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Enormous Winter Storm; Violent Clashes in Cairo's Tahrir Square; Key to Zappos' Success; Sex, Lives, And the FBI; Afghan Girls Catching Air; Major Gunfire In Tahrir Square

Aired February 02, 2011 - 12:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

Let's get you up to speed on two breaking stories.

In Cairo, supporters of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stormed Tahrir Square today and fought anti-government protesters.

Here at home, snow, ice, and subzero cold has paralyzed a large section of the country. The view from space shows the enormity of this winter storm. It stretches more than 2,000 miles, from the Plains states to New England.

First, chaos in Egypt.

The army is trying to stop a five-hour battle in Tahrir Square. Soldiers fired tear gas and warning shots, trying to separate government supporters and opponents.

Some people are armed with machetes, razors, clubs. Molotov cocktails are flying.

And this surreal scene -- government supporters charged the square on horse and camels, swinging clubs at protesters. It is unclear how many have been wounded.

Well, following the lead of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, Yemen's president announced today that he will not run for office again when his term ends in 2013. Ali Abdullah Saleh also pledged that he wouldn't turn power over to his son. Government opponents say their protests will go ahead tomorrow, as planned.

And a powerful Category 5 cyclone is slamming northeastern Australia today. The storm came ashore in Queensland State, the same region that had that massive flooding just last month. Now, top wind gusts are 180 miles an hour. The storm is not expected to wind down until Friday.

And air travel is a mess across the United States today. This is a massive winter storm that has led airlines to cancel thousands more flights. Boston's Logan Airport hopes to reopen today, but it's going to be tomorrow before Chicago's O'Hare is up and running.

Now, this monster storm's gusty winds made standing up even a challenge in Chicago. Take a look at that. The city is buried under 19 inches of snow. That is a February record.

The heart of the weather system is centered over Upstate New York. It will bring as much as two feet of new snow to the region.

And we've got reporters that are across the region covering this snowstorm. We have Rob Marciano. He is in Chicago. Allan Chernoff, he's in Boston. Chad Myers, here in the Weather Center.

Rob, I want to start off with you.

What are the conditions like? What are you seeing there?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the past couple of hours, we had some of the heaviest snow action that we've seen really all morning long. But the snow blowers are out, and the folks are trying to dig out of this already.

It's starting to wind down a little bit. I think this may very well be the last of it.

But before all is said and done, I think Chicago easily is getting over 20 inches. So we're going to be in the top three as far as snowstorms go. We might be higher than that, because this lake effect has been coming fast and furious, and it's certainly light, fluffy stuff.

Not the case last night, when we had thunder and lightning and winds gusting 60, 70 miles an hour. And folks on Lakeshore Drive stranded in their vehicles, having to be rescued by the fire department, having to open emergency shelters. It was absolutely chaotic.

There was one fatality in all of this. It was a gentleman who was out by the lake watching the waves crash in, and his body unfortunately was found this morning after being wiped out into the lake. Waves 20 to 30 feet in some cases, at least slightly offshore.

This is Michigan Avenue. This, during a regular snowstorm, you know, a five, 10-incher, which is standard for Chicago, this would be clear. So to have this still covered with snow -- and it's getting plowed regularly -- tells you just how much snow is piled up in here.

So, the city itself is shut down for pretty much everything. Just a handful of businesses open. Maybe five, 10 percent of the population now, and just to kind of check out what's going on. But this storm has certainly brought the hearty Midwesterners of Chicago to their knees -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you, Rob. Obviously, people hunkering down.

We want to go to Allan Chernoff, who's in Boston, to give us a sense of what it looks like there -- Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, this is what it looks like. We've been getting so much snow over here, that they're just piling it, piling it real high.

Now, this is not just snow from this storm. Lots of this snow has been here at least a week. This is solid ice right over here that I'm standing on.

The problem in Boston is, you know, they've got some very narrow streets, and some of those streets are just entirely clogged up. And people just cannot pass through.

Now, right now, for the past few hours, we've been having heavy rain. So it's a real mess over here. And once you get down to the street corners, slush and a lot of water. This is just a small sample. But there are some street corners that have puddles that are maybe four inches, five inches high.

