our chief white house correspondent, chuck todd, following that part of the story. ck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. well, the obama administration is in what it's calling phase two of this new egyptian policy. phase one was to push mubarak to not seek re-election and to start the process of getting out of power. phase two is about getting this reform process to begin something that is more credible to the egyptian people. here's how robert gibbs described that process at today's press briefing. >> this is about a process, it's not about a personality.grç and it is important that the people see progress toward that meaningful change, just as it is important that those in the opposition take part in this process and put forward what they want to see come out of this. >> reporter: the bottom line, brian, is that their efforts toñ keep pushing mubarak have sort  of been tabled a little bit, as ways the vice president, 1wñ suleiman, and get him to do the reforms he has promised to do to keep doing these meetings with these opposition leaders, in ñ many

our chief white house correspondent, chuck todd, was there for all of it. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. well, the president was in a meeting with some other senior advisers when he was interrupted and told about the mubarak resignation. he then did what so many of us did and just went outside to a television and watched all of those scenes unfold that we've seen ron and richard experience. in fact you could tell the scenes of what he was watching influenced what he told the country later this afternoon. >> this is the power of human dignity. and it can never be denied. egyptians have inspired us, and they have done so by putting the lie to the idea that justice is best gained through violence. egypt has played a pivotal role in human history for over 6,000 years. but over the last few weeks, the wheel of history turned at a blinding pace. the egyptian people demanded their universal rights. >> reporter: it was significant what the president didn't say. he didn't use this speech today, brian, to talk about a new middle eastern policy

we go to our chief white house correspondent, chuck todd, on a cold night at the white house where it's a hot scramble inside the west wing. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: after huddling together with advisers for a couple of hours late this evening, the president put out a very carefully worded statement that did not once mention mubarak or anybody else by name. the statement reads the egyptian people have been told that there was a transition of authority, but it is not yet clear that this transition is immediate, meaningful or sufficient. too many egyptians remain unconvinced that the government is serious about a genuine transition to democracy. it is the responsibility of the government to speak clearly to the egyptian people and the world. the statement goes on to say we therefore urge the egyptian government to move swiftly to explain the changes that have been made and to spell out in clear and unambiguous language. it is clear the white house, frankly, is as confused as many of the egyptians in tahrir square about what they heard from president mubarak, vice president suleim

chuck todd, thanks. >>> up next, after a break, the latest on the newest broadway sensation, love it or hate it. >>> we saw him during the super bowl, this nation's most recent recipient of the medal of honor. army staff sergeant salvatore giunta says he will not reenlist. he will get his college degree on the g.i. bill. the young man from iowa is already a two-tour combat veteran with multiple decorations. it's also true the pentagon traditionally frowns on medal of honor recipients returning to combat, though it has been done. >>> the quotes i'm about to read come from "the l.a. times," "the washington post" and "the new york times." they all have to do with the new broadway musical "spider-man." an artistic form of megalomania. a shrill insipid mess. incoherent. and finally, "spider-man" is so grievously broken in every respect it's beyond repair. after a while you get the feeling the critics don't like "spider-man." the most expensive and elaborate musical ever made. well, here's the rub, it hasn't opened yet officially, it's still in previews, and the people keep coming. despite

bush. >> thanks so much, chuck todd. for your reporting. >>> in italy this morning the prime minister minister silvio berlusconi was indicted on charges that he paid a teenager for text and allegedly used his influence to cover it up. a video clip of this man speaking racial bias causing her to be swiftly fired. she was in fact speaking about racial discrimination. and now to nbc's mandy drewry at the new york stock exchange this morning. good morning. >> good morning. the economic calendar is good. manufacturing, retail sales also housing to help gauge the strength of the u.s. economy, which seems to be gathering pace of late. overseas, chinese inflation less than is comforting but we need to waup oil prices. they rose in overnight trade and of course escalating protests in oil producers iran and bahrain. something to keep an eye on. back to you, ann. >> sounds important. thank you so much. >>> finally now, tiger woods had ace worse round of golf in the european tour event this weekend not only because he came in 20th p

at the white house, chief white house correspondent chuck todd has been watching this for days.ht now, they have gotten zero comment about the news of today. earlier, when they were anticipating an announcement, they knew something was coming and that it was going to be big. they simply put out word that they thought it was a good thing that mubarak had left cairo and that they felt reassured by that decision. clearly, there have been a lot of back channel conversations. we know vice president biden and vice president suleiman are talking quite frequently. yesterday, they had the anticipatory feeling that mubarak was going to go. something like what happened now they felt were going to happen yesterday, the president talking about history unfolding. that's what they thought was going to happen. as one person intimated to me earlier, it did seem, until just now, that everything mubarak did was about three days too late. but at this point, you can hear the relief in the voice of some of these senior officials that have been be working nonstop on this crisis. >> chuck todd at the w

