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White House Comments on Egypt; Turmoil in Egypt: Why Now?; Florida Judge Strikes Down Health Law

Aired January 31, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Mark. Stand by, Mark, I'm sorry, but we're going to go right to Robert Gibbs at the White House. He is preparing the briefing for today. Let's hear what he says.

QUESTION: Questions on Egypt, a broad one to start. Since the crisis began, a couple essential questions have been whether President Mubarak should stay in power and if so, whether he has the capacity to put in place these reforms that people of Egypt want and the White House wants. Can you explain why on those two fronts the White House is not taking a position?

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, Ben, it is not up to us to determine when the grievances of the Egyptian people have been met by the Egyptian government. We have said all along that there are, as I mentioned, legitimate concerns and grievances had by the Egyptian people for a long time -- the need for freedom to associate, freedom to communicate over the Internet, freedom to assemble, the freedom of speech -- and those must be addressed in a substantive way by the Egyptian government. But we're not picking between those on the street and those in the government. As the secretary of state said yesterday, we're for and have enumerated our concern for the people of Egypt.

QUESTION: You say it's up to the Egyptian people. Is it fair and accurate to say that it is the stand of the White House that you do not want any kind of transition to be through the top link, the existing head of state, it should be through a resignation or an election?

GIBBS: Well, let me clear, because I'm not going to get into a series of hypotheticals. I think you heard yesterday -- very clearly, the secretary of state say that there must be an orderly transition, that a whole range of issues, some which I just talked about, have to be addressed; that there has to be meaningful negotiations with a broad cross-section of the Egyptian people, including opposition groups, that go to answering the very core of the freedoms that people desire.

We've talked about those, and you've heard the president speak in Cairo about them, free and fair elections in September for the presidency and for the parliament, constitutional changes that facilitate a more open and more democratic process. These are some of the things that I know we've spoken directly with the Egyptians about.

QUESTION: Two others on this, please. The September elections you just referenced -- is it the preference of the U.S. government that Mubarak not run again?

GIBBS: And it's not the -- the United States government does not determine who's on the ballot. The question is: whether or not those elections are going to be free and fair. That's what we would weigh in on and weigh in on strongly.

QUESTION: And of all these changes that you talk about that the U.S. government wants, can you give us some more detail, perhaps from over the weekend or today, about what the government is doing to help make it happen as opposed to just calling for it?

GIBBS: Well, look, I'll let you report on that. I will say this -- the -- as you I think know, the president was briefed on the very latest, including readouts from our embassy and from our ambassador yesterday. International security adviser held a call with some principals this morning, the president was briefed on the latest developments as a -- as a part of -- as, quite frankly, most of his daily intelligence briefing. The deputies committee -- there's now sort of a standing morning meeting on the situation that was had later this morning, and the president is receiving updates regularly out of that.

You know, Ben, this is not about -- this is not about appointments. This is about actions. That's what I think people here and people around the world need to see from the Egyptian government.

Yes, sir.

QUESTION: Robert, can you define what you mean by orderly transition?

GIBBS: Well, many of the things I just talked about, Jeff. I talked about a -- transition has to include -- an orderly transition has to include a process of negotiations with a broad cross-section of the Egyptian people, including those that are in the political opposition at the moment --

QUESTION: With the current government?

GIBBS: Well, I don't think the grievances are going to be met unless there's some measure of that involved. They have to address the freedoms that the people of Egypt seek, and, as I said a minute ago, many of the things that we've outlined over the course of the past many days have to be included -- again, free and fair elections. We talked about the emergency law. Again, changes in the constitution that facilitate more open and democratic process. All of those things are what must happen in the country in order to transition to something that is more democratic.

QUESTION: Do you believe President Mubarak is doing that now? Are you having his response so far?

GIBBS: Again, I think this is not about appointments. It's about actions.

QUESTION: Do you see the actions that you're looking for?

GIBBS: Well, I think it is obvious that there's more work to be done. I think that is obvious in the pictures that we continue to see from Cairo.

QUESTION: What role should the military be playing in this?

GIBBS: Well, look, we have had a -- I should say this too. There's obviously a number of calls and contacts that happen within our government and counterparts in the Egyptian government. We are thus far pleased at the restraint that has taken place and encourage that even as we see reports of increased participation tomorrow by protestors that calm and nonviolence, once again, carry the day on both sides. So, again, it's our belief that first and foremost, this has -- this has to be something that's conducted through nonviolence.

