richard engel back in cairo for us, starting us off. richard, thanks. and all of this, as we said, is making for anxious viewing in washington. the u.s. has a lot on the line here. our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell is in our d.c. newsroom. and andrea, let's go through the exposure for the united states. >> well, this is very messy. and what officials are saying is, democracy is messy. look at what happened. they will not say this publicly, they're not going to declare a victor until it is declared in egypt. they believe also that the muslim brotherhood, that mohammed morsi, did win this election. and they are warning the military publicly and privately do not steal this election. they are very worried, though, that the military is going to try to steal back power. the only leverage they have is money, a lot of it, 1.3 billion, which is now in a federal reserve account. it will be dolled out only if the military does cede power to whoever really wins this, and u.s. officials think it is the muslim brotherhood, which presents other p

richard engel joins us.mney wanders into a washington convenient store. >> i went to a place today called washington. ever been there? we went to washingtons. >> we've all been to washington. the rest of the story later in the show. >>> first let's get to the news live at 5:30 a.m. at 30 rock in

richard engel reports from cairo in a couple minutes. plus, the first lady of the united states can flat out double ditch. michelle obama doing work with the rope a bit later in the show. first let's get to the news live at 5:30 a.m. on a full slate of international crisis at this year's g-20 summit, one has overshadowed the rest. the civil war in syria. president obama will meet mete with the chinese president to discuss a way to ease bashar alassad out of power and end the violence that has gripped the country for more than a year. china and russia have resisted the idea and have been the two key obstacles to international intervention in syria. effectively using their veto power to block u.n. security council votes that would authorize any action. in a two-hour meeting yesterday, president obama and russian president vladimir putin agree that the violence has to end but offered no solution as to how that would happen, and they did not discuss the fate of syrian president assad, whose removal has been called the only way forward by ame

it's heart breaking. >> richard engel reporting tonight from egypt. an see more of richard's reporting including his tour of the secret chambers of the great pyramid, we've posted it on our website and also our ipad app. >>> up next, we embark on a bit of a summer road trip here, and we are hoping our first stop just might take your breath away. it's olive garden's 2 for $25. an italian dinner for 2 where choice is on the menu. start with all the fresh salad and warm breadsticks you want. choose 2 appetizers made for sharing. then 2 entrÉes from 6 of our favorites. classics like eggplant parmigiana and new favorites like smoked mozzarella chicken and spaghetti with four cheese meat sauce & meatballs. 3 courses, 2 people, just $25. but only for a limited time, at olive garden. shop kmart for hot deals on everything for the 4th of july! swimwear for the whole family is 50% off! and save 50% on this pool and this patio set! plus 2-liter bottles of pepsi and 7up products- -- just 10 for 10 dollars!!! everything for the 4th of july. at kmart today! ( dog ba

richard engel joins us. plus mitt romney wanders into a washington convenient store. >> i went to a place today called washington. ever been there? we went to washingtons. >> we've all been to washington. the rest of the story later in the show. >>> first let's get to the news live at 5:30 a.m. at 30 rock in new york city. president obama touched down in mexico last night for the start of the g-20 summit where he's expected to ufrnlg european leaders to focus on pro growth policies over austerity. this comes after stocks opened strong on the news that greece's pro bailout party claimed victory in the parliamentary elections. european union leaders are breathe ag collective sigh of relief as the conservative new democracy party took in narrow party over the anti-austerity left meaning greece will remain a member of the union at least for the time being. here with us to break it down, steve sedgwick live in athens. steve, good morning. it's good to see you. explain to us what exactly yesterday's outcome means.

