opposition leader mohamed elbaradei called for mubarak to step down by friday. more chaotic days could be ahead in cairo. >> many won't leaders have expressed concern about the violence in egypt -- many world leaders have expressed concern. they say changing needs to take place in cairo now, and, quote, "now means now." >> i just spoke on the phone with egyptian vice president suleiman, and i reminded him about our position, then violence against people demonstrating peaceful is in no way reasonable. this transition just cannot take place at some point along the line. it has to begin now. >> and the u.n. secretary general, ban ki-moon, has also been speaking about the worsening crisis in egypt. david cameron condemned the violence in cairo. he said it would be unacceptable if it turns out the government is involved. he also urged egyptian authorities to speed up reforms. the u.n. secretary-general called for dialogue among all parties and warned against instability. >> i am deeply concerned about the continuing violence in egypt. i once again urge restraint to a

four groups, including one led by the former head of the international atomic energy agency, mohamed elbaradei, agreed to talk with the mubarak administration to ensure a smooth transition of power. but the influential opposition group, the muslim brotherhood, stood by its demand for mubarak's immediate resignation. the muslim brotherhood says it will form a provisional government and skap a peace treaty with israel after forcing president mubarak to design. the group's deputy leader says the group has been part of ongoing anti-government demonstrations since the beginning. the 1979 pact made egypt the first nation to start talks withist. the president rasha al bayoumi says it will cancel the treaty. >> translator: we can't accept the treaty because it is undermined the pride and egypt and other arab nations. >> the deputy leader expressed hostility to the u.s. government for supporting israel and said egypt doesn't need american economic aid. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu has repeatedly voiced concerns over the possibility of an anti-israel administration taking power after a pow

again, there is a possible transitional leader in mohamed elbaradei. he's enough of an establishment figure, he's a worldwide nobel warrior. he's a responsible transitional leader for egyptian. if suleiman doesn't perform quickly, perhaps the u.s. will signal the need for an outside transitional leader. >> okay. this is an interesting situation because the mob outside, this is a big crowd. and you are seeing it now in more than just one city, all throughout egypt. in fact, a few days ago we talked about even an uprising in some places like jordan. people are very interested. if something doesn't happen soon, and to their satisfaction, you have to worry it could be out of control. >> it needs to be a responsible transition there. there's not only the u.s. direct interest in the middle east but the suez canal, who controls that is very important in terms of oil production. so there's major economic interest at stake there. it has to be managed extremely careful. >> not a large percentage of oil comes from egypt, but the shipping of the oil is a factor. >

opposition leader mohamed elbaradei called for mubarak to step down by friday. more chaotic days could be ahead in cairo. >> many won't leaders have expressed concern about the violence in egypt -- many world leaders have expressed concern. they say changing needs to take place in cairo now, and, quote, "now means now." >> i just spoke on the phone with egyptian vice president suleiman, and i reminded him about our position, then violence against people demonstrating peaceful is in no way reasonable. this transition just cannot take place at some point along the line. it has to begin now. >> and the u.n. secretary general, ban ki-moon, has also been speaking about the worsening crisis in egypt. david cameron condemned the violence in cairo. he said it would be unacceptable if it turns out the government is involved. he also urged egyptian authorities to speed up reforms. the u.n. secretary-general called for dialogue among all parties and warned against instability. >> i am deeply concerned about the continuing violence in egypt. i once again urge restraint to a

mohamed elbaradei is a nobel laureate and former head of the international atomic energy agcy. he has little support among the public. critics contend he spent too much time abroad. >> he has the advantage and disadvantage of coming from outside the country. he is considered not corrupt or part of the ruling political circle. >> the muslim brotherhood is egypt's leading opposition group. it hesitated to join the protests. for years, the muslim brothers were considered islamic extremists. but now they are divided and appear to be more moderate. >> we are not striving for a religious resolution. we want a secular democratic state based on the will of the people, not religion alone. >> the muslim brotherhood is deeply entrenched in egyptian society, partly due to many social projects. a new beginning without the group is unlikely. one man enjoying growing support is [unintelligible] many remember when the general secretary of the arab league was the foreign minister. he was already considered mubarak's rival. many young egyptians would support him. >> i believe he is an alternativ