nbc's chief white house correspondent chuck todd is in washington. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. there are two budget fights in washington now. today, house republicans are continuing their effort to try to slash $60 billion from this year's budget, something that the white house has promised the president will veto which could lead to a government shutdown in a few weeks. meanwhile, the president is defending his budget proposal for next year and the fact he did not attempt to tackle the long-term debt problem this country faces. here he is at yesterday's press conference on that. >> this is not a matter of you go first, i go first. this is a matter of everybody having a serious conversation about where we want to go and then ultimately getting in that boat at the same time so it doesn't tip over. >> reporter: natalie, today is press secretary jay carney's first briefing as the new press secretary. >> you're going to be tough on him, i'm sure. chuck todd, thank you. >>> unrest inspired by egypt's revolution has spread from iran, yemen, ba

chuck todd? >> i'm a little too wired up. thank you, mr. president.form, two parties coming together, just happened in december. >> right. >> in your fiscal commission. you had a majority consensus to do all of this. it's now been shelved. it seems that you've not taken -- i guess my question is what was the point of the fiscal commission if you have this moment where you had tom coburn, your conservative presented in the united states senate, sign on to this deal. judd gregg was also on this thing. you had dick durbin, your good friend from illinois. democrats. everything you just described and the answer to chip and the answer to ben just happened. why not grab it? >> well, the notion that it's been shelved, i think, is incorrect. it still provides a framework for part of the challenge. you guys are pretty impatient in this town. if something doesn't happen today, then the assumption is it's just not going to happen. all right? i've had this conversation for the last two years about every single issue that we worked on. whether it was health care on

chuck todd. .. you are a good friend from illinois, democrat from everything you just described in the answer just happened. why not grant it? >> the notion that it has been shelled by think is incorrect. they still provide a framework for a conversation. part of the challenge here is that this townlets face it you guys are pretty in a patient. if something doesn't have an today, then the assumption is that it's just not going to happen. i've had this conversation the last two years about every single issue that we've worked on. whether it was health care or don't ask don't tell matt come on egypt, we have this monumental change over the last three weeks. why did it take three weeks? so, i think that there is a tendency to assume that if it didn't happen today is not going to happen. well, the siskel commission put out a framework. i agree with much of the framework and i disagree with some of the framework. it's true it got 11 votes and the was a positive sign. what is also true is for example that

. >> chuck todd, thanks for the warning. >>> also a suicide bombing hit a hotel and shopping center in kabul, afghanistan this morning. at least two police officers killed and two wounded. the area of afghans and for foreigners. >>> the man suspected in a 28-hour stabbing spree in new york city appears in court today. 23-year-old maksim gelman killed four people and slashed five others before he was apprehended on a subway car. sunday outside a brooklyn courthouse he shouted that he was set up. >>> boeing unveiled the largest plane yet this weekend. the 747 carries 467 passengers and has improved fuel efficiency. only two airlines have ordered the new jet. >>> now to wall street and melissa francis at the new york stock exchange. good morning. >> good morning. shares are moving higher as details of the budget emerge. traders view it as neutral for knew. asia higher as well. shanghai up 2.5%. tech in focus today. nokia slammed on news of a partnership with microsoft to deliver software and we are watching apple as reports emerge that it is developing an iphone that's half the size and h

nbc's chief white house correspondent chuck todd in washington, d.c., with more on this story. hey, chuck. good morning. >> good morning, ann. today is the day that house republicans are expected to pass their attempt to cut 60 more billion dollars from this year's budget. so what is president obama doing? yesterday he did interviews, and the home media markets of three leading house republicans, john boehner in cincinnati, eric canter in richmond, and paul ryan, the budget chief in milwaukee. here's what the president said to our affiliate in milwaukee, wtmj, about his relationship with paul ryan. >> as to hearing those ideas of congressman ryan's, he hasn't been too specific so far in terms of exactly what he'd like to see done. >> reporter: the expectation, though, is that house bill will probably die in the senate, probably never get to the president's desk. meanwhile, he heads to the west coast for an overnight trip. tonight he has a private meeting with technology leaders including mark zuckerberg. >> thanks for staying on top of this. >>> an overnight tour boat in vietnam