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Mubarak Appoints Vice President, New Prime Minister; 38 Reported Dead in Protests Including 10 Security Forces; Worldwide Demonstrations Showing Support for the Egyptian People Springing Up; Social Media Galvanizing Force in Protests; Saudi Arabia Comes Out in Support of Mubarak

Aired January 29, 2011 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Randi Kaye at CNN World Headquarters. Welcome to our international viewers and Jonathan Mann joining us this hour.

JONATHAN MANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Randi amazing images coming out of Egypt. And amazing developments we've heard about a new vice president. And now the latest reports we have just moments ago, a new prime minister.

In the meantime, darkness is falling. And demonstrators are still in the streets demanding historic change. They seem to be coming in waves, ignoring the government-ordered curfew. The military and police, we should make clear, they are also out in full force. And we have been hearing gunfire near a key government building.

KAYE: Earlier in the day, state-run TV reported Egypt's government officially resigned. President Mubarak said he's putting together a new cabinet now. But protesters want him out as well, they want him to go. At least 38 people are reported dead now including 10 security forces.

MANN: We're also seeing demonstrations in support of Egypt's protesters in cities around the globe. People are -- are -- seeing this -- some people and being moved by what they see from Beirut to London, Montreal and Washington.

KAYE: Events are changing fast and CNN has it all covered for. You we have correspondents on the ground in Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt. We're also monitoring places like Jerusalem and Washington. We have the whole region covered with our correspondents and our cameras.

So stay with us all day as we watch and analyze all of this as it happens.

MANN: Now, let's get to the capital Cairo and CNN's Frederik Pleitgen.

KAYE: Fred, we are being told that a new vice president has been appointed and also a new prime minister. Before we get to the new prime minister, what can you tell us about Omar Suleiman and how he's viewed there in Egypt, this new vice president that we're expecting will be sworn in here shortly.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we -- we know very little about this man. But we do know that he's apparently a very trusted person by Hosni Mubarak. So certainly this is probably something that's not going to make very many people here on the ground very happy.

This is not something that looks like fundamental change. This is someone who has served the president very well. He's from the intelligence community here in Egypt. So certainly someone who is very much trusted and very much part of the old guard here in Egypt.

Let me tell you what's going on, on the streets as we still have a lot of protesters out here. As you said, they've been ignoring the curfew by and large, so they're still out here in force. Right now in front of our building it's not as many as it was during the daylight hours. Night is sort of falling here right now.

We are, however, hearing of widespread looting, especially on the outskirts of Egypt. We're getting a lot of calls here to our bureau -- bureau by people who are very, very worried telling us that there are gangs out on the streets who are looting property. There's people out there who are banding together to try to stop those gangs.

But all in all, people here are very afraid for the property and very afraid in fact for their safety because one of the things that we've been talking about that's basically happened is that the police have vanished off the streets of Cairo, by and large.

And right now there doesn't seem to be much in the way of public order except, of course, for places at our office building where you have the military out in force. But of course they can't be everywhere. And therefore right now it is still a very volatile and very much a -- a situation that's in flux, if you will.

KAYE: And -- and Fred, I -- I'm not sure how far you are from the interior ministry, but we -- we were speaking with Ian Lee there earlier and he was reporting gunfire to us, several people shot. And quite a scene there as protesters, he said, were storming the interior ministry and -- and getting into quite a scuffle with police as police were opening fire on them.

Do you have any updates on that situation?

PLEITGEN: That's also one of those situations. It's very, very difficult to get any verifiable information on that situation. What we're hearing from people there who are close to that area is that there is a large protest at the interior ministry, that there is apparently violence at the interior ministry.

It appears as though, there's interior ministry possibly police personnel inside that building, guarding the building and sort of shielding the building trying to get people to -- or trying to stop people from getting in that building. I'm hearing from people that there are snipers on the roof of that building who are shooting at people. This is stuff that we haven't been able to verify independently. But it certainly is from people who we trust very much who are giving us this information.

So certainly the interior ministry seems to be one of those flashpoints. And I can tell you that the interior minister of this country or now the former interior minister was -- of course one of the most despised people here in the country simply because the police force here -- here in Egypt is -- is so very hated by so many people because so many people had witnessed and have been subject to police brutality that this ministry is certainly one of the flashpoints here in the city and -- and indeed here in this country.

