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Prominent Members of Egypt's Ruling National Democratic Party Resign; President Hosni Mubarak's Son No Longer Eligible to Take Over Egypt's Presidency; Poor Economic Conditions Are One Source of Unrest in Egypt; Boy Treated For Severe Cancer Plays College Football After Recovery; Shoe Selling Internet Business Has Fun Work Environment; Jordan's Royal Family Attempting to Head Off Popular Protests With Limited Governmental Reforms; Grandparents May Be the New Market in Growing Economy

Aired February 05, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Egypt in crisis this hour. American students react to the unrest. At 3:00 eastern, the uprising's possible impact on the U.S. and the Middle East peace. And at 4:00, an in-depth look at potentially key player in Egypt's future, the Muslim Brotherhood.

You're in the CNN Newsroom where the news unfolds live this Saturday, February 5th. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Major new developments unfolding in Egypt this afternoon. First on the political front -- top leaders of the ruling National Democratic Party have resigned, among them Hosni Mubarak's son, Gamal Mubarak. Today's announcement makes the younger Mubarak no longer eligible to take over from his father.

Also on the political front, a coalition of opposition forces has been formed. It's called the group of ten and it includes the national association for change. The group is calling for President Mubarak's immediate resignation and the right for peaceful demonstrations.

And today in Cairo thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo's main square for a 12th day of protests. Opposition demonstrations formed a human chain to prevent Egyptian army tanks from crossing barricades into Tahrir Square. And a witness says scuffles broke out after an army general asked protestors to take down the makeshift barricades.

It's nighttime in Cairo and it's afternoon in New York, and that's another place where people who want democracy in Egypt are actually raising their voices today. Supporters of the pro-democracy movement in Cairo are gathering outside the United Nations headquarters and that's where we also find CNN's Susan Candiotti right now where it looks like the crowd has grown significantly.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's picked up a bit. I'd say maybe about 100 people here, significantly smaller than it was last week, but honestly I think in large part it has to do with the very nasty weather that we're experiencing here in New York. However, the message is strong and clear from the people who are here, 99 percent of them calling for President Mubarak to leave. Across the street from the United Nations, people here speaking, first of all, reacting to the news out of Egypt that key members of the ruling party have resigned, including the son of President Mubarak, Gamal. No one here is impressed with it. They are calling this purely cosmetic.

They are not happy with the violence that took place this week. They're more gratified that has calmed down for now. One of the things they have been talking about today is the group -- rather, the points that have been brought up by a committee of so-called wise men, of business people, intellectuals, and others that are represented in Cairo and in other parts of Egypt that are trying to come up with some plan, some way to break the impasse.

Of course, nothing has been agreed to yet, but there is still hope there that that will happen. People here say they will not be satisfied until President Mubarak leaves. Fredricka, back to you.

WHITFIELD: Susan Candiotti, thanks so much. Let's go to Washington. On the phone now, Sandra Endo. She is with protesters marching to the White House right now. Sandra, did they begin at the Egyptian embassy?

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka. Several hundred protesters gathered in front of the Egyptian embassy earlier this afternoon. They were protesting, chanting, carrying signs.

But interesting to note, they are on their way now to the White House making a march down Connecticut Avenue here in the nation's capital, and going to protest in front of the White House. But right before they made their move, they stopped for a moment of prayer, and it was such a powerful image to see the signs of protest they placed on the ground as well as their flag they draped over them to stop for their moment of prayer. And it was a very symbolic message that they are keeping their faith and are keeping their spirituality in the midst of all this uprising in Egypt.

And this whole protest has been a symbol of their solidarity for what is going on in Egypt. They are calling for peace, but they're also calling for a regime change. Despite the brink of perhaps change in Egypt, Fredricka. They are saying change cannot come soon enough, and they want President Mubarak out. They do not trust his vow for a smooth transition in government. And they say they will not stop protesting until he leaves office.

