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Protests Continue in Egypt as Demonstrators Defy Curfew; Military Out in Full Force in Cairo; President Mubarak Appoints New Cabinet Members; Understanding the Similarities Between Tunisia and Egypt; U.S. State Department: " Concerned About the Potential for Violence...Urges Restraint"; Profile Emerging of Egypt's New Vice President

Aired January 29, 2011 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back.

Amazing pictures out of Egypt, right now. Thousands taking to the streets demanding historic change, Gunfire exploding. We've got gunfire near a key government building. The Interior Ministry, as police try to hold back protesters. Demonstrators seem to be coming in waves ignoring the curfew emboldened by today's government resignations.

From CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Randi Kaye.

ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And welcome to our international viewers, I'm Isha Sesay.

JONATHAN MANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And I'm Jonathan Mann, let's get you up to the latest from Egypt, now. If you're just joining us, here's what we know, so, far today. The death toll is rising from the anti-government demonstrations. Right now we know that at least 38 people have died in clashes between protesters and police, 10 of the dead are police officers. The protesters want new leaders, and today a modest move toward that. A short time ago the cabinet handed in their resignations, but the main target of the protesters' anger says he isn't going anywhere. President Hosni Mubarak has been defiant to this point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOSNI MUBARAK, PRESIDENT OF EGYPT (via translator): I take responsibility for the security of this country and the citizens. I will not let this happen. I will not let fear live in the citizens or to let this tell us what's going to happen in the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANN: We are seeing an increased military presence in major cities, especially in Cairo itself. Tanks and soldiers have taken up positions among the demonstrators. Now, more and more tanks are moving in to place, so far without incident, though.

A curfew went into effect just about an hour ago. But protesters have pretty much ignored it and just about welcomed the tanks. People around the world are watching these historic protests, especially in Washington, where President Obama talked about the importance of real change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What's needed right now are concrete steps that advance the rights of the Egyptian people, a meaningful dialogue between the government and its citizens and a path of political change that leads to a future of greater freedom and greater opportunity and justice for the Egyptian people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANN: The story's changing and fast, and we've got it all covered for you. We've got reporters on the ground in Cairo and Alexandria. And we're watching reaction in places like Washington and Jerusalem. Stay with us all day as we watch and analyze all of it as it happens.

SESAY: Let's head to Cairo, capital city in turmoil this hour. Thousands are defying a curfew and are calling for change. Our correspondents there report gunfire and the acrid smell of tear gas.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is there in Cairo. Fred, explain to us exactly where you are and what you're seeing right now.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right now I'm on the Corniche, one of the main roads here along the Nile River. As you can see below me there are a lot of tanks in place here. The military is here in full force. What we've been hearing here is because of the fact that the police have absolutely disappeared off the streets, there appears to be lawlessness, homes being broken into, armed criminal gangs that are on the loose in this city, also stores that are closed or have been ransacked.

So certainly the population of Cairo -- I can tell you there are many, many people who are very worried about the situation. We're also hearing some neighborhoods here, people organizing to try to keep their property safe. On the one hand we have this interesting situation where on the one hand people here -- obviously the police were heavy handed in their response to the riots, however -- (AUDIO GAP)

SESAY: I want to apologize to our viewers. We appear to have lost Frederik Pleitgen. There are some technical problems. We'll work to get him back.

KAYE: The diplomatic community is watching what is happening in Egypt very close. CNN Senior State Department producer Elisa Labott is live and will be joining us from Washington with the latest developments.

But first, speaking of Washington, let's talk a little bit right here why this is so important to the U.S. First of all, I mean, you know this region so well, where this is all unfolding. Let's talk about the Suez Canal. Why is that at play here and why should the U.S. care about it?

SESAY: Anyone at home who is wondering that question should listen up. The bottom line is Egypt, which owns the Suez Canal, has given the U.S. preferential access to it so its warships can go through as well as giving us access to its air space, all critical to the U.S. in terms of any kind of operations it's doing in the region.

The bottom line is Egypt's the U.S. most important strategic partner in the region. It's a relationship that dates back to the 1970s. If someone wants a price tag it's costing the U.S. billions of dollars a year. That's how important it is to this country.

Egypt is very much seen as a counterweight in many ways. It's seen as a moderating influence there in the region. And many people say as Egypt goes, so the region goes.