MANN: Now Fredrick, obviously, this is far from over, but already there has been an enormous human cost. We've seen reports of hundreds of people in hospital, dozens dead. What can you tell us about those who have been hurt, those who have been killed and those who have been taken under arrest?

PLEITGEN: Well, we do know that there's some sort of makeshift center being set up in some places to treat people who have been injured and people are trying to get treatment. Other people are telling us that after they were arrested by police, that they were beaten by police officers, something people held for two days or so.

So certainly, you're absolutely right, there has been a very high toll not just of course in deaths but also in people who are injured and wounded in the fighting in recent days.

(AUDIO GAP) that there were a lot of people who seem to be wounded. Some of them lightly, some of them more heavily in part by tear gas and in part because they were hit by tear gas canisters, in part because they got shot -- they got hit in the head.

So certainly this is something where a lot of people have gotten hurt so far. So you're absolutely right. This has already taken a very, very large toll (ph) not just here to Cairo but of course, also in other places across the country -- Jonathan.

MANN: Frederik Pleitgen reporting to us live.

And we want to bring you the latest developments now. Amid Shafiq we know has been appointed to form the new Egyptian government. Egyptian state TV, NOW TV said Shafiq has been serving as civil aviation minister.

And so after the president dramatically fired his government and appointed a new vice president for the first time in his regime choosing what sounds like a technocrat to form the next government. Civil aviation is not traditionally one of the key posts where you've made a lot of powerful enemies in a government like that.

KAYE: So what do you make of this, when you have now -- he's -- he's now appointed a -- a prime minister and a vice president. Should we read into this? MANN: It sounds like he's not going away any time soon. It's hard to tell. All of this is mystifying people around the world. And I -- I'm -- I'm no visionary, but the extraordinary thing is Hosni Mubarak had a chance to leave easily and quickly. He's clearly not doing that.

He seems to be doing what he told his people he would, assembling a government and remember in that -- in that speech he gave to the -- to the Egyptian people, he said, "That he was responsible for the stability of his country". What we now know is that the vice president, the first vice president in 30 years of the Mubarak regime is a figure who has been responsible for suppressing this dissent and suppressing violence and suppressing opposition.

KAYE: And part of Mubarak's inner circle. The man who trust very few has now brought even closer.

MANN: Absolutely.

KAYE: Well, we will continue to follow this. We'll take a quick break. Stay with us.

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KAYE: Welcome back, 12 minutes past the hour.

More rage in the streets of Egypt. Anti-government protesters are there. You're looking at some video of some of the protesters who are still out in the streets in full force today. Anti-government demonstrations are in their fifth day.

This hour, protesters are defying a curfew. The state-run Nile TV reports at least 38 deaths in those protests. A doctor in Cairo is reporting that at least five people have died from gunshot wounds near the Egyptian interior ministry. We've spoken with several eyewitnesses in that area, one who had seen two people actually shot by police there. One grazed in the head and a very graphic description of a man spitting out blood.

Earlier state TV reported President Hosni Mubarak's cabinet resigned. That move hours after the Egyptian leader promised reforms in an address to the nation.

Reports from Saudi Arabia say that King Abdullah called Mr. Mubarak to say he stands with the embattled Egyptian president. We should also mention that -- that Hosni Mubarak has also appointed a vice president, Omar Suleiman, who has been described to us as a -- as a bit of a thug but well-respected in that region.

A fixer, if you will, one of the world's most powerful spy chiefs. And he has also appointed a new prime minister. So two new cabinet members. The prime minister being -- who is once served as civil aviation minister according to Egyptian state TV and Nile TV.

MANN: Intriguing appointments. He's appointed his spy chief to help him and he's also taken someone from the ranks of the air force because Ahmed Shafiq spent decades as a courier air force man. That is of course, Hosni Mubarak's own background.

So he's not reaching out to new people, as best we can tell. But Jonathan Alterman has followed all of this. And the events in Egypt closely, he joins us now to talk about what's ahead.

What do you make of these appointments?