And that is why they are making the march to the White House right now. They're escorted by local police officers here and they expect to rally in front of the White House also calling for the Obama administration to make sure that this administration and the United States in general takes a tough stance on President Mubarak. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Sandra Endo, thanks so much joining us from by phone as they walks with the demonstrators there to the White House. So Tahrir Square isn't the only protest site. There have been demonstrations outside the parliament building as well. Here now is CNN Senior International Correspondent Ben Wedeman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's hard to ignore their racket, angry workers, pro-democracy activists, the generally disgruntled, all of whom have turned this street outside the Egyptian parliament into a stage for protest.

These workers have been keeping it up around the clock for more than two weeks. Their agriculture machinery factory was privatized and sold to foreign investors, production halted, and it's been months since anyone have been paid.

"Empty promises are all we've gotten," says Said Mohammed. "The investors are stronger than us all." This man used to work for another privatized factory. "The workers haven't been paid in four months, and the owners won't budge," he says.

This is the spring of Egypt's discontent, fueled by political stagnation, rampant corruption, and uneven economic growth.

Across the street another demonstration, this one by activists angered by a pro-government member of parliament who said Egyptian security should use live ammunition against protesters. Here, however, the normally heavy-handed Egyptian police are taking a gentler approach.

WEDEMAN (on camera): The sidewalks in front of the Egyptian parliament have become something of a speaker's corner. Everyone with a grievance, big or small, now comes here.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): This man has enlisted the help of his three children. He says he couldn't afford to enroll his six-year-old daughter in a government school where education is supposed to be free. "The teacher wanted me to pay her 4,000 pounds," around $700, he says. "Where can I get that? I'm a poor man. Your policies," he chants to the government, "are in the potty."

Even an authoritarian government as demonstrably deaf as this one may find it hard to ignore the noise in the streets. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Cairo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Back in this country now, a sliding ice at Cowboys stadium, well that has injured six people. Big concern now, so what is in the forecast for tomorrow's big game? We'll check in with Bonnie Schneider.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The latest developments on the crisis in Egypt. Top leaders of the ruling national Democratic Party have resigned, among them Hosni Mubarak's son, Gamal Mubarak. It means the younger Mubarak is no longer eligible to take over from his father.

A coalition of opposition forces meantime has been formed. It's called the "group of ten" and it includes Mohamed ElBaradei's National Association for Change. It is calling for President Mubarak's immediate resignation and legalizing peaceful demonstrations.

And thousands gathered in Cairo's main square for a 12th day of protests. Opposition demonstrations formed a human chain to prevent Egyptian army tanks from crossing barricades into Tahrir Square. A witness says scuffles also broke out there.

Now to Cairo, Egypt. Arwa Damon is on the phone with us. Arwa, give us an idea of how significant the changes are, the resignations in this Democratic Party.

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, on the smaller political scale, the resignation is fairly significant, but when it comes to it being a step towards brokering any sort of an end to these violent demonstration that is have effectively paralyzed not just Cairo but al of Egypt, not that big of an impact.

What we saw was the resignation of the general secretariat within which there is an executive council that runs the day to day business of the party. Now Hosni Mubarak's son, Gamal Mubarak, was part of that council, but he has resigned as well.

Now, we spoke with one political analyst, and he believes Mubarak is taking these steps to basically save the party by removing what many people perceive as being the ugly faces of the National Democratic Party. There is also some belief amongst one analyst, for example, that this could perhaps, maybe be the beginning of President Mubarak himself stepping down, although there has been absolutely no indication of that what so ever.

And we'll have to remember that that is what these demonstrators are calling for, and as far as we're aware from everybody who we're talking to, they're not going to settle for anything less than that.

And, Fredricka, these are really diehard demonstrators. We were down in Tahrir Square where you see the walking wounded stopping off at these makeshift clinics getting their bandages changed and then saying they're going to stick around and fight, they're not going home.

