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Egypt's Strategic Importance; A Hero Off the Gridiron; Charlie Sheen Bank in Rehab; Some Elite Egyptians in Protests

Aired February 05, 2011 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A dozen days and counting as anti- government protestors again take to the streets of Egypt's cities. Demonstrators in Cairo formed a human shield in a standoff against Egyptian army tanks. And President Barack Obama receives a special briefing on the tensions in Egypt from his senior national security staff today.

Now, to the heart of the movement to install democracy in Egypt. It's after 10:00 p.m. there and again the government has ordered protesters to stay off the streets and out of the squares. Journalist Ian Lee is on the phone right now in Cairo. Ian, are people once again defying that curfew?

IAN LEE, JOURNALIST (via telephone): Fredricka, they are definitely out there defying the curfew. And not only are they defying the curfew like you said earlier, they are camping out around the tanks to make sure that they don't move and that they aren't able to kind of squeeze the square and try to put the pressure on the protesters. People are still very defiant, still wanting President Hosni Mubarak to step down.

WHITFIELD: How are the protests or demonstrations this evening any different from nights prior?

LEE: Well, Fredricka, tonight they've actually -- I just got off the phone with a person who is still in there, and they said that everyone is ecstatic, they're elated by the recent news of the reshuffle of the Egyptian government by certain ministers, you know, resigning and stepping down, and everyone is just seeing this as just one step closer to the end game, to their goal as seeing President Hosni Mubarak leaving.

WHITFIELD: Ian Lee thanks so much for your report from Cairo.

All right. Meantime, it is nighttime in Cairo, and its afternoon in New York, and supporters of the pro-democracy movement in Cairo gathered outside the United Nations Headquarters. That's where we find CNN's Susan Candiotti right now. Give me an idea of what the crowd is doing there.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. About 100 people or so have been here for a little over an hour or so. Many of them talking about some of the same things that people are in Cairo in Tahrir Square, calling for Mubarak to leave, calling for a consideration of some of the points that a group of intellectuals and others, business people, have been calling for in order to somehow get off the dime, break the impasse in order to allow or encourage President Mubarak to leave. Will those points be heard?

Clearly, no one here knows the answer. One of the organizers who is here today is Ahmed Latvi. I was asking you about some comments made by a U.S. envoy who said he was not speaking for the Obama administration, but nevertheless said, you know, that there is something to be said perhaps for President Mubarak to remain where he is now until parliamentary steps can be worked out in order that -- in order to control chaos. I'm paraphrasing there, but I'm wondering what you think of that?

AHMED LATVI: Well, I think it has been obvious in the last few days that is the source of chaos is Mubarak. So it's really utterly wrong to say that Mubarak is a stabilizing factor. In fact Mubarak is a destabilizing factor. Also, the assumption that Mubarak is a legitimate leader and the parliament is a legitimate legislative body is utterly wrong because they're not. The elections, as we have all seen, were rigged. They were fraudulent elections. Now the people have spoken, and now the legitimacy comes from the street.

CANDIOTTI: How long do you think people will remain in the square?

LATVI: I think as long as -- this is a fight. This is a revolution. They're making history here, so I hope that they stay as long as Mubarak is in power. Once he's gone, then people can have -- can sit down and relax. But as long as he's in power they have to take to the streets and they have to keep fighting all over the world.

CANDIOTTI: Thank you very much for joining us. As this rally begins to wind down here, pretty rough weather conditions this day. However, they are promising more rallies and they are talking about possible new steps they might seek against Mubarak and possibly the money that he represents, whether that somehow legal steps can be taken in that regard as well, Fred, but we'll have to see what happens next week in that regard.

Back to you.

WHITFIELD: Susan Candiotti thanks so much in New York.

Onto the nation's capitol there where a number of people are gathered outside the Egyptian Embassy, and then they made their way by walking to the White House. Our Sandra Endo is there. So, Sandra, give me an idea how many people turned out for that big walk.

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, I can tell you several hundred people gathered in front of the Egyptian Embassy. We're still waiting for the large part of them to make their way down here to the White House, but already a group of protesters have gathered here in front of the White House carrying signs, chanting, they're energized. They want to show their solidarity for the uprising in Egypt and I'm joined by one of the protesters here, Mohammed, who is an Egyptian-born American but has lived here for six years now. Why did you come out here today? MOHAMMED: Well I came out here to ask President Obama to be on the right side of history, to support the Egyptian people who want nothing but democracy and freedom and liberty.