And guess what? Tonight it is supposed to all freeze over. That is going to make a big mess, a dangerous mess, here in Boston -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Allan, there's going to be a lot of ice.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MALVEAUX: We'll be keeping a close eye on that all day long, of course.

Chad, Allan, and Rob, thank you very much.

We have also been watching another major story, seeing amazing pictures all day. That, out of Egypt.

Just within the last hour or so, we saw Molotov cocktails -- that's right -- being thrown at protesters in the streets of Cairo. You see those pictures from earlier today.

The big question, of course, what should the United States do next in Egypt? Is there anything they can do? That is the big question for our "Talk Back" segment. And that is what Carol Costello is tackling today from Washington.

Hey, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Such a tough question, Suzanne, but you've got to wonder, in light of men on horses and camels with whips attacking protesters, and Molotov cocktails flying, what might come next for Egypt?

Salman Shaikh from the Brookings Institution in Doha told me the longer street demonstrators go on, the more chaotic and perhaps deadly they will become. So what to do?

Some say the world has no choice but to sit back and watch, because the street in Egypt is actually controlling what happens. Others like Shaikh says it's time for President Obama to be even more forceful in his rhetoric. It doesn't appear there is going to be an orderly transition of power in Egypt, especially if Mubarak's government orchestrated those men on camels. So, why not say privately or publicly, Mr. Mubarak, the game is up, go now, or the United States will cut back on that more than $1 billion in aid we send you every year? Yet, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told CNN, oh, a couple of hours ago, "We continue to watch the events very closely, and it underscores that the transition needs to begin now," which some say are pretty strong words coming from the White House.

But it's time to "Talk Back" right now. Should the United States ask Mubarak to step down quickly, to go now?

Please send me your comments on Facebook.com/CarolCNN.

I know it's a tough question, Suzanne, but as you watch the scene unfold in Egypt, it just looks more and more heartbreaking for the protesters there, who only want a better life.

MALVEAUX: It's such a difficult situation for so many Egyptians who are really just looking at this and wondering, what is the future for their families, their friends, and their country?

Thank you so much, Carol.

We want to take a look now at what's ahead "On the Rundown."

CNN's Anderson Cooper, he got caught in the chaos on the streets of Cairo. You're going to hear from him.

And we're empowering you to "Choose the News." That's right. We're going to reveal your choices ahead.

And the perfect ingredient for a romantic Valentine's Day -- white tablecloth, romantic lighting -- fast food? That's our "Random Moment." Take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Now to our other lead story, the chaos and bloodshed happening right now in Egypt.

I want to go straight to our CNN anchor, Anderson Cooper. He's been in the center of the violence in it Cairo.

Anderson, if you can hear us -- he is by phone -- can you give us an update of where you are and whether or not things have calmed down at all?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I'd rather not tell you exactly where I am just for security reasons --

MALVEAUX: OK. Certainly, we understand.

COOPER: -- but I can tell you -- that's right. I can tell you I can see the Egyptian Museum, the front of it, and there are still a number of Molotov cocktails being launched by the pro-Mubarak supporters toward the lines being held by the anti-Mubarak supporters.

There's a fire, actually, now burning across the street from the Egyptian Museum, and also the building across the street from the Egyptian Museum occasionally has caught fire. There appear to be people on top of those buildings actually throwing incendiary devices off the buildings, down, trying to get them into the crowd. I'm not sure where they're actually hitting.

Earlier, there had been military vehicles kind of creating a no man's land between both sides. I believe those vehicles are still there, although it's gotten so dark, I can't really see. But I think I see the outlines of several vehicles. It's not clear, though, whether there's soldiers on the ground keeping the two sides separated, or they're simply using the vehicles.

Earlier, about an hour and a half ago, Mubarak supporters had surged forward and actually turned over at least one of those vehicles that I could see as they rush forward trying to get into Liberation Square. They haven't been able to make it really into the square. They're occupying the street, the broad avenue in front of the Egyptian Museum, which is the north entrance to Liberation Square.

Also, now, I can see from my vantage point ambulances at three of the entrances to Liberation Square -- the north, the east. And also, ,there was one over by the west, although now that ambulance has left.