QUESTION: Has anybody in the administration been in contact with Mohamed ElBaradei?

GIBBS: Obviously, the embassy has been in touch with him in the past. I think he is somebody, along with a whole host of people in -- nongovernmental voices in whether they're opposition political parties or whether they're heads of business or banks, that we are regularly in touch with. I believe that they will continue to reach out to people like him and to a whole host of figures -- again, nongovernmental and civil society figures -- to have a discussion with them about what Egypt must do and what Egypt must look like.

QUESTION: Has the embassy been in touch with him in the last week?

GIBBS: Not that I'm aware of, at least when I came in here.

QUESTION: Wouldn't it make sense for somebody to be in touch with him?

GIBBS: Again, I think that outreach is ongoing.

QUESTION: The Egyptian government in the past has conveyed to the Obama administration and to previous administrations that it expects that the democracy push from the U.S. might result in something along the lines of what we've seen in Gaza, that is an Islamist group being elected and gaining power, in this case the Muslim Brotherhood. How much does the Obama administration agree with that assessment?

GIBBS: Well, look, I think that, as I said here last week, I think that it is -- from what we can see -- it's not accurate to say that those protesting are made up of one particular group or one ideology. And I think it is clear that that increase in democratic representation has to include a whole host of important non-secular actors that give Egypt a strong chance to continue to be the stable and reliable partner that the world sees in the Middle East.

QUESTION: ElBaradei told ABC News this weekend that the Muslim Brotherhood is no more extremist -- it's not an extremist organization and is no different from orthodox Jews in Israel or evangelical Christians in the United States. Does the Obama administration agree with that?

GIBBS: Well, let me, without getting into a discussion about them, I think there are certain standards that we believe everybody should adhere to as being part of this process. One, that is to participate in this ongoing democratic process, one has to take part in it but not use it as a way of simply becoming -- simply becoming or taking over that process simply to put themselves in power. We believe that any group should strongly weigh in on the side of nonviolence and adherence to the law.

Yes, sir.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Orderly transition means change. So, by using those words, is the administration now admitting that President Mubarak should leave?

GIBBS: Again, Dan, that's -- that is -- I do believe orderly transition means change, and what we've advocated from the very beginning is that the way Egypt looks and operates must change. That's why we believe we should increase the amount of freedom that is had by the Egyptian people on association, on assembly, on speech, on Internet and open communication.

But that's not for us to determine what the parameters and what the limits of those are. But undoubtedly -- undoubtedly transition in this case means change. There's no doubt about it.

LOTHIAN: If he's the leader, though, are you not saying that he should be changed or removed by office by saying that?

GIBBS: No. Again, Dan, that is not for -- that is not for our country or our government to determine. I don't think that people that seek greater freedom are looking for somebody else to pick what and how that change looks like. That's -- that is, quite frankly, that doesn't adhere in any way to an open democratic process that allows for a full discussion and negotiation about what that freedom looks like. Freedom of -- many of the freedoms I just talked about, the greater economic opportunity, greater economic freedoms, that's not for us to determine.

LOTHIAN: The White House has really been ramping up its focus on innovation and jobs -- there was a big event today as well. Does what is happening in Egypt distract at all from that push?

GIBBS: No, not at all. Weather permitting, the president is planning to go later this week to Pennsylvania and continue our push on innovation. We will -- we will continue -- we will continue to work through all of that. I don't -- you know, events happen that any administration and any government have to respond to. But, at the same time, much as we dealt with over the previous two years, you have to deal with many things happening at once. And that's what this administration continues to do.

LOTHIAN: One final question. The president obviously is getting a lot of updates from his national security team. But is he also bringing in outside advisers to help him?

GIBBS: Well, the National Security Council has regular outreach to experts around the country. I know they had some folks in here earlier today to talk about Egypt as part of that regular process. And I don't doubt that -- again, at many levels of our government, we are talking to many people with insights into Egypt.

QUESTION: Who are some of those people?

GIBBS: We can get you a list of al of those folks.

QUESTION: Robert, the president's schedule is cleared today -- public schedule is cleared today. Did he clear that schedule so that he could deal with this?

