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Uprising in Egypt; Egyptian-American Family Stranded; U.S., French and German Governments Urging Egypt to Make Political Reforms
Aired January 30, 2011 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Drew Griffin in for Fredricka Whitfield, more on our coverage of the uprising in Egypt it could prove to be a turning point in the crisis there, the man you see being ushered through a crowd of demonstrators is an emerging voice of opposition, he is Mohammad ElBaradei a noble laureate and internationally respected former diplomat. He spoke directly to the protesters today. His message what they have started cannot be stopped.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED ELBARADEI, OPPOSITION FIGURE (through translator): I came today to participate in the lives of Egyptians. Today, I look into the eyes of each one of you and everyone is different today. Today, you are an Egyptian demanding your rights and freedom and what we started can never be pushed back. As we said, we have one main demand, the end of the regime and to start a new phase.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: ElBaradei last night in Cairo, earlier today ElBaradei told CNN's Fareed Zakaria it is time for President Mubarak to step down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Mubarak to leave now!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: 11:00 p.m. in Cairo and Alexandria and across Egypt, where the stability of the country is unclear, the future of the country's leadership also unclear. People were ordered to stay in their homes when the sun went down, that did not happen. Tanks rolled out to face the protesters who responded by posing for pictures with them.
People in Cairo are looting stores, the number of policemen keeping order in the city right now, zero. By any standard, this is not a city enjoying a measure of security right now. Going live to Cairo and CNN's Ivan Watson, who is in the middle of it. Ivan?
IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening. That's right. We are hours after curfew and behind me, still thousands of people in Cairo central square, still chanting, still waving Egyptian flags though now some of them have built camp fires under the palm trees here for warmth. Now, we have heard some gunshots, some automatic weapon fire, weapons fire in just the last 15, 20 minutes here, crackling in the distance and that is a hint at the problems that are being faced in other neighborhoods of the Egyptian capital right now.
I've been on the phone with men who normally have day jobs. One man an account manager for a company, Cisco, another man, a real estate broker and they are now carrying out their second vigil. They have taken weapons, makeshift weapons, one carrying a stick, another carrying an axe. One other made Molotov cocktails and they barricaded the roads in their neighborhood. They have set up neighborhood watch units that are maintaining checkpoints and they are searching passing cars and scaring off suspected looters, protecting their families and homes and businesses from the wave of lawlessness that has erupted in Cairo since the police force largely melted away Friday night after a day of clashes with demonstrators here.
So, a scary evening out in residential neighborhoods of this sprawling city. Meanwhile, here in the Tahrir Square, a couple of hours ago, as you mentioned, we had a visit from one of Egypt's most famous political figures, Mohammed ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. And he came and tried to give some moral support to the demonstrators who are out here already, mobbed him with enthusiasm and he was spurred on by a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the main opposition parties here, the vice president riding on the shoulders of his supporters with a loud speaker and calling on the crowd to listen to Mohammed ElBaradei before, again, surrounded by supporters, he squeezed back into his car and left the scene here.
And all of this happening despite a huge show of force from the military at 4:00 p.m. when the curfew was supposed to set in from two roaring fighter planes, roaring so low over this square that you could see into the cockpit of the pilots. The people here, they said this is an attempt to intimidate us and it will not work and hours after the curfew, you can see, many of these people are still at it. Back to you.
GRIFFIN: Ivan, you mentioned that the people in neighborhoods are holding would-be vigils to protect their properties and their neighborhoods, I'm wondering, given the fact that there are now camp fires behind you, are the protesters sort of settling into a vigil- type atmosphere? Do you sense that they are going to go home tonight or are they just going to stay in Tahrir Square?
WATSON: I'm not entirely sure, the crowd has thinned out some. It's interesting that a number of them, hundreds and this is a little difficult to see from this camp vantage point, but in the other direction there are more than a dozen tanks and there are a group of people that are gathered around those tank, seemingly permanently, making contact with the soldiers that are trying to stay on good terms.
The question is if you're worried about your home and your house, how can you stay here in the square? And one of the conspiracy theories that some of the protests have repeated to me is they think that the government has intentionally created this breakdown of law and order as a way to punish them for trying to speak up for their rights over the past several days.