So, clearly, ambulances have responded to the scene, although there's only about three or four ambulances. And I'm not sure exactly what they're actually doing, because they just seem to be sitting there. Maybe they're bringing wounded and injured people to those ambulances, although I think Ivan Watson had reported earlier about a triage center for the anti-Mubarak protesters inside Liberation Square.

We have not seen and I have not seen any sign of Egyptian military forces coming to reinforce the few soldiers who have been surrounding the square for the last eight or nine days. So, clearly, the Egyptian government is aware of what's going on, but for whatever reason, is choosing not to send in any kind of Egyptian backup forces, at least from the vantage point where I am, from the north side of the square -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Anderson, is it fair to say that it really is difficult at this point, with it being so dark, to figure out really what the state of affairs is now on the ground there, how many people are hurt or injured or even perhaps killed?

COOPER: I have no way of telling. I've seen the pictures that you've seen from other vantage points in the square of anti-Mubarak protesters being taken away on makeshift stretchers. And I've heard about -- I know Ivan Watson reporting -- oh, there's just been a large incendiary device dropped again from the top of that building, right in front of the Egyptian Museum, dropped sort of into no man's land.

I'm not sure who they're trying to aim for from that building. It's a little bit hard to tell. But we're still seeing now groups, at least from my vantage point, of pro-Mubarak protesters coming to the square. You know, clearly, everyone in Cairo knows of the situation that is occurring here, and we're seeing more people arriving to -- I assume to join in the melee or to join in the demonstration on some level -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Anderson, please be safe. Keep a close eye on all that. Obviously, we'll come back to you as the developments warrant there on the ground on the streets of Cairo. Thank you very much, Anderson.

Well, we are giving you a chance to -- that's right -- "Choose the News." We're going to tell you about three stories, and you vote via text message for the one you want to see in detail on CNN later this hour. So I'll give you three choices.

You have, one, a Chinese training video. It appears to have lifted a scene from the American classic movie "Top Gun." That's our Jeanne Moos. She has a lot of fun with this one. That's choice one.

Now roam through the halls of your favorite art gallery without ever getting up from the couch. That's good for those couch potatoes. We're going to tell you about a new virtual reality. That's two.

And Afghan girls catching air -- that's right -- on a skateboard. How the country's only skateboarding school is changing lives.

So here's how you do it. You vote by texting 22360. Vote 1 for "Top Gun" China ; 2 for virtual art roaming; or 3 for Afghan girls catch air.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: As we continue to bring you updates from Egypt today, Michael Holmes is here to break down the cause and the effect of the uprising across the rest of Africa and the Middle East. This is a huge story. It is a segment we call "Globe Trekking."

And Michael, it's good to see you.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: My goodness. I can't believe this.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Audio guys hate you for having these because they buzz the mike, but you can't be without it.

MALVEAUX: Oh, I know.

HOLMES: Everything's happening.

MALVEAUX: And it's blowing up because there is so much news that's coming out of that region.

You've covered the Middle East. You know, this is a place -- I lived for a year in Cairo. This is nothing like what we have seen before. But there are some signs.

Aren't there signs of other countries where these things have taken place, and we know that now is the time for change?

HOLMES: Yes. And, in fact, the whole thing started off in another country, in Tunisia, of course. We saw that took a month to unseat the president. This is happening in a week.

The most recent news is out of Yemen.

Now, Yemen is a crucial country for U.S. interests. Also, Jordan, another ally of the United States and, interestingly, one of two countries -- the other being Egypt -- who has a peace deal with Israel.

Let's talk about Yemen.

The president there, Ali Abdullah Saleh, he's now saying he's not going to seek re-election -- that's very Mubarak of him -- after the current term, which isn't until 2013, by the way. And like Mubarak, too, not pushing to see his son take over.

Now, let's remember, this is a president who's been in office -- again, Mubarak-like -- three decades. Well, why has he decided to take -- well, it's pretty obvious, really, why.

In recent weeks, thousands of people have taken to the streets in Yemen as well, and just like Egypt, they want change. More protests there later this week.