GIBBS: No. That's -- again, he's gotten -- as far as I know, as of right now, there's been -- you know, he's been briefed as part of the PDB on what's happened and the discussions that have happened at a principals and deputies level. But I don't -- there's nothing that I know that's been added to his schedule as a result of what's gone on over the weekend.

QUESTION: So, he's not monitoring this constantly. He's working on a lot of other stuff.

GIBBS: He's working on a lot of stuff. I will say this, Chip: obviously, he's -- we give him updates as the situation -- as the situation dictates.

QUESTION: Would you suspect we'll hear from him again sometime in the next few days as this goes on?

GIBBS: I mean, again, I think that depends on some of what happens on the ground.

QUESTION: You said that this transition does not mean that Mubarak would have to go and that --

GIBBS: No, no, no, no, no. I want to be very clear because I don't -- that is not for me to determine. That is not for our government to determine. That is for the people of Egypt to determine. So I have not weighed in on anything other than on, as we have throughout this process, the side of the people of Egypt to determine what Egypt looks like in their future.

QUESTION: But my question is, are you categorically --

GRIFFIN: So, there's the White House press briefing. Robert Gibbs trying to get pinned down by the reporters on whether or not this U.S. government supports or wants to replace Hosni Mubarak. About all Gibbs would say is he's not satisfied with what Mubarak has done so far, "More needs to be done", is the quote there. That is about all the reporters got out of him.

It is 9:15 in Cairo, where seven straight days of revolt have pushed a 30-year regime to the edge and where heavily armed U.S. Marines are now helping guard the U.S. Embassy there. Our Pentagon Reporter Barbara Starr tells us about a dozen members of the Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team have set up inside embassy grounds. Egyptian troops are standing watch outside.

Elsewhere in Egypt, demonstrators who have been ignoring government curfews, defying police, and mingling with tanks and troops are planning what they call "March of Millions" to take place in Cairo and Alexandria tomorrow. Police had largely vanished after clashes on Friday but were back today, in small numbers, possibly to help prevent looting. We haven't seen any new violence today and the army is now stating publicly it will not use force on protestors.

Embattled President Hosni Mubarak today swore in new cabinet members in hopes he can keep his own job. But that seems to have bought him little if any good will with his opponents. While the standoff persists and the whole world wonders what's next, non- Egyptians are scrambling to get out. The U.S. State Department says more than 2600 Americans have sought help in booking flights and we've just learned from the State Department that about 500 Americans have been flown out of Cairo. They expect to fly out 500 more today. Those flights are ongoing.

CNN crews have covered this uprising live since it began last Tuesday. Ivan Watson has the latest now from the heart of Cairo -- Ivan.

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): One of the world's most famous landmarks now guarded by army tanks.

(On camera): Soldiers have been deployed all around this city, and the tanks are even parked here at one of the ancient wonders of the world, the Great Pyramids of Giza.

(Voice over): An army officer insisted the pyramids are still open for tourists, but the soldiers wouldn't let us come any closer. On Monday, the troop presence was dramatically increased in Cairo. Soldiers trained to defend their country from foreign enemies, now taking on the duties of largely absent police; an effort to restore law and order in a frightened city, bearing the scars of several days and nights of unrest.

(Voice over): This is part of what has Egyptians so scared right now. A number of hotels and cabarets and casinos, like this, that were torched and looted in the first days of the protest. Most of the businesses in town are still closed. With the normal working day cut in half by a curfew that started at 3:00 p.m. Egyptians had a few short hours to shop for groceries. Among those foraging for food in largely empty streets, this family from Taiwan, stranded while on vacation, hoping to catch a flight out of the country on Tuesday.

After a week of sweeping historic changes, some Egyptians taking it upon themselves to clean up the debris left by days of protests.

(On camera): There is a civic-minded dimension to this protest movement here. We've come to the street and ordinary people, they're not being paid to do this, these are volunteers, students, demonstrators who are out cleaning up the streets.

Is somebody paying you to clean these streets?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, no. No somebody pay me. I'm just volunteer. No money. No.

WATSON: Why are you volunteering?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because this is my country. No reasons. This is my country. I want it clean.

WATSON: What is going to happen to your country?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know, but I want it better. That's all I want, to be better and to be -- to have a God presence.

WATSON (voice over): After years of fear, these Egyptians are no longer afraid to repeat this simple demand -- they want a better government.