ENDO: Do you feel like the White House and the Obama administration is saying the right things, saying they support Egyptians?

MOHAMMED: Well, I think they changed their position a couple of times but the last thing I heard was that they're form Mubarak staying until September. I don't know if that is confirmed or not, but that's not what the Egyptian people want and that's not what the people in Tahrir Square want.

ENDO: What is your message to the people in your homeland, to the people in Egypt also just outraged about the situation there?

MOHAMMED: All I can say is that I'm unbelievably proud of what's happening in Egypt. All the people in Tahrir Square, my sister is in Tahrir Square, you know I love her and I love everybody there. They're fighting for me to be able to come here and say this.

ENDO: All right. Mohammed thank you so much. He is one of many protesters who have come out here not just today but many days since the uprising began, Fredricka, and you can hear them singing, chanting, flags waving in the air, proud of Egypt and what is going on. Just showing their support for the major uprising and they hope that change will come soon.

Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sandra Endo thanks so much, outside the White House in the nation's capital.

All right, 12 straight days of nonstop public outcry in Egypt. This is the scene today in Cairo. People in other cities also not inclined to let up the pressure. Other cities in the country of Egypt. We'll take to you Alexandria next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Outside Egypt's capital city, there have been more protests against President Hosni Mubarak. CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson reports from Alexandria, Egypt, where he found the discussion is starting to change there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Divisions in Alexandria are growing. Even street corners becoming centers of heated debate. Inside cafes, the talk is of the violent clashes in Cairo pausing only to watch as protesters pass by. A week ago this man was one of the protesters trying to oust the president, not anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He agreed it is the month. Now we have to be quiet and give the responsible people a chance to adjust to all the damage that happened.

ROBERTSON: Inside the same cafe, anti-Mubarak activists claim pro- government factions stalking Alexandria streets are paid to attack them and tell me they're not going to give up until Mubarak goes. By the sea front, far from the protests, patient among this ancient city's fishermen long since run out. Net maker Ali Farhand (ph) is furious. This is wrong, he says. They're destroying the country, stopping business for all the people. We're with Mubarak. We need calm. His son Mohammad Ali is angry, too. The protesters are hurting our business and bringing armed thugs to the streets. Battle lines are being drawn. The middle ground evaporating.

TAREK EL TAIVIL, SENIOR JUDGE: The regime is panicking, they're frustrated. They don't know what to do. They have been never used to see this kind of demonstration.

ROBERTSON: Tarek El Taivil, a senior judge, thought Mubarak was backing down until he saw the violence in Cairo. Now, he says, the president should face trial for war crimes.

EL TAIVIL: It's against humanity what they did yesterday. Of course, of course. You will be seeing very recently that international lawyers and stuff like that and human rights organizations, they will start to push it, of course.

ROBERTSON: Will that convince him to step down?

EL TAIVIL: Of course. He has no choice.

ROBERTSON: It's a very, very uneasy calm. Over there on the corner are Mubarak loyalists waiting for anti-Mubarak demonstrators to come along, waiting for confrontation. So far at least the anti-Mubarak supporters have been able to avoid violent clashes.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Alexandria, Egypt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Back in this country astronaut Mark Kelly decides whether to stay in Texas near his wife or return to space.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Recapping the latest developments in the crisis in Egypt. 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 for his father. A coalition opposition forces has been formed and it's called the Group of Ten and it includes Mohamed Elbaradei's national association for change. It's calling for President Mubarak's immediate resignation and legalizing peaceful demonstrations.

Meantime, 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. And President Obama's special envoy says President Mubarak should stay in office, at least for a while. Jill Dougherty joins us now from Washington with more on this.

Jill.

JILL DOUGHERTY, STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, Fredricka, when you hear that at first, it seems a little strange, but actually there's some real political drama unfolding right now. Essentially what Frank Wisner, who is the special envoy for President Obama to Egypt, is saying is that President Mubarak is now in the process of dismantling his own power structure, and he should stay at least, and he says in the days ahead, not weeks or months he is saying, in the days ahead to accomplish that.