Now, when you talk about Yemen, too, this is a very poor country, poorest in the region. A rebellion in the north, a secessionist movement in the south, and a battleground for al Qaeda, and a government there that has been working with the U.S. to battle al Qaeda there in Yemen.

Now, if that government is threatened, watch out. It could be a big fallout.

Another place where you don't want a big fallout is in Jordan. King Abdullah there announcing that he's going to sack the government, replacing the prime minister with a man who was an ambassador to Israel, actually.

It would be hard to argue that the timing is coincidental. You could call this a preemptive peace strike, if you like, getting in ahead of the game. You look back over the last several weeks, of course, you start to see a pattern developing.

Now, have a look at this map there of recent political uprisings across the region. You can see protests in at least five Arab nations, very different countries, but a similar sentiment in all of them.

The arguments are largely the same -- lack of a voice for young people, lack of jobs, poverty, that sort of thing. And, you know, you can fall back, as I said, to Tunisia, where the president, Ben Ali, was forced out, headed over to Saudi Arabia.

Now, when the dust settles, there's no doubt you're going to be looking at a whole new Arab world when a whole new face. And it's happening before our eyes. Don't forget, you've got a "Day of Rage" planned in Syria, in Damascus, on Saturday as well.

MALVEAUX: And Michael, you can't imagine it. I mean, I'm e- mailing senior administration officials at the White House who are like, what do we do now?

HOLMES: Yes. Yes.

MALVEAUX: I mean, this is unbelievable. I mean, who are you going to be dealing with, and how do you move this ball forward so the United States has a sense that there's stability there?

HOLMES: Exactly. I mean, there's a whole other discussion to be had about whether a lot of analysts and experts are saying the U.S. focuses too much on central government, making sure that these countries have a good, stable central government. Well, that hasn't worked out that well in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Maybe we should be looking more at grassroots institutions, governance rather than government. It's a thought.

MALVEAUX: Yes. There's a lot going on.

HOLMES: Yes, there is. It's been buzzing the whole time.

MALVEAUX: Mine too. All right. Thank you, Michael.

Well, an online shoe company is seeing big profits during this tough time. Our Tom Foreman reports it may be because employees get to have a whole lot of fun.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 24/7, two by two, Zappos.com is moving shoes. More than $1 billion annually in Internet sales, fueled by a wide selection, free shipping, and money-back guarantees.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for calling Zappos.com.

FOREMAN: Not bad for a company that started a dozen years ago with a radical concept -- success is about service --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. No problem.

FOREMAN: -- not selling.

CEO Tony Hsieh.

TONY HSIEH, CEO, ZAPPOS: And for us, culture is just important, it's actually the number one priority of the company. FOREMAN: The culture is raucous, infectious, and everywhere. Employees decorate as they choose, enjoying an unbelievable array of company services, including free lunch, ice cream, massages.

We asked our guide, Ray Andre (ph), about the business environment.

(on camera): This is a business meeting?

RAY ANDRE, ZAPPOS: This is a business meeting.

FOREMAN: There's a lot of giggling go on in there.

ANDRE: There is.

FOREMAN: Getting in is not easy. Zappos takes months to screen applicants, and even in training, new hires are offered $4,000 to quit just to weed out those who might not really want to be here.

ANDRE: So we figure we could train most people to do their jobs, but we can't train somebody to fit into our culture.

FOREMAN (on camera): What is your key philosophy about running this business?

HSIEH: Internally, we have a saying that we're a service company that just happens to sell shoes.

FOREMAN: You realize nobody in America who sees this is going to want to go to work tomorrow?

(voice-over): So they can laugh at comments like that because everyone here seems eager to come to work every day, building up this runaway success.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Henderson, Nevada.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A dangerous blizzard that is hammering a big part of the country now from the Southern Plains to New England.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MALVEAUX: Speaking of New England, we've got Allan Chernoff. He is in Boston. We want to get a sense from Allan what it looks like out there.

Allan, how are you doing?

CHERNOFF: Suzanne, it is a mess here -- a wet, slushy, icy mess in Boston.

You see behind me -- I was standing on top of this a little while ago -- obviously, this did not all fall yesterday and today. Some of this snow has been here for at least a week. Lots of it turned to ice here. And you've got piles like this all over the city.