MANN: A point about Egypt's moderating role, Hosni Mubarak is largely responsible for that. But if you think about the Specter of Islamic fundamentalism, Islamism as a movement was born in Egypt. The Brotherhood is the most Islamist organization in the world. It has links to group like Hamas and around the world.

But the Muslim Brotherhood has been on Hosni Mubarak's target list for years. It was a country that was casualty to Islamic terrorism. Hosni Mubarak crushed it.

What's so extraordinary about the pictures we're seeing today these aren't Islamists, these aren't agitators. These are the ordinary people of the country. But once again, this country has been a bulwark against the kind of Islamism that so terrifies Washington. Hosni Mubarak is the personification of that. Without Hosni Mubarak, what happens now?

SESAY: To that point about the Muslim Brotherhood, which was banned all the way back in 1954, let's be clear on that, it is a group that started with violent roots and it has renounced that violence, to be very clear. It has a lot of young educated people in its ranks.

A lot of people who enter government these days who are members of the Muslim Brotherhood because it's a band organization, they join as nominal independents. That's the way they get in. But it's still an important organizing force and opposition voice there in Egypt.

KAYE: And they do support ElBaradei.

SESAY: They say they do.

MANN: There's another Washington angle to this which is really crucial. I would be so curious to hear from the second President Bush today. President Bush had the freedom agenda. He said that the people of the Middle East were crying out for the democratic rights that Americans take for granted.

There was a lot of cynicism by people in Egypt and cynicism by people in the United States, but this is evidence that he was right. When I visited Egypt to cover some of the early political efforts during his year in power, people said if it weren't for President Bush, their own political movements would be crushed. In time their movements were crushed. The Bush administration made a choice and in a sense was less vocal about it than it might be.

But this has been U.S. policy under the Bush administration a little less so under the Obama administration, to encourage the spread of democracy in Egypt. So why should Washington care? This was policy for this country under President Bush. It's policy that's been changed, and we're now seeing a little bit of discomfort as the Obama administration grapples with the repercussions here, because, once again, Egypt matters to Washington.

KAYE: We talk about this ripple effect or the concern of this ripple effect or the Tunisian effect now that we've seen what happened in Tunisia and what's happening now in Egypt. Isha, what would you say would be the next greatest concern? And how concerned should the U.S. be about this spreading?

SESAY: I think that the U.S. should look very closely at Yemen because we have seen protests there in Yemen. Let's talk about the similarities as we talk about this Tunisian effect, this domino effect that many have talked about at great length.

The bottom line is you have a lot of these Arab countries that have these aging rulers who have been in power for decades. They have young population, they have high unemployment.

I mean, according to one statistic I read, in the case of Egypt itself, it may have the highest unemployment among educated classes in the world, so to give you some insight into what's taking place on the ground.

But in places like Yemen, in places like Libya, Algeria, all these countries that are grappling were leaders in power for a long time, people have had enough. And Yemen in particular where we have Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the U.S. should be paying attention to we saw protests there on Friday. People saying Salah he must go. The question is, if you remove these people who have had some kind of uneasy calm for a length of time, what fills the vacuum?

KAYE: This is a fascinating discussion that we'll have to continue.

For the meantime, you know the diplomatic community is watching what's going on in Egypt very closely. CNN's Senior State Department producer Elise Labott is live in Washington with the latest developments on that front.

Elise, what's happening there in Washington and at the State Department?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: Well, Randi, you really see the administration walking this very fine balance between wanting to support the protesters, making sure that their rights are respected, that the government doesn't crack down, but at the same time really sending the message to the Mubarak regime that if you are going to be in power, and that is something Egyptians are going to have to decide, you need to make meaningful reforms.

As we heard from President Obama and many members of the administration that we talked to, that speech was not good enough. President Mubarak did not give any hint that he'll allow more political inclusion, that he's going to provide more jobs, more opportunities. And just a reshuffling of the cabinet, a reshuffling of the deck, you say, isn't going to suffice.

And there's really been a debate in this administration about how far to go on the reform issue. You were just talking about that. And the issue is it was anything but the Bush administration's policy. This administration came in wanting to distance itself from the Bush administration. They did not emphasize the reform issue for that reason.