(CROWD CHANTING)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Ivan, so many positive signs amid all the chaos there, the civic-mindedness, the protecting of the neighborhoods. Today, as the police came back, or interjected themselves back into the society there, any signs of clashes or any kind of violence at all?

WATSON: I did not see those signs of clashes today, Drew. Some of the neighborhood watch people that I've been in touch with say last night was better than Saturday night, for instance. And the only police that I saw were just pockets of traffic cops that were back on duty in uniform, not very many of them at all.

Meanwhile, the scene has changed a little bit in the square behind me, where you've had days and nights of these demonstrations and chanting. Just recently they seem to have set up some kind of a sound system behind me, and it's taking on more of a character of a sit-in where people have erected tents now in the grass, and they've lit camp fires under the palm trees in Tahrir Square, Drew.

GRIFFIN: Ivan, thanks for that. We continue to follow Egypt but we are going to check with other stories now, "Across The Country":.

The health care law signed by President Obama last year facing a real legal challenge now. In Florida, a federal judge could rule any time on a lawsuit filed by governors and attorneys general from 26 states. They argue this law oversteps federal authority by requiring citizens in the states to carry health insurance or pay penalties.

Early voting under way in Chicago in advance ever of the February 22nd mayoral election. Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is on the ballot after a big dispute over his residency. He faces three other candidates, including former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley-Braun. They are all hoping to replace longtime Mayor Richard Daley who is retiring. Could Egypt's political upheaval undermine the economy in Las Vegas? We are "Building up America", in the desert, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: We've been hearing this a lot from people across the country. What does the unrest in Egypt have to do with the economy here, our country, or in Nevada, for instance?

Maybe more than you realize. Economists say the Mideast unrest could affect things like gas prices, and undermine the U.S. economic recovery, especially in states hardest hit by the recession. Tom Foreman has today's "Building Up America" report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Call it back luck, but the recession has hammered Nevada's top industry of tourism, bringing 14 percent plus unemployment and untold problems. Just ask working folks like cabdriver Lance Olivea.

LANCE OLIVEA, DELUXE TAXICABS: We have the highest unemployment, foreclosures and the highest bankruptcy. It's been running like that for almost two years now.

FOREMAN: Just ask politicians like Senator Harry Reid.

SEN. HARRY REID, (D) MAJORITY LEADER: We don't have on the Las Vegas Strip any major construction projects, and that is first time in decades that's been the case.

FOREMAN (On camera): Can you make up for that with these new industries?

REID: We can really do a lot toward making up for it.

FOREMAN (voice over): He's talking about the hottest new game in town, economic diversity. Business and education leaders are meeting to consider ideas that have helped other troubled states. Film and video production, Internet firms, they are recruiting more high-tech and green energy companies through aggressive tax breaks, convinced a broader economic base will protect them from the instability of being a one-industry state.

ROB LANG, BROOKINGS MOUNTAIN WEST: There's a core industry in tourism. That can continue to expand, but it won't grow at the rate it did over the last several decades.

REID: These little, baby steps will get us so we can take big strides later on.

FOREMAN: And they're building up their corner of America with the hope that little gains over time can offset even the biggest losses. Tom Foreman, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE) GRIFFIN: The big news happening tomorrow may be a huge storm. A monster blizzard possible record-setting cold moving into the Midwest right now, and going beyond there as well. We'll tell you what you need to know, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: CNN's severe weather expert Chad Myers being called into duty, because we have some severe weather, here, brother.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You name a city --

Champaign, Illinois.

MYERS: Yes, in it, to win it; 2,000 miles of watches or warnings from El Paso and northward, we have White Sands, all the way up through Chicago, into Buffalo and then the parts here that don't have warnings, because they're 48 hour as way so they don't have a warning yet.

It is coming. It is a big storm. It is going to gather Gulf of Mexico moisture. That's different from all the other Nor'easters we've had this year, that have grabbed Atlantic moisture. When a storm starts in the West, like Arizona now, and it grabs all this and it starts pushing it up into the cold air that's already in place, you get a major snow event.

Now, the snow we're seeing in Minneapolis, the snow in Waukegan, Waukesha and Chicago right now, not even part of this system. Here is a live shot from Waukesha. You're getting some light snow around, maybe even a little bit, it is tricky footing and tricky driving, especially at sunset tonight. But people in Waukesha can handle it. You know, if you have, it if is an Indian name and --

(WEATHER REPORT)

GRIFFIN: Man, this winter could have a real estate bump in Florida. Finally unload some of those properties down there.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEORLOGIST: Yes, right?

