition's momentum and did not disappoint. i think the numbers you see today show the true legitimacy is with president morsi, he said. they applauded morsi's controversial decree giving him near absolute power as well as a draft constitution, which human rights experts warn could seriously limit freedoms of speech, religion, and women's rights. they are against islam and don't want islamic law said this protester. we want islamic law. while clashes between pro and anti--morsi protesters in alexandria left at least a dozen wounded, here in cairo one of the largest islamist demonstrations ever was peaceful. meanwhile, in tahrir square several hundred tired morsi opponents tried to keep up their spirits. mohamed sayedi has lived in a tent for nine days and remains defiant. >> we would keep our rights from the president. >> reporter: the opposition promises an indefinite campaign of m

cation to stop making one stop today we had running the front of the cairo university thanks very much indeed we have to get you invision in the next live from. talk to square in car in the meantime thanks very much to bill true let's get more perspective on the developments in cairo now from human rights activists she told me. join me live there from the city protest not receding shima where do you think this leaves egypt's political future. will since the uprising started have been seen. through. when the military council was in power before the elections after the elections so i think this is what we're going to continue to see from now on for some time now it's hard to predict what's going to happen and it will continue . to be angry about what what the government is doing so from your perspective how do you see that this is the revolution continuing some are saying that the morsi has started another revolution and he is saying he's protecting the revolution or is it just going in full circle now well i think that in two years you can see that we have had their pollution and finish

tens of thousands have showed up outside of cairo university where we are and saying we support president morsi and like the anti-government protest we can put on a large demonstration, too. a large turnout. a few thousand women. the gathering overwhelmingly men, and it's energized, chanting slogans. again, some of the opposition leaders and in support of the president. really this turnout puts into focus the conflict here between the opposition factions, the liberals, the moderates, the secularists and the president's supporters, the islamists, the supporters of the muslim brotherhood. the people here at the brotherhood demonstration support the president's move. they like the draft of the new constitution. they like that in about 15 days everyone is going to go out and have an opportunity to vote on the constitution, and they say this is how democracy should work. however, in tahrir square, you have the opposition faction. their position is they have been sidelined, squeezed out in the process of the draft of the constituti constitution, and they believe the islamists, the muslim brothe

. >>> and we're looking at pictures from cairo university in egypt where thousands of egyptians are chanting slogans in support of the president. mow hmow hom he had morsi was given the new constitution today. it has to be approved by the people in a vote two weeks from now. not everyone is happy about the new constitution. angry crowds are protesting against president morsi and the new constitution the square. >> reporter: there doesn't seem to be an end to the demonstrations here in cairo. another mass protest here in the square. some of the president's fiercest critics here are women, women activists. they don't like the way this constitution was drafted. they don't believe they were represented and the panel that drafted the constitution, and here's what else they're saying, we don't trust the president and the muslim brotherhood. >> look at all the countries. now they want to screw egypt. >> when you say they, who is they? >> the muslim brothers. all these groups. the muslim brothers are -- here they're not egyptians. they are an international organization. >> reporter: so you don't tru

show of support was big, at least in the tens of thousands, perhaps 100,000 or more outside cairo university and it really had the feel of a political rally. there were people waving flags, carrying banners and chanting pro-morsi sloegers. there were some clashes reported, not in cairo, but in the north in alexandria between pro and anti-morsi groups. overall, however, the day was peaceful. that's because the muslim brotherhood is much more focused on politics than on protests. it wants to see as quickly as possible the ratification of that new draft constitution. which, of course, the opposition says is completely invalid because it was rushed through an all-islamist committee and very bias towards the islamists. morsi received tonight a copy of that draft in a ceremony and in the days ahead, maybe even tonight is likely to announce a nationwide referendum for as early as mid-december. back to you. >> jim maceda in cairo for us, thank you, sir. >>> republicans have drawn a line in the sand as we edge closer to the so-called fiscal cliff. will democrats cross that line? i'll talk to a member