Boston really doesn't have much of a place to put the stuff. There's been discussion about maybe dumping it into Boston Harbor. That is not permitted by the Department of Environmental Protection. They don't want pollution in the water.

But clearly, they've got an issue here, especially since Boston is an old city, and many of the streets, especially up in Beacon Hill, right where the capitol is, well, those are very narrow streets. So some of them are not even passable right now.

We've got rain coming down. It's been coming down for about three hours now. Now, if we're going to warm up, this stuff would start going away.

The problem is it's going to get cold once again, as Chad has been talking about. So we're going to have lots of this white stuff still here, and it has been out here for well over a month. A lot of Bostoners are kind of sick of it -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: OK. I can imagine they're sick of it. Hopefully, they're safe. Obviously, a lot of snow there.

Thank you, Allan.

Well, we want to give our viewers a reminder to cast your vote in our "Choose the News" segment. Text your pick at 22360.

Now, here are the voices. Vote 1 for "Top Gun" China. Now, this is a story about a Chinese military training video that lifted a scene from a classic American movie.

Now, vote 2 for virtual art tour, a new Google site that lets you get your creative juices flowing. That's a good one.

Or, 3, for Afghan girls catching air. This is an exclusive feature on Afghanistan's only skateboarding school. So again, text 22360. Cast your vote. Now, the winning story is going to air at the end of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We are following the violence and chaos on the streets of Cairo as pro- and anti-government demonstrators are facing off now. Our own CNN anchor Anderson Cooper has been in the center of the melee. And Anderson, I understand that you have news about gunfire from perhaps automatic fire from folks who are part of these protests. What can you tell us?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Well, there was a large sort of boom sound from somewhere near in front of the Egyptian museum. It sounded like -- I'm not exactly sure what it was. It was some sort of -- it was like a concussion (ph) sound, almost. And now there's several -- there's two what looked like -- or at least one large fire burning on the street across from the Egyptian Museum, started probably by Molotov cocktails. I've seen a number of Molotov cocktails thrown. I have heard a few shots fired. But again, it's impossible to tell from my vantage point who was firing those shots.

The pro-Mubarak crowd seems to have thinned out somewhat though not -- certainly, there are still thousands -- several, at least, more than a thousand people there packed very tightly, especially right at the front where the fires are now burning. But it doesn't seem like they have been able to move any further into Liberation Square, into Tahrir Square. It still seems like the lines have held as they have been for the last half hour or so.

Throughout this afternoon, we've seen an ebb and flow to the crowds, Mubarak -- pro-Mubarak forces would surge forward for a time only then to be pushed back by the anti-Mubarak forces, who maintained control of, or at least their position in Liberation Square. Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Anderson, is there anyone on the ground, perhaps it's the military, anybody in position of authority there who perhaps is trying to calm the situation?

COOPER: There are military vehicles. There's APCs, armored personnel carriers and tanks all along -- all around the periphery of Liberation Square. There have been for eight or nine days. They're not making any move, it appeared, to do anything.

About two hours ago, I'm estimating, maybe three hours ago, the biggest development was some military vehicles, or some trucks were brought in right in front of the Egyptian Museum sort of to create a barrier between both sides and create a front line, sort of a no-man's land. That worked for a time. But at a certain point, the anti -- the pro-Mubarak forces surged forward, actually overturning some of those vehicles, trying to push their way into the square. They then were pushed back.

And those vehicles were still in place. But it's not clear if there were any soldiers on the ground. I have not been there. As you said, I had to escape several hours ago.

MALVEAUX: And Anderson, you and I had talked before and you had described a situation where you felt that perhaps people were trapped in that particular section of the square. Is there any sense that things have let up, that perhaps people can actually move about and leave if they want to?

COOPER: From the -- I can see clearly the north exit to the square, and I can tell you nobody could get out this way. No anti- Mubarak protester would attempt to leave through this way.