JON ALTERMAN, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Well, you know, Omar Suleiman, in many ways is Hosni Mubarak's comfort zone. The way he got close to Hosni Mubarak is in the 1995 assassination attempt in Addis Ababa. He protected the president. He's been close to the president since 1995. He's the guy who makes everything that the president needs to have work, work.

So he's very important with security relationship with the United States. He's very important in Egypt's relations with Hamas and with Israel. He runs a lot of the domestic intelligence and security services.

He's the person Hosni Mubarak is most comfortable with. He has no question -- Hosni Mubarak has no question Omar Suleiman is not going to try to push him out. He's going to defend Hosni Mubarak.

MANN: And he already has because we can describe him as a trusted confidante, as a problem-solver, as a fixer. This is not a man with a gentle past. This is a man who put down the Islamists who are threatening this regime and that was a fairly bloody bit of work.

ALTERMAN: Not only that but he's also a person, he doesn't like the spotlight. He doesn't want to be in the press. It's actually hard to find a picture of Omar Suleiman. I met him once in a sort of strange situation.

But he is not somebody who wants to be the president of Egypt. He's somebody who wants to protect the president of Egypt. He wants to protect the military government in Egypt. And that's the kind of person Hosni Mubarak wants at his side at this time of tremendous uncertainty.

KAYE: As we watch the uncertainty continue and the protests continue on the streets, Jonathan, what will these new appointments mean to ordinary Egyptians who are there fighting for their rights, fighting for jobs, fighting for economic security?

ALTERMAN: Yes, I think what this suggests is the president is trying to signal resolve. That he's not going to make what he sees as the mistake that Ben Ali made in Tunisia that you try to concede and actually a day after Ben Ali tried to give conciliatory speech he was on a plane out of the country.

I do think though that this has to be understood as the beginning of the final act of Hosni Mubarak's presidency. There are presidential elections slated for next fall. I cannot imagine that Hosni Mubarak will run in those elections.

I think what we're looking at is some transition. And the issue here is really is Egypt's political future going to be a continuation of the military establishment essentially running the country in a civilian guise or is that all in doubt and then nobody has any idea what would be there?

And as I read the quotations in all the newspaper articles that I read in the last several days, I don't really sense that Egyptians are clamoring for democracy in elections. I sense what they're clamoring for is better results. The bet that Hosni Mubarak is making, that Omar Suleiman are going to be making is that if the military closes ranks and supports the president and talks about working that transition, that they can have a guided transition away from Hosni Mubarak instead of a chaotic one.

KAYE: And of course, a lot of people are still wondering how all of this, as it unfolds, whether it gets better or worse, is going to affect the global markets. What's your take on that?

ALTERMAN: Well, it's very early to tell partly because I think the most important decisions are going to be the decisions made over the next nine to 12 months about what is the future government of Egypt going to look like, who is going to be in and who is going to be out and how is Egypt going to relate to others in the region? Is it still going to be as strong an ally as it has been to the United States for the last 30 years.

I sense there's going to be some jitteriness now and certainly if Hosni Mubarak goes down in flames -- and I think that's probably not especially likely, but it's possible, then that would create a huge sense of uncertainty throughout the Middle East. It would also create uncertainty in Israel. And then Israel would be much more likely to take unpredictable unilateral action which would create greater instability in the Middle East.

KAYE: All right. Jonathan Alterman for us. Thank you so much for your insight.

ALTERMAN: Thank you, Randi.

MANN: Hosni Mubarak says he's staying, and now he has help. Two new figures emerge from the chaos in Cairo.

We'll be back with more right after this.

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MANN: Well, tens of thousands of Egyptians want Hosni Mubarak to leave the presidency, but at least two men have signed on to help him stay.

KAYE: They want to be a part of it.

MANN: We have word that Ahmed Shafiq has been appointed as the new prime minister of Egypt and Omar Suleiman has been appointed vice president for the first time in three decades of Mubarak's rule.

KAYE: Two men with some interesting history there as well. MANN: Interesting history and contacts around the world which brings us now to Elise Labott in Washington for more on State Department reaction. Suleiman, in particular is well-known to diplomats around the world, well-known to America.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN SENIOR U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: That's right, Jon; really well-known to the U.S.; really one of the main interlocutors between the U.S. State Department, intelligence agencies and the White House. We just spoke to State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley who told CNN that he's someone we know well and have worked closely with. Our focus is putting concrete reactions behind Mubarak. Words, we believe Egypt needs a meaningful process that leads to genuine reform.