it's heart breaking. >> richard engel reporting tonight from egypt. of richard's reporting including his tour of the secret chambers of the great pyramid at giza. it's part of his series called "hidden planet." we've posted it on our website and also our ipad app. >>> up next, we embark on a bit of a summer road trip here, and we are hoping our first stop just might take your breath away. i went to a small high school. the teacher that comes to mind for me is my high school math teacher, dr. gilmore. i mean he could teach. he was there for us, even if we needed him in college. you could call him, you had his phone number. he was just focused on making sure we were gonna be successful. he would never give up on any of us. dogs are the best of the best of the best. they don't get any bester than this! omg it's kosher. with no fillers, by-products, artificial flavors or colors. hebrew national. the better-than-a-hot dog- hot dog. our cloud is made of bedrock. concrete. and steel. our cloud is the smartest brains combating the latest security threats. it s

richard engel, nbc news, cairo. >>> rodney king has died. the man whose videotape beating in 1991 by members of the l.a. police department sparked nationwide debate drowned in a swimming pool yesterday. >>> record any king, who became the center of a heated national discussion on police brutality and race in the early 1990s has died. >> preliminarily it appears to be accidental. >> reporter: king was found by his fiancee in a swimming pool at his home in california. >> officers went into the pool and removed mr. king. he was found to be unresponsive. >> reporter: king was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was later pronounced dead. in 1991 video emerged of lapd officers beating king following a high-speed chase. four officers were charged with assault. >> not guilty -- >> reporter: their acquittal a year later rocked los angeles and led to one of the most destructive riots in u.s. history. the violence lasted three days, killed 55 people and left large parts of los angeles ablaze. >> can we all get along? >> reporter: those five words are

richard engel keeping watch over tahrir square. richard, thanks. >>> the federal reserve lowered the outlook for the economy for the remainder of the year and next two years for that matter, including a prediction the unemployment rate could remain stuck around its current 8.2% this year. the fed also extended a program aimed at pushing down mortgage rates. fed chairman ben bernanke said they were open to more monetary stimulus if things do get worse. >>> still ahead for us as we continue along the way on a wednesday night, more in our special report, the not so hidden epidemic of heroin in suburban america. tonight the families whose lives will never be the same because of it. >>> later, the great comeback down below. what's bringing a dying treasure back to life. >>> last night here we reported on the steadily growing problem of heroin use and abuse among suburban kids in this country. tonight nbc's kate snow has more on the tragic toll this new generation's heroin is taking on the families who seem powerless to stop it. >> report

>> richard engel in cairo tonight, richard, thanks. andrea mitchell is nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent. how is all this sitting in washington? >> just now the white house announced the president called mohammed morsi and wished him well. congratulated him and said he wants to work together with him on egypt's transition to democracy. u.s. officials are watching events, lester. they're saying so far, so good. they're impressed that dr. morsi promised tonight to abide by international treaties, that means not breaking egypt's important historic treaty with israel. he also committed to observe women's rights and minorities right, as richard said. and said he plans to be the president of all the people. will he honor those commitments? administration officials say their greatest leverage is, egypt's economy collapsed after the revolution. morsi needs us, they need billions of dollars in u.s. aid and imf loans if his government is going to have any chance of surviving. today, john kerry, who's done a number of delegate missions fo

. >> we're joined now live by chief foreign correspondent for nbc news, richard engel. richard, good to see you this morning. is president assad concerned or deterred at all by any of this international pressure? >> i think he is very concerned. and i've been told by diplomatic sources that his regime is starting to wobble. now, that doesn't mean he's losing control entirely. but a kind of civil war is breaking out in the country. fighting is taking on a very sectarian nature between sunnis and shiites. the population in syria is almost like iraq in reverse, you have a sunni majority and a shiite minority that is ruling with an iron hand. and now it is that sunni majority that is leading the opposition. you talked earlier about the town of haffeh. think you're right to talk about that. we're going to hear a lot more about this over the next coming days. this morning, disturbing images were coming out of haffeh. one of those horrible line ups of very small bodies of children wrapped in blankets. people there saying massacres are taking place. >>> haffeh is surrounded, it'

globe tonight, so to begin our coverage of all of it, we go to our chief foreign correspondent richard engel, who's once again back in cairo. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. this is exactly what many feared when the arab spring began, that democratic elections in this country would bring the muslim brotherhood to power. and now people and governments around the world are worried how this will play out. the muslim brotherhood has reason to celebrate. their man, mohamed morsi, has been elected egypt's next president according to multiple counts. and he is expected to usher in fundamental change for this country of 90 million. morsi wants to impose islamic law, limit the rights of women. his party is not pro american as mubarak was for decades, and he is fiercely anti-israel. morsi quickly declared victory. promising to reach out to all egyptians. but morsi faces a battle for power with the military, which will not give up without a fight. last night with returns still coming in, the ruling military council made a preemptive strike eliminating the new president's powers

