cairo, samer shehata and michelle dunne here in washington. thanks so much. >> ifill: still to come on the newshour, the delay on mandatory health care coverage. the diplomatic drama the diplomatic drama over edward snowden; efforts to improve conditions in bangladesh factories and the murder trial of a mob boss. but first, with the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: the price of oil spiked today, as egypt's changing political situation unfolded. for the first time in over a year the cost of a barrel passed the $102 mark. it ended the day in new york trading up more than a dollar and a half to close above $101. oil markets weren't the only ones in turmoil-- european financial markets were jolted by a deepening political crisis in portugal. prime minister pedro passos coelho refused to step down even though two top ministers resigned this week in protest of new austerity measures. coelho told reporters in berlin he was hopeful his center-right coalition government would be able to find a solution to avoid collapse.

is handling the turmoil there, i'm joined by michele dunne, director of the atlantic council's center for the middle east. and samer shehata, associate professor of international studies at the university of oklahoma. welcome back to both of you. mr. shehata, let me start with you, what is behind the new government's decision to make this announcement and make it clear they're not even going to allow peaceful demonstrations? >> well, i think they have come to the conclusion the continued sit-ins are an obstacle to the transition plan they've put forward and an obstacle, also, for egypt regaining some kind of stability. and that means international investment, the wheels of commerce and the economy moving forward, and that they need to end the sit-ins, and i think some believe or hope to eradicate the muslim brotherhood from egyptian politics? >> warner: do you think they're trying to crush the muslim brotherhood, not just quell the demonstrations, let traffic flow again but actually put them out of business? >> well, that seems to be the effort. several of the senior leaders of the br

for more on the latest protests and the military's ultimatum we turn to michelle dunn director of the atlantic council center for the middle east and hussein ibish, a commentator and blogger who writes a weekly column on the middle east for foreign policy and the daily beast. welcome to you both. as we all know, there have been many protests since president morsi took office. how significant is is is this latest turn of events and the military's ultimatum today. >> the protest seemed to be the largest than ever has taken place in the country even large he than those who displaced mubarak. the military statement today giving a 48-hour deadline after which we they will impose in kind of political plan, to me, this says it's perhaps already over. >> warner: you mean president morsi's. >> it seems they made a decision that they're very, very likely, i think, to move president morsi out of the way and to impose some other kind of a political process. >> warner: do you see it as that sort of drastic, the last 48 hours? >> i do. it's a game-changer. what happened yesterday is extraordinary.

michele dunne. she has served on the national security council staff and policy and planning in the bureau of intelligence and research state department. and ambassador daniel kurtzer, professor in middle east policies and studies. a great institution in the state of new jersey. served in the foreign service for almost three decades and retired in 2005 and has been an ambassador in both israel and egypt. thank you all for being here. your full statement will be entered into the record without objection. we ask you to summarize your statement in about five minutes or so so we can have a dialogue with you. with that, ambassador ross, if you will start. >> thank you. last time i was here, i was here to talk about serious and the civil war there. it is no question that both our morals and strategic interests are engaged there. the response is very different, the stakes are very high. i find myself in agreement with hat you are saying in your statement. when we look at egypt, we know that egypt is perhap

michele dunne and ambassador daniel kurtzer for being here today. we look forward to their effective on the situation in egypt and the ramifications for egypt and the united states. the situation in egypt has tremendous implications for the united states. our response must be carefully calibrated. at the same time, support u.s. national security interest in the region. these two goals are, in my

michele dunne. on the national security council staff and policy and planning in the bureau of intelligence and research state department. and ambassador daniel kurtzer, professor in middle east policies and studies. a great institution in the state of new jersey. erved in the foreign service for almost three decades and retired in 2005 and has been an ambassador in both israel and egypt. thank you all for being here. your full statement will be entered into the record without objection. we ask you to summarize your statement in about five minutes or so so we can have a dialogue with you. with that, ambassador ross, if you will start. >> thank you. last time i was here, i was here to talk about serious and the civil war there. t is no question that both our morals and strategic interests are engaged there. the response is very different, the stakes are very high. i find myself in agreement with what you are saying in your statement. when we look at egypt, we know that egypt is perhaps the most impor

michele dunne. and policy and planning in the bureau of intelligence and research state department. kurtzer,sador daniel professor in middle east policies and studies. a great institution in the state of new jersey. servicen the foreign for almost three decades and retired in 2005 and has been an ambassador in both israel and egypt. thank you all for being here. your full statement will be entered into the record without objection. we ask you to summarize your statement in about five minutes or so so we can have a dialogue with you. with that, ambassador ross, if you will start. >> thank you. last time i was here, i was here to talk about serious and the civil war there. it is no question that both our morals and strategic interests are engaged there. the response is very different, the stakes are very high. i find myself in agreement with what you are saying in your statement. when we look at egypt, we know that egypt is perhaps the most important arab country. it is always one that affects the res

michelle dunn, a former state department official who advised president obama on egypt said this.naged now to al en ate both sides in egypt. so is the obama administration leading from mind in the middle east. a retired u.s. marine corps lieutenant colonel, a genuine war hero, military analyst and all around wise person. he joins us now from washington. bill, thanks for coming on this early saturday morning. >> good morning. >> is this good for the united states or is it bad? what is our strategy in egypt. >> somewhere between the golf course and the yacht we're still trying to figure out. when we helped oust mubarak, one of our friends throughout the middle east. i'm not saying he was the greatest guy, tucker. but we know he's a man who did our bidding. we were happy, we ushered in morsi, all kinds of jubilation in this town and the fact is that morsi and the muslim brotherhood were democratically elected but anything but democratic. over the course of the last year, we've allowed them, stood back and watched while they essentially changed their constitution, pushed it more to th