And if it's not done right, the people who are on the streets in Cairo demonstrating could be cheated of real political reform, which is what they've been marching for and dying for in some cases. So we have two things today, Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, in Munich at the security conference saying that people have to -- or actually urging people to stand behind the Vice President Soouleiman and then the intriguing comments from Frank Wisner, the special envoy and he stressed that he was speaking for himself. Let's listen to what he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK WISNER, PRES. OBAMA'S SPEICAL ENVOY TO EGYPT: And the president must stay in office in order to steer those changes through. I, therefore, believe that President Mubarak's continued leadership is critical; it's his opportunity to write his own legacy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: That's a diplomatic way of saying that President Mubarak should leave and the United States has been saying that he should leave and the process of transition should begin as quickly as possible but that the structure has to be there, and Fredricka, you know, Wisner is making a point that if the president were to step down today, according to the constitution, the speaker of the parliament would take over and they'd have to have elections in two months but the same people would be in parliament as before.

So in other words, a lot of the power structure that Mubarak had would still continue, and that's one of the dilemmas. So they want this to happen fast, but they don't want it so fast that -- it's kind of like shifting the cards. It looks like change but it's not change.

WHITFIELD: So, Jill, is anyone seeing this, the words of the special enjoy Wisner, as a contradiction to the White House or is this a message that's in concert with?

DOUGHERTY: I think it's in concert with, but it's a lot bolder, let's say. It's very overt that he is necessary and he should write his legacy. But we have been talking with senior U.S. officials who said that there are hurdles and they were saying legal, constitutional, and other hurdles that have to be overcome while Mubarak is in office. And it has to be -- he should take care of them sooner than later, but that it could take some time. So I guess the question now is what time? Is it days, weeks, or what?

WHITFIELD: Jill Dougherty in Washington. Thanks so much for bringing us that.

Time to go across country now and check our stories that our affiliates are covering, 13 current and retired postal workers struck it rich in Michigan in Lansing yesterday. They picked up their winning mega millions jackpot. They chose the lump sum option giving them $29 million before taxes. They've been playing as a group for the past 12 years.

And a Massachusetts couple can't wait to go home with a new addition to their family. A woman gave birth this week to a whopping 13 pound baby. Amanda Brian says she didn't realize how big her new son is until the hospital staff started making such a fuss over it. And then this.

Falling ice in Texas is putting a chill on Super Bowl festivities. Yesterday gusty winds blew big chunks as you see like right there, big chunks of ice off the roof of the Cowboys Stadium injuring at least six people. The stadium will host tomorrow's Super Bowl showdown between Green Bay and Pittsburgh.

And guess what? Another big winter storm is rolling across the Ohio Valley into the northeast. Let's get details now from Bonnie Schneider she has the other details. Nobody really wants to hear but we must.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEROLOGIST: It was Ground Hog Day and we are talking Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow and we're like spring is coming. The groundhog doesn't know, winter is still here. It is snowing hard in Detroit right now through Buffalo. A wintry mix in upstate New York, western Massachusetts, Boston, you have that rain mixing with sleet at times today and New York City, it's mostly a cold rain on the Jersey shore to the south as well. But at times, particularly in suburbs north and west, you will see that rain mix in with freezing rain. So be careful out there. That means more ice and more problems out there.

I want to show you a closer look at this storm that's happening right now. You can see the low kind of coming out of the south. Not really too strong. A fast-moving storm, not a coastal storm, but it will zip on through. By the time we get to Sunday, it will be gone. That's not the only storm we're watching. As we work our way into this week, temperatures are going to plummet once again. It's not getting warmer; it's getting colder, 20 degrees below normal for places like Chicago, Minneapolis, and Des Moines. And then low pressure may or may not emerge. The models are indicating it will. Out of the Gulf of Mexico sometime in the middle of the week on Wednesday. Depending on the track and how strong it is and if the cold air gets south enough we could see snow once again in places like Alabama and Georgia and South Carolina even.

And then as we go towards Thursday, this is where it could really get interesting. Will the storm become a traditional nor'easter, coastal storm, and how close will it come to the coast because depending on the proximity, we could see heavy snow once again for the I-95 corridor up into Philadelphia and even into New York. Now this is days away but I always like to give you the heads up, that we may have a winter weather maker on our hands for the middle of the week, but right now we have some snow that's causing some airport delays Fredricka, about an hour and a half in Newark, New Jersey, and Philadelphia.