That is a version of events, an interpretation that I'm hearing again and again and I can't back it up, but it is something that many of the people who are calling for the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak are repeating to me over and over again.
GRIFFIN: All right. Ivan Watson live from Cairo tonight. Of course, it's not just Cairo but Alexandria and Suez, where crowds of protesters, some angry, some jubilant, all frustrated with what they say is a government and a president in charge far too long.
To Alexandria now, where senior international correspondent Nic Robertson found himself in the middle of a very tense public gathering. This is earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): What they are saying "Get out, Mubarak! Get out, Mubarak! You're a traitor!." This organization here, this young man up here, leading the chant to get President Mubarak out of the country.
But if you look further ahead up the road here, I'm seeing something that I haven't seen on the previous days here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They kill people.
ROBERTSON: They kill people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They kill people in Cairo.
ROBERTSON: We spoke yesterday, didn't we? You are the professor of the politics? Tell me again, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yesterday, in Cairo, they killed people.
ROBERTSON: Thank you. Thank you very much. And this is what we are seeing that we haven't seen before as well, "Foreign governments, stop hypocrisy, stand for Egyptians and freedom. And people say they are getting frustrated. They want President Obama, they want other leaders to come out in support of them. They feel that the United States, European leaders are not coming out strongly enough in favor of the people.
And that's what the call is. The call is to come out to the people. And the reason I say that is because they think they are winning. In all of these people here they want to be heard and get their voices out. You hate him?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, we hate this person. He is an illegal person. We hate this person. (INAUDIBLE) All the people hate him. Israel is our enemy. We don't like him we don't like him. We want him gone. Mubarak we don't like you.
ROBERTSON: How do you get President Mubarak out of the country? How do you make that happen at the moment? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me?
ROBERTSON: How do you get the president out of the country? Because at the moment he sees a demonstration?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By revolution. Yes, by revolution. It is revolution.
ROBERTSON: It is revolution. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The United States of America, the British government and German government and French government because United States, they stand behind Hosni Mubarak 100 percent because they know if Hosni Mubarak fell, the whole people in Egypt, they are going to be free, they going to be free. If the people free in Egypt, they going to go free. They are going to go free and destroy Israel. The country who controlled the United States is Israel.
ROBERTSON: Again, the voices, very, very clear, President Mubarak to get out. Again, one of the voices emerging today in a very clear way, people are very frustrated, and angry at the United States and the European government for not supporting the people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want America to support the Egyptian people not this regime. That's it. Thank you very much.
ROBERTSON: Thank you.
There are almost too many voices to hear and to talk to and understand everything that's been said, but the one thing that's very, very clear from everyone here, the frustration, the frustration of the people seems to be growing and getting stronger and their demands are getting louder. The problem is they appear at this stage still not to be being heard by the president.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Alexandria, Egypt.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: And we are joined now by Nic Robertson live. Nic, very eye- opening report. And like you said, so many voices there to weed out, but the impression I'm getting was a turn in Alexandria today, which is what the United States, in the minds of those people on the street, not doing enough to get rid of Hosni Mubarak.
ROBERTSON: There's some developments that are happening right below me right now, Drew. There's an army armored personnel carrier literally chasing through the streets here, chasing down youths. What's been happening in the past couple of seconds gunshots going off there, what's happened in the last few - quite a few gunshots. What's happened in the last few minutes while that story was playing out, we saw a van race through the city streets, chased by a crowd of youths. It looked like one of the tires was broken. They were throwing rocks at it. They couldn't get it to stop.
Then another vehicle, another couple of vehicles came racing down the main road here. The crowd couldn't get them to stop either. Then the army - armored personnel carrier came racing around the corner. This is a sign of the very tense situation that's playing out here this evening. If you go to the back streets, close to where we are standing, they are full of young men, vigilantes, patrolling and securing, they say, their neighborhoods. And that is from those neighborhoods that vehicle came racing out, pursued by the youths. They were clearly angry.
And when another couple of cars tried to drive by them without stopping, they tried to chase them down, too. Now the army got involved. That is the volatility of the situation here and that is the spark that could cause further outbreaks of violence here. That's the anger that we found on the streets here as well as that frustration we're hearing earlier in the day there, Drew.
GRIFFIN: Let me ask you in Alexandria, does appear, Nic, from your vantage point, that the military is doing anything to improve the security or merely reacting?