our chief foreign correspondent richard engel is back in cairo tonight and, richard, i have to say when you and i were in tahrir square in the thick of it we knew this was a possibility. >> reporter: it was a possibility, but few expected it would turn out quite like this. the future of egypt, the biggest country in the arab world, is now on the line. the muslim brotherhood band here for decades could take over this country this weekend and the entire region is watching very closely and nervously. supporters of the muslim brotherhood took to the streets today with a warning. they want fair elections after egypt's high court yesterday dissolved the recently formed islamist controlled parliament. many here see it as a power grab by the government before this weekend's presidential election. it's a choice between the old regime and the muslim brotherhood candidate mohamed morsi, a fire brand who wants to impose islamic law and is openly hostile to israel. last night morsi promised a new revolution if there is fraud at the polls. i will pay with my life for the people's freedom, he said. hi

what we're seeing now and we're probably going to see more of these kind of covert actions. >> richard engel reporting live, richard, thank you so much for your reporting. >>> violence erupting across syria's border in iraq, where coordinated car bombs have killed at least 56 people. explosions ripped through four different cities. local officials say dozens were injured in the death toll could rise. the explosions targeted shiite worshippers in a similar type of sectarian violence that swept the country during the height of the iraq war in 2006. >>> it comes amid political tensions between prime minister al maliki and coalition lawmakers. 56 people dead this morning in iraq. >>> in politics, back at home, president obama and mitt romney exchanging attacks over who gets it less in dueling campaign stops. both candidates accuse the other of failing to understand the fundamentals of the economy. the president quick to link his republican challenger to what he calls the failed policies of the past. >> i love listening to these guys give us lectures about debt and deficits. i inherited a $1 tril

our chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins us from cairo, still crowded tahrir square with the latest. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. this weekend egyptian officials will announce the winner of last weekend's disputed presidential election. here in tahrir square are members of the muslim brotherhood. they firmly believe that their candidate mohamed morsi won the election and tonight are already celebrating. if he is declared the winner the celebrations will grow much larger and egypt will begin its experiment in islamic democracy. if the other candidate, the military choice, ahmed shafiq, is declared the winner, these crowds could turn ugly and violence is possible. >> richard, while i have you, another potentially dangerous development in the region tonight i want to ask you about. a turkish fighter jet somehow ended up in syrian air space and was shot down by syrian forces. what do we know about this? >> reporter: we know turkish officials have confirmed that the aircraft was over syrian territorial waters and was shot down by syrian air defenses. s

we have richard engel, robin wright and p.j. crowley right here. good day. i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. in our daily fix, mitch romney is wrapping up his battleground bus tour in michigan t state where he was born, which today, romney said he believes he can win. chris cillizza is an msnbc contributor and managing editor of postpolitics.com. there has been a lot of discussion overnight about a conversation you and i had yesterday. we ran clips of mitt romney in cornwall, pennsylvania, talking about his trip to a wawa. the rnc and campaign both reached out to us, saying romney had more to say about that visit, about federal bureaucracy. >> i was at wawa's. i went in to order a sandwich. you press a touch-tone keypad. you just touch that and the sandwich comes at you, touch this, touch this, touch this, go pay the cashier, there's your sandwich. it's amazing. people in the private sector have learned how to compete. it's time to bring competition to the federal government and to get it smaller and have it respond to the customers, which are you. >>

our chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins us again tonight from tahrir square. richard, people are just coming to grips with how momentous an event this really is. >> they certainly are. big changes could be ahead. supporters of the muslim brotherhood, mohamed morsi, are still here in tahrir square tonight celebrating, playing music as you can hear, hoping that this will be the start of a new islamic state in the middle east. what an incredible change of events. when this revolution began a year and a half ago, in this square, mohamed morsi was behind bars. today morsi was touring president mubarak's old office, even sitting down in his old chair testing it out for size. critics say that the rise of the muslim brotherhood to power will be absolutely disastrous for this country, turning egypt certainly anti-israeli and perhaps anti-american as well. brian? >> all of that will deserve watching over the coming days. richard engel in tahrir square tonight. thanks. >>> still ahead, as we continue along the way on this monday night the mean season. the fires in the ame