WHITFIELD: Oh, gosh, already. Drag.

SCHNEIDER: Sorry.

WHITFIELD: That's just the way it is. Thanks, Bonnie. Appreciate that.

Astronaut Mark Kelly will command the final flight of the shuttle "Endeavour," and he expects his wife, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, to be at the launch. Kelly says Giffords is making extraordinary progress with her recovery after last month, and her progress and the family -- along with the family support, he felt he was persuaded to stay on the flight roster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK KELLY, COMMANDER STS-134: So my parents, her parents, Claudia and Claire, her sister Melissa, my brother who is on the International Space Station, you know, completely unanimous. We didn't have any dissenters and when I even extend that to other friends and family and they're pretty well-educated on what her condition is and what my situation is with regards to training and the support system that I have in place, was unanimous.

Everybody felt this was the right thing for me to do. She is a big supporter of my career. A big supporter of NASA. She really values the mission of NASA. You know, what we do and what our nation gets from that is very, very high on her list of things she really treasures about this country. I have every intention that she'll be there for the launch. I have already talked to her doctors about it. So there should be -- there really shouldn't be any reason why she can't go to the launch. We do have e-mail on orbit so I can stay up to date with e-mail. We do have what's called an ip phone on board. My experience as a space shuttle crew member is I don't use it all that often. My plan is not to ask for anything extra and any updates I need I can get via e-mail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Giffords' mother will be in charge of her care while Kelly is on this two-week mission.

All right. U.S. military leaders are watching Egypt. The Pentagon's position and what's at stake, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: A journalist behind the scenes look at Egypt's newly appointed vice president and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. But first, a look at these top stories.

Demonstrators clogged streets in Egyptian cities for the 12th straight day. Their demands have not changed. They still want Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down. Mubarak's son, Gamal, and other top leaders of the ruling national Democratic Party have resigned. The move means Gamal Mubarak is not eligible to replace his father.

Egyptian Americans and others are voicing their support for the anti- Mubarak protest. Rallies are taking place in U.S. cities like Washington and New York. Cold, wet weather may be cutting into the size of some of the gatherings, however.

And Egypt is on the minds of international leaders at a global security conference in Germany today. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signaled that the U.S. is backing a transition plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: The status quo is simply not sustainable, so for all our friends, for all the friends in the region, including governments and people, the challenge is to help our partners take systematic steps to usher in a better future where people's voices are heard, their rights respected, and their aspirations met.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The U.S. military's attitude on Egypt, a higher state of awareness but no higher state of alert. That's what the joint chief's chairman says, but the Pentagon has good reason to be deeply concerned if Egypt becomes unstable. Here is Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: With unrest now sweeping across Egypt and neighboring countries, new questions about whether it's a security crisis here at the Pentagon. A quick look at the map tells you how deeply tied the U.S. military is to regimes across the Middle East and Persian Gulf. In Egypt the U.S. provides around $1.3 billion a year in military aid. In return, the U.S. gets vital military air, land, and sea access. U.S. warships transit the Suez Canal on their way to and from the Persian Gulf. Loss of canal could lead to catastrophic delays in a crisis.

In Yemen where the president has been facing demonstrations and has already said he won't run for reelection, the U.S. has been quietly training the Yemeni forces to go after a rising threat from al Qaeda. The U.S. has conducted drone and missile strikes inside Yemen. The question, will a new government cooperate with U.S. counterterrorism efforts?

In Jordan, King Abdullah is facing increasing discontent due to rising prices and unemployment. Jordan remains one of the U.S.'s closest allies in the war on terror. Jordan's intelligence services secretly operate against key al Qaeda targets. Jordan has also helped train Iraqi forces and Jordanian troops serve in Afghanistan. Three key gulf allies provide other assistance.

Qatar is home of the regional headquarters of the U.S. Central Command which oversees the region and keeps a close eye on Iran. Kuwait is a staging area for U.S. troops moving in and out of Afghanistan and Iraq. And Bahrain is home to the U.S. Fifth fleet, which patrols the Persian Gulf and pirate infested waters off Somalia. The U.S. spends billions of dollars in military aid and assistance across the region in return for all of this access. But the question may now be, if the social unrest that is emerging leads to regime change, will the new regimes want to do the old business with the U.S. military?

