. >> and i'm joined mere in amman now by our veteran middle east correspondent, martin fletcher. rtin, thanks for being here. you have got protesters who are demanding change. they are not negotiating much the muslim brotherhood, remarkably, sitting down with the government. a lot of people in egypt and the west view this as a religious fundamentalist movement. is it? >> it absolutely is, it is what they say they are. since they were founded in 1929, the muslim brotherhood have been aiming for one thing, an islamic state. their main slogan is the future is islam, islam is the future that's what they want that's what the brotherhood wants. the question of course is in the government -- if during the talks, their role will depend on how they do in the elections that has to be free and fair. >> what kind of government would it look like? this is not an islamic revolution, to say. >> depends on the elections, you are right. the guessing is that the islamic -- muslim brotherhood in elections would get about 25% of the vote and that would give them a strong minority role but there could

martin fletcher reporting live for us tonight. martin, thanks. >>> president obama has publicly condemned the violence in libya, but the problem for the u.s. and other countries continues to be the inability to shape events while watching these events unfold. our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has more on this from our d.c. newsroom this evening. >> good evening, brian. the president talked to the leaders of france, great britain and italy today trying to organize a united front against gadhafi. tomorrow nato will meet and discuss among other options a no-fly zone. i'm told that is a very remote possibility, difficult to implement. the u.n. will likely vote next week to suspend libya from the human rights council and could launch investigations that could eventually go to the international criminal court. the europeans have voted to take steps toward tougher sanctions and arms embargo and president obama can take similar steps by executive order. but will any of this impress gadhafi who is described by experts

martin fletcher in malta tonight. martin, thank you. now to our chief foreign correspondent, richard engel. who remains inside libya. he made his way into the headquarters of the anti-gadhafi rebel operation today. he's live again tonight from what is the unofficial rebel capital, the city of benghazi. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. there are now effectively two libyas, one based here in benghazi, the other in tripoli, and they are locked in this deadly struggle. as gadhafi held his state-sponsored rally, his government offered libyans money. hundreds of dollars per family, and raises of 150% for some state employees. many in the libyan opposition, showed contempt. they don't want gadhafi's money, and cut his picture from the bill. but today was gadhafi's day to try to win back the people. to try to prove blatantly false claims that the protesters are al qaeda-led drug addicts, state television today broadcast an alleged confession. but his statements appeared to be prompted from off camera. and in benghazi, th

martin fletcher in tel aviv, martin, thanks. >>> we'll take a break in our coverage. we've been able to relocate richard engle in that crowd. we'll talk to him some more in just a moment. >>> they have brought not just a dog but a chicken as well, a rooster there in their arms. they have not only brought their family out. you can't celebrate without the rooster. wow. >> you don't see richard engle smiling from ear to ear much, but then again he doesn't cover many stories that allow that as our chief foreign correspondent spending so much time in places like iraq and afghanistan. richard is back with us live from the crowd there in cairo. richard, such a night of celebration, yet almost like new year's eve. the sun comes up tomorrow, the bills come payable. who's running the place? are there police on the streets? will the airport authority keep running? what governs egypt tonight and going forward? >> reporter: well, right now nothing is governing this country. they are expecting a statement from the military. oh, my, everyone got silent all of a sudden. they are expe

here's nbc's martin fletcher. >> reporter: he's said to be the richest man in egypt if not the world. some egyptians say up to $70 billion, although u.s. officials say it's $2 to $3 billion. but where's the money? the egyptian people want it back. the hunt for mubarak's fortune began within hours of his resignation in switzerland. the government ordered all swiss banks to find and freeze his assets. pressure is growing on the british government to do the same. >> in every corner of egypt, if you overhear people speaking, they speak about nothing but the mubarak family's assets. they are absolutely shocked. >> reporter: nobody is claiming mubarak stole money from the budget of the bank. it's about abusing his power to help family and friends make billions. his guilt could be tough to pin down. >> it's not personal, but it is the money of the people and we need it. >> reporter: since resigning, mubarak has been staying in his residence in the red sea resort of sharm el sheikh, one of the many properties his family is said to own around the world. there's this home in london worth around

