egypt. but didn't directly call for hosni mubarak to step down. president obama was briefed on the situation sunday and talked by phone with the leaders of turkey, israel, britain, and saudi arabia. terrell brown is in washington with more. terrell, good morning to you. >> reporter: joel, good morning to you. the obama administration has been walking a tight rope since this crisis began. the question is what to support. the will of the egyptian people? or their president, a longtime u.s. political ally?ill meet th needs of the egyptian people, and that will truly establish democracy. >> reporter: the u.s. faces a delicate balancing act. not to feel too heavily in favor of a longtime ally, mubarak's regg he'll. or the protesters. >> you weigh in too heavily on the part of the protesters, not only are you not sure where they're headed but you send a signal to our friends and allies around the world that we are a fickle ally and maybe not trustwort trustworthy. >> reporter: egypt has been a mod

egypt is a key ally.the bbc's andrea north has more on the by lomatic stakes. >> calls for the egyptian leader to go have come to president obama's doorstep, keeping on the pressure for the u.s. administration to back the protests. >> i want president obama to pick up the phone and tell president mubarak to leave now. >> we are here to say to mubarak, five hours, you have to go. game over. >> the white house has said it's reviewing u.s. aid to egypt but it's still struggling to find the best response. >> it's cheer -- clear what these demonstrators want but unlikely the americans are going to abandon their longtime ally so quickly. while the obama administration wants to be seen as supporting democracy, it's a tricky situation how to respond. >> there was a slightly tougher line from president obama after speaking to the egyptian leader but he was still emphasizing their ties. >> this moment of volatility has to be turned into a moment of promise. the united states has a close partnership with egypt and w

. >>> crisis in egypt. another day of chaos in the streets and a show of force, f-16s soaring over cairo. president mubarak is clinging to power, but is he losing the support of a crucial ally in washington? tonight, the strongest words yet from the white house as americans in egypt scramble to get home. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening. lester is in egypt tonight. we will be checking in with him shortly on what is turning into another chaotic and dangerous night on the streets of cairo. protesters are once again ignoring the curfew. the death toll stands at more than 100 now, with thousands more injured. tonight, the state department is making plans to evacuate thousands of u.s. citizens on chartered planes starting tomorrow. and signs today the white house may be distancing itself from the mubarak government. president obama said the u.s. supports "an orderly transition in egypt." we have special coverage from cairo and across the middle east this evening, beginning again wit

ambassador to egypt.lus our roundtable on some of the other big p iticalwsne of wsthe week. up next right after this commercial. >>> we're back and going to get our political roundtable in just a minute. first some additional perspective on the situation in egypt. martin indisc the former u.s. ambassador to israel under president clinton and mid east negotiator. martin, good to have you here. here's the map of the flash points here. it begins with tunisia, egypt on tuesday. why is this so important, why is this such a big story? >> you can see on the map, david, egypt is at the epicenter. but not just geostrategically central, it's the largest militarily most powerful by far the most influential country. where egypt goes will have a tsunami effect. it may start in yemen but the if it end up in egypt this is very profound. because american interests are so tied up with egypt, what happens there will have a profound effect. >> we talked to secretary clinton. you heard her remarks. history matters. you go ba

happen in egypt in the future.ears of iron fist, we do not know now. it's not too late. >> i agree we have to be on the right side from the standpoint of talking about democracy, urging people to do that if they can. my question to you would be, what should we do mow? should we demand that president mubarak would leave? should we demand that abdullah leave jordan? should we how to demand that the house of saad fall in saudi arabia? where does that end? for u.s. interests, where does that lead? >> be careful what you wish for when it comes to democracy, as we saw in gaza. this is something that the egyptians have been impressing on the u.s. there were elections in gaza. they elected hamas. this has been a very difficult time for this white house. you and i both know from talking about it. talk a little bit about the sturm and drang and the angst they have had. >> you and i have been talking about this. watching the administration all tied up. on friday, making calls to administration officials, it was basically, we