And I spoke to another official just a short time ago that said, we like him very much, but it's not about personalities. It's about policies. The U.S. really wants to see over the next couple of days, they're not expecting instantaneous results, but they want to see President Mubarak really reach out and make a meaningful set of reforms that he can demonstrate to his people that he hears them, what's going on in the streets.

MANN: Elise, can I ask you a basic undiplomatic question? Does the Obama administration want to see Hosni Mubarak hang on? Do they want to see him remain as president of Egypt?

LABOTT: Well, I keep hearing this phrase, managed change. And I think Jon Alterman had it about right. They want to see a process -- political process where people are brought in, a national dialogue, if you will, going beyond the elites, talking about job creation, talking about how to alleviate some of the social and economic frustrations in the country.

I think they'd like to see him go, but at some point, because obviously they've been working closely with him, but he's frustrated them on a lot of issues including human rights, but they don't know who is going to come next. And so they want to see a process where maybe lift a state of emergency, there are elections in September.

If you can see a process where a genuine opposition with a face, with a name, specific candidates maybe could run in the September election. I think they'd like to see Mubarak gradually phase out. But right now they don't know who comes next, that's a very scary proposition for the United States.

So I keep hearing that phrase, managed change. Not right now, I don't think they want to see him go, but ultimately they would like to see a more democratic face in Egypt.

MANN: Elise Labott in Washington. Thanks you very much.

LABOTT: Sure.

MANN: Randi?

KAYE: This uprising in Egypt is not a surprise to our next guest. Aladdin Elaasar is the author of "The Last Pharaoh: Mubarak and the uncertain future of Egypt in the Obama age."

Aladdin also ran against President Mubarak in the 2005 election.

MANN: He joins us now live from Chicago. Aladdin, you not only predicted a revolt against Mubarak but you also believe his regime will fall. Is this what's going to do it? Are we watching this happen now?

ALADDIN ELAASAR, AUTHOR, "THE LAST PHARAOH": Well, I was not surprised to see that all happen and unfold. I was not surprised either to see Omar Suleiman to be appointed as the vice president because I talked about that in my book and I have predicted that. I predicted several scenarios that could unfold.

This is all too similar. And the thing that is not about Omar Suleiman as a fixer, as a consigliore (ph), but it's about what the Egyptian people want. The people on the street, they simply want Mr. Mubarak out, his regime, his party, people, his family, all of these symbols.

So what's happening --

MANN: Let me jump in. Is that what they're going to get?

(CROSSTALK)

MANN: Is that what they're going to get? All hope aside, let me ask you this. Just look at what's going to unfold in the next several days and tell us what you expect.

ELAASAR: Well, I do not think that these demonstrations will go away very soon because they have very specific demands. And these are very young people, about 60 percent of the Egyptian population who are educated, a lot of them unemployed. They cannot get married, there's a housing crisis. They live with their families. So they have a lot of anger and frustration and hopelessness.

So they have specific demands. And they said it loud and clear that they want President Mubarak out. I would not be surprised either to see that all of that will not happen and will not succeed to appease the Egyptian people and Mr. Mubarak would be stepping down because already some members of his family headed for London since the last few days, even some of the heads of the regime. They know that their days are numbered.

We're seeing the same that's been happening in Tunisia. And we are failing again, once again, to read the writing on the wall. We failed to learn the lessons of Iran 30 years ago or Marcos in the Philippines, Suharto in Indonesia that military dictators -- dictators will inevitably fall.

And we have to talk to the people. We haven't been talking to the Egyptian people. They need to see strong messages from us.

MANN: We're doing our best to talk to them now. And they're certainly being heard. Aladdin Elaasar. Thank you very much. And just a quick point to make, Randi, before we go. He talked about a report that we've been seeing that some of the figures close to Mubarak personally, some members of his family -- we've been seeing all kinds of rumors -- have started turning up in other places.

KAYE: Other countries.

MANN: We're trying very hard to find out if that's true.

We do not know that that's the case. You may be seeing these kinds of rumors on the Internet. People being spotted in airports and other countries; we're trying very hard because those would be important signals if they were accurate. We simply do not know.