But in the last few months there's been a debate in the administration about how much to pick up on this. Should we be talking about this? You heard Secretary Clinton talking at a forum in Qatar a few weeks ago saying, listen, Arab leaders, if you do not reform, if you do not answer some the social unrest, the economic unrest that your people are talking about and protesting on the streets and clamoring for change, your regimes are going to sink in the sand.

So there's been a very -- that was a dire prediction, you would say, and there's really been a ramping up, I think, of the administration's policy on pushing reform. I think now they're finally getting it. You will see a more consistent message from the administration.

Let's listen to what Secretary Clinton had to say yesterday about the need for reform in Egypt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: These protests underscore that there are deep grievances within Egyptian society, and the Egyptian government needs to understand that violence will not make these grievances go away.

As President Obama said yesterday, reform is absolutely critical to the well-being of Egypt. Egypt has long been an important partner of the United States on a range of regional issues. As a partner, we strongly believe that the Egyptian government needs to engage immediately with the Egyptian people in implementing needed economic, political, and social reforms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LABOTT: So a various ramping up of the administration's message to President Mubarak. But at the same time, as we've been discussing all morning, we really don't know what comes next.

So the administration is really looking at what's happening in Egypt, looking at other countries like Jordan, like Yemen, as you mentioned, about what happens next. They really don't know. And so they're really saying anything short of suggesting for regime change, but they really would like to see -- I've heard the phrase recently "managed change." They'd like to see Egypt move towards elections, move towards more political inclusion, and the September elections down the line could give space for that.

But if President Mubarak does not institute some of the reform, you heard President Obama and his spokesmen say that there's a lot of U.S. aid on the line here and the U.S. will be reviewing its assistance to Egypt.

KAYE: And Elise, before we let you go, just very quickly, I want you to react to a tweet from the State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley saying the United States remains, quote, "concerned about the potential for violence in Egypt and urges restraint on all sides." Very quickly, your reaction?

LABOTT: I think they're really focusing on the rights right now. The rights, restoring the Internet, you saw a little bit of the phone companies and the Internet being restored, really focusing on the rights right now of the people, making sure that there is not a massive crackdown.

Obviously the speech we heard wasn't enough for the administration, but right now they're really focusing on making sure that the situation doesn't spiral out of control and we see a lot of deaths and arrests, particularly of journalists, Randi.

KAYE: All right, thanks for your insight, we'll check back with you.

History unfolding in Egypt, the government resigns but President Hosni Mubarak isn't going anywhere. And protesters are out in full force again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. It's 15 minute past the hour.

Nick Lewandowski is a writer and editor in Cairo who was interviewed earlier in the week on CNN. He is joining us now. Nick, can you tell us where you are in Cairo, and what you're seeing?

NICK LEWANDOWSKI, WITNESS: Right now I'm actually away from the demonstrations that are downtown. I'm in my apartment in Manira, which is across from basically the Four Seasons hotel and the embassy district where the American and British embassies are.

Right now we're hearing sporadic gunfire coming from what sounds like downtown. It is not clear to us again from this vantage point, whether that gunfire is being fired at people or just in to the air to disperse them.

There was a 4:00 curfew. When 4:00 rolled, though, around there were still large numbers of people downtown on the streets. We heard that people are basically trying to storm the ministry of the interior downtown and the police and military units down there have reacted by shooting rounds, live rounds.

KAYE: I know that you sent us some iReports yesterday. What do you see in terms of a difference in the crowd or the anger or the trust rags, maybe even the level of violence from one day to the next?

LEWANDOWSKI: In terms of what we saw yesterday, I was out on the street all day starting at the al Aqsa mosque and making my way back to the center of town. What we were seeing everywhere on the streets was a battle, a street battle between protesters and police.

And what we saw happen throughout the day was the protesters no longer were afraid to confront the police directly. There were instances where we seeing them picking up tear gas canisters and throwing them back into the police lines. We saw people who were basically unafraid to go toe to toe with the police units.

And then as evening came around, of course t level of violence did seem to ratchet up. We saw Molotov cocktails being thrown near the 15th of May bridge. Police trucks were being burned, there were cars burned out.

At that point really, the people had taken the streets downtown, and there was a gap period downtown where there was a great deal of looting and really no one was in control until the army units were moved in later in the evening.

And this morning things were a lot calmer. Armored personnel carriers at intervals spaced out downtown. Earlier in the day things were comparatively --

KAYE: Are you in the street or where are you?