"the people in egypt around siege. we feel as if we are in a dark locked room without connection to the outside world." this is "bbc news." arkansas headlines so far, president mubarak of egypt has sacked his government and promises democratic and economic reforms. there are unprecedented protests sweeping the country. the demonstrations have continued into the night with many people defying a national curfew. earlier, i spoke to our correspondent in cairo, who has been covering the latest demonstration. >> on the streets of cairo before mubarak made his speech. i saw firsthand confrontations. it has quieted down somewhat. i then also have colleagues in the streets in other areas of the city where apparently there is quite a lot of unrest. there is loading. the thing as it is not clear whether these are protesters or criminals taking advantage of the situation, or if they are plain clothes police. they have been out here the whole time beating people with a wooden planks. >> how have the egyptians reacted to president

. -- egypt has imposed a curfew.is enforced by in cairo and other major cities until early saturday morning. this comes after security forces struggle to control huge crowds, demanding the resignation of president hosni mubarak. >> the authorities imposed a nighttime curfew throughout the country, but protests continued in in defiance of the order. the situation escalated in cairo, where demonstrators tried to storm the billings of the foreign ministry in the state tv service. clashes between police and demonstrators had continued all day. earlier, police usedememptpt toe thousands of protesters who turned out to demand an end to president mubarak's nearly 30 years in office. >> this is a corrupt regime, and we have had enough of it. >> the nobel peace laureate, mohamed elbaradei, joined the opposition movement. he has said he would be willing to head an interim government, but mubarara still has a grip on power at t moment. security officers are reported to have been supporters of elbaradei. the opposition figure hi

shares jumped almost 8% on the egypt worries and volume jumped six fold. the stock clearly has been trending lower since may, falling from its high of more than $38. just last week was its most recent low. meantime, energy producer apache fell on heavy volume. trading volume was eight times normal. shares closed down just 1%, but its a six week low. the egyptian connection is apache gets about a quarter of its production from fields in egypt. the company tried to ease concerns, saying operations continue and their fields are in a remote part of the country. another place hit by selling was emerging markets. this emerging market e.t.f. dropped 3% on heavy volume. emerging markets have been a hot trade as the global economy recovers. tonight, the fund is at its lowest price since november. even before egypt heated up, the tech sector was a drag thanks to earnings and guidance last night. microsoft led the dow losers, falling almost 4%. amazon.com shed 7%. job recruitment website monster led the tech sector down, losing a quarter of its value. disappointing e

the crisis in egypt may be a moment of promise, not just egypt but this country. president obama hinted at that when he talked friday night. >> this moment of volatility has to be turned into a moment of promise. if the egyptian people want a future that befits the heirs for a great and ancient civilization. the united states always will be a partner if pursuit of the future. chris: there's president obama coming up with a difficult political situation at home and jumping out and facing probably the toughest foreign policy crisis of his president so far. how he doing? >> i think they started this in a week or two ago. i think he's doing fine. but the reality is, he has to run now to catch up. i think his statement on friday night was notable for what he said as well as for what he did not say. he did not call for president mubarak to resign. he did not call for elections. he did not mention elections. everything he did. the most important thing for the white house when they came out, when president obama came out friday night was to make sure he got ahead of any c

go, leave out of egypt! >> reporter: people are demanding an end to corruption, to abuse, unemployment. but above all they want to see the end of president hosni mubarak. >> go away from egypt. go away from egypt! >> reporter: the main standoff played out on a bridge over the nile river. protesters who funneled here from all parts of the city were determined to cross into downtown. a brave few rushed forward through the volleys of tear gas. the mass followed until they were pushed back again by the police. but the protesters refused to give up, at one point pausing as a group to pray. elsewhere around the city, skirmishes left the injured to be tended by the crowd. "they're firing rubber bullets" says this demonstrator. "and they're firing them right in our faces." east of cairo in the city of suez, protesters attacked a police van. the driver was finally forced to escape by driving through the crowd. as dusk fell in cairo, the crowds had grown so huge, pressing forward from the bridge, throwing rocks, until