There are other entrances and exits to the square. I don't know if there are pro-Mubarak crowds blocking those entrances as well. I'm simply not at the south vantage point that I could tell that. But I certainly would hope people in the square, if they wanted to, would be able to leave because over the last eight or nine days there have been families camping out, people holding tents, people not wanting to leave the square, lest (INAUDIBLE) be taken. And it seems at this point, certainly, that the pro-Mubarak forces would very much like to, in essence, retake the square, to occupy the square and either push the protesters out or do something else to them.

MALVEAUX: And Anderson, we're just taking a look at pictures from earlier in the day, during the daylight hours, when you had some of those pro-Mubarak forces who were really stampeding and attacking some of the anti-Mubarak protesters, the demonstrators, those on camel and horseback.

We know earlier there were families that were there. You described -- you said about women and children. Are they still there on the streets inside the square? Do we have any sense of how those families and the young people, perhaps even children, are doing?

COOPER: I don't. One can only imagine. If it is true that pro- Mubarak forces are at all the entrances to the square and there's no way out, it's got to be a very scary situation for families and kids who are in that square and cannot get out.

We don't know, frankly -- I don't know the situation inside the square, whether or not they've been able to evacuate any of the children, any of the women who are there. It is very, very -- I mean, this thing has been building all day long. It began earlier today. By 2:00 is sort of when the rock throwing began, maybe around 1:30 local time. And it escalated very, very quickly. So, anyone who is in the square at that point would have had a hard time getting out once it began.

MALVEAUX: Anderson, at what point -- was there a point during the day, during the last 24 hours, where you could tell that there was something wrong, that there was a feeling that something was going to turn and that this was going to be an ugly situation?

COOPER: I'm sorry. I didn't hear that. There was some strong what?

MALVEAUX: Was there any point where you felt, where you could feel, this situation, which was peaceful, could turn? Where there was a tension in the air where people felt perhaps in danger?

COOPER: You know, around 2:30 or so in the afternoon, when my team headed over to the square to start to cover this, we had already heard there were already individual acts of fighting. We had no idea, though, that, one, we were going to be able to get to the square. And at first, I was able to walk through the pro-Mubarak crowd relatively unimpeded. A few people would hold up flags, pictures of Mubarak. Saying, "Mubarak yes."

Once we got to the area around the Egyptian Museum, literally a man came out of the crowd, attempted to grab a camera that my cameraman Neil Hallsworth was holding. From there, the melee began. Someone punched me in the head. Someone else attacked my producer, my female producer, Mary Ann Fox. I mean, there was complete pandemonium, where all of a sudden, we became the focus of the people who were in that area, and people were just trying to get their punches in and get their kicks in. We quickly realized the situation was beyond control, beyond our control, and quickly turned around and started to move back very rapidly toward the hotel without actually running because we didn't want to incite the crowd and sort of make them start to chase us.

But this -- it's amazing how quickly a situation like this turns and how people in the crowd, clearly men in the crowd, thugs, I would say, who are there to get into fights, who are there to give folks payback for whatever their motivation is and whoever is behind them. They are there. They are the ones who right now are on the front lines throwing Molotov cocktails and fighting back and forth.

And I'm seeing right now an incendiary device that's just been launched off maybe a 14- or 15-story building that's just been dropped into the crowd near the entrance to the square. Again, the crowds may be thinning out slightly, but I don't want to give the impression this is over because it's not. We are still seeing a standoff in front of the Egyptian Museum.

MALVEUAX: Well, Anderson, please be safe. We certainly hope that those on the ground, the Egyptians are able to take care of themselves and be safe as well.

Obviously, we're going to follow all the developments, the chaos really -- the scene we're seeing on the streets of Cairo that's erupted just within the last several hours.

We'll have more after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A recent scandal in the FBI revealed widespread cheating among agents and supervisors on a written test about conducting domestic investigations. Now, a government investigation led to the reassignment of two high ranking supervisors who received help on the test.

However, cheating is just one example of years of misconduct inside the agency. Our own Kyra Phillips, who joins us now with more beyond the headlines. This sounds like this was a big problem.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. And we're talking about FBI agents here. You know. I mean, elite protectors of American justice hitting the strip club, driving drunk, checking out porn, acting like frat boys instead of G-men. A pattern of misconduct that we uncovered in this exclusive investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): This is the FBI we know and trust, agents who take down bank robbers...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shots are being fired.