tomorrow on "meet the proes," david gregory will have an exclusive interview with mohammed elbaradei. >>> beyond egypt in the middle east, many americans are focused on what's going on in dallas this weekend. we're talking of course about the super bowl. and even before tomorrow's big game, this is already a super bowl to remember, or forget, as fans and others find themselves in a battle with the weather. nbc's janet shandly is in dallas for us tonight. >> reporter: lester, they are finally coming out of the deep freeze here. after several people were hurt yesterday from ice falling from the roof of the stadium, there are still safety concerns and now the possibility for more snow. today above the largest dome stadium in the world they tried everything to remove the ice. from workers wielding axes to firefighters trying to hose it off, even repelling down the side to get a better shot at it, anything to get rid of it ahead of tomorrow's game. >> one, two, three! >> reporter: with temperatures warming, visitors are venturing out. >> i've never seen anything like it. >> reporter: steel

last friday, nobel laureate mohamed elbaradei, the former head of the u.n.'s nuclear agency, took part in protests, along with opposition members. the egyptian government tried to crack down on the anti-mubarak demonstrations, announcing a curfew across the country. it also mobilized the military and blocked access to the internet and mobile phone networks to prevent information about the protests from spreading. on january 29, president mubarak made his first televised statement since the protests began. in an attempt to ease public dissatisfaction, he announced that he had named a new vice president and new prime minister. but his opponents did not back down and continued to pressure him to resign immediately. it has reportedly claimed more than 100 lives since the unrest began. widespread looting in the capital became an added security concern. late on tuesday, mubarak made another concession. he said he would serve out his term, but not seek re-election in september. but he failed to bring calm to his country. on the day after the president spoke, egypt f

that is mohammed elbaradei via twitter. next, let me show you "the wall street journal" this morning. the caller said it should be for egypt to decide. whitex syseset house." they write -- " frustration is giving way to powerlessness." next caller is from ohio. new haven, mike, independent, you are on the air. caller: this is democracy at its best. the people are fed up with their dictator or czar. how many czars do we have over us? the only reason we're over there is because of corporate america and israel. israel, israel, israel. everybody should help israel. what about america? last week i saw a crisis financial report and i just cannot comprehend why we americans are not out in the street, too. corporate america robbed us blind. everybody knew what was going on. everybody through -- everybody turned a blind eye to it. america bailed out the corporations. how long are we going to stand for this? mubarak or whatever his name is is not going to step out of power. hillary clinton and everybody -- israel is so important. hos

today i met with mohamed elbaradei, one of the opposition leaders here. and he said that he hasn't really been in any kind confi negotiations with the government at all despite the fact that the government has claimed that there are negotiations going on with its opposition. i think there are some smaller opposition parties here that are have been more or less tame or have played the government game in this sort of tame parliamentment and they are engaging in some kind of dialogue with the government. but all these forces out in the streets of cairo in the square including the muss him brotherhood, various-- various student groups, various democratic groups, they don't seem to have been addressed very directly by the government at all. something that was significant today was when mohamed elbaradei said that he and he believed he represented all egyptians, saying that they wanted pew barack to leave with dignity. they're not talking about trying him or humiliating him. and i think that was an important gesture because i think one of the reasons why mr. mu

last friday, nobel laureate mohamed elbaradei, the former head of the u.n.'s nuclear agency, took part in protests, along with opposition members. the egyptian government tried to crack down on the anti-mubarak demonstrations, announcing a curfew across the country. it also mobilized the military and blocked access to the internet and mobile phone networks to prevent information about the protests from spreading. on january 29, president mubarak made his first televised statement since the protests began. in an attempt to ease public dissatisfaction, he announced that he had named a new vice president and new prime minister. but his opponents did not back down and continued to pressure him to resign immediately. it has reportedly claimed more than 100 lives since the unrest began. widespread looting in the capital became an added security concern. late on tuesday, mubarak made another concession. he said he would serve out his term, but not seek re-election in september. but he failed to bring calm to his country. on the day after the president spoke, egypt f