and now it has come to egypt. the e presesidenent that has be the watch and wait position for much of the last three days vifri spoke to the listing, relutionarararararararararararar >>>> araroundnd tthe worlrld g have an obligation to respond to their citizens. that's true here this the united states. that's true in asia. it is true in europe. it is true in africa and it is certainly true in the arab world, where a new generation of citizens has the right to be heard. chris: we had a euro hhhhhhhhh ththis i is a third-world look. he seems simm thick in talking to the people in the streets and streets of the other countries. >> he is. the president put the onus >>>. he hadsdent mmubararak release the internetd telephone service, which of course would allow the protesters to organize and build up some more. he insisted that president mubarak not shoot anybody in the streets. his only request of the protesters was that they remain peaceful. this was not a president that was stepping out to say, these protests must e

and helped spark egypt's uprising, change at the top of egypt may not follow that model. >> my gut tells me mubarak is not going to flee the country like the president of tunisia. he's not made that way. >> reporter: already, there are economic impacts. tomorrow, analysts will watch to see if the stock market rebounds from friday's 166-point drop. the price of oil is up, too. while egypt doesn't produce much oil itself, it does control the suez canal and a pipeline that carries 2 million barrels a day. and beyond egypt, to the east, the major oil producers. a worst-case scenario? the suez is shut down and the street revolt spreads. interrupting oil production. >> then you start getting into sort of a doomsday scenario and you get very high oil proiss. but you're going to see more an the price of oil effected. >> reporter: but analysts say that is very unlikely. they say there may be short-term volatility, but whoever runs the countries is going to want to sell oil. dan, one other thing. the phone lines down here are burning up as administration officials keep in touch with each other and

times -- looting grows and lawless egypt -- in lawleess egypt. they expected big demonstrations across egypt and it is time for mubarak to go.to sni patrick mch it was inspired by tunisia's overthrow of their authoritarian president. john from texas, good morning. independent line. caller: i've been watching the news every chance i get. and the amount of aid that we give this dictatorship in egypt each year ranges from $1 billion to $3 billion a year. how long have we been paying that? we see the politicians that we put in office here, all of them, saying we have to cut the old people's social security. we will have to cut this or cut that. how come the people of this country do not see how much we are paying these other countries? because these people in egypt, they make $1 to $2 a day, if they're lucky. all i can say is, wake up america. let's see what -- where our money is going. host: we are now looking at some of the live scenes from cairo and elsewhere in egypt. the boston sunday globe with the headline -- the egypt crisis continues to spir

sends over $1 billion in military aid egypt every year. the obama administration is reacting cautiously. nbc's mike vicara is at the white house today. mike? >> reporter: tonight the white house called for restraint in egypt while insisting that the time for reform within the egyptian government is now. outside the white house -- >> stop! >> reporter: a few protesters gathered in a show of solidarity with those in cairo. inside the president met with top members of his foreign policy team after speaking with president mubarak by phone friday night and publicly urging him to enact immediate reforms. >> what's needed now is concrete steps that advance the rights of the people in egypt. meaningful dialogue between the government and its citizens. >> reporter: mubarak's move to oust his cabinet did not go far enough. the state department spokesman tweeting -- but while the president has sided with the protesters in their call for greater freedoms, he has stopped short of backing demand for mubarak's ouster. >> if mubarak is going to survive, t

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has with egypt.pillars to the relationship that has evolved since the president toou it is a very clear message,y be the clearest message we have heard about expectations of the egyptian government going forward. exactly what would meet those expectations is not something that was spelled out, but i am sure the heads of the armed forces in egypt are intently listening to that message. >> we hear the chief of staff of egypt's arms forces isç out but is returning to egypt. how do you see this going forward? >> obviously i think military is in a strong position. their intentions are something of a mystery at the moment. the egyptian military has been the bedrock foundation of the state since the 1952 revolution, but have become less involved in day-to-day politics. they are still the ultimate insurance for the bridge game and have come out in support of the regime in 1977 and 1976. their role has been enhanced. there is something of a competition between the people and regime for the loyalty of the arm