thousands lined the streets near cairo university in a show of support for president morsi. e islamic parliament approved a draft constitution that gave morsi vast power. we'll have a live report from cairo at 1:00 p.m. eastern. >>> a strike you may never have heard about that's sending a ripple across this nation next. also what's wrong with this picture? even one republican says a lot. it is coming up in strategy talk. plus willie geits on office politics here on "weekends with alex witt." [ male announcer ] where do you turn for legal matters? at legalzoom, we've created a better place to handle your legal needs. maybe you have questions about incorporating a business you'd like to start. or questions about protecting your family with a will or living trust. and you'd like to find the right attorney to help guide you along, answer any questions and offer advice. with an "a" rating from the better business bureau legalzoom helps you get personalized and affordable legal protection. in most states, a legal plan attorney is available with every personalized document to answer

their show of support was very big in the tens of thousands, perhaps 100,000 or more outside cairo university and had the feeling of a political rally. waving flags, carrying banners and chanting slogans and some clashes between pro and anti-morsi groups, but up in alexa alexandria, not in cairo. overall, very peaceful. the muslim brotherhood much more focused on politics than on protests, craig. it wants to see that ratification of the new draft constitution, which the opposition says is invalid and was rushed through that all islamist committee. it wants to see it out there and voted on as soon as possible. morsi received a copy of the draft of that constitution at a ceremony this evening and in the days ahead, it may be even tonight he could announce a nationwide referendum and a date as early as mid-december. craig? >> nbc jim maceda, our man on the ground in cairo. jim, we'll come back to you later. thank you, sir. >>> coming up, a republican lawmaker calls out her own party for its woman problem. tennessee congresswoman marsha blackburn will join me in a few minutes. >>> just weeks befo

supporters of president mohamed morsi packed the streets near cairo university as morsi sets a date for a vote on the new constitution. morsi's critics say the constitution was rushed through and paves the way for islamic law. >>> mexico has a new president, enrique pena nieto took the oath of office before the country's congress. his inauguration returned the institutional revolutionary party to power 12 years after being turned out of office. that doesn't sit well with mexicans who accuse it of buying the election. hundreds clashed with police outside congress. >>> north korea is going to try again. they want to take another stab at sending a rocket into space. this time, to place a satellite into orbit. this is all coming from north korea state run media. the rocket will be similar to this one. the planned launch, the window is between december 10th and 22nd. u.s. state department is not happy about it, calling any launch by the north koreans provocative. >>> take a look at live pictures from the white house, which is marking world aids day. a day to ponder the fight against hiv and

if a dispute arises, scholars at cairo's muslim university would get to decide how to interpret the law, which could mean more influence for conservative religious authorities. the old constitution granted egypt women several rights. it guaranteed equal status with men in the fields of political, social, cultural, and economic life without violation of the rules of islamic jurisprudence. that article has been dropped in the new draft. president morsi says it is because women are citizens just like everyone else. activists view the omission more critically. >> women are only mentioned as single mothers, the boy's face, or with us. they are not mention when it comes to health, political participation. this act treats women as second- class citizens. -- women are only mentioned as single mothers, divorcees, or widows. >> the new constitution does guarantee jews and christians the right to practice their religion is as well as build houses of worship, but it does not mention other minority faiths like a high or the shiite branch of islam, giving rise to fears that these groups will face inc

to support morsi and organized this by having buses from the local level bring people up to cairo university and it had a hard time getting buses because number of bus drivers, especially in upper egypt, were concerned their buses would get attacked and burped by antimorsi protesters, and they start paying them 130-pounds to come up, providing food and other means of transportation. then on december 4th, you had a new round of antimorsi protests in front of the presidential palace and the what unnerved the brother hides for they ever first time they called for morsi to step down. what happened was the guidance office met in morse morsi's home on december 4th. they met there and the following day, the brotherhood organized attacks on protesters, including the use of torture chambers. if you look at the videos of these attacks it's clear this is organized you have groups of muslim brothers running in a somewhat coordinated fashion at the antimorsi protesters. how die draw this linkage? how am i so sure? because on december 5th, i was walking with our interns at the institute to call people who

years on now i hope to be joined by our next guest dr saeed side the he's from the american university in cairo we've seen a lot of disappointment with the new leaders in countries like egypt where you are in tunisia how do you assess the outcome of the arab revolutions so far. we have to understand that you cannot move for one extreme to another you cannot move from absolute autocracy to westminister. there is always a transition and it is very in for every person who comes up the pollution will always have a file or remember. they were going to vote who should focus on things that means you're going if. somebody saw the could not complete one and he was impeached and his successor was as it was in one month's successful was a similar goose move which you will have will have a lot to do so. willis center government this week the economy gets we this although the security is not the working now what you are seeing is the mock will see it being cheap and people are learning it b.c. democracy and that's why you will find a lot of thing here and there but there is no killing so why so what we're s