People in the area are also struggling for food. They're surviving on handouts that are being brought in after other volunteers say they have to navigate a gauntlet of pro-Mubarak demonstrators, checkpoints that have been set up. Also some checkpoints set up by the security forces that they say are continuously harassing them, but by all means and all indications, it does appear that these demonstrators are digging in for the long haul. Some of them even going so far to say they would die before they gave up any of this hard fought ground.

WHITFIELD: Arwa Damon, thank you for that update out of Cairo. Turning to other news in this country, much of the U.S. still digging out from this week's massive winter storm, but in Holland, Michigan, families still surrounded by snow can actually get at least medical attention now. That's because Dr. John Schloff is not only willing to make house calls, he can actually make them via snowmobile.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JOHN SCHLOFF, MAKES HOUSE CALLS ON SNOWMOBILE: Family practice is a great way to practice medicine. You get to know families, delivering babies, being a part of the family. It's just one more way of visiting them out in the sticks. It's just a fun way to practice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Unfortunately, Dr. Schloff's snowmobile gave out on him that particular day. The reporter who was covering his house call ended up giving him a lift.

(WEATHER BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, perhaps you're looking for a great place to work, one with the few free perks like free lunches, massages, ice cream. We found one in "Building up America."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: An online shoe company is seeing big profits during a tough time. Tom Foreman reports employees are having a whole lot of fun.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Twenty-four/seven, 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 started a dozen years ago with a radical concept -- success is about service, not selling.

CEO Tony Hsieh.

TONY HSIEH, CEO, ZAPPOS.COM INC.: For us culture isn't 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 about the business environment.

RAY ANDRE, ZAPPOS.COM: This is a business meeting.

FOREMAN: There's a lot of giggling going 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: What is your key philosophy about running this business?

HSIEH: Internally we have a saying 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.

(LAUGHTER)

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)

WHITFIELD: We're going to shift our attention overseas again along with everybody else around the world. There are a lot of young Americans who have been watching the event unfold in Egypt. What do you suppose they have to say about all this?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: If you bought gas today, you probably paid a little bit more than you did last week, and that's partly because of the political turmoil in Egypt. It has nothing to do with the oil coming from that part of the world, however, and everything to do with how nervous people are getting. Watch this report from CNN's Lisa Sylvester.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here is Egypt, not a major exporter of oil, but the real concern is the Suez Canal which Egypt controls. It is a key shipping lane that connects the Mediterranean and the red sea. The political crisis in Egypt has so far not disrupted the flow of goods through the region, but even the mere possibility has rattled investors.

We sat down with Jamie Webster, oil analyst with PFC Energy, who predicts higher gas prices.

JAMIE WEBSTER, OIL ANALYST, PFC ENERGY: This event kind of helped push up the global oil price above $100 today. It was up a couple dollars the day before. There were already some pressures on it that was fueling sentiment to bring it higher and this just raises a concern primarily because of the Suez Canal, that we're kind of in a moment where there's some real potential for some supply disruptions.

SYLVESTER (on camera): Now possibly $4 a gallon?

SYLVESTER: It's a potential. I don't want to raise it too much and say, yes, we're having $4 a gallon this summer. More likely we're probably going to be in the mid-$3 range.

WEBSTER: A lot of families would say even that's quite a bit.

SYLVESTER (voice-over): Talk of higher gas prices in the U.S. has Darius Stewart's attention.

DARIUS STEWART, CONCERNED ABOUT RISING GAS PRICES: The price is already high, and to go up, it's going to be a real strain for a lot of people, especially with the economy the way that it is.

SYLVESTER: If the canal is closed, oil tankers and other shipping traffic would have to travel around the horn of Africa. But there is another worry. Could the unrest in Egypt catch on in other countries like the oil-rich Saudi Arabia?

WEBSTER: Saudi Arabia has a couple of things that Tunisia and Egypt do not have. One, there is a broad support for the current regime. King Abdullah is fairly well-liked within the region. He has done a very good job, and the Saudi infrastructure is set up to have fairly expansive patronage networks.