>> where is mohammed elbaradei? not on the street, that's for sure. >> rose: some of the people who work with him or know him or are represented in the leadership? >> some of the young organizers are some of his supporters and they're the ones who put his name up there as a potential candidate. >> rose: does he have a serious role if, in fact, mubarak goes? >> well, it's hard to tell what would happen but when you're out on the streets you don't get the sense that he does have a big following. you do have a group of young people who are enthusiastic about the idea of mohammed elbaradei. you also have no other sort of public figures that have had that backing so... he's also been passive in a way. he's chosen to follow the lead of young people who have been the ones moving the street. >> rose: and has he taken himself out of being a president? >> no, i think... >> well, he's been diffident which is not a way... that's not a way to get to be a president. >> rose: there's also this for me, the autocracy of this governm

we know better than you." >> brown: and just on the wire, mohammed elbaradei he said "egypt will explode, the army must save the country now." >> that's very correct. not only have we seen this talk about moving... marching to the presidential palace, but protestors tried to really storm the parliament yesterday and as margaret mentioned, the radio and television building is there and i think the protestors are thinking about new and creative ways of moving around the city enmass as opposed to simply revaining themselves in tahrir square. so this is going to escalate only. >> and by escalating it will lead to violence and interference of the army. and so it may be a calculated risk by provoking people to violence and then using the army to quell the violence. >> brown: mary jane deeb, samer shehata, thank you both very much. >> lehrer: some perspective on today's events from two former presidential national security advisors: stephen hadley held that position for president george w. bush. he now has his own consulting firm. zbigniew brzezinski served president carter in the same national

>>precisamente es uno de los elementos de oposiciÓn que estÁ ahora vinculado con el mohamed elbaradeiresentan lo que estÁn demandando todo el resto de la oposiciÓn en egipto y lo que vemos ahÍ es que la comunicaciÓn instantÁnea del mundo moderno, el acceso al internet, el uso de sistemas de comunicaciÓn social como facebook y twitter, le han dado una oportunidad a la juventud de 2o, 3o aÑos, una oportunidad de poder acceder el uno al otro sin tener el control del gobierno y lo que vemos aqÍi es que estÁn usando esta nueva herramienta para poder aglutinar sus peticiones, sus demandas contra el gobierno. >>quÉ interesante, stephen, que una de las culturas mÁs antiguas, milenaria, estÁ la gente joven utilizando la tecnologÍa mÁs moderna para pedir cambios en esa cultura e historia milenaria. >>y precisamente es una lecciÓn que todo el mundo ha visto, lo que hemos visto en tÚnez, lo que estamos viendo en egipto, lo que se estÁ viendo en argelia, sudÁn, yemen, es el uso de estas herramientas modernas que todos los otros gobiernos del mundo que son autoritarios, que tratan de controlar la p

mohammed elbaradei. one more note from this region tonight. it's been said that this movement may not stop here, other governments have something to fear. saudi arabia's been mentioned, jordan's been mentioned. today jordan's king dissolved his government, is replacing the prime minister. it's seen by most people in this region as a kind of kanny preemptive move. it's been said if the king of egypt had done what the king of jordan did today a few weeks back, he might have avoided all these troubles. >>> now we switch regions, specifically back home to the united states. a storm so big it almost runs from coast to coast. east to west at one point this thing measured something like 2,100 miles. a massive storm delivering a lot of snow, enough to have blizzard warnings posted in nine separate states. and chicago is the focus of a lot of attention. they could get two plus feet of snow as this ugly and awful winter of 2010-2011 continues. kevin tibbles heads up our coverage. al roker is also there, but we begin tonight with kevin. good evening. >>

on twitter tonight, mohamed elbaradei and i'm quoting, has said egypt will explode. army must save the country now. and it certainly looks like, mr. ambassador, we're headed into a volatile next 24 hours, a lot of people are scared of this outcome. >> we are in challenging times the people of egypt are seeking reform, are seeking greater democracy and governance. and of course we all look forward that these measures will be undertaken. we hope that if there are demonstrations they will be peaceful as they have been during this last week, and everyone has indicated the military has guaranteed that he would continue to protect the rights of egyptians to express their opinions freely in all circumstances. >> so the corrected record is hosni mubarak holds the dejure legal title of president of egypt. the de facto president of egypt, meaning day-to-day control under your understanding is the vice president, mr. suleiman. >> that is my understanding. that is what has been confirmed to me by authorities in egypt quite categorically. >> sameh shoukry, is the ambassador to th