KAYE: We also don't know where Hosni Mubarak is, not only his family but also where he is. We'll continue to stay on top of that and everything else.

We are watching our correspondents. We have cameras all over the region and we'll be right back.

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MANN: Welcome back. Let's update you now on the latest out of Egypt, a country very much in crisis as protests continue there for a fifth consecutive day.

There is also a major government change to tell you about. Egyptian state television reporting that Omar Suleiman, the head of Egypt's Intelligence Service, has been appointed vice president, and a minister from the recently dismissed cabinet, Ahmed Shafiq, has been appointed to form a new government as prime minister. That word coming as well from state TV.

KAYE: And we have correspondents, as we've mentioned, all over the region, all over Egypt.

Nic Robertson is in Alexandria, Egypt, for us.

Nic, we've heard so many reports of violence this morning, and shooting as well. What is the situation in Alexandria?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's still a fluid situation. It's been a relatively peaceful situation through the day.

There are army on the streets. Thousands of people have been protesting.

Behind me, you're looking along the Cornish area, the road that runs along by the side of the Mediterranean. Just a few minutes ago, a couple of army personnel carriers, armored personnel carriers, raced along there, heading away somewhere else. We couldn't tell where.

They've been posted around the city, keeping security on some of the government institution buildings here in the city. Fifteen minutes ago we heard gunshots being fired off in this direction over here. We haven't heard any more gunshots since then.

Today, however, the tone has been a very solid tone of get rid of President Mubarak. But the tone has also been a relatively peaceful one.

But the crowds are still out. And about a half an hour ago, I just looked over the balcony here and there was some shouting going on. And I could see the crowds dragging away a man from the street.

And they had their arm around his neck, in a neck lock. It wasn't clear where this mob was taking him away to but, clearly, whatever he'd been doing, they were certainly very angry with -- Randi.

KAYE: And from what you've seen in terms of the anger on the street, as we get word of a new prime minister and a new vice president, how do you think that will be received among the protesters on the street? Will that be enough?

ROBERTSON: Among the protesters we've been talking to, the vast majority are going to reject these picks, because they see them as part of the system, as part of the apparatus of President Mubarak's regime. And for that reason, they will probably say that they don't want them, they reject this idea, they want a fresh start.

However, there are quieter voices on the sides -- on the margins of the demonstrations here. And they've been saying, look, President Mubarak said out with the old government, I'll bring in a new one. And people were saying, look, we're very worried about what's going to happen. We don't want a return to violence here, we're worried about where all these street protests will lead us to, perhaps it's better to let this new government be formed and see how that is.

But the people saying that, I do have to say, seem to be in the minority. The majority are looking for a clean sweep of the leadership -- on the streets here, if you will.

These politicians have been part of President Mubarak's regime. Who is going to explain to these angry people that these new leaders who are part of the old system are going to be better for them? And it's not clear at the moment how that's going to happen. So I think we can expect to hear challenges even to these early picks.

KAYE: All right. Nic Robertson for us in Alexandria, one of the many correspondents that we have in that area covering this crisis for us as it unfolds.

We'd like to take you to Cairo now, where our Ivan Watson is standing by.

And Ivan, can you tell us what you were able to gather from the events as they unfolded at the Interior Ministry, where we understand that several people were shot, and tell us what you witnessed?

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Randi, what we saw was on the doorstep of a mosque a few blocks away from the Interior Ministry.

There was a makeshift clinic set up. And we were watching young men come in, in shock, and their faces started to turn green from loss of blood after just having been shot.

Some of the bystanders said that these were plastic or rubber bullets. And they're right on the scene there amid the prayer mats outside the mosque. Doctors in dirty, bloody lab coats were swabbing these puncture wounds I saw, some in one man's stomach. Another young man had been shot in the hand and was getting bandaged there. And one of the doctors there, he said that since about 3:00 in the afternoon, and at 6:30 local time here, over the course of about three hours, they had treated some 60 people with these kinds of presumably plastic rubber bullet wounds.

In addition to that, Randi, we saw another man wrapped in an Egyptian flag with his feet bound, apparently the body of a man being carried through the streets by a chanting crowd. And a weeping man there telling us that he had been, in fact, shot and killed by the Interior Ministry.