ROBERTSON: In a lot of cases it is, Drew, it is simply standing to one side and letting the protesters continue. We were at a demonstration this evening, hours and hours after curfew, thousands of people on the streets. The army were firing heavy machine gun fire, high in the air, well above the heads of the demonstrators, but the demonstrators told us this was just a warning for them not to go too close to the Army post.
They said, in fact, that the army had moved some of their armored vehicles out of the way of protesters, not to conflict with them. If the government was in control here, and enforcing a curfew, the demonstration couldn't have taken place. The Army, as we have seen, has stepped back and is protecting government buildings. Seeing this Army armored personnel carrier this evening chasing through the streets that is the first time I've actually seen the army take a proactive position and it's not clear what that proactive position is.
Is it chasing down the vehicle through the street or is it chasing down the demonstrators who are chasing that vehicle down? It is a question on the minds of a lot of people here, is the Army on their side or is still on President Mubarak's side? And again, I come to what I've just witnessed here, it's an indication of how tense that relationship is and how tenuous the goodwill between protesters, people and the Army who are on the streets, Drew.
GRIFFIN: Nic, I will ask to you just peek over your balcony there and see if you can see if there is a scene down there or if it's moved on from your vantage point, as we just heard, live bullets being fired there.
ROBERTSON: The army vehicle has moved on. The cars that drove - the vehicles that drove through the area have moved on but there is a large group of young men in this direction and another group in this direction on the corner, clearly very agitated. I can hear them moving barricades into the road. They appear now to want to block the roads close to where we are, this hasn't been the case until now, very agitated, very excited. They are building barricades over there now and again it is a very fluid and dynamic situation that we are witnessing here, Drew.
GRIFFIN: All right. Nic Robertson live from Alexandria, Egypt, where tonight, you can hear in our own live report the gunshots being fired as security remains a big priority and a big problem there in Alexandria.
There's wide-ranging reaction to the unrest in Egypt. We have reporters all over the globe. Let's start in Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Phil Black in Kabul, where the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai has yet to react publicly to the events in Egypt. Its critics say it can't because to comment on an uprising driven by dissatisfaction with the government would only focus attention on this government's many failings.
The government here is still dealing with a violent insurgency desperate to bring it down but it's unlikely the Egyptian example will inspire further widespread revolt. The government here is unpopular. It is considered corrupt and in need of reform by many, but it is not seen as a dictatorship, and in this extremely poor country that is largely illiterate, few people outside of the capital, Kabul, know Egyptians are fighting for change, let alone why.
JIM BITTERMAN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jim Bitterman in Paris where after days of silence about the events in Egypt, the government finally reacted officially this weekend with a joint statement issue along with Germany and Great Britain, in it the three governments note that President Mubarak has for many years played a moderating role in the Middle East and now they want to see him use the same moderation handling the situation within his own country, specifically they call on Mubarak to avoid at all costs the use of violence against unarmed civilians who are peacefully demonstrating.
The statement also calls the demands of the Egyptian people legitimate and that they aspire to nothing more than a better and more just future. The three European governments also calling on President Mubarak to engage in a process of change towards more representative government.
One junior ministry here was more direct saying on the radio this morning that it's time for Mubarak to go but it is not lost on anyone here that France's long-standing ties to the Egyptian president could now become a handicap if he is swept from power. And it is a delicate diplomatic game the western governments have to play trying to stay abreast of the fast-changing situation on the streets.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Atika Shubert, I'm here in London where events in Egypt are being closely watched. The two countries have a long history together and Egypt, of course, is a critical ally of Britain. It is also a popular destination for British tourists and travel advice has just gone out, warning British tourists to avoid certain areas in Egypt.
In the meantime, foreign secretary William Haig has put out a statement saying that he is "deeply concerned by the levels of violence in Egypt." He also urged President Mubarak to listen to the aspirations of the people saying that peaceful reform and not repression is the way forward.
Atika Shubert, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: An Egyptian-American who moved took Cairo has been setting up barricades to protect his family from the thugs and looters. I will talk to him right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: The State Department is advising Americans to stay away from Egypt but a lot of Americans work there and now they're worried about their own safety. Joining me on the phone from Cairo, Mohammed Sidky. He is an Egyptian-American who just moved his family to Cairo.