LEWANDOWSKI: I'm actually in an apartment where I live right now.

KAYE: OK, I was just wondered who we hear there talking next to you.

So we're now about an hour past when this curfew took effect, more than an hour past. Any word on what will happen to the people who remain on the street and ignore this curfew? And obviously they're not concerned about that.

LEWANDOWSKI: Right. Well, the big issue is there is not -- especially for those of us who don't speak Arabic fluently, it is difficult for us to get information at this point because we don't have Internet access. We do not have access other than satellite television to news outlets that are reporting, you know, reliability this information in English.

We heard that there was a curfew. We were coming out and visiting friends who were holed up. And the guys at the hotel were pulling potted plants and boarding the front. Journalists need to get out there, and there was a curfew and a great bit of dispute. There was no announcement of the consequences and how -- if there is a curfew is also probably questionable. KAYE: All right. Nick Lewandowski, we'll leave it there. Thank you for sharing your story with us.

LEWANDOWSKI: You're very welcome. Thank you.

KAYE: The protesters planned the demonstration and rallied the troops, but on Thursday, actually, the government shut it down. We'll tell you where that stands.

In the meantime, we'll take a very quick break. Be sure to stay with us because we have correspondents and cameras all over the region, and we'll bring you everything as it happens.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MANN: Five day of upheaval in Egypt continue. Now reports that president Hosni Mubarak has for the first time in nearly three decades in power name a vice president to serve under him. You recall he fired his government. He now has a new second in command. Early indications are it's a man with a history of involvement in intelligence.

Our Mohammed Jamjoom joins us now. Mohammed, the name is not familiar to most of us, but Omar Suleman, what do we know about him?

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Pardon me. Jonathan, in effect we were just going to talk to you about social media and what we're seeing right now out of Egypt. Let me just show you some of the tweets that are coming out even though the Internet has effectively been shut down across Egypt since yesterday, we actually have an iReport video that came out from the hotel walking through the streets. You can see demonstrators. Look like to be of all ages. Could be thousands walking through going there through Tahrir Square in Cairo.

This is someone tweeting out of Cairo, "I am hearing the biggest crowd ever is going in Tahrir Square." P.J. Crowley, the State Department spokesman, "With protesters still on the streets of Egypt, we remain concerned about the potential for violence and again urge restraint on all sides."

Also we can look at some photos. This is the party headquarters still smoldering. Here is the trends map from twitter to show how popular the term and the hash-tag Egypt is across the world. This is a headline map, what's popular on CNN.com, what's being e-mailed a lot on CNN.com, "Protesters head toward the heart of Cairo. Mixed reaction in the Middle East. Who is holding the cards in Egypt? Egyptian president dissolves government."

There is still an Internet block, nonetheless people are trying to get the message out. Protesters are trying even through their mobile phones on how to be out on the streets and protest today.

MANN: As we watch all this unfold, one thing that you're struck by is the cooperation that the Egyptian government has received from cell phone companies, from Internet providers. Are you surprised by that? Or is that the way they would normally behave in a time of crisis?

JAMJOOM: What's been interesting is that what happened was unprecedented in Internet history. What happened yesterday is at a certain time effectively everything was cut off.

We've heard that there might be one Internet service provider that was still kept open and that maybe some of the banks in Egypt are still able to do banking online. Nonetheless, completely shut down. And it is a government shutdown. And that has really added fuel to the fire in Egypt because people who were not maybe using social media, people wanting to use their mobile phones and wanted to get online have not been able to. So it really caused a lot more anger toward the government than the government anticipated.

MANN: What is quite extraordinary -- and this is amazing when you think about it, they've gone through great efforts to shut down social media. They've sent crews to attack one of our journalists. One of our camera crews their camera was taken and destroyed.

But state-run media has continued to broadcast these extraordinary pictures. So it seems they don't want the independent media to report what's going on. They don't want ordinary people spreading the word, but within Hosni Mubarak's own apparatus, someone is putting these pictures on television anyway.

JAMJOOM: John, that's a very good point. Yesterday quite extraordinary what we were seeing on Nile TV, state-run Egyptian television, before the curfew was imposed, you were seeing opposition speaking, you were seeing the protests, you were seeing clashes, then after the curfew was imposed it went to more generic pictures. You were seeing a more placid view. You weren't seeing the worst of it.