I got a lot of warnings from bystanders saying do not go too close up, there are snipers on the roofs there -- Randi.

MANN: Ivan, it's Jonathan Mann. Just to be very clear about this, as best you know, this challenge, this fight for the Interior Ministry, is it still ongoing?

WATSON: Hard for us to tell. We did hear what sounded like a few gunshots within the last 10 minutes, and I have heard at least one other burst of gunshots over the course of the last three to four hours there.

I have to point out, I wasn't able to get close to that building, but one man, after hearing some of these claims coming from -- I saw at least four young men with these kinds of injuries, Jon. Another man said, "Listen, the people in the Interior Ministry are afraid of the crowd, and they're just trying to defend themselves from when the mob gets too close to their building."

So two different versions of what may be happening there. But there's no question that amid the scenes of elation, Jon, that we've seen, truly a festive atmosphere in the square just a few blocks from the Interior Ministry. We've also had very bloody clashes going on, and a number of injuries, as well as at least one death.

KAYE: Yet, despite the blood, Ivan, despite the shooting, despite the tear gas, these protesters don't seem to be giving up. In fact, they seem to be growing stronger.

Is that how it appears to you?

WATSON: Yes. It's really remarkable.

And we are hearing about clashes in one place -- area, Randi, but I have to say, for the most part, it is the people in the streets who appear to be in charge. They're climbing on to the Egyptian military's tanks. They're riding around on them, cheering, embracing the soldiers, praying next to the soldiers' tanks. And they're cheering.

And it's a curious combination, Randi, of elation -- elation at being free and being able to say things that people haven't been able to say in a long time. And also real hatred for the Egyptian regime.

So when I ask people, are they angry, you kind of get a mix of, "Yes, I'm furious at this government, I want Hosni Mubarak to go." And then they say, "But I'm so proud to be an Egyptian because I finally get to stand up and be proud to speak my own mind."

KAYE: Ivan Watson for us in Cairo.

It's so great to have you there, Ivan, and really bring us the story as it's unfolding, along with so many of our other correspondents around the region.

We're going to have to take one very quick break. And we will be right back with the very latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MANN: Welcome back to our continuing coverage of the upheaval in Egypt.

A short time ago, we had one of our reporters say that he spoke with a Muslim cleric who said that protesters weren't following his leadership, they were following the leadership of Facebook. It's an extraordinary thing. Social media, Facebook included, Twitter have been a galvanizing force in the protests that we've seen in Egypt.

KAYE: They certainly have.

CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom is following that part of the story for us.

Mohammed, what is the latest? Is social media back up. Is the Internet back up in Egypt?

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randi, the Internet is still not back up in Egypt, but mobile phone service has been up intermittently throughout the day. And what we're seeing is a lot of users have been able to use mobile phone networks in order to try to get their messages out on social media.

Now, we have seen some new iReports. There's an iReporter that sent us this video actually close to Jilali (ph) Square in Cairo. This is taken from the balcony of a hotel close by.

You see all these protesters, many of them looking to be from all ages, lots of different protesters out there in the streets today. If I can take you up to this screen as well, we're getting tweets now.

Yesterday, we were getting very few tweets purportedly out of Cairo. Today, quite a few more.

This tweet: "I know this is farfetched, but if any doctors could help in downtown, a small mosque next to Koshari El Tahrir where injured are kept."

That's a plea for help from any doctors that might be in that area. We can't verify it, but that's what this person on Twitter is saying.

Here's another tweet. "Live rounds litter the ground leading up to the Interior Ministry. Everything on the ground floor looted and trashed."

"The biggest crowd to date in Tahrir now huge, bigger than the January 25th sit-in that started it all. Whole families, children. It's a jubilant atmosphere," says this Twitter user.

This one, "Don't believe the lie. No one in the streets of Egypt was chanting to get Omar Suleiman as president."

Now, Omar Suleiman was just appointed vice president, not president. But nonetheless, indicative of the mood there, purportedly out of Cairo.

And this one, "The Egyptian people are protecting public and private properties, and organizing traffic and protecting each other."