Mohammed, let me ask you about your situation and where you feel safe at this moment.
MOHAMMED SIDKY, EGYPTIAN AMERICAN STRANDED IN CAIRO (ON THE PHONE): Yes, you know, the first (INAUDIBLE) I didn't feel very safe, you hear lots of speculation and different stories but once I took to the streets, you know, a few hours in the morning, and a few hours at night and really seeing the commitment of Egyptian men and you know you just have loads of people in the streets, at all hours of the day, it's really created a sense of security.
So, really a combination of - in just two days' time, I have sort of gotten used to the status quo in Egypt at the moment. And it is sort of just the collaboration of so many Egyptians, both Muslims and Christians working together, really to patrol the streets.
GRIFFIN: Yes, and let me ask you, Sunday is the beginning of the week. Has business begun? Are stores open or is it still a sense of a crisis situation?
SIDKY: No, there's definitely a crisis. I mean, we have gone from stability to total instability. I would say 95 percent of all businesses have come to a complete halt. People like myself, ex- pats, who get paid in different currencies, anything other than Egyptian pound, are now sort of having - I mean, the thing is once you run out of pounds, the normal thing we would do is go and exchange our money.
Well, now all the exchanges are closed and all the banks are closed so once the Egyptian pounds run out, you are in a bit of trouble. Besides exchanges, I mean, large shopping districts, shopping strip malls like Karfour, they have set ablaze and just completely - everything inside destroyed. Come to a complete halt.
GRIFFIN: Mohammed, let me - I mean, it is quite noble what we are seeing, the gentleman that you have talked about and families out there protecting their neighborhoods, protecting their streets, protecting their buildings, but at some point, they wouldn't be able to continue doing that just due to the fact that they need to sleep.
Are you seeing anything from the government, from the army, from any kind of security status that that void is being filled, even in the small way where safety is being restored?
SIDKY: We do absolutely. The Egyptian army - I mean, what we are starting to see - we're starting to see more tanks roll in. I've heard stories and actually seen just two or three actual army soldiers as opposed to just the two or three that would surround the tank, actually saw soldiers just sort of kind of walk to the streets.
I've heard relatives that they have seen a large amount of Army soldiers. We know that they are cracking down, just through communications. I have family members live in a different neighborhood within (INAUDIBLE) the city which is the city that live in, they have actually caught, you know, seven or eight hooligans and they hold them and they would report - there is a number that you call to contact the military and they will come within 20 to 30 minutes and they will pick these guys up, arrest them, throw them in a truck and they would leave.
So, there is definitely a presence. They have cracked down. They are arrested, from what I've heard, over 75 - over 75 hooligans. So, I mean, this is - this has created a sense of security to us and it is sort like a joint of working together, the military and the citizens.
GRIFFIN: Mohammed Sidky, we wish you and your family the best and you have given us, even though all of the bad, a little glimmer of hope there in terms of security in Cairo. Thank you so much.
SIDKY: Thank you.
GRIFFIN: In other words, there is a big warm-up in parts of the country on a late January day but not everywhere. And a winter storm is threatening the nation's midsection. Jacqui Jeras tracking what is ahead. Doesn't look good, Jacqui?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No, it doesn't look good. In fact, this is a potentially crippling storm for a lot of people across the nation's midsection that could bring feet of snow and enough ice accumulation to bring power outages for days. We will have the latest on the storm track coming up in your forecast.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Our top stories now. Crowds of Egyptians are defying curfew. They are staying in the streets to demand President Hosni Mubarak step down. The army is on patrol in Cairo in a bid to maintain order. So far, today's protests have been mostly peaceful. Today is the sixth day of these demonstrations.
In California, police searching a canal have found no trace of a four- year-old boy kidnapped earlier this month. Divers did find the alleged kidnapper's car in that canal on Friday, but no sign of the kidnapper either. And the midsection getting ready for a big storm to hit that middle of America. A lot of airports out there, Jacqui Jeras, if you are traveling tomorrow, wow.
JERAS: Yes, now is the time to prepare and the weather today is nothing compared to what we are going to, you know, be seeing ahead. So you need to be getting to the grocery store and have supplies for three days because some of you could be without power and certainly travel will not be advised in the nation's midsection. This is going to be coming into play, the worst of the storm through the day Tuesday and into your Wednesday as well.