And so a lot of people are really -- have a voice, maybe not a democratic voice in terms what we view in the west, but they have a voice in terms of an economic voice. They are benefiting economically from the regime.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, that was CNN's Lisa Sylvester reporting.

All right, well, a group of American, very experienced travelers were actually heading for safari, but instead their tour group ended up in the middle of protests in Egypt. We talked to a few of them just last weekend by phone, and now the seasoned travelers are back home in the U.S., and here is how one of them described their unplanned vacation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REGINA FRASER, CO-HOST, GRANNIES ON SAFARI: We got there, and it seemed OK. We got there in the evening and then the next day we were -- we went to see the sphinx and so on. But the following day we were supposed to see the Cairo Museum and our guide said it's close. Let's head to Alexandria.

We did, got there to Alexandria, and they said turn around and get out. We drove three hours back and got back. That's when we really saw all the protesters, thousands and thousands and thousands of people carrying signs. There were people also with their children.

It was very peaceful it seemed. We had the one incident where I thought they were going to turn our bus over because they were running down off a bridge. We saw tear gas in the air, heard gunshots. It was quite something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And then, take a look right here, pictures that are actually not from Egypt. Coming up, where is this protest? And why are the leaders of other Arab states watching closely?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: One Middle East expert saw the uprising in Egypt coming three years ago. Her telling prediction and her take on how the U.S. should move forward in just a moment.

But first, a look at these top stories. The leadership of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party has resigned, including the son of President Hosni Mubarak. Gamal Mubarak has stepped down from all his posts within the party, making him ineligible to run for president of Egypt.

And this as anti-government protesters stood against army tanks to prevent them from crossing a barricade in Tahrir Square. Witnesses say scuffles broke out when soldiers knocked down some of the barricades.

And Egyptian-Americans and others in the U.S. are being quite vocal in their support for the anti-Mubarak protests. Rallies are taking place in cities across the U.S. today. Protesters in Washington, D.C., are marching to the White House, and in New York they're gathering outside the U.N. to show solidarity with protesters overseas.

And Great Britain is still trying to get its citizens out of harm's way. Many British nationals were evacuated from Cairo earlier this week, and now the British government is setting up another charter flight. The U.S. state department is urging Americans to take advantage of U.S. charter flights out of Cairo as well. Other nations are evacuating their people as well.

And well before these 12 days of protests, violence, and revolt in Egypt, at least one expert on the region says she saw this coming. In 2008 Michelle Dunne of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace wrote that Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak would leave office by 2011. Earlier I asked her to break down the developments that helped her make this prediction back in 2008.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE DUNNE, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: There have been changes underway in Egyptian society that I and other scholars as well have been following. There's a youth bulge in Egyptian society as in a lot of other Arab societies, and this young generation has grown up with satellite television, with Internet. They've become increasingly active in social and political causes.

And, frankly, they just weren't really willing to play by the old rules, to play by the rules of authoritarian government. And so it was clear that, you know, there was a growing gap between Egyptian society, particularly between this younger he element in the Egyptian society and the government, a widening gap. And I think it was only a matter of time before it broke wide open, and we saw that 12 days ago.

WHITFIELD: You also wrote the western world has not been paying attention. What were some of the things that the western world has overlooked?

DUNNE: I think that what happened was in the west, you know, we're used to dealing pretty much government to government with these governments in the Middle East, and Hosni Mubarak was a close ally of the United States throughout his presidency.

President Mubarak was himself pretty deaf to the demands that were rising up within his society. The United States did try to nudge him a bit. President Bush particularly for a few years during his administration tried to persuade Mubarak to carry out some political reforms. Mubarak did a couple of small things, but thing really started resisting. The Bush administration backed off.

And the Obama administration, too, made some sort of I would say timid efforts to persuade Mubarak to undertake reforms, but he just wasn't hearing it. He really turned the Obama administration down flat.

WHITFIELD: But then something happened in the last week where the Obama administration changed its tone. Initially, as you mentioned, kind of tepid, saying you should allow people to protest peacefully. And then it became we need to see a transition of power. And then it became a transition of power now, not yesterday, but now.