like tunisia, egypt, yemen and jordan many youth. the economy is growing faster it than they can create jobs. the result is thousands of graduates without work. while countries like egypt and jordan may have tolerated a greater degree of internal dissent, the bottom line has always been freedom of expression has been curtailed -- is curtailed once it poses a threat to the regime. tunisia has unleashed a political tsunami. its reverberations are still being felt right across the arab world. >> the latest headlines on "bbc world news." president mubarak has gone on television to announce his government to step down, but he is staying despite protests against his leadership. the headquarters in cairo were set on fire and troops are moving back onto the streets to enforce a curfew. we will return to that momentous day in egypt a little later. let's bring you up-to-date on the other international news. eight people have been killed in a suicide attack in kabul. an explosion demonstrated a supermarket mainly used by foreigners. the taliban

we did not have the peace agreement between egypt -- did have the peace agreement between egypt and israel. there was -- he did take on all of those assassination attempts and that type of thing. host: the papers are full of notations and opinions that president obama has not yet called for hosni mubarak to step down. what do you think -- why do you think the president should not do that, or do you think the president should? what is behind that kind of decision? caller: it is impossible for the u.s., including our great president, to be judgmental about this, because we made bad decisions in the past. what i believe that we should do is support the egyptian people, showed them -- show them that we support freedom and democracy, and, hopefully, you know, that there is a smooth transition. just look at the numbers, though, i mean, as far as the food prices. host: but do you think hosni mubarak can stay on in the interim for six months, even if the promises a so-called "free and fair election -- he promises a so-called "free and fair election"? caller: his intelligence minister is going to t

they're staying put to say egypt's president must go. in cairo's liberation square, rage fuels revolt. again today, the fed up rose up in a celebration of defiance. by the thousands they shouted one message-- egyptian president hosni mubarak must go. "i'm not leaving here until mubarak is wiped off the face of the earth" this man said. for mubarak it's unprecedented repudiation. his presidency's in crisis and the faces of protesters show a passion and confidence that keeps growing. so today, two big changes-- to calm cairo's streets, soldiers replaced police officers but crowds only grew. as tanks rumbled in, dozens of people hopped aboard for the ride of a lifetime-- theirs and the mubarak regime's. this really is a critical moment. the crowd is growing more agitated, more upset. there is an army tank that has now moved into the center of the square. the tank is presumably here to clear it where it's past the curfew now and everybody here is trying to figure out what is going to happen next. the soldier pleaded for crowd to make way. no

remember, tunisia, algeria, yemen and egypt. especially egypt right now puts the u.s. in this delicate position. we talk about foreign aid. here's a figure. as much as $1.5 billion egypt receives from the u.s. every year. nbc's andrea mitchell with us from our washington newsroom tonight with more on how this day played out and how this crisis is playing out. andrea, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the uprising against egypt's president created a crisis for president obama. for decades under democratic and republican administrations, mubarak has been america's closest ally in the middle east. even before the president spoke as hosni mubarak began losing control of the streets, the u.s. had started toughening its response. >> these protests underscore that there are deep grievances within egyptian society. and the egyptian government needs to understand that violence will not make these grievances go away. >> reporter: the president had an extended intelligence briefing and until tonight did not try to call mubarak. for decades egypt has received billion

live in egypt. another 200-- 270,000 or so visit each year. tourism is egypt's top industry. it accounts for one in 8 jobs in a cry racked by high unemployment. pictures like these are bound to hurt as is this observation from an american tourist stranded at his cairo hotel. >> no problem, no problem. >> big problem. >> reporter: late word from the state department, starting tomorrow, the u.s. embassy in cairo will arrange flights out of egypt to european cities for stranded american tourists. they're advised if they want to get on those flights to call or e-mail the state department in washington, but that could be a problem. both cell phone and internet service in egypt has been spotty at best. russ. >> mitchell: tony guida here in new york, thank you. >> and just ahead on tonight's "cbs evening news", how to live in a million dollar home without paying a penny. [ robin ] my name is robin. and i was a pack-a-day smoker for 25 years. i do remember sitting down with my boys, and i'm like, "oh, promi