compare that to across the nile river, in front of cairo university, where tens of thousands of morsi supporters are gathered. they want more islamic law. they want morsi to be a strong president. so egypt can get out of its political deadlock. neither side is backing down. and egypt appears to be at a cross roads. >> richard engel. richard, thank you very much. >>> north korea says it will launch a long range rocket this month. the defiant move set for december 10th through 22nd is likely to heighten already strained tensions with washington and with seoul and it comes just eight months after a failed april attempt was widely condemned as a violation of the u.n. ban against developing its nuclear and missile programs. >>> a huge red ribbon is hanging from the north portico of the white house today to mark world aids day. the annual observance raises awareness about one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history. it also commemorates those who have lost their lives to the disease, including more than one million people in america. >>> the u.s. supreme court may announce as

morsi still needs to form a workable coalition, says khalid fahmy, of the american university of cairo, but sadly, he's not acting as a president. >> reporter: the muslim brotherhood's head office was wrecked by opposition supporters an act a supreme leader called criminal. "what is happening in egypt is not egypt," he said. street violence is driving and inhibiting the political process. opposition supporters have laid virtual siege to the presidential palace and are threatening further unrest if the president doesn't back down. what can the opposition do about this? >> the opposition is helpless and is divided and is without division. >> reporter: that leaves the streets as a forum for what passes as political discourse and the army as referee. it's a role they may have to fill for some time. morse seinsisting a referendum be held next weekend to vote on a constitution written by his party and islamist allys. the opposition want ones drawn up that reptz everyone's interests. maurice glawrmarr glub turning to libya the civil war could be approaching a turning point. rebels are threate

finally, another show of public support for the president, demonstrators came out here to the university of cairoesterday. again, in support of president morsi. many of them from the muslim brotherhood. about 200,000 strong. much larger crowd there. behind me on tahrir square, these demonstrators here, again, president morsi. back to you. >> eric: all right, we'll keep an eye on the situation as it develops today. steve, thank you very much. jamie? >> jamie: well, eric, taliban militants storming a joint u.s. and afghan air base early this morning in jalalabad. detonating explosives at the main gate there and that blast kicking off a gun bat that lasted two hours. nato spokesperson said none of the gunman breached the nation's perimeter but reports of five afghan soldiers killed, at least nine attackers died in the fighting. >> eric: israel is taking steps today in response to the successful palestinian bid for nonmember observer status at the united nations. israel now withholding $100 million in tax revenue from the palestinians. this after israel announced new settlements in the west bank and

15th but that did little to silence his opponents who plan a million man march in cairo's tahrir square. >>> at a university in dublin hillary clinton called for dialogue to ease the unrest in egypt. >> we call on all the stakeholders in egypt to settle their differences through discussion and debate, not through violence. >> clinton also called on egypt's leaders to protect the country's promise of post revolution democracy. >>> back here at home, as the fiscal cliff standoff continues in washington the president took his plan out of town to northern virginia where he sat down with a middle class family to talk about the potential impacts they face from the looming fiscal cliff. it's now just 25 days away. nbc's tracie potts joins us with those details from washington. >>> lynn, good morning. good morning, everyone. the president spent time with a family who answered a call from the white house. the question was what would you do if you had to pay another $2200 in taxes. that's what the white house says will be the average impact on middle class families if they don't work out avoiding this fiscal cliff. t

but the final goal isn't that clear according to khalid fahmy of the american university of cairo. >> they have an agenda of controlling all the institutions of the state. for what purpose, is significant to know. it is not necessarily to turn it into an islamic country. >> reporter: whatever the case the presidential palace is being turn mood a fortress under siege. barricades to keep protestors back have been reinforced which may be a good thing. the opposition called for nationwide protests on tuesday. morsi today ordered the military to maintain security and protect state institutions and with power of arrest. just to add to the pain and anger the government announced price hikes over a broad range of goods and services from water and electricity to cooking gas and cigarettes. egypt is in for a noisy week. allen pizzey, cbs news, cairo. >> glor: back in washington president obama and house speaker john boehner did meet at the white house this afternoon for more talks on the fiscal cliff. details were not released but both sides say lines of communication remain open. on face the n