PHILLIPS: ... the mob, Russian sleeper cells, agents who swear to uphold fidelity, bravery, integrity. But what we found inside one of the most respected federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies doesn't always match that image.

(on camera): Why did you lie?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I panicked. I lied about speaking to somebody about a piece of information.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Ashamed that he was caught, fearful that he'll be identified, the story of this former agent who illegally searched the FBI database for personal use and then lied about it is not unique. As a matter of fact, the FBI confirms about 1,000 cases of misconduct over the last three years.

PHILLIPS (on camera): Many are highlighted right here in confidential summaries of disciplinary reports that we obtained. Bad behavior that may have you wondering why many of these employees didn't lose their jobs.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): These internal reports that include a sex tape, sleeping with informants, tapping into FBI databases for unauthorized searches, viewing pornography on bureau computers, even driving drunk.

We went to the president of the FBI Agents Association.

PHILLIPS (on camera): It was pretty appalling reading some of the acts of misconduct. Is that ever acceptable?

KONRAD MOTYKA, FBI AGENTS ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT: No, it isn't acceptable. Specifically demonstrable, incorrect conduct or criminal conduct is not acceptable and never should be.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Here are just a few examples. An employee had "a sexual relationship with a source" over seven months. The punishment, 40 days suspension. An employee who was drunk "exploited his FBI employment at a strip club," falsely claiming he was "conducting an official investigation." His punishment, suspended for 30 days.

A supervisor viewed "pornographic movies" in his office during work hours while "sexually satisfying himself." Punishment, 35 days suspension. And an employee in "a leadership position" misused a "government database" to check on two "exotic dancers" and then took them into an FBI office after hours. That penalty, 23 days suspension.

CANDICE WILL, ASSISTANT FBI DIRECTOR: But people are human. They make mistakes.

PHILLIPS: Assistant FBI Director Candice Will oversees the Office of Professional Responsibility, which handles disciplinary proceedings.

PHILLIPS (on camera): When you hear those type of allegations, suspension seem right to you versus being fired? WILL: When I hear those types of allegations, I'm deeply aggrieved. I don't want to hear about any of our employees doing anything like that. But, again, I -- my job is to look at the full file in the case.

PHILLIPS: To some, you could hear allegations like this and think, wow, it takes a lot of bad behavior to get fired from the FBI.

WILL: That is so not true. If I get any type of criticism on a routine basis, it is that I am the hammer. I don't ever hear that I am light or that I take an easy tack ever.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Will says she receives about 500 cases of alleged misconduct a year, and about 70 percent result in some kind of discipline. Just a fraction, she says, of the 34,000 FBI employees.

WILL: The vast majority of our employees do not lie. The vast majority of our employees do not cheat. The vast majority of our employees do not steal.

PHILLIPS: But the internal reports we obtained do detail serious misconduct -- misuse of position, fraud, even abuse of a government credit card. In one case, an FBI employee used government databases to get details about celebrities the employee thought were, quote, "hot."

WILL: I have seen allegations in my office where I have been surprised by what I've read. I have seen allegations in my office where I have been very saddened by what I've read.

PHILLIPS: Like the FBI employee who leaked "law enforcement sensitive information to his girlfriend, who was a news reporter." And after breaking up, threatened her "with the release of a sex tape the two had made."

PHILLIPS (on camera): How could someone like that even work for the FBI in the first place?

WILL: Well, that someone is a former employee.

PHILLIPS: Director Will, why not a no tolerance policy?

WILL: We do have a no tolerance policy. We don't tolerate our employees engaging in misconduct. It doesn't mean that we fire everybody.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): But one sure way to get fired is to lie under oath.

PHILLIPS (on camera): Why did you make the mistake? You took the oath. You knew what you were doing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because you're a human being and you make a mistake. You fail. You fear. It's a fit of panic. That's all.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: So, Kyra, I guess the question that everybody wants to know, what does it take to get fired there?

PHILLIPS: Yes, people were surprised, wow, you only get suspended for that? Bottom line, they want to look at everything case by case -- on a case by case basis. Look at your background, how long you've been there. It's expensive to put someone through the FBI.

MALVEAUX: Right.