GRIFFIN: Thanks, Chad.

MYERS: Sure.

GRIFFIN: Hey, we've got breaking news coming out of Egypt. U.S. Marines have been called to protect the U.S. embassy there. We'll have that for you just a minute from now. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Want to catch you up on what you may have missed earlier in the hour. Thousands of Egyptian protestors defying the latest government curfew, filling streets across the country for the seventh straight day.

This was earlier today. Antigovernment activists in Cairo and Alexandria say they are also organizing a march of millions in both cities for tomorrow. Just in, according to the Defense Department - officials there -- a team of heavily armed U.S. Marines has been sent to the U.S. embassy in Cairo to provide additional security inside the embassy perimeter. Not a lot, but a group. About 12 or so. Egyptian military and security sources continue to provide security outside the embassy.

A massive winter storm that could affect 100 million people before it's all over is getting ready to hammer the Midwest with more than a foot of snow. Chicago, St. Louis, you could see new snow records. And forecasters say the storm could spin off tornadoes in the South. The East Coast could see this monster by Thursday.

The health care law signed by President Obama last year facing major legal challenge in Florida as we speak. A federal judge could rule any minute now on a lawsuit filed by governors and attorneys general from 26 states who are arguing that the law oversteps the federal authority by requiring citizens to carry health insurance or pay penalties.

And game on in Dallas. The Pittsburgh Steelers, they're arriving in town. A short time ago, for Sunday's Super Bowl. Super Bowl XLV. The Green Bay Packers are a couple of hours away. Both teams face a media frenzy. And the U.S. homeland security secretary is also getting a tour of security operations there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CHILD: And I would tell him to remove that law about the thing and him be the president forever -- "

GRIFFIN: Cute, cute, cute little girl speaking her mind. But who is she talking to? You're going to find out right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: This is the seventh day of antigovernment protests in Egypt. We've told you tens of thousands of demonstrators are back on the streets of Cairo and other cities across the country.

We want to put this in perspective and give you a timeline of how this all developed. Of course, it started on the 25th of January when we saw the marchers converging in Cairo, demanding that the president step down and police firing tear gas. Three protestors and police officers killed. The very next day, more protests, fire bombs, police were tear gassing and shooting water cannons. Then they had those bloody clashes in Suez and other cities. We saw it began to spread. The 27th is when Mohammed ElBaradei returned to Cairo and called on Mubarak to get out, to resign. Large protests, and the government tried to stop it all by shutting down the social media.

The 28th, this is Friday, prayer day. The mosques emptied, and a lot of people headed towards the center of town. Mubarak tried to impose a curfew. It didn't work. Then the U.S. called in and urged Mubarak to avoid any violence. The army was ordered into the streets. Saturday, they did into the streets, few clashes in Cairo, Alexandria, and Suez.

Mubarak fired the cabinet, announced he'd take on a vice president - he used to be the vice president -- and banned the Muslim Brotherhood's call for a peaceful transfer of power.

Then this was yesterday. More protests, growing protests really. A total of 120 people have been killed as far as we know in these six days. President Obama is calling regional leaders about the crisis and police ordered back to the streets.

And that brings us to today. And Michael Holmes is here to talk about it. Hosni Mubarak, the change of power. It's so difficult to talk about any kind of change unless Mubarak really does step down, because he has been the power.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's it. I mean, e's been around 30 years as we've been saying. He's a wily, stubborn, at times brutal, but obviously a survivor type of leader. But it helps to understand the man to see where we're at today. We've got a piece about that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: To understand Hosni Mubarak, you have to start here with his predecessor, Anwar Sadat, who in 1979 signed the Camp David Peace Treaty with Israel. That handshake on the White House lawn enraged Muslim radicals who believed Sadat had sold out Arab interests across the region.

In protests, many even (INAUDIBLE) Arab governments broke diplomatic relations with Egypt. Two and a half years later, while President Sadat was reviewing a military parade with then-Vice President Hosni Mubarak sitting next to him, Muslim radicals in the army had their revenge.