Winter storm watches have been posted. A couple of warnings already put into place and even blizzard watches now in effect for parts of Milwaukee and Chicago. We don't think this is going to start for you until Monday night and then continue through the day on Tuesday. The storm right now, way out here in California. Yes, you guys are getting some rain.
We got some airport delays right now in San Francisco and this storm is going to be tracking to the south and then hooking on up towards the north and in fact, affecting so much of the midsection. In fact, almost all of the lower 48 will be impacted in some way, shape or form by the storm. Now the exact timing and exact track still a little bit uncertain. So take this with a little bit of grain of salt and expect that there may be some adjustments. We are concerned about freezing rain as well as snow and we think in the heaviest of snow bands here, a good 10 to 20 inches could come out of this easily along with winds around 40 miles per hour. That's what creates a blizzard.
We think the middle Mississippi River Valley, and parts of the Ohio River Valley will have a major freezing rain event, in fact, a half of an inch, even as much as an inch of freezing rain will take down power lines and create power outage potentially for days.
Now we do have one storm system today that we are dealing with, and I want to make you all aware of. Across the Gulf Coast, we're getting heavy rain, some isolated thunderstorms here. There is a slight risk that these may become severe and also be aware this exact part of the country could see more severe weather. We think tomorrow through the middle part of the week on the tail end of that power recall storm. So everybody is getting a little bit of something out of all of these.
Tomorrow, you know, this is just kind of the warm-up to the storm. We do expect to have travel problems tomorrow throughout the day. We might have some freezing rain in places like Kansas City and down into parts of Oklahoma but the worst of it will be Tuesday and Wednesday and, Drew, this is really going to be a major storm. I expect places to be crippled, you know, places like Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Chicago, Cleveland, and possibly even into Pennsylvania and upstate New York down the line.
GRIFFIN: All right. This is a heck of a winter so far.
JERAS: Yes, this could be the worst storm for the plains say maybe in 10 years or so. GRIFFIN: Jacqui Jeras, thank you for that.
Social media has been a galvanizing force over in Egypt in these protests and Josh Levs has been collecting some of the best i-reports from the U.S. and Egypt. Josh?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, our i-reporters on the scene have done a tremendous amount to help cover this from the very beginning when it happened. And coming up we're going to pay a little testament to that. We're going to take a look at what you have been sending us from all over the world and from inside Cairo. That's coming up next in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEVS: Our iReporters on the scene have done a tremendous amount to help cover this from the very beginning when it happened. And coming up, we're going to pay a little testament to that. We're going to take a look at what you have been sending us from all over the world and from inside Cairo. That's coming up next in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Day six of the uprising in Egypt there and is no end in sight. Protesters filled the streets again today and tonight, demanding President Mubarak resign.
Let's go live now to Cairo and CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman.
Ben what is the scene like there right now?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: OK. Well, I'm in the southern suburbs of Cairo, and it's a lot different from the heart of the city. What we're hearing now is sporadic gunfire for at least the last four or five hours. This is a suburb that is better off than most in Cairo, and it's seen constant probing by looters trying to get in.
So, what we have is neighborhood patrols armed with shotguns, revolvers, samurai swords, baseball bats; any sort of club people can find. People are staying out all night in the street, putting out fires, bringing their dogs with them because their real fear is that despite all the excitement in the middle of town, that on the outskirts, there are people who want to loot and steal and burn. So, lots of tension here -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: Ben, we just talked with Mohammed Sidky (ph) an Egyptian- American businessman who was noticing that the military was assisting civilians in arresting some looters.
I'm wondering from your vantage point, in your section of Cairo where you live, have you seen the army taking any kind of role in security?
WEDEMAN: Well, the army did move into this part of town at about midnight yesterday and has returned. There are tanks in certain parts of the main squares. But by and large, the army isn't really actively patrolling in this neighborhood. They are here, they have a presence. But by and large, the responsibility the for local security has simply fallen to residents.
Now, having said that, I did see that downtown, right behind our bureau in the center of Cairo, that what people were doing is just these neighborhood patrols are catching looters and suspicious people and essentially dragging them and beating them along the way and taking them and surrendering them to the army.
But the army, at this point, seems more to be a symbolic reassurance than actually doing anything to re-establish security in most parts of Cairo. In many parts of Cairo, in fact, the army has not been seen at all.
