Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

Protests Continue in Egypt as Military Takes More Visible Role; Obama Administration Closely Monitoring Events in Egypt; What's Next For Egypt, Rest of the Middle East Region?; Social Media's Impact on the Protests; CNN Journalists, iReporters Share What They See on the Frontlines of the Protests in Egypt's Cities; A Look Into Egypt's City of Garbage

Aired January 29, 2011 - 08:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It is 8:00 on the East Coast and 3:00 p.m. in Cairo, Egypt, where protesters are once again back in force today calling for change at the top of their government. It's been a tumultuous few days in Egypt. Now the military is taking a more visible role on the streets of the major cities there.

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Meantime in Washington, officials keep a watchful eye of the developing situation. President Obama wondering what the future holds for this major, critical U.S. ally in the region. We're going to be breaking down some of the possible effects on Middle East peace, on the war on terror and other factors.

KAYE: From CNN center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It's January 29th. Good morning, everyone. Glad you're with us.

I'm Randi Kaye. Because of the global implications of the chaos that we've been following in Egypt, we have CNN International anchor Jim Clancy with us this morning.

CLANCY: Managed to get up here. Always wanted to be up here on a Saturday morning. It's great. Good to be with you.

KAYE: Good to have you.

CLANCY: The major development we have thus far today, Egypt's government officially resigning, but the people, people coming out in force once again on the streets. President Mubarak says he's going to rebuild, reshuffle that government and but he also says he's going to stay on top. That's something the demonstrators wanted (ph).

KAYE: He certainly does sound defiant. This move hasn't satisfied protesters gathering across the country once again. We are hearing about mass demonstrations in Cairo and Alexandria and witnessing them before our cameras. As we said, those protesters calling for peace but they also want Mubarak out.

CLANCY: And they're in other cities as well. We're hearing now smaller cities further afield, protests rising up. So people are finding out about this. They too, are expressing dissatisfaction. We're about an hour away now from a curfew, a curfew that was completely ignored 24 hours ago.

KAYE: Yesterday protesters, as we said, largely ignored that curfew. But today it is a little bit different. It's starting a lot earlier and this time the military has taken up positions in key spots where those protesters gather and there's a warning. Stay away.

CLANCY: You look at the scene, Randi. There's no tear gas. There's no clashes with the police, very peaceful. The military has told the protesters we're actually here to protect you. It's a situation watched in the U.S. and for very good reason.

KAYE: Egypt has long been a partner for America in the war on terror, in the war on Iraq, standing with the U.S., actually, on the world stage as a model of stability in the very volatile Middle East.

We are in a unique position to bring you all the angles of this story. As you can see, we have several correspondents watching the action in Cairo, and Alexandria and throughout Egypt and the region. We're also watching reactions from key positions around the globe, including Israel and Washington.

CLANCY: Let's go back if we may, to bring up a live picture of what's happening right now in Cairo, if you've got it there. All right. I don't have a live picture. Clearly from what we've seen and what we've been hearing from our correspondents and we can share that with you right now, in Alexandria, very peaceful situation after really, a pretty tense day on Friday, one that saw casualties, one that saw some violence between protesters and police. We don't have a good read yet on the casualty numbers. You know, there's all kinds of reports out there, but I haven't seen anything, Randi, that's really been confirmed.

KAYE: And Jim, I know you're familiar with this area. Can you tell us, sort of take us where we are, where we're looking at these pictures out of Cairo right now?

CLANCY: Sure. You're looking at (INAUDIBLE), this is on the west side of the Nile River that runs right through the heart of Cairo, if you will. The pyramids are way off to your left, looking at this scene, where the sun would set. It's pretty spectacular of an area. You see the boats going up and down that river. This is a business area, a lot of hotels for tourists.

KAYE: A lot of tourists in this area.

CLANCY: The famous Egyptian museum is only a couple of blocks from here, a treasure-trove of antiquity. All of the history of Egypt is coming to play out on the (INAUDIBLE) on Tahrir Square that is nearby, the central gathering point in Cairo where once again, thousands of protesters have come out. As Fred Pleitgen was telling us earlier from Cairo, clearly, the demonstrators are not satisfied with a pledge by their president to reshuffle, you know, his cabinet.