Today if you look side by side of pictures of what's on Nile TV, state-run television and the other nets that are there, including CNN, it's a much different picture. That holds true to a lot of state-run television networks in the Middle East, when there's violence going on, you aren't seeing the worth of it. Side by side, Egyptian Nile television compared to the other networks, you see a real stark difference.

MANN: The government of China has an extraordinary apparatus to monitor the Internet and some other countries as well. People can be -- well, they can be in jeopardy just for tweeting. How much do we know how closely Egypt watches its Internet, its tweets, its people online?

JAMJOOM: We know from detentions of bloggers in the past before any of this and harassment of bloggers in the past in Egypt that there has been a crackdown, especially when it comes to online activism. Egypt has been accused by human rights groups of really cracking down on people that have been involved in activism online. They've been accused of beating to death even bloggers.

In fact one of the icons of this movement is somebody is very much heavily involved in online activism, and he was allegedly beaten to death by security forces last year. That caused a huge amount of rage amongst the Egyptian people in the past several months, and his picture is one of the pictures that's really being sent around by a lot of people behind this movement to try to compel people to get out into the streets.

So, yes, Egypt is authoritarian when it comes to these types of things. They have in the past gone after people who they think are trying to use online activism to be dissenters, to go after the government.

As of now, we're not hearing reports, mainly because of the online shutdown, because there is no Internet. If people have been tweeting or managed to get around the blockage, we'll probably hear more about that in day to come.

MANN: Mohammed Jamjoom reporting for us. Egypt is maintaining control of the web. Five days of upheaval in Hosni Mubarak's Egypt. The Egyptian president is holding on, but he's fired his cabinet and now appointed a new vice president for first time in three decades. CNN's extensive coverage of the events in Egypt will continue after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Let's get you up to date here on CNN. Thank you to our international viewers who are joining us as well.

You are looking at pictures there of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. This is new video coming in to us at CNN, new video of Hosni Mubarak along with the vice president that he has just appointed. Omar Suleiman is his name. And apparently, according to U.S. diplomatic cables, he's been mentioned several times as a possible transitional leader, even should Mubarak go.

MANN: Just a hint of what the president has in mind. Suleiman is the director of Egyptian intelligence. Even some time ago one media account called him the fixer in the shadows, a man who has taken on some of the president's worst enemies, the Islamists, the terrorists who threatened Egypt and threatened massive upheaval in that country. That problem went away. Suleiman is the man apparently who did it.

SESAY: I was just going to jump in there and add that the question we all have to ask ourselves is whether this move by Mubarak will be enough to quell these protests, if this kind of reform for the masses on the streets remains to be seen.

KAYE: The death toll now rising from the anti-government demonstrations that we've been watching for days, right now we know at least 38 people have died in clashes between protesters and police. Ten of the dead are police officers.

The protesters want new leaders. And today there is a move toward that. A short time ago the cabinet handed in their resignations. But the main target of the protesters' anger isn't going anywhere. President Hosni Mubarak has been defiant to this point. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUBARAK: I take responsibility for the security of this country and the citizens. I will not let this happen. I will not let fear live in the citizens or to let this tell us what's going to happen in the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And we are seeing an increased military presence in major cities, especially in Cairo. Tanks and soldiers have taken up positions among the demonstrators. We've seen the interior ministry. Many folks gather there, tens of thousands of people gather there, gunfire reported. Our witnesses there, eyewitnesses who have joined us by phone telling us that two people were shot.

Now, though, more and more tanks are moving in to place. A curfew went into effect more than an hour ago, just about an hour and a half ago, but protesters have pretty much ignored that. In fact they're getting more emboldened by all of this.

People around the world are watching these historic protests, especially in Washington where President Obama talked about the importance of real change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: What's needed right now are concrete steps that advance the rights of the Egyptian people, a meaningful dialogue between the government and its citizens, and a path of political change that leads to a future of greater freedom and greater opportunity and justice for the Egyptian people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: As we watch the events in Egypt, the whole world is closely watching what is unfolding there, it's important to get reaction from the region.

With that, let's go to Jerusalem and bring in CNN's Jerusalem Bureau Chief Kevin Flower who is standing by for us. Kevin, just getting word that Hosni Mubarak has appointed a vice president, the first time he's done that since being in power. Israel very closely watching what is going on there across the border.