university of illinois. brent's attorney says his bail at a half million dollars is excessive. >>> egyptian opposition activists remain camped outside the presidential palace in cairo after president morsi agreed to drop the plans. protesters are pushing for morsi to cancel the referendum, saying they reject the process entirely. morsi says the constitution is essential for the fledgling democracy but opposition leaders say there's a better way. >> that is democracy, but at the same time the president should be aware that the public anger and the spreading anger would affect him. >> rallies have drown tens of thousands of people into the street and melees that left at least six people dead. morsi ordered the military to maintain security and protect state institutions until after the results of the referendum. >> it was the first day same-sex couples could get legally married in washington. ahead, we'll have a look at some of the historic ceremonies and how seattle handled the wedding rush. >> is secretary of state hillary clinton ready for a new challenge? what democrats think about her possibly making a bid for the white house. >> i'm your meteorologist. it warme

university professors -- definitely not for the judiciary." despite the low voter turnout, long lines snaked out of polling stations and voting hours had to be extended. a working-class district of cairoe of the voters say no and the referendum said the process had been rushed and it wasn't enough time to discuss. >> we should reach out to the poor and ignorant, especially that we have a high percentage of poor and illiterate, and the constitution is not just for you to read. you must discuss it was summoned educated, but they did not give us a chance. >> other voters said they support the constitution because they want to in the transition. they say the president deserves a chance. >> i said yes. it is honorable for every egyptian this say yes. democracy is not putting pressure on someone so he leaves. democracy means you give a chance. there is a ballot box every four years, according to the laws. if someone's to give their opinion, they can put it in the ballot box. >> many voters today to this referendum as not just on the constitution, but president morsi and the muslim brotherhood. after five months in office, this is the biggest test for the president and his group. several mil

cairo, thanks so much. >> ifill: we'll continue our conversation series in the days to come. we get a very different take on this. paul krug man is a nobel prize winni econost at princeton university and a columnist for the "new york times." he joins us now. ers kin bowles may be one of the people you have written about in the past who you called deficit... who were touting a phantom menace known as the fiscal cliff. am i right about that? >> fiscal cliff is not a phantom menace. the deficit right now is. the notion that something terrible will happen if we don't deal with the deficit right away. the fiscal cliff is a very different story. that's about reducing the deficit too fast. >> ifill: you call it an austerity bomb. describe what you mean by that. >> what's happening is that we are scheduled, unless something is done basically to do to ourselves gratuitously what has been happening to some of the european economies. we're going to have substantial spending cuts, substantial tax increases at a time when the dme is still very weak. of course that's a recipe for sliding back into recession. we set ourselves up with the land mine and the road in front of our economy which is no

university of maryland. professor, let me start with you. i want to get your initial take on these latest developments out of cairo.gerous situation, and there was a threat that the military could intervene. i doubt it very much. there is a norm that has emerged since the overthrow of mubarak that the state and the government and the military shouldn't interfere. and there is a fear of that. so i doubt that that will happen. it is clear that the stalemate continues. they're moving toward possibly delaying the referendum on december 15th. but the real question is will there be a new decree or an amendment to the presidential decree, and will there be a way to modify the constitutional draft before it comes before the referendum. all of that is still uncertain at this point. >> if the reports of the new constitutional declaration are accurate, how will that affect the standoff that we have seen play out, play out in the streets this in cairo? >> i think if the president doesn't back off, and he seems to be -- mohamed morsi shows how stubborn he is. as flexible as he showed us with dealing with gaza and the israelis,

first considerations outside cairo university and elsewhere to organize is by having been denied the local level, bring people to cairo university and it had a hard time, a number of bus drivers especially in upper egypt were concerned airbuses would get attacked and burned by protesters of the brotherhood started paying its members according to a report, 30 pounds, food and other means of transportation. then on december 4th you had a new round of anti morsi protests, what unnerved the brotherhood was for the first time they called for him to step down. the guidance office met in his home on december 4th that night, in a cairo suburb. they met there and the following day the brotherhood organized attacks on protesters including the use of torture chambers and did you look at the video of some of these attacks, this is organized, you have groups of muslim brothers running in a somewhat work needed fashion at the protesters. how to live draw this linkage, all my social or? on december 5th, i was working at the institute to call people who had been in that meeting and we were able to s