KAYE: And as you mentioned, Fred Pleitgen is in Cairo for us and we spoke with him earlier and here is some of what he told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): The remarkable thing about that was that they really came out very, very early today. It seems as though, almost as though that we saw whole families going out for a Saturday walk, if you will, and then joining in these protests that are so diverse, the group of people that were in here.

Right now, you can see a small demonstration of the people, also calling for Hosni Mubarak to step down and telling him to go. They want him to go.

This is really something that's very typical here. But you'll have a small group of people, 30, then 40 people. They'll start chanting. Other people will start joining them. They might converge on, you know, somewhere there are some tanks that are up. And then, all of a sudden (AUDIO BREAK), grow of a crowd of several thousand.

That's really how these protests start. They don't seem to be centrally organized. There's not one central place that people are converging on. It's just people sort of ad hoc coming together and then it bellows out.

So, it is something we have been seeing all morning, is how these small crowds turned into bigger crowds. And then all of a sudden, you have (AUDIO BREAK) demonstrations, Jim.

CLANCY: You know, it's interesting to watch, Fred, the way -- there's some guys out there that appeared to be -- they almost orchestra directors trying to get the crowds there. You know, they are raising their arms and it would appear that at least one of them has kind of -- I can't tell if it's a satchel or perhaps battery operated megaphone trying to lead the crowd in chants.

And, Fred, let's be honest -- they know where the television cameras are. They know where you are.

PLEITGEN: Well, they certainly do. But, on the other hand, we have to keep in mind that a lot of these people, you know, they haven't been able to completely communicate over the past day and a half. I mean, the Internet was down. It was pretty much impossible.

(AUDIO BREAK) these are the places where we are going to converge. We know that people were trying to go door-to-door to tell other people to join in the protest. But even though they know right now, there are cameras on them, they go Tahrir Square or somewhere else where they're not sure that there will be cameras on them.

Really, it's a very spontaneous thing. And you're absolutely right. Every once in awhile, you have someone (AUDIO BREAK) like megaphone. He'll try and draw a crowd around them. They'll start marching.

What you don't see much though is really sort of big banners that people seem to have made, you know, a while back, you know, that are very high-end or have been made a long time ago. You can see that these protests really are of the moment, sort of ad hoc protests. The signs you see are very small. They're all handwritten. They're not really colored.

And this is really something that looks like a spontaneous demonstration. And it is, of course, far different than we saw here yesterday. Yesterday, the area that you're looking at right now was an absolute battlefield where people were slugging it out with the security forces, with police. Police were using tear gas.

And, now, you have a much different crowd of protesters and, of course, you have the military out here instead of police. And really it seems as though that's emboldened people well to come out here and speak their minds, Jim.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Fred Pleitgen talking with us a little bit earlier describing a scene which is much more peaceful today. As he noted, the military seems to be working it much better than the police did a day ago.

KAYE: Still a lot of people in the streets but certainly more peaceful. The Obama administration says it's closely monitoring the situation in Egypt. Last night President Obama called on everybody to show restraint while referencing the United States' long history with Egypt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've also been clear that there must be reform -- political, social and economic reforms that meet the aspirations of the Egyptian people. In the absence of these reforms, grievances have built up over time.

When President Mubarak addressed the Egyptian people tonight, he pledged a better democracy and greater economic opportunity. I just spoke to him, after his speech. I told him he has a responsibility to give meaning to those words, to take concrete steps and actions that deliver on that promise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: President Obama went on to say that the future of Egypt will be determined by its people.

Let's take a quick look now at Egypt's importance to the United States. The U.S. gives Egypt $1.3 billion in aid yearly. The bulk of it is in military aid. That ranks them behind Afghanistan and Israel. Egypt is a major player in peace negotiations in the Middle East, often playing mediator. They've had a hand in negotiations with the terror group Hamas and have good relations with Israel.

As a partner of the United States, Egypt plays host to operation bright star. That's the largest multilateral military exercise in the Middle East that includes the United States. And you'll remember that President Obama chose Cairo as the location for his address to the Muslim world shortly after taking office.