So what happened in that week that would make this administration or the U.S. posture different?

DUNNE: Well, they saw the writing on the wall. I mean, they saw that change is coming. It's coming fast. No matter what kind of a transition is worked out, Egypt is not going to back to the way it was before. And I think president Obama did not want to be on the wrong side of history here.

Now, I was critical of some of the statements the administration made a week or so ago, but I think particularly in the statement that Obama made yesterday he finally nailed it, you know, the importance of a transition to real democracy and that the United States would not stand by and approve it if this just -- if all these protests were to result in nothing more than, say, a different version of the Egyptian authoritarian regime.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: So for nearly two weeks now we've been watching the political drama of historic proportions unfolding in Egypt, and many young people have been watching this as well right here in this country. CNN student news anchor Carl Azuz has been looking into their responses. So how have they been communicating their thoughts on these massive protests?

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: We're doing something a little bit differently this time around. We took it to our Facebook site, Facebook.com/CNNStudentNews. And the reason for that -- a couple different reasons. One, we have sort of an older segment of the audience as Facebook has a minimum age limit. The other one being that Facebook played sort of a seminal role in getting these protests going in Egypt before the Internet was shut down there.

So we took it to our Facebook audience to sort of get their perspective on this.

WHITFIELD: So what have they been saying about this? Have they been expressing clear thoughts about Hosni Mubarak, about the whole thought of democracy in that region or in that country, what?

AZUZ: They have been. And, you know, it's gratifying to us to see how closely they're paying attention to what's going on in Egypt, particularly with president Hosni Mubarak. Many students we have spoken to feel it is time for him to go.

However, they're split, as you're going to see in the comments we have for you today, about whether he should go immediately or if the Egyptian people should wait.

This one came from Jessica, again at our Facebook site, saying "Egyptians need to stop the protests for the country's good. The president said he's not going to run. They need to wait." Counterpoint coming from a student named Daniel who wrote in to us. Daniel saying, "Mubarak can't keep his grip on Egypt forever. The time has come. It's time for him to agree to their demands and leave" with what he calls "partial dignity."

WHITFIELD: Do they have thoughts about how the U.S. should proceed in all this?

AZUZ: There's some concern about how the U.S. might respond among students, one student telling us he's afraid there could be potential for U.S. military involvement, as you will see. This comment comes to us from Jared, who is saying "If this keeps up the U.S. might be forced to intervene. We have Egypt as well as Afghanistan to deal with."

And listen to this from Garrett. Garrett had something I thought was pretty profound for a high school student. "He's laughing at half the time they talk about Egypt they bring up what is America going to do about it, as if America has become the international babysitting service."

And then one more comment from you, Andrew, who personalized this sort of lamenting the fact he was 16 in these times of high gas prices.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: Yes, it's a drag filling up your tank right now.

AZUZ: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Everyone is feeling it.

AZUZ: Everyone is feeling it, and, you know, even at the student level they're kind of like this could affect us. There's a realization that what's going on over in north Africa could eventually impact Americans. And so the most personal way I think a lot of students are afraid it's going to affect them are in the wallet at the gas pump.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much. Thanks for bringing their sentiments.

Well, every week in "The Human Factor" we profile a survivor who has overcome tremendous odds. Today Dr. Sanjay Gupta introduces us to a college football star. He conquered an often deadly form of bone cancer and then returned to the football field.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: As he leads his team onto the field, you can see it, Mark Herlich, number 94 is fierce. He's dedicated. He's a devoted team player.

MARK HERZLICH, BOSTON COLLEGE LINEBACKER: You know, football is really my lifeblood to be honest right now.

GUPTA: Few things have ever stood in this linebacker's way, not his opponents on the football field, and not even cancer.

HERZLICH: My whole left leg was completely white, meaning there was a tumor that surrounded my whole femur.