Sadat was assassinated. Mubarak was wounded but survived to be sworn in as president. That was October 1981. Hosni Mubarak has been the Egyptian president ever since and until this week had never had a vice president. When he came to power, Egypt was the pariah of the Arab world for signing that peace deal with Israel. Mubarak went on the diplomatic offensive, quickly improving relations with Arab neighbors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT HOSNI MUBARAK, EGYPT: To consider peace is not something impossible. It is a gift to the human being.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: For 30 years, Mubarak has been a regular guest of American presidents. He's been an ally of the west in efforts to contain al- Qaeda, and Mubarak collaborated in repeated U.S. efforts to broker peace deals between Israel and the Palestinians. Here with President Ronald Reagan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUBARAK: The exercise of the right to self-determination cannot be denied to the Palestinian people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Self-determination back home in Egypt though was another matter. Mubarak's presidency was re-affirmed three times in national voting, but by law, no one else was allowed on the ballot.

After U.S. pressure, a supposedly open election was held in 2005, but international observers complained the balloting was rigged. After contesting the election results, the number two vote getter was arrested, charged with forgery and sentenced to five years hard labor. That punishment earned the Mubarak government a strong rebuke from the White House. The alternative Mubarak's government hinted was chaos and Egypt's painful history of terror attacks meant little was left to the imagination.

From Luxor in 1997, when more than 60 people, mostly tourists, were slaughtered to the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in 2005 where 88 people were killed. Like a cat, Mubarak seems to have had nine lives. He survived multiple assassination attempts, including an attack by Islamic extremists on his motorcade during a 1995 visit to Ethiopia.

Still, Mubarak is now 82 and in recent years his health has appeared to falter. After the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, U.S. pressure forced Mubarak into grudging change. More freedom of expression, newspapers allowed to publish articles critical of the government. And economic reforms that brought strong economic growth.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: All for the good, Michael, but when you look at the election string that he has supposedly had, it really comes across as a dictatorship.

HOLMES: Oh, yes. Most of the elections he had, he was the only candidate on the ballot. And so that was a series of elections, three in a row. Then, of course when -- the last election, the opposition parties went from having 25 percent of the parliament to five percent. It's been a sham. There's been no question that electorally, it's been a joke. It's a regime. GRIFFIN: So, he's 82 years old, prior to this uprising being. What was his transition plan, to simply stick his son in office, like a pharaoh?

HOLMES: Well, his son, Gamal, a lot of people thought that was going to be the plan. Recently, it did appear that was -- it's not going to happen anymore. Forget about that. We've seen him now appoint a vice president, never had one before. A prime minister. Both are key in the military as well. He's a former military man. They're former military men. It hasn't changed much, you know? That's the problem. And the vacuum of opposition is a problem as well.

GRIFFIN: And that vacuum of opposition is not only a problem because there's no other choice, but there's no foundation to get another choice.

HOLMES: Exactly. Exactly. There's been a lot of talk about the Muslim Brotherhood. That a lot of people think is overstated, this is a scarecrow tactic, this Islamic organization would take over Egypt and run the country. It's got about 20 percent support. Egypt is traditionally a very secular country.

By banning the Muslim Brotherhood, what Mubarak did in essence was ban other groups from forming as well and getting a foundation and establishing rather secular groups that were able to combat the Muslim Brotherhood. And so, they're the only ones out there with any kind of organization.

GRIFFIN: Yes. Let's talk to our viewers about this viral video we're talking about on the Internet.

HOLMES: This is great!

GRIFFIN: This is a great little girl. Want to check this out. A little girl in the Middle East giving her advice to Mubarak.

HOLMES: Yes. Now, we don't know whether she's being coached or not. We do know she's not in Egypt. We do know that as well. She's just in the Middle East. And very sweet girl. This is -- her brother shot this. Apparently, he says, she just wanted to say this.

GRIFFIN: Let's leave you with this. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Juju (ph) what would you say to president of Egypt now if you are talking to him? what advice would you give him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CHILD: Okay. I would tell him to remove that law about the thing -- him being the president forever and let them -- to let the people of Egypt vote. Because if you don't, they're just going to make problems for you, and it's going to be harder for you to rule your country and they're going to be on TV forever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CHILD: And then they're going to just make huge problems, and then you're going to waste all your money to fix all the hotels that they damage. And -

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Just as perspective, let's show you Egypt on the map and show where the activity.