Any comments from Israeli officials at this point?

KEVIN FLOWER, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Isha, nothing. We know that Israeli officials, they've told us that they're watching events very closely. But that is all they're saying.

And Israeli officials, analysts and government officials assessing the first couple days of the protests in Cairo and the other parts of Egypt were saying that they thought that the government of Hosni Mubarak would be able to withstand this social upheaval. Some are probably reconsidering that assessment or having doubts about that assessment as they see events unfold over the past 24 hours or so.

And, of course, the Egypt-Israel relationship has been a hugely important one for Israel. It's 30 years old, a 30-year peace treaty that's been in effect. Hosni Mubarak has been there for 28 years. He is a known quantity to the Israeli government. He has been around for eight Israeli prime ministers, again, a known quantity.

So the notion of Hosni Mubarak going away or his government radically changing that is unsettling to a lot of Israeli officials here because they don't know what's going to come in its place. And so some fear and apprehension about what this could bring, but nothing being expressed openly right now.

SESAY: I've got to ask you, are we getting anything from the Palestinian territories, anything coming out from the government of Mahmoud Abbas?

FLOWER: Well, it's interesting. At this point it's equal silence from the Palestinian side. What we do know today from the Palestinian official news agency is that the Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas actually called Hosni Mubarak this morning to affirm his, quote, "solidarity with Egypt and to express his commitment to its stability and its security." That's as much as we've heard from the Palestinian authority and nothing from the Hamas rulers in the Gaza Strip either.

So they, just like the Israelis, are watching these events unfold. They don't know what it means. They have different, you know, different stakes in this fire. The Palestinian authority has been very close to Egypt. Egypt has been an ally enshrined to promote the Palestinian authority's sort of stance on talking to Israel in the past. In Gaza, the Hamas rulers have had a more antagonistic relationship with Egypt. It will be interesting to see what they have to say in the days going forward.

SESAY: Kevin, let me ask you this. We were just telling our viewers that Hosni Mubarak has appointed Omar Suleiman as his vice president. We want to know what kind of relationship he has with Israeli officials. Do we know anything about that?

FLOWER: Well, Omar Suleiman is a known quantity to this Israeli government and past Israeli governments. He's a man who has been in charge of the security apparatus in Egypt for many years, and in that capacity he has had dozens of conversations about dozens of topics with Israeli officials over the years about the role of Hamas, about the role of Hezbollah, you know, issues like the Israeli prisoner Gilad Shali, various negotiations between Hamas and the Palestinian authority. This man has been involved in all of them. And he's also been talking to Israel during that time as well.

So it's a significant -- I think the Israeli government would be happy to see that he has been moved into this vice presidential position, but again, the events are still moving so quickly, I don't think they can take any solace in it just yet.

SESAY: Israeli officials not speaking out on this, but I wonder how this is playing with the ordinary Israeli public. Is this generating as much interest and concern among them as it is in other part of the world?

FLOWER: Well, absolutely. It's been a top story here. And Israel's frequently a place that the media is often consumed with domestic political stories, you know, things that involve the Palestinians. There have been a lot of attention paid to the Palestinian papers that came out this past week.

But the past two days, this has been the number one story here. This is a hugely important development and a lot of Israelis are wondering -- just normal Israelis as well as government officials -- what is this going to mean for Israel going forward? Are we going to have a continued ally in Egypt in the future or is that relationship going to change fundamentally?

And of course, Israel always feeling somewhat isolated in this region, surrounded by some countries that are hostile to it. It's fought wars many of its neighbors. It does not want to see the relationship with Egypt deteriorate in the future.

SESAY: CNN Jerusalem bureau chief Kevin Flower providing us with excellent analysis and perspective. Kevin, we thank you.

We are going to closely follow the events as they unfold in Egypt. Our special coverage of this crisis will continue after a very short break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back.

You're looking there at a picture of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, new video in to CNN. We want to show you it one more time, Hosni Mubarak along with the new vice president who is expected to be sworn in shortly, which we will, of course, bring that to you live.

His name is Omar Suleiman, and he's really one of the world's most powerful spy chiefs, apparently. All of the most delicate issues for the Middle East land on his desk.