GUPTA: It was during his junior year at Boston College the former ACC defensive player of the year developed a pain that wouldn't go away. He was given a devastating diagnosis, a rare, often deadly form of bone cancer that strikes roughly one of every 600,000 people.

HERZLICH: I went from when am I playing football again to when am I going to start treatments, what are my treatments going to be, what is chemotherapy like? Am I going to live?

GUPTA: He started a rigorous treatment schedule -- chemotherapy for two straight months then additional radiation before and after every chemotherapy visit, his motivation being to get healthy and to get back to playing football.

HERZLICH: I knew if I had gotten back on the field, I would have beaten cancer. I would have gotten my physical strength back to be where I wanted to be. GUPTA: That internal drive, it's what helped him mount a triumphant return. Now he's cancer-free. He's back to playing football and football fans, young and old, well, they're celebrating with him.

HERZLICH: You can do incredible things as a human being. You can defy the odds. Even if someone says you're not going to be able to make it, you're not going to be able to do this or that, you can push yourself and have that will to get that, and I got there.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And these days grandparents are gaining more business clout. Find out why, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Recapping the latest developments in the crisis in Egypt. First, on a political front, top leaders of the ruling National Democratic Party have resigned, among them Hosni Mubarak's son, Gamal Mubarak. Today's announcement means the younger Mubarak is no longer eligible to take over from his father.

And a coalition of opposition forces have been formed, and it's called the "group of ten," and it includes Mohamed ElBaradei's National Association for Change. It is calling for President Mubarak's immediate resignation and legalizing peaceful demonstrations.

And thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo's main square for a 12th day of protests. Opposition demonstrations formed a human chain to prevent Egyptian army tanks from crossing barricades in Tahrir Square.

The number of grandparents in this country is growing dramatically, and that's giving them more power in the marketplace. Here is CNN's Josh Levs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go.

BEVERLY BACHMAN, GRANDMOTHER: Here we go. Who wants a -- here we go, oh, oh, oh

JOSH LEVS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Ron and Beverly are doting grandparents. Their three grandchildren can't wait to come over and play.

It's a scene that plays out in millions of homes but it's also part of a new trend in our economy. The number of grandparents is increasing at more than double the rate of the general population. Three in 10 U.S. adults are now grandparents according to a study commissioned by grandparents.com which markets to them. A "New York Times" blog recently reported on this idea of the "grandparent economy," older Americans carrying more business clout.

BEVERLY BACHMAN: I think it's an emerging market. I haven't seen much out there at all.

LEVS: Some entrepreneurs are taking notice. The Bachman's used GrandCamp, a new Web site that says its products help grandparents and grand kids connect, have fun, and generate lifetime memories. Creator Patricia Babuka --

PATRICIA BABUKA, CREATOR, GRANDCAMP: You look how grandparents there are in the market and it's staggering.

LEVS: And 70 million according to the study. There's a reason some are looking for products. They have to compete with technology like game systems.

BACHMAN: Even the younger kids get involved with technology pretty quick. But it's kind of fun to get them away from that.

LEVS: Of course, products aren't needed for fun, but as the idea of a grandparent economy catches on, expect more to target the growing demographic.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Josh Levs with us now. There is a huge incentive for a lot of grandparents to get tech savvy because these little grand kids know what to do at two and three.

LEVS: And these developers are starting to figure it out and they're making all these products for them. Look how much money grandparents are spending. According to the study from grandparents.com, they spend $2 trillion per year, and of that on the next screen, $52 billion a year on their grandchildren.

So it makes sense that more and more entrepreneurs out there would start to notice, you know what? When you hear about entrepreneurship and advertisers, you often think younger demographic. The reality is especially as more and more baby boomers become grandparents, what you're finding is they pack a huge economic punch.

But I don't want to suggest that you got to buy a product in order to have fun. So on my Facebook page I have posted for you some websites that have free ideas, activities, things you can do totally for free. Fred, I will tell you, more people catching onto this. These grandparents in America are starting realize the economic power they have.

WHITFIELD: And sometimes a grandkid, they don't have to have an activity. Just being there and just talking.