richard engel is in e jugypt tonight. >> reporter: tahrir exmroeplode. crowds hold up copies of the koran. this is our constitution, they shout. for decades the brotherhood slogan has been islam is the solution. >> if you want to achieve anything good, you have to -- >> reporter: across town, other egyptians see the brotherhood's win as a catastrophe. that democracy has brought a fundamentalist, anti-american, and basically anti-democratic president. who wants god's unchangeable laws. the volt just a pass to power. e jiment egypt is lost they yell. he gave his acceptance speech. reaching out. promising moderation and to include all e jimegyptians. in tahrir, they see it as divine intervention and see it is only the beginning of profound changes still to come. the muslim brotherhood faces a serious challenge. the military here has stripped the president of many of his key sthor authorities. tonight. many egyptians hope that the muslim brotherhood will drop so some rhetoric and face the task of governing the country. richard engel, nbc news, cairo. >>> big

richard engel reports from cairo. >> reporter: the syrian opposition is outrage thad the united nations has decided to suspend its observer mission in syria. the u.n. observers claim they were attacked by syrian forces, shot at by syrian troops, attacked by mops inspired by the government and were no longer able to do their observations and report back to the former secretary general of the u.n., kofi annan. they're accused of cowardice and says since the syrian government has only increased its attacks particularly on the city of homs. while the opinion operations are suspended, there is a chance when obama meets with vladimir putin of russia. this is the first time since putin returned to power he'll be meeting with the u.s. president. it is an opportunity to really push this peace initiative forward and end the deadlock. richard engel, nbc news cairo. >>> president obama's decision to stop deporting some children of illegal immigrants has become an issue on the campaign trail. republicans denounced the order as political, questioning whether it was a ploy to win hispanic votes this f

nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel is live in cairo. richard, help us sort through the results of that election. what do they mean? >> reporter: well, they mean a great deal. according to egyptian state media, nearly all the votes have been counted and they do appear to show that the muslim brotherhood's candidate, mohammed morsi will be the next president of this country. the final counting hasn't been announced. according to state media, about 97% of the votes are in. they show 52% of those votes went to mohammed morsi. that would be radical change for this country, the first time the muslim brotherhood has ever held power in egypt, the biggest country in the arab world. they want to impose islamic law. it is openly hostile to israel, no friend to the united states, although it has been trying to appeal to u.s. lawmakers and the white house with different delegations. that's on the muslim brotherhood front. the military here is clearly nervous about a muslim brotherhood victory. that's why in the late hours last night, just as it seeme

richard engel has more. >> the muslim brotherhood has reason to celebrate. their man has been elected egypt's next president, according to multiple counts. and he is expected to usher in fundamental change for this country of 90 million. he wants to impose islamic law, limit the rights of women. his party is not pro-american, as mubarak was for decades, and he is fiercely anti-israel. morsi quickly declared victory, promising to reach out to all egyptians. but he faces a battle for power with the military, which will not give up without a fight. the ruling military council made a preemptive strike, eliminating the new president's powers to declare war, control the army, or replace its leaders. the reaction was this. >> people love mohammed morsi. >> a crowd of supporters in tahrir square. a movement began offering thanks in prayer, and opposing the military decree. this celebration has been a long time coming. for decades, the muslim brotherhood was banned in this country, its leaders arrested. but now the muslim brotherhood appears to have won egypt's presi

richard engel from cairo. richard, thanks as always. >>> in this country a lot of us woke up to a bizarre story out of the west coast that the u.s. secretary of commerce had been involved in two hit-and-run accidents in california over this past weekend. late this morning the commerce department said 68-year-old secretary john bryson had suffered a seizure. he was found unconscious at the wheel. he was treated at the hospital and tonight we're told he is back home in washington recuperating. so far there are no charges. officials say, drugs and alcohol were not involved. >>> it's one thing to know about your own finances, how you're faring in this economy, and how it feels to you, but it's quite another to find out where you fit when compared to everyone else in america. we got a new picture today of what it is like for everyone, especially the economic core of this nation, formerly known as the the middle-class. and there is fresh evidence today from the federal reserve, of how brutal this economy has been. ou