GRIFFIN: All right, Ben Wedeman, live from basically his home in Cairo, as he was saying.
All of those people in central Cairo are essentially breaking the law. The government slapped a curfew on the city -- 4 p.m. until 8 a.m., nobody allowed outside. As you just saw, plenty of people ignoring it.
CNN's Ivan Watson was in the middle of the crowd when two things happened: The curfew time arrived and Egyptian fighter jet he is shot across the sky.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is an unmistakable show of military force. The fighter jets flying low over Cairo's Tahrir Square, liberation square. This has been a symbol of defiance for days now against the Mubarak presidency. And the people here are still chanting. The curfew was supposed to have been done minutes ago but few have dispersed. I have been talking to this professor.
What do you think when you see these fighter jets overhead?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we are not going to be -- as I said, we are not going to be intimidated by all of this. This is a sign of weakness, it's not a sign of strength. If he's strong enough, he would (INAUDIBLE), he would change his position. He would drop down the assembly (ph) which has been faulted (ph).
WATSON: You think the fighter jets are a warning?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no, not at all. As you can see, the people here are gathering more and more. It makes them stronger and stronger. These people are strong because they are strong from the heart. Their spirit is strong. They are strong by holding to each other, by helping each other out. And that's the spirit of the Egyptians that has been lost under this regime for about 30 years. We're already getting out (INAUDIBLE) --
WATSON: So there you hear it. You hear it there -- defiance ongoing from people here, demonstrators who have gathered here despite a curfew that outgoing defense minister called for on state television, saying, please adhere to a curfew that is supposed to have started moments ago and continue until 8:00 in the morning.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Cairo.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: So many images out of Egypt.
Let's go to josh Levs who's watching it all on the web, plugged into several social media outlets -- Josh.
LEVS: And you know part of what I've been reporting on is the fact that even with the internet disappearing there for a really important block of time, people were still managing to get out videos, photos, stories, information. Some people were still getting it out. And from the very beginning when we were following this throughout last week, we began to get iReports.
Let's take a look now at some of the most important iReports we've gotten. Here's one here. This is from Friday, this iReporter asking us to identify him just as George. Some people don't want their full names used.
This was inside Cairo. This is a bridge on the Eastern side of the Nile, it's one we've seen a lot. A protesters threw a canister of tear gas back into the crowd of police. Police then retreat. Protesters almost make it across the bridge. Let's let this video breathe (ph) for another second here.
And this is an example of the kind of thing we've been getting, people on the scene, whether they have phone cameras whether they have any kind of camera, have been managing in some cases to get us iReports.
Let's go to the next one now, someone pretty prolific for us, a Christian Johnson. He says, yes, to go ahead and report this name. He's bringing this to us from Cairo. He shot this video before and during a cab ride. And he pointed out that it took place in the evening on Friday.
Let's listen. Some kind of chanting going on in all parts of city. We have fantastic teams on the ground. We he also have the benefits of iReporters who have been helping cover this story. Here's one more from an iReporter who does not wish to be named. And you might have trouble telling exactly what the image is, but it is a poster of President Hosni Mubarak. And it is a crowd watching it come down. Let's watch this one.
We have been getting feet of people who can't send videos, these are the latest ones we have been getting part of what is interesting from this iReporter is it's a couple of pictures from overnight that have just coming in to us today. And it shows plenty of activity, even in areas where technically there shouldn't be a lot of activity. And just showing in some cases, what the city is like at night. Lots of people helping cover that.
I want to let you all know what we're doing coming up at the top of the 5:00 hour. We want to hear from you. You know, my Twitter feed, my Facebook pages have been going wild with people wanting to weigh in with your thoughts on what's happening in Egypt. Those are my pages there on Facebook and Twitter. I'm @JoshLevsCNN. Go ahead and send me your thoughts, whatever it is that you want to share about what's going on inside Egypt and we will share some of those in the next hour.
And before I go you know, we're also get a lot of help covering the protests taking place elsewhere inside -- in the rest of the world. Let's go to one of these videos right here that's come into us. I think the first one we are getting here, let's listen to this. This is from the protest inside Washington. People in support of the protesters there in Egypt from Nabeeha Kazi Hutchins, who attended that one. We'll have a little more of that for you in the next hour or two.