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's bring in Jon Alterman from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Good to see you, Jon.

JON ALTERMAN, DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM, CSIS: Good to see you again, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So, kind of remind people, this has been going on for 12 days and really what people are thinking of most likely most is just the conflict of seeing the clashes on the streets. But remind us why Egypt is so critical to the U.S., the relationship so critical to the U.S. and, really, frankly, to the whole region.

ALTERMAN: Well, there are - there are three really important things in terms of U.S. security that go through Egypt. The first is, as Barbara's package suggested, is - is we use the Suez Canal. We use over flight (ph).

We send about a dozen ships a month through the Suez Canal. If they can't go through the Suez Canal, they have to go around the bottom of Africa. It take a lot more time. It means that everything we - we sort of assumed about how quickly we can get ships gets thrown in the air.

We also do a lot of counterterrorism cooperation with the Egyptians, and Egypt helps with regional security, vis-a-vis Israel. If you lose all three, then the whole way the U.S. thinks about the major security issues in the Middle East gets thrown into the air.

WHITFIELD: So I want to ask you a little bit later more about the relationship with Israel, but let's talk about that region and all the other countries there and why the stability of Egypt means the stability for its neighbors, and especially as it relates to the U.S. relationship between weather it's Algeria or - or whether it's, you know, any other North African country or any other - even Jordan, for example.

ALTERMAN: Well, I mean, first, they're the sorts of things that we do in terms of - of U.S. troops and Iraq and containing Iran and all those kinds of things, but there's also this sort of demonstration effect of Egypt.

It's a country with 84 million people, more than three times larger than any other Arab country. It has had a perception of being incredibly stable. And if Egypt were to really wobble, or if Egypt were to fall, then the effect of that on the other rulers in the region and on other republics in the region would be absolutely tremendous.

And I think that - that what you're seeing quietly is all the other rulers are rooting for Hosni Mubarak to pull this out because if he can't pull this out, they'll have a fundamentally larger problem than they - they thought they did.

WHITFIELD: I'm thinking of the other North African country of Libya, for example. It is potentially as volatile as Algeria has shown to be in recent weeks.

ALTERMAN: Well, you know, the strange thing is - is if - after Tunisia went, the question is, so what's next? And Egypt actually isn't that much like Tunisia in many, many ways. It's a poorer country, but they were - had much more open expression. People were able to communicate. There were opposition figures, much more than a country like Libya, a country like Syria, much more closed, much more like Tunisia.

So the question everybody has is so what's really going on here and what's the next country? And the fact is not a single leader in the region knows who might be next and why they might be next because we still don't understand how this works.

WHITFIELD: OK. And now to Israel. You know, Egypt has gotten a lot of credit for being, you know, a - a peace broker in talks between, you know, Israel and other Middle Eastern nations. So if Egypt takes a significant turn in terms of its leadership, how concerned might Israel be, how concerned need they be based on who might be waiting in the wings?

ALTERMAN: You know, I think Israel has two concerns. One is - is the sort of sense that they haven't had to worry about their southern border and if they have to start worrying about their southern border, they have to rethink their whole security strategy.

The other part of this is, on a whole range of things, especially dealing with Hamas and Gaza, they have counted on very deep understandings with the Egyptians in terms of - of diplomacy with Hamas. They have had very deep understandings with the Egyptians.

If you have an Egyptian government that you can't use in that way, that you can't cooperate with, not only do you sort of have to rethink the strategy, but even the tactics of how you're dealing with the current threats has to change fundamentally, and Israelis are losing a whole lot of sleep in the last week. Quite frankly, they're rooting for Hosni Mubarak to pull through more than anybody else is.

WHITFIELD: Jon Alterman from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Thanks for your time. Appreciate it. ALTERMAN: Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. They've done well during Hosni Mubarak's rule, but is Egypt's upper class supporting him now?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. This is about the time we like to introduce you to a new hero. We've got a great one today. He's a dad in Texas who can't just sit and watch when young athletes are hurt playing the game he and his son love.

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CANALES, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: Growing up in Texas, football was very important, just like a religion. You get the adrenaline going. You want to win.

EDDIE CANALES, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: It was senior night. Chris was having the game of his life.

C. CANALES: And it was the fourth quarter. I made a touchdown saving tackle. I can hear my teammates saying, "Chris, come on. Let's go," and I can't move.