Egypt's importance has a lot to do, of course, with location. Let's take a quick look at the map to help you understand that. On the north edge is Israel. The border there has been a trouble spot in the past providing a route for terror groups like Hamas to funnel weapons into Palestinian territories. The Suez Canal, right there in the Red Sea is a major shipping route linking Europe and Asia. That includes oil. Around 10 percent of all goods shipped by water go through that canal. Then just to the east, there is Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. They offer their own set of challenges.

CLANCY: All right. The demonstrations that we have been watching have been fraying nerves -- well, not only in Cairo or Washington, but on Wall Street. Crude oil prices spiked yesterday. They've kind of settled right short of $90 a barrel. That's an increase of more than 4 percent in a single day, though.

KAYE: Lots of folks in the U.S. are watching this very closely. Egypt in political turmoil. Why are we so invested in the future of a country so far away?

CLANCY: Wolf Blitzer and Candy Crowley with some unique perspective.

KAYE: And this scene is becoming all too familiar for parts of the country. When will the snow end? We check in with Reynolds Wolf coming up.

CLANCY: He better have good news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back, everyone. Glad you're with us.

CLANCY: That's right. Why do we care really about what's going on in Egypt today? It's really an important question because Egypt matters. A key ally to the U.S. in the region. Deep ties, historic ties there needed to negotiate with other Arab countries to lend credibility to what the U.S. wants to do.

KAYE: At the center of that partnership is Hosni Mubarak, but his time may actually be running out. The domino falls, what is next in Egypt and in the rest of the Middle East? Could this be another Iran circa 1980?

CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Candy Crowley sat down to discuss the global implications. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hosni Mubarak has kept a cold peace with Israel for decades. He has been the conduit through which we talk to other less friendly Arab nations. He has also been helpful in the war on terrorism. So you make a deal with who can help you and who's going to protect the United States and for decades, that has been Hosni Mubarak. Now, you know, when you see this sort of thing in the street and you understand that these passions that you've known were simmering have now boiled over, you pretty much have to look at what is going to be a new reality in Egypt and what are you going to -- you know, who's next? That's really the big question. Because if Hosni Mubarak goes, who, then, comes in and who can play that role? And, look. Egypt has also been very strong anti-Iran. So I imagine that there's probably no one happier at this point than the leadership in Iran looking at what's going on.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Some analysts suggested this is similar to what happened in Iran in '79. The shah of Iran was a close U.S. ally, but flawed and a lot of people in Iran did not like him and of course, he was overthrown. There was a revolution. We know what happened then and it became very, very obvious.

But as bad as the shah was, from the U.S. perspective, what followed was even worse, decades of the leadership by the ayatollahs in Iran and some U.S. officials have said to me over the past few days, they're deeply worried. As flawed as Mubarak is, they don't know what's going to happen next.

CROWLEY: Sure, the what if question. What if the U.S. had interfered more? What if the U.S. had pumped up the shah and said yeah, takes to the streets, force this revolution back. Would we be dealing with the Iran we're dealing with now? The fact of the matter is, the world isn't made of what ifs. It's made up of, what did you do then?

But you're right. I think I've heard that from more than one person today saying, this just reminds me of what went on in Iran. What are we going to get next? And that's what they're talking about at the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Very interesting, talking about compare the situation with what happened in Iran.

So many people came out in the streets. They protested against the elections they said were unfair and the government held its ground. Nothing happened. Today, reading this on CNN's wire service here, regarding demonstrations of the Muslim people in Egypt, the foreign ministry spokesman in Iran says we see this as a justice- seeking movement in line with nation, religious demands. There we have it, the official word from Iran today looking on and totally different attitude towards street demonstrations than when they were happening in downtown Tehran.

What is the impact of these demonstrations on the global scene? Marco Vicenzino is the founder and director of Global Strategy Project. He joins us from Washington.

Marco, first what do you think? Hosni Mubarak does he step aside or not? MARCO VICENZINO, DIRECTOR, GLOBAL STRATEGY PROJECT: It's time that the process should begin to step aside. I'm not saying to step down immediately overnight but I think he should take the opportunity of the 2011, September 2011 presidential elections as a way to begin a graceful exit over the next eight to nine months. Lift the state of emergency. Renounce that he'll be a candidate and begin preparing the country over the next eight months having the political parties organized and a real honest legitimate promise and have that election done being done under international supervision.