So, Drew, I'm happy to say, iReporters have been prolific, they've been all over this story. Certainly they bring us really important information and images to help us all learn what's going on.
GRIFFIN: Terrific stuff, Josh.
And, you know, the dominant news story for the United States this week could be a major winter storm on the way. Jacqui Jeras is going to have your forecast. That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Our top stories right now. We begin with a major development in Egypt. An emerging voice of opposition. Nobel Prize Laureate Mohamed ElBaradei appeared in a crowded square today in Cairo. That's him with the glasses on. He's defying the military curfew. The former diplomat telling protesters what they started cannot be stopped. He called on the Egyptian president, President Mubarak, to step down.
In southern Sudan, a huge victory, supporters of the region's independence. A preliminary tall from the recent referendum shows nearly 99 percent of voters want to split from the north. If the results are validated, the south would become a new nation this July. And a tragic accident in eastern Germany, two trains colliding there, killing 10 people, injuring 43, many serious. What caused that collision not clear yet. An investigation now under way.
Well, the role of social media in the uprising in Egypt can't be underestimated. The Egyptian government shut down the internet after protesters poured into the streets. But there are ways around here.
Here is CNN's Mohammed Jamjoon.
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MOHAMMED JAMJOON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): While the internet is still effectively shut down in Egypt, more and more social media users there are finding a way to get online and get their message across.
Now, let's go to a treads map here that we're looking at to see the trending topics out of Cairo, out of Twitter. Now, still at the top here in Mubarak. But, what's interesting to note is how ElBaradei has come up in popularity so much in the last few hours. That's referring to Mohamed ElBaradei.
Now, let's see what some Twitter user there are saying about him. Baradei is seen as non-corrupt is respected, but he lived away too long, didn't join earlier protests, and this revolt was done without his had help.
Here's another Twitter user in Egypt. Before I take a break, ponder this please, Baradei is always more interested in talking with western journos, not people of Egypt.
Here's another one. Baradei to protestors, we are in a new era. What we have begun, can't turn back. Is he hijacking it and appointing himself as leader?
And the last one we'll look at here, once the pharaoh -- and that's in reference to Mubarak -- ElBaradei should serve as a temporary interim leader and give way to elections in the near future.
Now, what's interesting to note, Twitter not just being used to put out these kinds of messages. Also being used to ask for help. Here's a user in Egypt saying a list has been created with names of those missing in Egypt. Just received it from friends in Facebook. And it says, please retweet. That's from Ms_Hala in Egypt.
But it's not just Twitter where you're seeing a lot of activity. Also, here on Facebook, this is a video that has been viewed more than 672,000 times. It's called the most amazing video on the internet #egypt#january25. And what you see is a compilation of clips, of some of the most compelling and amazing footage of protests over the past several days.
So this is just going to show how much social media users around the world and in Egypt are utilizing the internet, even when the internet is shut down, to try to get this message across, to try to get activists out in the streets and to try to this movement.
Mohammed Jamjoon, CNN, Atlanta.
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GRIFFIN: What they said about Egypt on the Sunday morning talk shows. We'll have that for you, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
The uprising in Egypt dominated the Sunday talk shows. Here is this week's the Sound of Sunday.
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GRIFFIN: There's been a secret meeting apparently between top Republicans and two billionaire brothers generating controversy. Find out why after this.
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GRIFFIN: Time for a CNN Equals Politics update. We are keeping an eye on all the latest headlines on the CNNPolitics.com desk. And here is what's crossing right now.
European leaders banding together to urge Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to make major political and economic reforms. The heads of England, France and Germany issuing a joint statement saying the reforms should be made quickly and include open elections.
Turning to U.S. politics now. A weekend meeting near Palm Springs, California, is fuelling a heat deed bait over the role of corporate money in politics. At the meeting, billionaire brothers David and Charles Coke and powerful Republicans, including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Liberal groups say the meeting shows how wealth unfairly influences politics. A spokesman from the Coke brothers company denies the charge.
And early voting for Chicago's February mayoral election starts tomorrow. Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is on the ballot. Thursday, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled Emanuel does meet residency requirements and can remain a candidate there.
Well, they shut down the internet in Egypt, but social media users still got their message across. How? Stick around.
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