E. CANALES: You don't want to even think that your son may never walk again. That was a hard pill to swallow.

C. CANALES: Around my one year anniversary, I was going through a lot of depression.

E. CANALES: I said let's go to a football game. We ended up watching another young man suffer a spinal cord injury.

Chris, he turns to me and said, "Dad, we've got to go help him."

I'm Eddie Canales. My goal is to be there for young men that have suffered spinal cord injuries playing high school football.

C. CANALES: When we hear about an injury, we go to the families as soon as we can.

E. CANALES: Since we started, we've worked with 19 families just in the state of Texas. We help them with ramps in their homes, a wheelchair accessible vehicle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

E. CANALES: It's a very expensive injury.

Someone injured on the professional level is going to be taken care of, but on a high school level, it's a totally different story. We wanted to make sure that these kids are not forgotten.

C. CANALES: We're a band of brothers. Our biggest bond is football.

E. CANALES: They were on the gridiron, but they've never quit. They've never given up. That's what keeps me pushing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And tune in tomorrow at 5:00 Eastern time when Eddie Canales joins me live to talk about his new support program.

All right, CNN wants to hear from you. Who is your hero in your community? Nominate him or her at CNNHeroes.com. We want to hear from you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Now, the latest developments in the crisis in Egypt.

Top leaders of the ruling National Democratic Party 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.

A coalition of opposition forces is calling for President Mubarak's immediate resignation and the right to protest peacefully. It's called the Group of Ten and it includes Mohamed ElBaradei's National Association for Change.

And today, 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.

All right. The United States has a sizable financial stake in Egypt. The U.S. gives Egypt an average of $2 billion in foreign aid, and this is every year, making Egypt the second biggest recipient after Israel, and some of the assistance is for economic and social assistance, but most of it by far is in military aid. $1.3 billion for Egypt to buy, upgrade, or maintain its armed forces. Another nearly $2 million goes for air and sea training exercises aimed at improving U.S. and Egyptian military ties.

And here's what the Egyptians buy with some of that U.S. money - fighter jets, tanks, ships, missile systems - lots of them. And after the military aide, there's the social investment as well, and this is what a U.S. government policy analyst says. Here's the quote, "On principle, the Egyptian government rejects U.S. assistance for democracy promotion, but they do allow so-called democracy programming activities, mostly in the form of U.S. grants to have pro democracy and human rights groups operating in Egypt."

All right, now, here back at home, let's talk about this crazy wintry weather. It has been the snowiest - seemingly the snowiest winter we've seen, particularly if you're in the Upper Midwest and all the way to New England and there are some travel delays already.

Let's get some details now from Bonnie Schneider. Certainly a lot of people are traveling on Saturdays.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

WHITFIELD: I know we usually expect a lot more people to be traveling on Sundays, but it matters today. It's going to delay you.

SCHNEIDER: It will. And a lot of people's flights have been canceled for the past week, so maybe you're catching up.

So we'll go right to the airports now. I have an update for you. The delays are even longer than they were before. Newark, New Jersey, an hour and a half; Philadelphia, an hour and 40 minutes, New York's JFK Airport, 40 minute delays; and finally, Dallas Love Field, ground delays, 20 minutes.

Let's open up the scope and we'll take you to Texas, as you get ready for the Super Bowl. Lots of excitement down there. And finally, I have some good news to report. After so many flights were canceled on Friday due to wintry weather, the temperature will be above freezing for tomorrow's Super Bowl, so that's great news.

Forty-two degrees, cloudy. It will be cold in the morning, but it will be nice to see that sunshine after such treacherous weather in Texas, with snow and ice. Oh, what a mess.

WHITFIELD: It's a drag.

SCHNEIDER: But let's take a look at what's going on. We're tracking some wintry weather working its way through areas into Detroit, into Buffalo, some freezing rain north of New York City, into Western Massachusetts, Northwest Connecticut. A lot of snow working its way into Maine and a little bit of that wraparound effect coming into West Virginia, where we will see that rain changing over at times to freezing rain.

That actually holds true from New York, as well into Boston. We'll be monitoring that.

But let's show you a live picture of Atlanta, because I just want to let you know that even down here the sun is shining. It's cold out there, but we could see some more wintry weather before the winter is over.