CLANCY: Marco, can the other political parties, you know -- you've got to include the Muslim brotherhood one way or another.

VICENZINO: Sure.

CLANCY: Even though they're regarded as the "illegal party" by a lot of Egyptians, they're going to be in it as well. Can they really organize that quickly, do you think?

VICENZINO: Eight months? It's not a closed society we're speaking about. We're not speaking about a society like Libya. In relatively speaking, Egypt has been a fairly open society for the last 30 years even though there's been a state of emergency. So I think right now although the Muslim brotherhood has been banned as a party technically, they'll still find ways to organize. With media today, with technology, what it offers, particularly their younger people, very vibrant and very active, I think an eight-month process is a decent beginning. You have people like Mohamed ElBaradei although I don't think he represents ordinary Egyptians, ordinary Egyptians we identify with him, I think he could be a good transitional figure beginning with Egypt's transition and in addition, he's well known internationally and Egypt needs good relationships --

CLANCY: How about the president's son? A lot of people say he's being groomed for the job and a lot of people think he looks presidential.

VICENZINO: That's fine, but he'd have to participate in an open election under international supervision. If he heads up the national democratic party which is the party that Mubarak started, that's OK, but it has to be one of other candidates that participates in an open process. And if he -- excuse me.

CLANCY: Level the playing field because right now everybody's complaining that everything is really, favors the ruling party?

VICENZINO: Of course. Everything does. You know, they've controlled national television. That's why I think an eight-month process would be a decent beginning, a stepping-stone. It's not going to be overnight, an open democracy as we know it, but the process has to begin and I think that September is a good time eight months from now to begin that process.

It's not just about elections. It's about institutions, (INAUDIBLE) society, an open media. I'm talking about opening up, lifting the state of emergency now, because it will give time for people to organize and the media in particular to begin a process whereby society at large, civil society, can begin to have a greater voice.

CLANCY: Marco Vicenzino, I want to thank you very much for being with us.

VICENZINO: Thank you.

CLANCY: Having such a great Italian name. I hope I said it right.

KAYE: We'll give you some credit there.

Shutting down online activism in Egypt. We'll tell you how the government initiated a total blackout of all social media.

And three against one. That is hardly fair. How in the world did a basketball game, wow, turn into this?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Twenty minutes past the hour, checking top stories for you.

A show of support for protesters in Egypt, this one taking place on the streets of Canada. Egyptian-Americans in Montreal and Ottawa took to the streets Friday in first of two days of solidarity protests. Another day of protests is planned for today.

The wife of a U.S. Army colonel is under arrest today on some disturbing charges. She is accused of shooting and killing their two teen children allegedly, because they quote, mouthed off to her. She's charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

Two Florida high school students had to be taken to a hospital after they ate cookies allegedly laced with marijuana. A police officer says one of the boys complained to school administrators about a stomach ache. That's when they learned another student had given him the so-called brownie.

And a basketball game out in North Carolina turned into this. Take a look at that, a full-scale brawl. It happened while Butler play East Neck. The fight started between a father and a school officer before his wife and daughter then jumped in. The father was arrested. Police say more arrests could come.

Twenty one minutes past the hour. Time for a check of the weather with meteorologist Reynolds Wolf.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: We continue to monitor what's coming to us out of Egypt this morning. We've been watching the protests yesterday much more violent today. Certainly more peaceful, but we can tell you that according to Nile TV, there are 38 dead in Egypt as a result of these protests.

As the revolt in Egypt continues, stories of how it was fueled by social media certainly continue to emerge, but with the flick of a switch, it was all gone. Facebook, Twitter, everything, cut off. Internet access almost completely disappeared.

Mario Armstrong, our technology columnist joins me.

And Mario, let's talk about this. Egypt, in effect, has completely shut down Twitter, social media, even cell phone service, which I think has a lot of people here in the United States, looking at that, fearful of losing those same privileges and wondering, can it happen here?

MARIO ARMSTRONG, CNN DIGITAL LIFESTYLE EXPERT: Yeah. You're absolutely right, Randi, and the fact of the matter is, it could potentially absolutely happen in the United States. Just to give some real quick context and background. What happened in Egypt was that the four major Internet service providers were effectively asked to shut down connectivity by a couple of different ways of doing that technically.