Of course, this is Egypt here, the northern side of Africa right there. And we want to show you then where a lot of the attention is on Cairo and Alexandria, Cairo on the Nile, Alexandria on the Mediterranean Sea. But most of the protests have been happening in Cairo itself. We have the pyramids down here being guarded by the military. We have the prison way out here, the prison where the riots took place and prisoners escaped.

But again, Cairo, the main center of attention and when we can see here, it's this downtown area of Cairo, the Tahrir Square, this is where the main protests are. The Egyptian National Museum is right near there. On Friday, is where it was vandalized. The ruling party's headquarters also right there along the Nile that were burned down.

And you can see all of the attention has been focused on this one area, the protesting done on the bridge on Friday that was such a vivid picture took place right there. As we zoom in, you can see how small an area that really is that we're talking about as we continue to watch Egypt.

OK. Now, time for you to take part in our newscast. We want to know which watching on your laptops or cell phones (ph), we're going from you about this part of the show called "You Choose." You choose what? You choose the story we're going to do on which story you'd like to hear more about.

And let's go through them now on the headlines if we can. The first, there's a new study on cheating. It says, who you should cheat with can mean the difference between being forgiven or kicked out. The second one, a couple is proving that it's never too late to mend fences. And the third story, Super Bowl fans, why the game may be serious trouble for you.

You can go to Ali's blog at CNN.com/Ali to vote and we'll bring you the winning story in about 10 minutes from now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Time for our "Stream Team" and the burning issue in Egypt, the regime of Hosni Mubarak has been unpopular at home for a long time now, and for a long time to come, historians are going to study why the tipping point came now in this regime. That's if it really is the tipping point. One reason may be a form of democracy no government can control, social media.

Joining me now with our insights: comedian, CNN contributor and radio host, Pete Dominick.

Joining us from his studio at SiriusXM, Shelly Palmer, host of the weekly TV show, "Live Digital with Shelly Palmer." Shelly, hello.

And from Pullman, Washington, Lawrence Pintak, founding dean of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication there at Washington State University. And his latest book, by the way, "The New Arab Journalist Mission and Identity in a Time of Turmoil."

Guys, I'm going to throw it out to you. Pete, I'm going to ask you this, could this uprising have happened before the Internet?

PETE DOMINICK, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely, Drew Griffin. I actually think Facebook and Twitter have really been very helpful and integral in the revolutions not only in Egypt -- but I shouldn't call them revolutions yet unless they're successful uprisings, in Tunisia as well.

But this has been -- this isn't brand new. This didn't come out of nowhere. These people have been suffering, not having the freedoms that most democracies, real democracies, enjoy for 30 years. Facebook and Twitter have helped, but as you see, they've been shut down. They're handing out leaflets for these million men or women gathering tomorrow. So, maybe that will work, too.

GRIFFIN: Shelly, do you agree with that?

SHELLY PALMER, LIVE DIGITAL WITH SHELLY PALMER: Absolutely. During the 1770s here in this country, there were -- there was enough of a ground swell where people picked up arms and committed treason to throw the British out. So, people organizing and self-organizing is not new.

What I find fascinating is after the government shut everything down, only about 8 percent of the people in Egypt can get online right now through the normal (ph) ISP. But people are using hand radios. They're using phone lines. They're using regular cell phones, now turning them into dial-up modems, dialing ISPs in France and still going online.

Information will find a way. These people are pretty motivated. And you have to applaud that.

GRIFFIN: Lawrence, your book about the new Arab journal, so much of the information we're getting right now is coming from Arab journalists through social media. Can any regime contain social media as Egypt tried to do?

LAWRENCE PINTAK, WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY: No, absolutely not. They cannot put their finger in the electronic dike. This stuff is pouring in through every pore.

But while I agree with the others about social media not being the "be all and end all," satellite television is what has made the difference here. People are watching a revolution taking place in Tunisia. That inspires them in Egypt. That inspires them in Yemen. The fact that they can watch this happening on the streets, on live TV, is what gets them out there.

GRIFFIN: You know, guys, the other thing I heard to that end, Lawrence, is that they can also see how people are living in other parts of the world and ask themselves why they are not.

Pete, should other regimes be concerned?

DOMINICK: Drew Griffin, there's a great question. There's a reason the North Koreans live the way they live. They have no idea about the rest of the world because that regime does a great job of embargoing information like Facebook, Twitter, the Internet, satellite TV.