brian. >> martin fletcher in sharm el-sheikh, egypt, for us tonight. martin, thanks. >>> in this country, congresswoman gabby giffords continues her remarkable recovery just over a month after a grievous gunshot wound to the head. we know this, thanks to an exclusive interview with her husband, the shuttle astronaut, mark kelly. giffords, now in houston at a rehab facility, is talking again, reportedly even singing a few words, a part of her daily speech therapy. >> we do communicate. i talk to her in the morning when i'm there and i talk to her in the evening. you ask her a question and she'll answer it. so, i mean, the communication is getting better every single day. >> so actual if not complete sentences, chains of words, enough so that you are having what you would define as a conversation? >> yes. i mean she can -- i can ask her questions. she can answer them. and, you know, the communication is coming back very quickly. >> this is stunning news that you two are having what have to be called conversations. and by no means do i want to pry into yo

our own martin fletcher is here with us. s a veteran of the middle east, but, martin, i think it's fair to say none of us have any experience in what we're seeing happen right now. >> reporter: absolutely, brian, this is new territory for everybody, including the king of jordan today. today the king and prime minister of jordan met with thed leaders of the muslim brotherhood for the first time in a decade. the first official meeting in ten years, another sign they're hoping to avoid egypt's meltdown. the call is spreading, "down with the regime." more demonstrations in yemen today. tens of thousands in several cities, calling on their president to leave after 32 years in power. but also spreading demonstrations in his support. no clashes in yemen so far, though. another sign more arab governments are getting the message. in algeria, the government today promised it would end its 19-year state of emergency, quote, soon. and in gaza today, more peaceful support for egypt's anti-government movement. with protests against their o

martin fletcher, sharm el sheikh, egypt. >> for more now on the revolution in egypt and more, we turn to a specialist on democratic reform in the middle east and director of research at the brookings institution's doha center. he joins us from cairo. does the military have a narrow window to follow through with the promises of reforms that hold elections before egyptians grow disenchanted again? >> yes. the military can't wait too long here. the expectations are really high and there's a danger that people will become disillusioned. we don't have a clear sense of what exactly the military wants. the military was long the backbone of the regime. so they would really have to transform into a pro-democracy force, and we don't really know much about them. so this is really an uncertain period. i think we're talking about six months where the military really has to deliver on its promises. >> and history tells us that the process of making democracy can be an ugly process. if this transition somehow turns to chaos or gets off track what kind of vacuum could be created and who might occupy

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martin fletcher is in malta and has that part of the story for us, good even >> reporter: good eveningit is an all-out effort to get the last of the americans out of ing. libya. those who want to go tonight is flying a plane out to bring 150 people to land here in malta. it isn't clear how many americans will be onboard but the british raised the stakes. in the rescue that stephanie referred to in the southern deserts of libya. two planes flew there to take out in several locations citizens who weren't able to make it to the ports or airports. reportedly they had fighters onboard to secure the area. while the evacuees were boarding the planes. they flew to malta here today and they arrived tired here but happy. >> that sounds like a pretty dicey rescue mission. do we have more details on how risky it might have been, martin? >> reporter: well, they had to fly through libyan air. we don't know the clear details. but they had to fly through libyan air space. he was sending planes to bomb his own people, so they are in their own skies so those lumbering transport planes must have had figh

martin fletcher joins us with the latest. >> reporter: good morning p tmo. xt owe did you say of foreigners from libya is well under way. 167 american, 180 other nationalities came on the ferry which the reason it's not here is because it's gone back to libya to pick up more vevacuees. those that came last night came tired but happy. as the 200 foot chattered by the u.s. government docked, could you feel the sigh of relief. first off the sick and the elderly and the children p. they had been stuck on the boat for 60 hours. the seas were too rough to sail. no beds, nowhere to go, barely enough food. but not a word of complaint. >> we're happy to be here. we are beyond words happy to be here. >> reporter: donald from peoria escaped from libya a week ago. he came to greet his colleagues. >> at least on the boat they were safe and had food and water. >> reporter: there was humor, too. >> i spent life waiting for the ship to come in. >> reporter: but what they escaped from wasn't so funny. >> we were stopped with ak-47s, ro rocket grenades. >> reporter: another 1