We're watching for that, Fred. We'll talk more about that next hour.

WHITFIELD: Oh, gosh, I know. I've enjoyed the winter a little bit. The snow was fun, a little sledding, but I'm ready for spring already.

SCHNEIDER: I think you and a lot of others.

WHITFIELD: OK. Thanks so much, Bonnie.

All right. Charlie Sheen. He's back in rehab. Is the party really over for TV's favorite bad boy? Our legal guys weigh in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Charlie Sheen back in rehab, Halle Berry fighting for her daughter, and Lindsay Lohan in possible trouble again. All topics that I tackled earlier today with our legal guys.

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WHITFIELD: Civil Rights Attorney, Avery Friedman, in Cleveland and New York Criminal Defense Attorney, Richard Herman in Las Vegas.

OK. Let's begin with Charlie Sheen. He's taking a little time off for some rehab. But, wait a minute, Avery, is this rehab at a facility or is it at his house? His compound? Straighten this one out for me.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: I don't know what it is. He's holed up at his home. It's really not legitimately rehab. But here's the key in understanding what's going on, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

FRIEDMAN: $100 million. That's what CBS says they make after they paid Charlie $2 million per episode.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh.

FRIEDMAN: Reuters reports that they've ordered up, CBS has, extra episodes of "Mike and Molly," oh, no, but there's no way they're going to get the remaining 24 done. And so $100 million, CBS is going to show tolerance.

WHITFIELD: Oh, interesting. Richard, so he gets a lot of second chances, doesn't he?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I mean, you want to talk about celebrity justice, this guy announces I'm going to have a hooker blowout party this weekend, and they're going to bring suitcases of cocaine to my house, so we're going to party like crazy, and he does that. He gets rushed to the hospital half dead probably. He doesn't get charged.

As far as I know, none of the entertainment are interviewed. I mean, "Two and a Half Men" it's going to be "One and a Half men" soon. This guy has a death wish. He's going to get it. He's completely out of control and, you know, we should stop giving him all these second chances. Anybody else situated in his shoes would be in prison right now.

WHITFIELD: OK. Now, let's talk about this custody battle also. They're in California, this involving Halle Berry -

FRIEDMAN: Yes.

WHITFIELD: -- and her ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry and now, you know, over the custody of their daughter Nahla. I think I've pronounced it - yes, Nahla. So now it's gotten so ugly apparently, Richard and Avery, that Halle Berry is saying that he is a racist, that he used some foul language and she's very concerned about the safety of Nahla.

So, Avery, you know, they already had shared custody after their split. Now it's a struggle over sole custody?

FRIEDMAN: Well, no, no, no. They want - Gabriel wants shared custody. The problem is that Halle was about to make a movie in South Africa that was going to keep her away for three months. Part of the contract, interestingly enough, was that Gabriel was going to go along with, but it was only for two weeks. He got mad.

Now there's, you know, allegations and counter allegations. He says that Halle is treating him like a sperm donor and the fact is that Nahla deserves a mom, deserves a dad. Ultimately, if I were the judge, you'd have to work something out, but the allegations going back and forth is no good for Nahla, who's going to be 3 years old next month.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And so Richard, pretty serious if Halle Berry pulls out of that movie in South Africa, somebody else is now in for her. So she's standing by her claim, isn't she?

HERMAN: Well, she's standing by her claim and I don't think we should shed a tear for her financially. There will be other movies for her. But, you know, Fred, this area of law, this domestic relations area, this is the highest level of just vicious commentary back and forth between the parties of any other area of law. And, you know, at the end of the day the best interests of the children are what's paramount. That's what a judge will weed through.

FRIEDMAN: That's right.

HERMAN: A lot of these comments that are being made in the press, they're just going to be discarded as just, you know, hurt feelings and just ridiculous statements. The courts will deal with it. That's right.

WHITFIELD: And now, Lindsay Lohan back in the spotlight, in the legal spotlight once again, but this time over a necklace, that $2,500 necklace. Did she borrow it? Did the jewelry store legitimately give it to her thinking they were going to get it back? And there was a search warrant that was about to be executed, Avery. They were ready to go into her home -

FRIEDMAN: Yes.

WHITFIELD: -- and grab this necklace, but then she or her peeps decided to return it voluntarily.