So, yes. Absolutely, transparency, shining sunlight on the way the rest of the world lives is excellent for democracy and for freedom. I agree.

PALMER: I couldn't agree more. There's a real sense right now that blog mobs, text mobs, tweet mobs, we are -- we're in a time when people cannot be contained.

There are no more central points of information, Drew. This is the important aspect of this. Everyone is a publisher. Everyone is part of the media, every company, every person. That's never going to be change.

And, by the way, governments have never had to deal with this ever in history. So it's an interesting time.

GRIFFIN: Guys, thanks a lot. Great conversation.

By the way, talk about a tweet mob. Side of your screen, we've got the tweets coming out of Egypt and it is a tweet mob. First time I ever heard that, Shelly. Thanks.

Tweet mob. I love it.

Time now for a 60-second political update. Senior political analyst Gloria Borger joins me from Washington.

Gloria, you've probably got your own tweet mob going on there.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: No, I don't. But, you know, you've been talking about the Middle East. That's clearly our focus this week.

And in Israel today, not Egypt, in Israel today, we have potential presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. He's there on an annual trip he does with family and friends. Jon Voight, the actor, is with him to make sure we all knew that he met with Prime Minister Netanyahu, he tweeted a picture of it for us.

Now, on to domestic politics, Barack Obama's senior adviser David Axelrod about to go back to Chicago to help run the 2012 campaign, gave a dig at Mitt Romney today by saying, on the health care plan, that, quote, "We got some good ideas from Romney's health care plan." That's not going to make Romney too happy.

But what will make Romney happy is that he's got a book coming out. It's called "No Apology." He's going on a media tour. He's going to be on "PIERS MORGAN" tomorrow night, "The View." And he's to do the top ten list on "David Letterman."

That's what they all do.

GRIFFIN: It certainly is. Gloria, thanks a lot for that.

Well, your next update from "The Best Political Team on Television" is just an hour away.

Earlier, we asked you to pick the story you wanted to see. Here were the choices, getting away with cheating, never too late to remarry, and Super Bowl heart health. The winner -- two minute as way. Stand by.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Breaking news now and it's affecting all of us. A Florida judge has just struck down at least part of the Obama health care bill, ruling it unconstitutional.

We want to get right to our legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, to explain.

Jeffrey, what just went on?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: (AUDIO BREAK) by state attorney generals who feel that the law is unconstitutional. Several different district judges have ruled on this. This is now the second one, in addition to a judge in Virginia -- this Florida judge, Roger Vinson, has said that the individual mandate, the part of the law that says everyone has to buy health insurance by 2014, is unconstitutional. Now, other judges have ruled that it is constitutional.

So, the bottom line of all of this is that the United States Supreme Court is going to have to resolve this sooner rather than later.

GRIFFIN: And how quickly or how long will it take before it does go to the Supreme Court, Jeff? Does it go straight away?

TOOBIN: That's a harder question. The traditional route is through the courts of appeals first, and several of the decisions that have already been made on this are in the court of appeals. But, occasionally, when the statutes are declared unconstitutional, the Supreme Court can get it right away.

I think it will certainly be several months. It might even be next year, 2012, but it is a certainty that the suits Supreme Court is going to have to resolve this question since so many different courts have reached such different conclusions and the issue is important.

GRIFFIN: Yes. And the last question I have for you, Jeff, and we're going to roll right into the coverage with Brooke Baldwin coming up next. But when would this particular part of the health care bill, if you know, the part which says I, everybody must have health care or face this penalty, go into effect? Would that actually take effect before it gets up to the Supreme Court?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, one of the peculiarities about all of these lawsuits is that they are challenging a provision of the law that doesn't even come into effect until 2014.

Some judges, in fact, have said, I don't want to weigh this issue, I don't want decide this issue until the law actually comes into effect. But the provision of the law that says everyone has to buy health insurance does not go into effect until 2014.

But, as I say, it is a certainty that the Supreme Court will address this issue well before 2014, because now we have so many different decisions all over the lot. This is a reason why we have one United States Supreme Court, to settle when judges disagree with each other.

GRIFFIN: Jeff, thank you so much. Hang on the line.

That's it for this hour. And we're going to pass it right over to Brooke Baldwin -- Brooke.