We want the talk about him and much more about the impact of these demonstrations on the global scene. Marco Vicenzino is the founder and director of Global Strategy Project. He joins us now from Washington.

Marco, first, let's get your reaction to the appointment of this new vice president.

MARCO VICENZINO, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, GLOBAL STRATEGY PROJECT: It doesn't surprise me. Arguably Omar Suleiman is the most powerful man in Egypt, arguably. He's been by the side of the president for nearly 20 years now. And the way he did so, he was a member of the security apparatus, but in the early '90s, Hosni Mubarak visited Ethiopia. Omar Suleiman insisted that the president take certain precautions. And the precautions he took saved his life. From that point onwards Omar Suleiman became the right hand man of Hosni Mubarak and behind the scenes he's extremely well respected in the region, with other intelligence chiefs and has a lot of respect in Washington and is listened to in Washington. When he arrives here, it is not often announced in the media that he's coming. He's someone is behind the scenes.

This is an individual who defeated what one can arguably consider the precursor to Al Qaeda. In the '90s, before 9/11, people tend to forget in Washington that Egypt was fighting an internal struggle with hardcore Islamists radicals. The number two in Al Qaeda Ayman al Zawahiri had to flee Egypt and join bin Laden in Afghanistan because he was defeated by Omar Suleiman.

Then what took place in Afghanistan, the fusion between Al Qaeda, the group of bin Laden and al Zawahiri's group merged together. So someone with a very impressive track record in the security field.

KAYE: I would imagine that Hosni Mubarak trusts very few and he would certainly be in his inner circle. But he's also been described to us as a "thug" -- I'm using that word, that's a direct quote, a thug straight out of central casting. What can we expect his role to be here?

VICENZINO: Maintain order. And when you say he's a thug, to defeat a movement, an Islamist movement that was a powerful movement in Egypt, you can't be an ordinary, nice person. In situations like that in that part of the world being a thug helps, and you need the respect of people, of people within your apparatus.

Omar Suleiman I think after the scenes of yesterday, the violence, 38 dead from what we understand, the main thing is preserving order and stability, order in the streets. And the person who can do that is, obviously, Omar Suleiman.

He'll be having a more public role now, obviously. Operating behind the scenes for 20 years requires you to do so much, but now that you're a public face and you'll be out in the open, it's a different challenge, a different test now.

KAYE: Might we read anything into this appointment, do you think?

VICENZINO: Possible transition --

KAYE: That's what I was going to say, do you think that could be happening here?

VICENZINO: A possible transitional leader. In my opinion, a piece that I wrote on the CNN website, what I called for was Mr. Mubarak to renounce that he's going to be running in the presidential elections of 2011 to offer himself and his circle a graceful exit from politics where you have an evolution over the next few months as opposed to a revolution, sort of like we saw in Tunisia.

So I think this is a good step in the positive direction if this is going to begin a transformation. And if that does take place, that's in the best interests for internal Egyptian stability, for regional stability and for international order and for American interests around the world.

KAYE: Why do you think he would be so good at bringing regional stability?

VICENZINO: Obviously he has good relationships ranging from the Palestinian leadership, governments throughout the region. And, once again, he's someone -- you're talking about a part of the world where strong individuals are often respected more than in other part, perhaps.

So to have that sense of stability, his track record in the '90s of maintaining order and saving -- in my opinion saving Egypt from radicals gives Mubarak -- gives Mubarak more breathing time.

Now, do I think we're at the point of no return where the violence is going to take off and go sort of as it went in Tunisia? I don't think so. I don't think we've reached that point of no return yet. But one needs to go beyond not only just appointing Omar Suleiman but lifting the 30-year state of emergency. That has to be lifted.

A transformation, a political opening where parties can organize themes in preparation for the 2011 presidential elections, that's just one step on a long road.

KAYE: Wonderful insight. Marco Vicenzino, Thank you so much.

VICENZINO: Thank you

MANN: Our extensive coverage continues. Is there a WikiLeaks angle in any of this? Atika Shubert is live from London right after the break.

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SESAY: Welcome back, everyone.

We are closely following events in Egypt as they unfold. Let's go back live to Cairo right now were Amr Khalid is a well-known televangelist in the world. We appreciate your time on this day. I want the start by getting your thoughts on what we've been witnessing there in Egypt and what it means for Hosni Mubarak.