PHILLIPS: But if you lie under oath, you're gone.

MALVEAUX: That's it.

All right, Kyra, excellent report. Really appreciate it.

PHILLIPS: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: All right, thanks you, Kyra.

Well, our team of producers, they are tallying the votes on the piece that you want to see on air. It's called our "Choose The News" segment. And the winning story up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: And now for your pick in our choose the news segment. The winner, Afghan girls catch air. I'm glad you chose that. I like that one. The country where girls are often prevented from going to school. There's one place in Kabul that's giving them a new sense of freedom, empowerment through skateboarding. Our CNN's Arwa Damon reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fearless, scarves flying. These young Afghan girls are taking on the trick of skateboarding. This is Skateistan, Afghan's first and only skateboarding school.

"Teacher, this part scares me," 13-year-old Faranas cries out.

Like half the girls here at the school, she lives in poverty.

"I was working on the streets when one of the skateboarding teachers found me and took down our names," she tells us. Two weeks later she was on a board for the first time.

The program aims to bridge divides.

MAX HENNINGER, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, SKATEISTAN: See, we want to build trust between different Afghan ethnicities, as well as between foreigners and Afghans.

DAMON: Skateistan, an Afghan NGO, started in a park in downtown Kabul in 2007. And eventually expanded into this facility two years later, serving more than 300 boys and girls a week. DAMON (on camera): Teaching skateboarding is actually not Skateistan's main aim. It is simply a hook to draw the children in. The real goal of the program is fulfilled in the classroom.

DAMON (voice-over): Today's class is art, allowing children the rare chance to be creative. English lessons and other courses are offered to help impoverished children build basic skills and get into school.

Fourteen-year-old Fazila used to spend all day working on the street. She's now one of Skateistan's instructors. This program transformed her life.

"Before I came to Skateistan, I used to think that I wouldn't be able to do anything with my future," she says. "But now, I think I will become the best skateboarder."

It's a welcome relief away from Kabul's congested and war-ravaged streets. She can now make up to $170 a month working and having fun at Skateistan to help her parents support her seven other siblings. But it's not quite enough to make ends meet.

"My mom wants me to stop working on the streets," she tells us, "but I still have to, to support my family."

At dusk, she goes out on the street, cleaning car windows for small change. Daydreaming about tomorrow when she's back on her board.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Kabul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Good for them. Good choice, viewers. We like that story.

Coming up next, we've got new video and sound out of Cairo, Egypt. New, fresh video. Obviously a lot of violence and a lot of concern out of that area. That after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Joining us on the phone, journalist Ian Lee in central Cairo, for the very latest developments. We are getting reports in of gunfire in the area. Tell us what you're seeing.

IAN LEE, JOURNALIST (via telephone): Well, Suzanne, we're what -- what we're really not seeing it right now, but we're hearing it. Earlier in the day, we did see a man with a pistol, one of the pro- Mubarak protesters, shooting a gun in the air to try to intimidate the anti-Mubarak protesters. But as night fell, we started hearing heavy gunfire in the distance in two different places around Tahrir Square. Not from the square itself, but around there. And it was definitely sustained. And then there was a lull and then more of it.

Suzanne. MALVEAUX: And we are seeing pictures of people with machetes. Unbelievable pictures here. Close-ups of those holding these kind of makeshift weapons, pieces of concrete. Is it your sense that things are getting worse?

LEE: You know, I've been covering this story since it began, and today I can tell you that it felt -- there was -- it was the most chaotic that this situation has been. You know, you really couldn't tell who was on whose side because everyone was wearing -- in street clothes. And, you know, people were -- had --

MALVEAUX: All right.

LEE: You know, machetes and rocks and guns. It was very chaotic.

MALVEAUX: OK. All right, Ian, please take good care of yourself. Be safe.

I want to pass this story on to my colleague, Ali Velshi, here in the NEWSROOM for the next two hours.

Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Suzanne, thanks. Great coverage. It's kept us riveted on the situation in Egypt and our weather situation here in the United States. So we're going to continue both of that -- both of those stories.

It's 1:00 p.m. in the East. Take a look at what I'm showing you on the screen right now. On the top