mohamed elbaradei has become one of the leaders of the opposition. he used twitter to give his response to the speech. he said egypt will explode and the army must save the country, a sentiment echoed by others on line. one said, "the army will never expert -- never accept this." "bravo, mubarak, another 3 million in tahrir square." another says, "let us not use the respect we have gained by turning violent. kill them with peace." what happens next remains uncertain. mobile phones, facebook, and twitter means it will not go unseen. >> you are watching bbc news. the headlines this hour. not yet meaningful or sufficient. that is the white house verdict on president hosni mubarak's announcement he will not step down immediately, despite massive demonstrations. he says he will stay in office until elections in september. protesters in tahrir square say he should go now. joining me now from washington is niall gardener, a director at the heritage foundation. what the make of the relationship between washington, considering the comments we have heard, and

many young people have high expectations of mohammed elbaradei, the former head of the international atomic energy agency and the winner for the nobel peace prize. but others say that they cannot accept him as the leader of their country because he lived abroad for a long time, even though he is an egyptian. it is not clear if elbaradei can unite the voices calling for mubarak's resignation. many people assembled demanding mubarak's immediate resignation and are not talking about the country's post-mubarak path. as president mubarak said last week, that he intends to stay in his post, it is likely that protests and turmoil will continue in egypt for some time. ahmad saeed, nhk world, cairo. >>> the european union is calling for democratic reform in egypt through dialogue. eu foreign ministers made the call in a joint statement after meeting in brussels on monday. the statement expresses regret at the loss of life during the egyptian unrest and urges all parties to show restraint and avoid further violence. it asks the egyptian authorities to restore the internet and all other communi

mohamed elbaradei, the former chief of the iaea and a nobel peace prize winner.e's not quite ka miss matic enough and doesn't have enough of a base to be a grassroots favorite, but he's been embraced by the crowd and accepted as a negotiator by all of the various players. he's also secular which may help calm western fears that an overthrow of the regime here could lead to an islamic state. but even as they kneel for evening prayers, the people tell us over and over again this is not about religion. >> i don't need the government. i don't need a revolution, horrible for terrorists. >> reporter: the topic is such a hot button that i could hardly ask the question of this man -- are you looking for an islamic revolution? before another man angrily jumped in. >> no, listen -- >> reporter: i'm not. >> this is not an islamic -- >> reporter: okay, let me ask him. [ speaking a foreign language ] >> reporter: okay. tell me why -- why are you so angry? >> because you tried -- you know what, the american media try to say this is going to happen, what happened to iran before

street and with mohammed elbaradei and ooments gwen: i want to ask, i'm also curious, there were a lot of efforts made to try to head this off. the envoy they sent used to be great good friends with hosni mubarak and was supposed to talk him into leaving. was that mission just a complete failure? >> well, he's not gone yet, is he? >> well, but shortly after that, he announced he would not run. these things move so fast that we sort of pocket that and say it's no big deal but within 24 hours he announced that neither he nor his son would be in the line of of skefplgts that's pretty dramatic. -- succession. that's pretty dramatic. the last time was in 2005 when george w. bush pushed for elections in the territories and that's the cautionary tale they want to make sure doesn't play out, that muslim extremists come to dominate, like hamas. >> and hosni mubarak it was said today is basically not sleeping, will say one day i'm not leaving, it had create chaos, and then next mip says i'm done, i'm done, nobody appreciates me here. >> and i want to address this idea that islamists would take o

. >> and my colleague, nick garden, has been speaking to mohamed elbaradei about mr. mubarak's ress nation. -- resignation. >> i can't even describe the reaction. it's joy, a sense of emancipation for 85 million people. it's for the first time egypt has been liberated and has put its feet on the right track, a country based on democracy and social justice. >> we have now in your country a high command of the arm forces running the country's affairs. that is run by field marshal ken tawi who is 79 and known to be against reform. what's your response to that? >> i have to clarify that i understand that it going to be not just -- it's going to be not just sawi but reach out to the sectors of egyptian society and sharing of power with civilians through a transition period. i hope we have a presidential council, a government of national unity, and have all the time to prepare for free elections. >> i've been talking to g.g. ibarra ham who has been protesting -- ibrahima who has been protesting and was in the thick of the celebrations and said this will change her country,