richard engel reports that the results are expected to be announced tomorrow. >> reporter: egyptians are waiting for the last weekend's disputed presidential election and the arab world and the middle east hangs in the balance. if the muslim brotherhood is declared the winner and the group has supporters here, egypt could fundamentally change as it starts its new experiment in muslim democracy. it's not pro-american, they are actively anti-israel and under the muslim brotherhood, egypt, the country where one in four people in the arab world live could set the tone for this entire region. if the other candidate wins, ahmed shafiq, hosni mubarak's last prime minister, the military revolution that started all of this will have failed. richard engel, cairo. >>> following weeks of rising gas prices, it seems drivers are finally getting a break at the pump. how big a break, we turn to kimberly tere live. >> reporter: garvin over the last few months we've seen a rise in gas prices, but just recently a big drop, and according to aaa, every metro area northern california has seen a drop of ga

again tonight our chief foreign correspondent richard engel is above cairo's tahrir square. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. people are back in the square tonight because they think they are being lied to. last night president mubarak was reported by the official state media in this country to be clinically dead. well, today his lawyers say he's made something of a miraculous recovery and has been taken off of a respirator, this after he was transferred out of prison to a military hospital. also suspicious, many in the square say, is that the electoral commission said it would not announce tomorrow the results of this disputed election, but it will announce them at an as of yet unspecified date. so now the muslim brotherhood says it will hold protests every night in this square until election results are announced. brian. >> another loud night late at night. richard engel keeping an eye over tahrir square. thanks. >>> the federal reserve lowered the outlook for the economy for the remainder of the year and next two years for that matter, including a pr

nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins us again this morning. secretary clinton denying the u.s. is arming syrian rebels, where do things stand now, not just in the ground in syria, but between the u.s. and russia? >> well i think the u.s. is trying to set the tone for that critical summit between president obama and putin in mexico. and what the united states wants to do is to convince russia to stop backing syria. and what i think is lost in this, is the importance of helicopters. why is the united states now making such a big deal about helicopters. and it has to do with the fundamental strategy of the uprising in syria right now. i was speaking this morning to syrian activists and they say that the country is basically in a state of collapse. businesses aren't functioning, the roads aren't open. people aren't really going to school. except in a few pockets. so the country is collapsing from, on a day-to-day perspective. the strategy of the opposition is to light little fires, if you would, have pockets of resistance, scattered all over the c

richard engel back in cairo for us tonight. thanks. >>> now we turn to greece, a nation that has dodged a bullet for now. there's been a narrow victory in this weekend's elections for a pro euro government. greece will stay with the euro as its currency but the crisis there continues and the trouble seems to hopscotch from country to country right now in europe resulting in big fears of course here in the u.s. nbc's stephanie gosk is live for us tonight in athens. stephanie, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. well, weeks of political uncertainty are nearly over here in greece, and its future in the eurozone is safe for now. the fear was that this election would spark the collapse of the eurozo eurozone. crisis was averted. the pro euro party eeked out a slim victory over the opposition that threatened to rip up a vital bailout plan. next step? setting up a coalition in what he calls a salvation government. and greece needs saving. political uncertainty on top of financial uncertainty has basically brought commerce

richard engel is nbc's chief foreign correspondent and joins us from cairo. d last night that a western diplomat had told you the assad regime may be quote, wobbling. what can you tell us about that and are there indications that the minority around him are beginning to, there are cracks in that support system? are we seeing cracks from russia under increasing pressure and isolated as there have been more and more massacres? >> reporter: several questions there. i don't think we're seeing cracks with russia and there are reports that russia's actually going to supply syria with more attack helicopters. i'll get to that in a minute. that could be a very dangerous development. the reason i was told that there are indications that syrian regime is quote, wobbling, is exactly the same reason we're seeing the u.n. today or at least one official from the u.n. saying that there appears to be a civil war in the country. when there is a civil war, it's very hard for the syrian government to command the situation. there are many factions fighting different militia group