So this was a collaboration. It just wasn't certainly just the government doing it or just the ISP's doing it, but in the United States there is what many are calling a very wide sweeping, very broad cyber security bill. It's actually called protecting cyber space as a national asset act and this act is designed to protect us from any future cyber or potential cyber attacks, but also has the power to give to any president the ability to ask or enforce or order, rather, telecommunications companies to shut down critical portions of the Internet. Some people are calling this is a United States kill Internet switch.

KAYE: So it's an act with a really long name but in effect it's really a kill switch and that would just be used for emergencies?

ARMSTRONG: That's what they're saying it's supposed to be used for. This was created by Senator Lieberman and some others that came up with this bill. It's moved through the Senate. It has not been scheduled yet for the Senate, but the whole idea is that this would be able to give us protections.

And this is a legitimate thing to have, because if someone tries to create what is called denial of service attacks, they could effectively try to shut down critical infrastructure, power grids, financial transactions, all types of things and this could, in a sense, give us those protections, but also it could overstep potentially those boundaries of cutting off free speech and access to things that we take for granted.

KAYE: All right. Mario Armstrong, thank you for setting up straight on that. We appreciate it. Good to see you.

ARMSTRONG: Thank you. It's good to see you, too, Randi. CLANCY: A day of decision now. Was Hosni Mubarak's speech last night enough to keep protesters at bay? If not, what is next in Egypt? We're going to check in with our reporters on the ground next.

Plus, revolution in the Arab world. How it could impact the U.S. and other western nations. We'll look at the worst case scenario.

***30




(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Thirty-one minutes past the hour. Welcome back. I'm Randi Kaye joined this morning by CNN international anchor, Jim Clancy.

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: That's me.

KAYE: That is you. And we are glad you're here. We're covering fast-moving developments out of Egypt where massive protests are gaining momentum.

Let's get you caught up now on the very latest developments.

A short time ago President Hosni Mubarak's cabinet officially resign. It will be up to Mubarak to rebuild that government. He says he's staying put. Protesters are back on the streets for a fifth day of anti-government demonstration. We have seen and heard of mass protests in a couple of cities already.

Police are no longer on the front lines facing off against those protesters. Instead, the military has moved in with tanks to keep the peace. So far there haven't been any major clashes, but we are also hearing about fires in at least one government building. It's a court building in Cairo. All banks and the country's stock exchange will be closed tomorrow.

And finally, we are just about 30 minutes from the ordered curfew in Egypt's main cities. Protesters largely ignored the curfew, as we told you yesterday, but today the military has warned people to stay off the streets.

We are in a very unique position to bring you all of the angles on this story here at CNN. As you can see, we have several correspondents watching the action there in Cairo, in Alexandria and all across the region. We're also watching the reactions from key positions around the globe, including Israel and Washington.

CNN's Nic Robertson is in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria and he joins us now. Nic, can you set the scene for us there? And -- and what are you hearing from protesters who are on the streets still? NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you can probably see behind me, Randi, down towards the Cornish, the sea front on the Mediterranean there and along the road behind me you can see perhaps in the distance there (INAUDIBLE) perhaps several thousand, maybe 2,000 protesters.

And what we've seen them doing here is marching along the road towards us, past where we're located and then back again. There's a sense of organization. There are people leading the protests. They are keeping the traffic away from the protesters.

Just out of camera shot where you can't see it, the army are on the streets. People have been passing by them peacefully. There are no police out on the streets today, and there's one very clear chant emerging from the crowds as they pass by here, and that is that President Hosni -- Hosni Mubarak should go.

And when we talk to people, they tell us that Hosni Mubarak's speech last night on the late last night or (AUDIO GAP) on Egyptian television didn't go far enough. He fired the cabinet. He said that he understood the people's plight. They say, that's not enough, that he and the rest of his regime should go.

The focus yesterday was -- seemed to be destroying police buildings and attacking the police. Today, it's much more peaceful, Randi, people just walking up and down here.

KAYE: So if this standoff continues between Mubarak, this de facto stand-off continues between Mubarak and the protesters -- without the police on the street and the military on the street, does this really come down to the Egyptian military, then?