. >> mohamed elbaradei says fears of a power vacuum if mubarak steps down are unfounded. >>> the egyptian government is denying accusations that it had a hand in the attacks on the pro-democracy demonstrators. the white house was quick to condemn the violence. >> obviously, if any of the violence is instigated by the government, it should stop immediately. the time for a transition has come, and that time is now. >> the egyptian foreign ministry rejected calls for an immediate transition, saying the united states aimed to, quote, incite the internal situation in egypt. >>> this morning, northeast australia is recovering from a powerful cyclone. it blew ashore wednesday with wind gusts of 186 miles per hour. the most powerful storm in a century there. buildings were destroyed, widespread flooding reported. but no deaths so far. the storm's center missed most of the populated areas. however, there is severe crop damage. >>> and this morning, folks trying to dig out from that massive winter storm will have to bundle up big-time. the heavy snow and ice being followed by bone-willing temperatu

it could be mohammed elbaradei, the nobel peace prize winner who ran the united nations's nuclear watch dog group. and insisted that iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction. or amr moussa who fell out with mubarak a decade ago. regardless of who will be president, one thing is clear, the outlawed islamests, egypt's strongest opposition party, play a big role in the future election. >> yes, they're religiously conservative. that's not necessarily a bad thing for egypt or america's relationship with egypt. >> for years, mubarak has exploited fears of islamic extremism. telling himself the only bulwark against radical islam. looking to calm the fears, the muslim brotherhood told christiane amanpour over phone they won't have a presidential candidate in the next election. >> we're aiming and targeting to have a civil state, democratic state. >> for all the emotion the protesters have shown over the past week and a half, they aren't as passionate about a single candidate or single party to succeed mubarak as they are simply about everyone having the right to choose their own leaders. >>

mohamed elbaradei, who has returned to egypt after years abroad. he ran the u.n.lear watchdog program and opposed the iraq war. the u.s. concerns about an outsider, he's not not fully in line with u.s. policy towards israel. a third option, omar suleiman, this is mubarak's clear favorite. he's just named vice president. to the protesters he would mean more of the same. >> it doesn't necessarily work well for the united states if there's an egyptian president who works very well with us but is not popular within his own country. >> reporter: there is also the unknown candidate. someone who will emerge as rapidly as the people in this square emerged to change history. martha raddatz, abc news, washington. >>> and when we return -- our series, our dr. richard besser with what so many american families are facing. parents, grand parents, confused and taking too many prescription drugs. rate boxes working out? ose flat fabulous! they gave me this great idea. yea? we mail documents all over the country, so, what if there were priority mail flat rate... envelopes? yes! y

but mohamed elbaradei, the nobel prize winning diplomat, who is emerging as a key figure to manage political transition here said mubarak didn't go far enough. his speech, he said, is an attempt to circumvent the demands of the people. demonstrators stayed in tahrir square all last night, and there's certainly no sign this morning they're going anywhere until the president goes first. the opposition parties are going to meet in about an hour from now, and so the next step in this drama will be them either coming out with a joint statement saying we're not having this. or we'll see some disarray and disagreement, and perhaps a fragmenting of that opposition. betty? >> all right, elizabeth palmer joining us live from cairo. elizabeth, thank you. >>> president obama spoke to mubarak shortly after he spoke to the egyptian people, and the conversation was described as direct and frank. and suggested that mubarak's decision not to run for re-election isn't enough. >> what is clear, and what i indicated tonight to president mubarak, is my belief that an orderly transition must be meaningful, it mus

one man who wants to offer just that is mohammed elbaradei, egypt's bookish nobel prize winning diplomat who fought his way into tahrir square over the weekend to address the crowd. "change is coming" he promised. elbaradei is at home on the world stage. as the long time head of the international atomic energy agency, he was a key figure in policing iran's nuclear program. but after decades abroad, he probably doesn't have the grass- roots support necessary to leave the country. his diplomatic skills, though, may make him ideal for a political transition, a transition that tonight seems more likely than ever. now, tomorrow morning what's being billed as the million-man march is supposed to take place here in tahrir square and it looks to us as if the soldiers around the square have pulled back their tanks to actually make room for this tsunami of a crowd that's expected. the army reiterated once again today that it wasn't going to use violence on the protestors, so that may even encourage more people to come. >> smith: elizabeth, this is so interesting. here you have the army siding with