Very interesting to see Twitter users, purportedly out of Cairo, now tweeting once more. It will be interesting to see if the Internet is finally back up and running in the next few hours or the next few days to see how much more the traffic increases and what people will be saying, because as you said before, social media has been such a galvanizing force, has been such an integral part of getting people out and into the streets to demonstrate what's going on in Egypt right now -- Randi.

MANN: We're seeing a lot of this, and we're grateful for everything we're learning off of social media. But one question you have to ask is, obviously, we're reading it, you're reading it in English.

Now, Mohammed, you're a fluent Arabic speaker, obviously. How different are the messages that are being sent, shared for Arabic speakers?

JAMJOOM: Well, what we've seen so far, a lot of it has been very similar in sentiment. I mean, there have been a lot of angry tweets with regards to the vice president being appointed. A lot of reaction on social media is that this isn't going to change anything.

But as far as the pleas for help, as far as the atmosphere of jubilation, as far as people being happy to be able to tweet and to be able to use social media as a rallying cry, you're seeing the same sentiment being done in Arabic and English. But it is interesting that you're seeing so many tweets in English out of Cairo right now -- Jonathan. MANN: Mohammed Jamjoom monitoring the Internet and social media for us.

Thanks very much.

KAYE: You know, it's so interesting, just quickly, to mention that tweet that he was saying he got about people asking for doctors to help at this mosque in Cairo. That's actually from CNN's Mary Rogers (ph), who is there at the scene, who had reported that five people had died from gunshot wounds. Also at that triage center, according to a physician there, also asking for doctors.

So it's amazing how we're getting it, they're getting it, it's all happening and we're all over it.

MANN: And a point to make, we're following those stories, taking them very seriously. I have been in another context we don't have to go into where the Red Cross as also getting those tweets. People do take those kinds of messages very seriously, and so social media saves lives in a situation like this.

KAYE: Sure. And clearly they needed help, and we're getting the message out there.

Again, a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MANN: Welcome back.

Egypt has a new vice president. Egypt has a new prime minister. But Egypt still has the same man in charge, Hosni Mubarak, and he's doing his best to hold on while thousands of demonstrators gather in the streets of at least two cities that we're monitoring closely, demanding he resign.

Our extensive coverage is continuing.

KAYE: And people in Egypt are really trying to digest all of these changes as it happens.

We want to take you to Cairo now, where an Egyptian-American communications consultant, Maha -- we're not going to use her last name for her safety there.

But Maha, if you can, can you tell us a little bit about the mood there and what you're feeling among the people in Cairo?

MAHA, COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT: Well, we're feeling a level of uncertainty right now, I think. We're monitoring the situation on television to see scenes of what's taking place. We're at home. A lot of my friends are at home.

We've been calling each other today to check on each other to make sure everyone's OK. We don't have Internet access, so we're not able to fully see the scene and understand what's going on in the world around us, but we do have televisions, we're able to communicate with friends and family.

The situation is that -- we see from the streets -- is that there needs to be kind of a restoration of order. I think the main concern now is that things get under control, that we feel safe, that we feel the streets are under control.

There are protesters on the streets, it looks peaceful, but we hear sporadic stories of burglaries and looting and stuff like that. So that makes us uneasy and nervous. But we're all staying home, we're all just checking on each other, and we're monitoring the situation, hoping for calm.

MANN: Maha, this is Jonathan Mann.

And as we're talking to you, we're looking at these extraordinary pictures, these crowds that have gathered along some of the biggest thoroughfares in some of the major squares of Cairo. But I'm curious about the rest of the city and how ordinary people are getting by.

Are stores open? Can you buy milk? Can your kids go out to play?

Are people talking about what they're going to do when the workweek starts? Are they going to go actually try to go to work, as many do on Sunday or Monday?

MAHA: Well, they've already announced that the banks are closed tomorrow, the central bank is closed tomorrow, and the stock market is closed tomorrow. I advised my staff, we're obviously not going to work tomorrow.

One of my friends tried to go get groceries this morning. She said there was a huge line at one of the main supermarkets and she couldn't get what she needed. We're all staying home.

I think on Thursday -- those of us that planned ahead kind of braced ourselves. And I've never been in a hurricane, but on Friday, yesterday, I kind of felt this is what it's like, where you brace yourself for a storm, and you just sit and wait.