ROBERTSON: It certainly seems to. Yesterday the crowd attacked police stations and the military is now outside those police stations. Although they're not useful, they're destroyed. There are no police there, there is nobody -- nothing to protect. They've been looted already and the army watched the looters come and go.

So what would the crowd turn its attention to here to get its demands? Well, today it seems that they're satisfied with marching up and down, but how is that going to achieve their aim of overthrowing President Mubarak? It -- it's absolutely not clear. He's already shown that he's not listening to the crowds. Even when they -- even when they smash the police on the streets here.

So will the crowds, therefore, go after a bigger challenge? Go after other government buildings? Will the army try and get in their way? At the moment the army is taking very much a back seat and just watching the protesters, even exchanging handshakes with them, taking photographs of them. It doesn't appear that the army is -- is going to come in the way of the -- of the people, but what if the people go after government buildings? What then?

So that's, perhaps, what lies ahead in the coming days, but at the moment, the crowd doesn't really seem to know what it's going to do to achieve its aim other than to march up and down the street and shout and that would seem so far is not going to remove Hosni Mubarak -- Randi.

KAYE: All right, Nic Robertson for us in Alexandria. We will continue to monitor it and check back with you. Thanks, Nic.

CLANCY: You know, Randi, as we -- as we cover all of this we have to ask ourselves what really is at stake in this upheaval. How can the unrest in Egypt affect the United States? Affect the everyday lives of people in Europe and elsewhere?

CNN's Brian Todd gives us a little bit of a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like their counterparts in Tunisia, they're calling for the ouster of a long-time heavy-handed ruler. As in Tunisia, they are frustrated by government corruption, sagging job prospects and the rising cost of living.

But there's no question the stakes in Egypt are much higher than in Tunisia.

AARON DAVID MILLER, WOODROW WILCON CENTER: If this regime were to collapse, or massive street demonstrations in response to violence and counter-violence on the part of the regime, you could see changes happening quickly in other areas.

TODD (on camera): Where else?

MILLER: Jordan, for example, which -- suffers from some of the same economic and political problems.

TODD (voice-over): Aaron David Miller advised six U.S. Secretaries of State on the Middle East. He doesn't think the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will fall soon. But Miller and other analysts point out Egypt is a crucial U.S. ally. It's the largest and the most powerful Arab country, and unlike Tunisia, instability in Egypt directly impacts the national security of the U.S. and its other allies.

(on camera): Instability in Egypt could cause real problems on the border of Israel. Right?

MARC GINSBERG, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO MOROCCO: No doubt. Because in the event that the Egyptians are pre-occupied with internal issues, Hamas could very well take advantage by in effect breaking the blockade once again and bringing missiles in from Iran that could actually target Israel again.

TODD (voice-over): Marc Ginsberg is a former U.S. Ambassador to Morocco. Like Miller, he worries about the rise to power in nearby Lebanon of a leader backed by Hezbollah, which the U.S. considers a terrorist group.

These analysts say Egypt's military likely wouldn't let radical Islamic groups there, like the Muslim Brotherhood, take power, but they say those groups could stir violence that would disrupt something else near and dear to the west.

(on camera): Oil could be in the balance here. Not only because of Egypt's production of oil and natural gas but because of the Suez Canal, right?

MILLER: Absolutely. Geography is everything and Egypt controls the canal which is a key trans-shipment point not just for petroleum but for other products from Persian Gulf. You could also see a rise in prices if you have serious instability through the rest of the region in Egypt.

TODD (voice-over): Other big oil producers nearby like the key American ally, Saudi Arabia, are also nervous about Egypt's problems. But analysts say Saudi Arabia is more able to pre-empt that kind of instability because the Saudi government gives its people a lot more financial support and social services than Egypt does.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Extreme poverty is a big reason for the chaos right now in Egypt, but seeing, of course, is believing.

CLANCY: Take a look at this. It's a city on the outskirts of Cairo named after the filth and the garbage that it is built upon. The people there, they eat, sleep, they live in that garbage.

We're going to go there on our "Morning Passport".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: There are reports of major developments coming out of Cairo, Egypt right now. Al Jazeera Television reporting about 1,000 Egyptians tried to storm the Interior Ministry in Cairo and police opened fire.