mohamed elbaradei is a nobel laureate and former head of the international atomic energy agency. he has little support among the public. critics contend he spent too much time abroad. >> he has the advantage and disadvantage of coming from outside the country. he is considered not corrupt or part of the ruling political circle. >> the muslim brotherhood is egypt's leading opposition group. it hesitated to join the protests. for years, the muslim brothers were considered islamic extremists. but now they are divided and appear to be more moderate. >> we are not striving for a religious resolution. we want a secular democratic state based on the will of the people, not religion alone. >> the muslim brotherhood is deeply entrenched in egyptian society, partly due to many social projects. a new beginning without the group is unlikely. one man enjoying growing support is [unintelligible] many remember when the general secretary of the arab league was the foreign minister. he was already considered mubarak's rival. many young egyptians would support him. >> i believe he is an alternativ

. >> this morning the view inside egypt with leading opposition figure mohamed elbaradei and the ambassadorited states sameh shoukry. what happens next and what will it mean for the middle east and u.s. interests there? i will be joined by the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee john kerry. also part of our special coverage insights and perspective from former secretary of state james baker and reporting from the ground. >> they were hunting down reporters. >> with nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel. then a special discussion marking the 100th birthday of president ronald reagan. what is his legacy for the modern republican party and what impact does he have on democrats like president obama? joining us, more from james baker, reagan's chie

but there's no joke that the obsession of mohammed elbaradei is seeing his back. i saw a prominent industrialist who's among the so-called group of wise men who did meet with mubarak. his feeling was that those in tahrir square should declare victory. he said, look, we've already got a promise mubarak will leave. we've got the effective dismemberment of the national democratic party, which is the public party that has run egypt since sadat times. we've got the promise of a free and fair election so why not declare victory instead of insisting that he has to go for that victory to be? well, the fact is that these protestors are not satisfied and one can see why they would have great suspiciouss, as i outlined over what might happen in the next few months. when suleiman met with abc's christian a.m. pour, he said "look, there's no culture of democracy in this country, there are foreign forces, foreign agendas pushing the use of egyptian into this pro-democratic party. these were not the words of someone who made you feel confident that egypt has really turned the pa

now, if that is, in fact, the case, that would rule out vice president suleiman and mohamed elbaradei and it now appears that mubarak's reign there is just a matter of time before it ends. what are the people on the ground you're talking to saying as to who they believe their new leader will be? >> reporter: well, that is the big question. you know, it sounds like a cliche. we've been asking it for the last, you know, 13 days or more. one thing that is ruled out at least according to himself, vice president suleiman told me no way, no how will he be running for presidency. however, what really is at issue is in this big crowd of protesters, the youth, which has really been the center of this uprising, which voice from among them will emerge to represent them? so that they're not overtaken by the old political parties here, and the muslim brotherhood has told us that they will not field a presidential candidate or accept any cabinet positions for at least five years. whether they keep to that remains to be seen but they're very aware of the fear they inspire in this region, in this cou

of our day -- mohamed elbaradei. >> i am an egyptian and i have lived in massachusetts for the last 30years. what are the chances on a scale of one to 10 megabits and next president to be just mobley two for economics road construction and other things. what are your top four or five priorities and was your chance on a scale of one to 10 to become the next president of egypt. [laughter] >> i told you there's three questions. you can answer any questions you want. >> my wife hopes that the chances are zero. i frankly do not know. and that's not my worry. my concern is to be an agent for change. i mean, whether it be president of egypt is totally immaterial for me. the issue is to a system by which people of their right to choose whoever they think is the right person for that job. and the question -- the other question you ask, what is my priority? my priority is democracy. people don't understand if it's a democratic system, or which are talking about in terms of economic, education, whatever. democracy means that you are not in the people that are the best. you're able to have an inde

now it could be six months, that seems a little-- mohamed elbaradei thinks that is too short a time. he wants to see one year. i would say one year is the outside limit. otherwise people are going to start questioning that. >> an also we need the south african models in their next because they mean by that disclosure amnesty and reconciliation. all the people who are related to the regime, corrupted by the regime had abuses against the people. you wouldn't, you would need to get into bloodbaths, and revenge and retaliation for years. >> i agree with that. >> but what you need is really to encourage this kind of south africa. first you need to disclose. it is not about forget about what happened we're going to start now. no, you cannot start from cloon place without first saying this close for me. you have an amnesty even on the lowest levels. and then let's have a reconciliation. and this is very important. because this is going to be the next question after people finish with the men, or big names with the regime or related it to corruption and oppression. then they would start talk