FRIEDMAN: Yes. (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD: So is there still going to be a case? Could they - could this jewelry store end up trying to press charges or accuse her of - of trying to steal it? FRIEDMAN: Well, they have. They have video that she took it. There are no insurance release forms. She has it. The only evidence she has that was -

WHITFIELD: And does that video - does that video kind of demonstrate that maybe word of mouth, somebody said, OK, you know, we know you.

FRIEDMAN: Right.

WHITFIELD: You can just go ahead and borrow this and she puts it on and walks out.

FRIEDMAN: I don't think so.

WHITFIELD: No?

FRIEDMAN: It doesn't work that way.

WHITFIELD: It doesn't work that way?

FRIEDMAN: I think actually it's a serious, serious matter. You know, she's on probation. She screws up, six months in jail. She's got a hearing coming up later this month. I think it's a great big bowl of trouble for her right now. I don't know what she's going to do about it.

WHITFIELD: Richard, how do you see this playing out?

HERMAN: Yes. Well, she has a history of sticky fingers from among other things, stealing fur coats and - and jewelry. I mean, they have her dead to rights. The store said it's very, very difficult to borrow from our store and leave it at that. So they didn't give it to her to borrow.

FRIEDMAN: Yes.

HERMAN: If the Betty Ford Clinic is going to have any credibility and if Judge Fox is going to have any credibility, they must violate her on the probation. She must go to prison. She is completely -

WHITFIELD: Oh, gosh. So sad (ph).

HERMAN: -- out of control, celebrity justice.

FRIEDMAN: Harsh.

HERMAN: She's gone. She's a train wreck. She needs to really - they need to put her away for a long time, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Oh -

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WHITFIELD: All right. Avery Friedman, Richard Herman telling it like they see it.

All right. So what do Egypt's upper classes think about President Hosni Mubarak? You might be surprised. That report after this.

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WHITFIELD: Dissatisfaction stretches across a large cross section of Egypt's population. As CNN's Arwa Damon reports, many upper class Egyptians agree that it's time for President Mubarak to go.

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ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In an almost surreal and unnatural setting in today's Cairo, the capital's elite seek refuge. Some come craving a sense of normalcy. Others just want to catch up with friends before they too join the protests against President Mubarak.

MAY (ph): Keeps on disappointing us. He didn't fulfill any of our demands and he didn't even - his speech was very empty. Those were empty words. He says he's going to discuss the articles of the constitution, does not mean that he's going to change the articles. And the people were very specific about that.

DAMON: May (ph) has been actively demonstrating. Her friend Brania (ph) has not. As we speak, word trickled in about the violence erupting just across the Nile, only a kilometer away.

BRANIA (ph): I mean, yesterday, I mean, he would be very proud to see everyone in the street together and standing there just peacefully, demonstrating in their own way. But today, I mean, pro-Hosni Mubarak and anti-Hosni Mubarak hitting each other in the square being a hooligan -

DAMON: For many, this is the worst case scenario, clashes between civilians, threatening to rip apart Egypt's social fabric. Large pro Mubarak groups descended onto the demonstration ground. The scene that unfolded shocked the nation.

Brania (ph) says she's now staunchly against the president and his supporters, who she and many others blame for turning peaceful protests violent. They accuse the president of wanting to use unrest to justify remaining in power.

BRANIA (ph): They were protesting peacefully. Everything was done. They just asked for the demands. They just don't want to go on. The way they're hitting them out there, it's a bit - I mean, I'm scared now.

DAMON: Beneath the veneer of upper class society, conflicting emotions coupled with a growing fear. Stability seems a distant dream.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've heard yesterday on the TV that there are six million people in Egypt that are paid daily. So these - these people have been 10 days, no food for their kids. So later on, if they cannot see their kids, they will come on us and take our money and take our food and be looters and they become very aggressive. DAMON: This woman, who doesn't want to be named, says Egypt was sitting on a time bomb, waiting to explode. A mother of a 19-year- old, she blames herself for what her son's generation is going through.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We as a generation, we did let them down. We as a generation, we did not do our part. We were busy fighting for our living and for stability in the country.

DAMON: Her generation never thought to speak out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The people will win. The people in the street who slept overnight, the youth who led this, they have to win.

DAMON: But as the night grew more violent, it seemed that, perhaps, there will be no winners in this case.

Arwa Damon CNN, Cairo.

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