AMR KHALILD, TELEVANGELIST: Let me tell you first that the Egyptian youth ten years ago nobody listened to them, no jobs for them. They have no hope. They have no dream in their life. So what happened this week, they have a lot of problems. No one respected them.

In '06 I asked the youth in the Middle East and in Egypt, please send me your dreams for your country for 20 years from now. Can you imagine, I got 700,000 dreams. I asked them, what are the priorities? They said, we need jobs, we need to work. They want to work. They want somebody to respect them. This is the problem. This is the situation.

But, at the same time I disagree about what some people going to do, this is not acceptable to do in our country. So from CNN, I'm giving you that I have an initiative. We'll start tomorrow, 50,000 of lawmakers, my organization in Egypt will go to keep and to protect all the banks, the hotels and museums in Egypt, to be with one image, we will go --

SESAY: Amr Khalid, let me jump in there. You say you're going to do your bit if you can to bring about peace on the streets. President Hosni Mubarak a short time ago introducing a vice president, Omar Suleiman. What effect will this have on these protests? Will it go anyways towards calming them down?

KHALILD: Actually, I'm not quite sure. I can't tell you now. We are in a very bad situation. And I can tell you as you see from all these people.

But what I'm going to tell you that if we didn't look for the future of our youth, their dreams, and we have to respect their dreams. The problem is not only in Egypt. It's in all the Middle East it will be worse.

I went to Yemen to establish a project to stop their extremists in Yemen. But the local Yemeni youth told me, where are the jobs? We need to work. This is what I'm saying and what I'm trying to do in my projects. Again, we have an initiative and with the army in Egypt to say, with Amr Khalid tomorrow will be to protect our museums, banks, to keep our country.

KHALILD: Amr Khalid, we have to leave it there. We want to thank you for joining us. Amr Khalid saying he'll play his part to protect Egypt's important institutions and buildings. We'll try to do a little bit of digging to find out what that really means when it does come to pass, if it does come to path.

Hosni Mubarak, the president has just appointed a new vice president. We're standing by for that swearing-in ceremony. Stay with CNN. We're going to be right back after this.

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MANN: Welcome back.

We're covering the unfolding events in Egypt, the upheaval there from every angle. Here's an intriguing one, WikiLeaks. The purloined State Department documents have revealed a lot about the world's leaders and there's an Egyptian angle to it, too. Atika Shubert joins us now from London. What did you see?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As you know, there's a quarter of a million diplomatic cables that WikiLeaks is sitting on. As you can imagine there are dozens of Egyptian cables in there. They really reveal the sort of complicated and contradictory relationship the United States has with Egypt. I want to bring up something I just found here which is a cable dating from 2007 that talks about presidential succession in Egypt. It mentions Omar Suleiman, who is now, of course, just been appointed vice president. It describes him as Mubarak's consigliore, saying that it's only been in the last few years that he stepped out of the shadows as the director of intelligence, has allowed himself to be photographed in meetings with foreign leaders.

And that because of his military background, that analysts believe that he would at least have to figure in any sort of succession scenario. The cable also points out that he is known to be extremely loyal to Mubarak. The exact description is "his loyalty to Mubarak seems rock solid."

And they also point out that he could be attractive not only to the ruling apparatus but to the public at large as a reliable figure, because, quote, "He is unlikely to harbor ambitions for another multi- decade presidency." So that basically sums up what U.S. diplomats, at least in 2007, what they were thinking of Omar Suleiman at the time.

MANN: I don't want to make too much of this, but consigliore is not a word that we use very often. I don't speak Italian. The only way I know that word is from the "Godfather" movies. Are they making a reference to mobsters by choosing that kind of title?

SHUBERT: Well, we'd have to ask U.S. diplomats to find out. But it certainly suggests his role as an adviser, giving advice to somebody who perhaps sees himself as something like a godfather to a nation, who sees himself as somebody who is basically holding the forces of chaos at bay and who really is trying to rule the country in the way that he sees as just and fair, even if apparently the public does not.

MANN: Atika Shubert live in London, thanks very much.

And so President Hosni Mubarak is under pressure from his own people there, demonstrators in the streets of his capital. He has fired his cabinet but he's now hired a vice president for first time in 30 years in power, a trusted figure within the regime, a man with a background in solving the president's problems.

We'll be back with more right after this.

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