LEVS: Look --

WHITFIELD: It's real cute. LEVS: It's great and it's what they're looking for. Sometimes because kids carry around the game systems all the time, grandparents are looking for a little something.

WHITFIELD: They feel a little pressure. Thanks, Josh.

LEVS: You got it.

WHITFIELD: Well, some places are still digging out, can you believe it, from this week's record-breaking blizzard. Well, now another threatening storm is on the horizon. We'll check in with Bonnie Schneider for the forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Watch and learn. This is why drivers should stay off the roads in dangerous weather. Things like this can happen. A Rhode Island man had to be rescued with a raft actually on Wednesday after his car got stuck on a flooded street, kind of icy there, too. Conditions turned even more treacherous later on in the day when the mercury dropped and all that water actually did freeze on the roads.

And a dangerous weather situation east in Massachusetts as well, not on the roads but on the roof. Take a look at this amazing video. Heavy snow caused an entire section of a commercial building to collapse right there. Employees knew something wasn't right when they heard the sound of metal bending. They all evacuated before the building collapsed, so no one was hurt. Boy, those instincts kicked in and that was a great blessing.

(WEATHER BREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This is far from Cairo, but it is potentially a big problem in Egypt. Somebody set fire to a main pipeline that delivers natural gas from Egypt to Jordan. No word on what or who started the fire, but a local Egyptian governor calls it sabotage. Jordan depends on that pipeline to meet energy demands, and it looks like it will be shut down for about a week.

The same day Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak said that he won't run for re-election, the king of Jordan fired his entire cabinet. Anti-government protests were beginning to flare up there, though not nearly as violently as in Egypt. The two countries are not that far apart, but as Brian Todd reports, you can't really compare the two situations point for point.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: His capital is only about 300 miles from Cairo. His major cities like Egypt's have seen upheaval in the streets in recent days. Widespread calls for change. Now, Jordan's King Abdullah fires one prime minister and appoints another.

TODD (on camera): The royal court says the new man will put in place the reforms need. Jordan's Prince Hassan bin Talal, the king's uncle and a key figure in the monarch, spoke to CNN about what the change means.

PRINCE HASSAN BIN TALAL, JORDAN: He is very aware of the need to modernize, to develop an independent judiciary. It is the role of the judiciary and the legislature, but more than that to develop a third domain of government, private sector, and civil society at large.

TODD (voice-over): King Abdullah clearly seemed to be watching what happened in Tunisia, then Egypt. Abdullah just turned 49 and as a younger and what some call a more agile leader than knows in Tunisia and Egypt, he wants to get ahead of the turmoil. But there are key differences in Jordan.

PROF. SHIBLEY TELHAMI, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: They want to take away from the king the ability to appoint the prime minister independently from the elections. They want an elected prime minister.

TODD (on camera): And by making this change, is he angling to do that?

TELHAMI: This change doesn't constitute that. This change is really like previous changes, which is, you know, he changes the government that he thinks isn't performing and he puts another government in place and asks them to perform. They are still reporting to him.

TODD (voice-over): But in Jordan, unlike in Egypt, analysts say the opposition likely will not try to push its top leader, in this case the king, completely out of power. And in Jordan the opposition is led by political parties, particularly Islamist groups. In Egypt it's more of a grassroots uprising by young people.

But Jordan's not completely different.

TODD (on camera): What are the key similarities to Jordan to what's happening in Egypt?

JON ALTERMAN, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: You have economic similarities. You have especially lots of young people who can't get their first job after they finish education, and for a year, two years, three years, four years, they're hanging around. They say why did I study? Why did I behave? What does this system have for me?

TODD (voice-over): And a crucial similarity to Egypt, Jordan's position as a force for peace in the Middle East. Like Egypt, it helps moderate conflicts between Israel and the Palestinians. Like Egypt, it's a key U.S. ally in the region. So just like Egypt, U.S. officials are very worried about what happens in Jordan and hope the king can stay ahead of this.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

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