to the view from the streets and the people of cairo, and to our correspondent on the ground, margaret warner. >> warner: day 14 of the popular uprising in egypt. there's no sign that the protestors in tahrir square are going anywhere. on land bought with the blood of comrades whom the throngs here now call martyrs. >> they died for us to live. >> warner: after roller coaster days of peaceful protests and mayhem a sense of promise has returned to this broad cross-section of egyptian society assembled in central cairo. >> please, mubarak, if you love egypt, you must go now. >> warner: but there has been no waivering in one demand. the 30-year reign of president hosni mubarak must end now. >> we want this man to go because we don't trust him. we want a peaceful transition of power. we can do it. >> warner: yet less than a mile from tahrir just across the nile in the middle class neighborhood, normal life has begun to return. traffic snarled, horns blaring. from the butcher's block to the fish monger, to a local cafe, many express sympathy and support for the protests and the ground gained. but

margaret warner in cairo. >> people were pretty quiet and then suddenly you could see the deflation and then the anger. >> lehrer: we have two egypt analysts to explain what mubarak's speech means. >> brown: and we discuss the situation with former presidential national security advisors zbigniew brzezinski and stephen hadley. >> lehrer: then, republican darrell issa and democrat elijah cummings debate the push to ease government regulation of business. >> we're going to have to do more with the president to really find ways to reduce the size of the burden of government to get people working again. >> i want jobs very badly, but i also want when people go to work, i want to know that they're going to come home because they're working in a safe environment. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> you can't manufacture pride, but pride builds great cars. and you'll find in the people at toyota, all across america. >> okay, listen. somebody

margaret warner in cairo. thanks so much. >>arner: thanks, jeff. >> brown: more now, from two people who've helped us analyze all this these past two weeks: samer shehata, assistant professor of arab politics, at georgetown university and mary jane deeb chief of the african and middle east division at the library of congress. the views she expresses here are her own. samer shehata, this was not the speech that most people were expecting, what did you hear? what jumped out at you? >> well, there wasn't that much to the speech. this is the third time hosni mubarak has spoken. this is the third time the egyptians have expected him to resign or leave and the third time egyptians have been disappointed, in fact, shocked, outraged as margaret mention. ed so the details weren't important. he talked about this supposed quote/unquote dialogue with a group of opposition, quite broad and so on, he talked about youth and constitutional amendments, specific constitutional amendments having to do with restrictions on presidential candidacy

our own margaret warner arrived in cairo earlier today. i spoke with her a short time ago. what can you tell us so far about the security situation and level of violence? >> warner: well, jeff, i just arrived here about noontime. by the time we got out of the airport it was after 5:00 p.m. this was getting through customs and trying to secure our equipment which many reporters have had confiscated. by that time it's after curfew so we are not downtown. we were told about all the violence against westerners, journalists and others and warned not to try to go downtown no matter by how circuitous a route. however, i've talked to a lot of people downtown-- from activists to people in the muslim brotherhood to western observers who were down there-- people do feel trapped inside their hotels or where they're staying. it was actually less... it was actually more peaceful today than it was, say, yesterday, which was really horrific. but there is a great sense of threat and of menace. i did also interview a journalist who was badly harassed and shaken down, a young man who actually

our own margaret warner is just back from cairo and joins me here. also with us is adel iskander, who teaches contemporary arab studies and media at georgetown university. he writes a column for the english language newspaper, the "egyptian today." lawrence pintak is a former middle east correspondent whose latest book is titled the "new arab journalist." he's dean of the edward r. murrow college of communication at washington state university. and abder-rahim foukara is washington, d.c. bureau chief for al jazeera's arabic channel. the first thing to say is welcome back. >> warner: thank you. great to be back. >> brown: we heard the woman activist in the piece there. that was a common thing you heard from people about the role of social media. >> warner: it's important to know that she has been leading protests ever since her husband who dared to challenge mubarak in a president shl election was put in jail. she said to me, we would take a protest, say, to parliament. we would have 80 or 100 or 120 people. on the other side... and we'd be outnumbere