there's also a theory that perhaps the army in egypt, which is perhaps the critical entity in egypt, actually disagrees with mubarak's son, gamal. and there is a theory that the army has been instigating it. so they can control it and install somebody who is more palatable to the army. but the fact of movement across the middle east, not just in tunisia and egypt. but you've got in jordan, in leb now, -- lebanon now, this incredible movement that began nearly two years ago in iran. this is actually a true movement of president bush's am freedom. >> what do you think of the implication of what she's saying? that this is going to insight nations over -- incite nations over there to do likewise? >> i think she is absolutely correct. we have been talking about the need for reform and democracy in egypt and the middle east for many, many years. they have great activist sides. and no matter what happens, what we know is that egypt, and i would predict the entire middle east is changed forever. we've seen it happen in tunisia. things are happening in yemen, lebanon. all throughout the middl

secretary of state came out and said that a country like egypt a great country she said egypt needs more democratic reform isn't that a bit rich after thirty years of paying off the egyptians in the some sixty billion dollars basically without any kind of accountability i mean again you know and if i can expand upon that watching c.n.n. and b.b.c. they're just cheering this on when those governments were all at the very the pillars of supporting this very horrible regime and people that knew anything about the regime just knew how terrible it was and now we're turning around saying we're so happy what's happening it's hypocrisy is just outrageous i wouldn't say so i think that's when you talk about democracy promotion you need to adopt a do what was back to you know to look at it from a political perspective perspective of values let's see norms carried by democracy and perspective of moral let's say material interests so security interests or economic interests and what i'm trying to say here is that. during the cold war even after that there is still seem to be there seems to be a para

>>> more news from egypt. plus the weekend terror plot against one of the country's biggest mosques. >>> in sports news, the cross-country rematch. celtics and lakers meet for the first time since the nba finals. - you know, these things are never wrong. "you're an amazing, beautiful woman." "i love you." - that's not on there. - no, it's in here. - the new charmed memories collection: one more reason kay is the number one jewelry store in america. >>> artists from around the country descended on chicago to put their talent out on ice. more than a dozen teams of sculptors wowed on lookers with a variety of statues carved to perfection. it was part of a festival called "snow day chicago." medusa. >> and more snow on the way. >>> now for a look at morning road conditions. snow and ice on virtually every interstate. especially on i-80 from nebraska to detroit. i-70 from st. louis to indiana. i-10 from san antonio to houston and new orleans. >> if you're flying expect delays in salt lake city, denver, minneapolis,

future of egypt. so it's very much, i would argue, in the government's interest. but it's also in the interest of those who are seeking those rights. again, that's different than some protests that occur in that region of the world that are really designed to overthrow a government with the purpose of establishing an autocracy that is more regressive than anything that exists. >> lehrer: new subject, mr. vice president. in light of the tucson tragedy, are you in favor of federal legislation that would ban the sale of these multiround cartridges? >> jim, you may remember in the old days when i had some real power, i was chairman of the judiciary committee. i'm the guy that first passed and wrote the assault weapons ban. and also tried to pass legislation relative to the size of magazines. that is the... those clips that hold all the bullets that get shoved up into the rifle. >> couric: the 31 rounds. >> and there's all kinds of them. so i as a senator and i as an elected official have been on record as

is urging for reform in egypt. concretely, what types of reforms are you urging for, and also, is this realistic given that the same regime has been in power for 30 years? >> i outlined a couple of things yesterday and repeated them today, the types of things that we certainly would envision. obviously i mentioned free and fair elections. i mentioned our condemnation of the extension of emergency law, and that should be ended. but the grievances of the people have to be addressed directly by the government. there have to be a significant dialogue to address a whole host of individual rights that the people rightly believe are lacking. i think there has to be a concrete process that involves -- i think it would not be something that would be only enumerated from our perspective. it has to be enumerated and addressed directly from the perspective of those in egypt. >> at the moment, the whole world is watching. in a similar way with the ukraine, at the time it seemed there was an international approach. you cannot te

is urging for reform in egypt. but concretely what types of reforms are you urging for and also is this realistic, given that the same regime has been in power there for 30 years? >> well, let me-- i outlined a couple of things yesterday and repeated them today. the types of things that we certainly would envision. i think and i will repeat those. obviously i mentioned free and fair elections. i mentioned our condemnation of the extension of emergency law. and that that should be ended. but the grievances of the people have to be addressed directly by the government. and i think there has to be a significant and thorough dialogue to address, again, a whole host of individual rights that the people, we believe, are lacking. >> woodruff: the state department issued warnings urging u.s. citizens to postpone non-essential travel there, and said americans in egypt should stay indoors. for more on this very dramatic day in egypt, we turn to: steven cook, senior fellow for middle eastern studies at the council on foreign