. >> this morning the view inside egypt with leading opposition figure mohamed elbaradei and the ambassador to the united states sameh shoukry. what happens next and what will it mean for the middle east and u.s. interests there? i will be joined by the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee john kerry. also part of our special coverage insights and perspective from former secretary of state james baker and reporting from the ground. >> they were hunting down reporters. >> with nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel. then a special discussion marking the 100th birthday of president ronald reagan. what is his legacy for the modern republican party and what impact does he have on democrats like president obama? joining us, more from james baker, reagan's chief of staff, former reagan speech writer peggy noonan, former mayor willie brown and andrea peggy noonan, former mayor willie brown and andrea mitchell. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good morning. we go first live to cairo where nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel is joining us again

well, another interesting thing about what's been happening here in egypt is unusual role of mohammed elbaradei, the nobel prize winning atomic energy watchdog from the u.n. having finished his career as an international diplomat, a bureaucrat, he waded into egyptian politics with his nobel prize in hand and he's done... he's done some interesting things. you know, he's not a wildly popular figure here in the sense that people really want to rally behind him and march under his banner. a lot of people think he's kind of a foreigner because he hasn't spent much time in egypt. but what he has done is he's gotten all of the opposition groups to work as... to talk to each other which they hadn't done before. so you see a partnership between the little liberal parties and the liberal intellectuals on the one hand and the big giant muslim brotherhood on the other. and the other thing he's done is he's presented a unified face both to the egyptian government and to the west. the opposition here have all sort of coalesced behind him as their point man to talk to the government. and he's not an easy poi

caller: my question is about mohammed elbaradei. does he have a strong relationship with the muslim brotherhood? what was his relationship with iran? it really surprise me that he came back because he has been gone from each of for so long. it kind of worries me. aest: i don't think he has relationship with the muslim brotherhood. he is a cosmopolitan guy who lived in the u.s. for the past decade. i think he had a bad rap with iran. with iran, we pushed him to say i look at i ran's program. he was certainly cautious, but i think most people in the community thought he did a pretty good job in a tough role during that period. he is an enemy of the west. he is a noble laureate. i think he would be the moderate, the best case scenario for us. host: by the way, from congressional research service, these facts -- . . host: tied it is an egyptian american in albuquerque. you are on the air with james kitfield. caller: when of the questions keep coming up. the u.s. is not viewed as honest, especially when it comes to the palestinian issue.

terri, i wanted to read a statement we just got in from mohamed elbaradei. to bring in jim sciutto believed to be along that 13-mile route between tahrir square and the presidential palace, as we know, in between the palace and state television where a lot of these messages are being delivered. the crowd has now erupted in response to them. jim, can you describe what you're seeing? >> i'm right on the banks of the nile in between tahrir square and the television headquarters here. terri was talking about the tanks at the presidential palace. here people are dancing on the tanks. all the years of frustration, anger, disappointment, dissolving in one moment of joy. i was speaking to a protester here, a dentist, as the news came in, he got a call from his mother that she'd seen it on state television that mubarak has stepped down and his face lit up in smiles and then he broke into tears of joy and around him, really, a street party around me right now, dancing, waving flags jumping, getting a little bit out of control at times, people falling on top of each ot

you have people talking about mohamed elbaradei as a possible leader or as a transition leader. i think he is more popular outside of egypt that is within. he is seen as an outsider and as a secular rest -- a secularist. i do not know people who see him as the and lighting it up a revolutionary figure. -- see him as the embodiment of a revolutionary figure. >> if mubarak does go, can an orderly transition take place? >> i hate to make prognostications because somebody might actually read the transcript. i am not sure that he is going to go. people i have respect for say there is no way he can stay. there may be a way he can ay. we will have a transition that will be the transition that will be more orderly than if he died suddenly in office without these events. people are playing for keeps. the military is focused on retaining this rong role as an actor and a guarantor of the political system. people are looking at the next nine months and wondering how they can have an orderly transition that makes it more sustainable than it has been. all of the other arab leaders would be ab