. >> warner: and i'm margaret warner. on the newshour tonight, we get the latest on the uprising from independent television news correspondents on the scene in cairo and alexandria. >> brown: then kwame holman reports on washington's response to the crisis. >> it is not up to us to determine when the grievances of the egyptian people have been met by the egyptian government. >> warner: we assess the prospects for a peaceful transition to democracy. >> brown: and ray suarez examines how protesters and governments have used communications technology, in egypt and beyond. >> warner: plus, our economics correspondent gets a firsthand look at whether electric cars can go far enough on new and better batteries. >> brown: and we talk with author and essayist roger rosenblatt about the art of writing. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> oil companies have changed my country. >> oil companies can make a difference. >> we have the chance to build the economy. >> creat

ahmed aboul rate made the accusation in an interview with the newshour's margaret warner in cairo. >> warner: prime minister abbuell gheit, thank you for having us. >> thank you, thank you for coming. i'd like you to define the spelling i got. is this an uprising? a movement? a revolution. >> it is an uppooefl, upheaval that is transforming egypt from one era to another era. we are moving into a new era, no doubt about it and the country has changed tremendously since the 25th of january. that is it in a nutshell. >> warner: now, the united states has had a lot to say about all of this. and just yesterday vice president biden called your vice president suleiman and asked for a prompt and meaningful change, immediate progress. how do you take that? i mean, do you regard that as helpful advice from a friend? >> no, not at all. why is it so? because when you speak about prompt, immediate, now, as if you are imposing on a great country like egypt, a great friend that has also maintained the best of relationship with the united states, you are imposing your will on them. egypt and the pres

now to margaret warner's report from cairo. she sat down with cal tech professor, an egyptian-american nobel prize winning chemist and one of several unofficial mediators between the egyptian government and the young tahrir square organizers. >> warner: dr. zewail, thank you for joining. >> a pleasure. >> warner: here we sit tuesday two weeks since these demonstrations started. you have the protestors in the square. you have the government holding these other meetings. you're kind of shuttling between them. is this negotiation for real? >> well, i guess your first question is a good one because my level of optimism... by nature i'm an optimist but my level of optimism has been going up and down and up and down. it seems to me that it's very clear that the young people are demanding a major change. they are not really talking about superficial or cosmetics. and therefore the business as usual is just simply not accepted to them. but what they really want to see is a new egypt. >> warner: at least publicly the protestors in the sq

our own margaret warner is just back from cairo and joins me here. also with us is adel iskander, who teaches contemporary arab studies and media at georgetown university. he writes a column for the english language newspaper, the "egyptian today." lawrence pintak is a former middle east correspondent whose latest book is titled the "new arab journalist." he's dean of the edward r. murrow college of communication at washington state university. and abder-rahim foukara is washington, d.c. bureau chief for al jazeera's arabic channel. the first thing

on monday, we'll have a report from margaret warner in cairo. i'm judy woodruff. >> lehrer: and i'm jim lehrer. "washington week" can be seen later this evening on most pbs stations. we'll see you online, and again here monday evening. have a nice weekend. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> i mean, where would we be without small businesses? >> we need small businesses. >> they're the ones that help drive growth. >> like electricians, mechanics, carpenters. >> they strengthen our communities. >> every year, chevron spends billions with small businesses that goes right to the heart of local communities, providing jobs, keeping people at work. they depend on us. >> the economy depends on them. >> and we depend on them. >> the engine that connects us. and the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation

for more on what's happening in bahrain, we turn to margaret warner. >> warner: why has this tiny gulf nation of one million become the latest scene of protests on the tunisia-egypt model? to explore that, we turn to: toby jones, professor of middle east history at rutgers university-- he's lived in bahrain; and simon henderson, a former "financial times" reporter who directs the washington institute for near east policy's gulf and energy program. welcome to you both. toby moore, beginning with you, are you surprised all the gulf kingdoms, all the gulf countries that bahrain has suddenly emerged as a place where you have protests that seem to be trying to model themselves after egypt and tunisia? >> margaret, thanks for having me. i'm not surprised at all. bahrain has a long history of political activism and civic sophistication over the last decade or so bahrainnys have been advocating for reforms of various kinds, reform to a constitution they consider to be unfair, free and fair elections and a more equitable distribution of power and materiel resources. social justice, if you will.

the latest on this historic day from lindsey hilsum of independent television news, and our own margaret warner. they're both in cairo, where the crowd erupted in cheers when the announcement was made. >> it took us a lot, over 18 days but in e

and margaret warner examines the turmoil in the tiny muslim nation of bahrain, home to the u.s. navy's fifth fleet. >> lehrer: plus, jeffrey brown explores how egypt's government blocked the internet during the uprising. >> woodruff: then, we have two budget stories. we get a liberal's view of the president's blueprint from vermont senator bernie sanders. >> lehrer: and we look at the political battles over cutting defense spending. retrenchment brought about by cu >> woodruff: and from juarez, mexico, bill neely of independent television news reports on the bloody war against the drug cartels. >> three more killings here and already. this year is on course to be even deadlier than last year, when more than 3,00op

. >> ifill: then, margaret warner, just back from cairo, helps us look at the role social media and mainstreamedia played in the egypt uprising. >> brown: and we report on a battle that pits human champions against a machine. our science correspondent took the challenge.