So you can't really leave your house, you shouldn't leave your house. We need to respect that there's a curfew and it's there for our safety. And so we're basically sitting tight and kind of talking to each other and watching what you're all watching on TV.

MANN: I don't want to put words into your mouth, but it sounds like apart from the scenes we're seeing, a lot of Cairo would be a ghost town today.

MAHA: Yes. I guess some people tried to move around today, and they just said it's not safe to move around.

The main squares and the main areas downtown, they are seeing a lot of foot traffic, and a lot of people are venturing out, I think. I know people aren't able to get to their families in other parts of the towns, so everyone is just staying home. KAYE: All right.

Maha, an Egyptian-American in Cairo with some interesting perspective.

Thank you, Maha.

MANN: Of course the unrest that we've been watching in Egypt isn't isolated. Over the past few weeks, we've seen turmoil in several neighboring countries. Tunisia, most notably, but Yemen as well.

We've been following that development, but if you're just joining us now, let me bring you up to date with what's going on in Egypt itself.

The region is watching nervously because there's a new prime minister, there's a new vice president. Hosni Mubarak is trying very hard to stay in power.

KAYE: Well, as we've been mentioning, none of this is isolated. We've seen problems in other parts of the region.

We're getting some confusing signals there. I just want to make sure we all know where we're going.

But the bottom line is this -- the most powerful Arab nation, a pillar of the region, is now in turmoil. The president is doing his best to hold on, but the rest of the region also is being affected. Egypt's not isolated. We've seen the turmoil, and we're watching it unfold.

KAYE: And over the past few weeks we've seen turmoil in several neighboring countries, as we mentioned, but does that mean that these protests really, throughout the region, are the same? We've seen so many different protesters, so we put that question to Josh Levs earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, here's the thing, big picture they kind of are about the same things. But there are specific situations in each country that have gotten a lot of people upset. It's important to understand these differences, especially as we are seeing all these videos come in. And let's get back to Egypt for just a second. We'll take a look at this video.

I have been speaking with all these experts on this scene. And all these countries in recent days, the way one expert put it to me, he said they all want the same thing.

It's about inequalities, it is about a lack of opportunities. It is about the rich getting richer. It is about what demonstrators feel is a totalitarian regime, or aspects of a totalitarian regime in each country. And something important to understand here, we were just talking about the make-up of these protests. We do have a lot of people who are middle class; a lot of educated people, a lot of young educated people.

And there is a term that might be new to you all this morning, but it is not new to those who follow revolutions through history. It's called the blocked elite, Randi. This is a group of people who are educated and believe they should be elite. Because they know how to take on major jobs, they feel they should have major jobs inside their countries.

And they feel that what's been happening is stopping them. They believe it is because of the government. And decisions made from the government are preventing them from more advanced jobs inside of their countries. So --

KAYE: The common theme is really they think they deserve more.

LEVS: Exactly. They believe they deserve more, they believe that they can play a major role, they believe that economically, they should be at a higher level.

And we can quickly show you. I mean, we've had videos from what's been going on in Tunisia as well, and then you had smaller protests take place inside Algeria and Yemen.

There are specifics scenarios inside each country to keep in mind, and it's important to mention that. For example, in Algeria and Yemen, you've had civil wars in the past. So that's a backdrop, whereas in Tunisia, you have a more of a homogeneous population.

All of these affect the way that these rebellions play out, but big picture, Randi, we are looking at a lot of middle class people, a lot of young people who are pushing hard for what they believe is their place in society.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And as the protests continue in the region and throughout Egypt, we do want to just remind you that we're now seeing already the cabinet has officially resigned, we have a new vice president in Egypt, apparently going to be sworn in any time now. A new prime minister as well.

In terms of numbers, we're being told that at least 38 are dead. The shootings continue at the Interior Ministry. The turmoil continues.

We have our correspondents spread throughout the region, and we will continue to stay on top of this.

MANN: Extraordinary upheaval in a country that had long been considered really one of the most stable in the region, a pillar of Western policy, a close ally of the United States. All of that very much in question. I'm Jonathan Mann.

KAYE: And I'm Randi Kaye.

Thanks for being with us throughout this very busy morning.

The news continues after this.

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