play here egypt is one of our closest allies in the region the u.s. gives them more than one billion dollars per year in military aid but don't we also support democracy and the freedom from oppression or only when it's the kind of democracy that we approve of here the cust discuss it with me is attorney khaled beydoun co-founder of free egypt now with a circulating petition calling for obama support and attorney jordan secular director of policy at the american center for law and justice gentlemen thank you both for joining me tonight now you know it's definitely been a busy week a lot of events happening but what do you make so far from the silence coming from barack obama we've heard a little bit from press secretary robert gibbs we've heard from hillary clinton who also has kind of changed her tune in the last few days but still nothing from the u.s. president well those far to me my reviews of the reports are it's a very contradictory position that the administration is taking on one hand they're trying to secure or you at least confirm their sup

according to reports coming out of egypt. but have things taken on a life of their own by that time? >> absolutely right. it's too late now for any such measure. it's no longer facebook that will play a role. i think it's the people's book right now. the people are trying to voice their opinions to the whole world. they are not leaving this on the maybe streets and squares until they see real change. the fact that the internet is down right now doesn't really make a big difference in the case of egypt. >> suarez: david, is new technology leaky? can you really shut off a country now in 2011? >> it's nearly impossible to do that. you can do it for a short period of time but i hope that the international community really forces the egyptian regime to turn the internet back on, as it were. north korea limits internet access almost completely. there's a handful of states in the world that can do that. as i said previously it's exceedingly difficult to stop the flow of information. what the internet allows dissidents to do is to ge

in aid to egypt. when asked is president of barrack -- mubarak safe, they responded with one word, "yes," and silence. >> thank you. tunisia's interim prime minister has racial gladys cabinet. -- reshuffled his cabinet. he called for an end for protests against minister saying efforts should focus on general elections within six months. the car bomb that exploded in baghdad 4, 48 people killed. the attack seems to be the latest in charting shia muslims. a probe into the death of president allende. the aim is to establish if he was killed or committed suicide. nelson mandela has spent the night in hospital in johannesburg for what are described as routine tests. friends and family say he is increasingly frail at 92. but south african schoolchildren offering messages of support to nelson mandela. he is next door for what his aides term routine checkup. attending a conference in switzerland, assisting -- insisting there is no cause for concern. >> given his age, he has been getting to attack a period of

we should stay out of egypt. and we should really be pushing our elected representatives to pull back on military presences throughout the entire world. thank you for c-span. host: the "new york times" lead editorial this morning. back to the phones. what role should the u.s. play in egypt's future. our next call from california. michael on our line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to say also i tend to agree with the man who just now spoke to you. i believe that the united states needs to learn how to mind its own business. if you look at this on a macro level, you could see clearly that if anybody comes into your house and intrudes in your business, you're not going to stand for it. and i just wonder why nobody else can't see why china, russia, other great powers don't seem to be having all these problems. the united states puts the states on everything when it should be using the united nations. if it's trying to promote democracy it should use those nations that are democrati

on tuesday this week, demonstrations started in egypt. it was imitating tunisia. they wanted in 30 years of one person's role. -- rule. what happens here is closely watched. and today, in the yemen capital, there were demonstrations against the ruling president. 33 years in power. all three countries, they have all had long serving rulers, all regarded by the west as reliable and vital allies. john population's frustrated by corruption and lack of freedom and blaming -- the young populations are frustrated by corruption, lack of freedom. >> it affects every sector of society. >> some prominent members of egypt's ruling party loyal to the president believes he must distance himself from the streets. >> what happens in egypt happens everywhere else. this moment is important not only for egypt but for everyone. >> for others, the lesson is that concessions local week and it will lead to more protests. cracks are appearing across the region. it may not be possible to fix them. >> a prime minister has reshuffled his cabinet under the ousted president's. his foreign min