that's why tensions are high. >> richard engel, thank you so much.ow here, robin wright, the editor and lead author of "the islamisists are coming." thank you very much for joining us. do we have a lot of concerns about the military? there's been a lot of talk in washington of course. what about the military and the potential for them to try to keep control despite what happened at the ballot box? >> absolutely. in many ways the uprising is unraveling as the military seizes more and more power. they have taken over legislative responsibilities, some of the executive power, the interim constitution basically puts the military as well as its budget beyond government control. it's also grabbed the wright to define the new order because after parliament was dismissed, they dismissed the assembly and now the military has appointed -- is appointing 100 of its own members or 100 people that it selects to write a new constitution. so it's not just the moment and the power, it's the future it's seizing as well. >> how does this get resolved? it seems as thoug

in fact, nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engel just tweeted from the scene, a painfully longncement of results still under way, going through complaints in detail, 35 minutes and counting. of course, we're waiting to see if a representative of the muslim brother hoot or the former prime minister will take over that country. we'll give you that news as soon as it is available. >>> a dead heat could lead to an limb shakeup. in the 100 meter women's race at saturday's olympic track and field finals, allison field on the left and san jose native, jennifer bartomo crossing the finish line exactly in third space. track representatives say one of the angles of the photo finish was blocked. >> it was inconclusive due to subdued torso. it is the torso that determines both time and place. >> now, u.s. track and field will have to figure out how to break the tie. ultimately decided who will make the third spot on the team. the race result isn't in dispute. >>> it's just a matter of time before college basketball's top players become millionaires. the nba draft is this thursday and the g

. >>> nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins us now live from cairo. richard, where does egypt stand ahead of this weekend's presidential runoff and what does it mean for the muslim brotherhood? >> good morning. good to see you on so many different shows. real happy for you. but for the muz wlim brothmuslis facing real choices about the future of its political process. you have two very different options for this country. one is shafiq, he's from the air force, he was mubarak's last prime minister, he is presenting himself as a strong man who will come in and restore law and order. and he does have some support here, but not from the revolution mubarak who see him remnant of the old regime. on the other hand, a very different kind of option. you have mohamed morsi who gave a fiery speech last night waving his fingers in the air, making threats, screaming at some point, talking about how he's going to change this country fundamentally. the muslim brotherhood has talked about bringing in islamic law, improving relations with the arab world, doing a lot mo

nbc's chief foreign correspondent, richard engel, is live in cairo. good morning, richard. >> reporter: good morning. security is on high alert and the mood in cairo is quite tense right now. here in tahrir square, members of the muslim brotherhood are gathering. the crowds are building. we're watching people assemble here. you can probably hear the music below this balcony very loud. people are totally convinced that their candidate will be confirmed the president of this country in about an hour's time. if that happens, there will be an enormous celebration here in tahrir square. if it doesn't happen, the mood could turn much worse and there is a possibility of quite extreme violence. but just across town, there is a rival demonstration. supporters of the military candidate are also growing in number. they also claim that he has won. there is a possibility that these two crowds just separated by about a mile across this city could even clash. that's why tensions are very high and we will see what the result is in an hour, if it's announced on time, p

. >> nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins us live from cairo.d secretary clinton say spiraling towards civil war. there are others who say it is a civil war. at the daily briefing, the is press secretary reiterating the words that the u.s. is not supplying weapons to the opposition and the administration's position is clear on that, richard. >> the united states isn't supplying weapons like guns and helicopters. but it is supplying communications equipment that the opposition in syria is using to coordinate attacks. so to a degree, it depends 0 how you define weapons. there are other countries namely saudi arabia and qatar that are supplying weapons to a degree with u.s. and turkish blessing. other countries making their own decisions. russia, however, is supplying helicopters and there have been many videos and this is indisputable showing russian-made helicopters firing into syrian cities killing civilians. so one russian says it's supplying helicopters only to be used for peaceful purposes, well those are not being used for peaceful purposes.