Now, the Interior Ministry is the equivalent of police headquarters. The Interior Ministry has all control over the police inside Egypt. So that would be significant. Thus far, we have no word on any casualties. We do know earlier that state-run Nile Television reported 38 people have been killed in the protests so far, including -- including ten police officers -- Randi.

KAYE: Thank you Jim.

Poverty has been a major driving force behind the protests and the demonstrations in Egypt. But in order to get a clearer picture, you really need to see the conditions some Egyptians are living in.

Nadia Bilchik is joining me now. And these conditions really are just horrific, to think that this is how so many of these people live.

NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Well, this is a particular community in those pictures, it's called "Garbage City" and that there are many garbage cities in Cairo. We're looking at the biggest one. And people who run it and inhabit it are the Coptic Christians or known as the Zabbaleen, which means garbage collectors.

But the history here is so extraordinary because up until around 2004 -- and this is a beautiful piece we're looking at now -- where the man says there are the upper class. There are the middle class. And then there are us, the Zabbaleen -- the nothing.

KAYE: They live among the garbage.

BILCHIK: Well, "we are the nothings" they call themselves. But what's extraordinary is up until 2004 they made a living by recycling 80 percent of the garbage they collected. They were the recyclers. That's what they did.

Well, in 2004, the Egyptian government brought in big multinationals to sort the garbage. You're looking at a woman now who is sorting the garbage. This is her job. This is the job of her children; this is the job of the family. They recycle 80 percent or did into raw materials. They make hangers, they make toys.

But now with the multi-nationalists are coming in, it's affected these garbage collectors and their livelihoods. So this beautiful documentary made by a very talented filmmaker Mai Iskander actually documents the lives of three boys who started in the garbage area, they are Zabbaleen garbage collectors.

KAYE: We've seen these pictures of these young children climbing among the garbage, among all of the rejects, the toys, the bottles, the junk.

BILCHIK: Yes. They're born into it and they know they are the garbage collectors. So often what they do is live in two-story homes. Where they live in the upper story and in the lower story, they sort the trash. That's their job, they are the waste management system of Cairo.

KAYE: And it still is an income for them? It's still work?

BILCHIK: It's a reduced income with the multinationals having come in. They are still making some money, but the poverty has increased. We know that over 40 percent of Egyptians live under the poverty line.

KAYE: Right, they earn about what, $4 a day or something like that.

BILCHIK: Extraordinary limited amount and in fact, in this beautiful documentary, and it's on GarbageDreams.com, the father says my son can work 24 hours a day and he will never make a living. Think about that. Very poignant.

KAYE: It's so disturbing. You can certainly understand why there is so much anger and why so many protesters are saying they want their lives back. They want their rights back.

Nadia Bilchik, thank you. I appreciate it.

BILCHIK: Thank you.

KAYE: Jim.

CLANCY: All right. As we head to a break here, Randi, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's cabinet, they have handed him their resignations as ordered, but look at the streets. The protests have not stopped.

We'll have the very latest for you, stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: It hasn't been easy for them, but the crisis in Egypt through the eyes of CNN's own iReporters sharing what they witnessed on the streets as it unfolded. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We actually arrive here Wednesday night after everything had been going on. We actually got stopped at the airport. The tourist police held our spots at the airport because there were protesters along the streets where we were coming into our hotel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: During the morning there was a lot of police that had built up right on the bridge and the surrounding square. There were no protesters until after prayer. At some point before 2:00, one could hear chants from a distance. "Allah Akbar", "God is great."

It started to get louder and louder, and then suddenly behind a really tall building I see like, a huge crowd of demonstrators and just, you know, you don't see the end of the line. There's just so many demonstrators, thousands of them. And there's about 300 or 400 riot police guarding the entrance to the bridge crossing the Nile.

They were shouting things at the police and the police were shouting back. And then it started with tear gas, and the police hitting the protesters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were throwing, like, flames, bombs of cocktails. There was explosions, like tear gas canisters. Fires were everywhere.

What you're seeing is the first part that started earlier in the afternoon. And the second wave came at about 4:30 or 5:00, and there were like, tens of thousands of people just coming over that bridge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tear gas went into the crowds. So -- they -- they shot a lot of tear gas actually. So the crowds went back, like 100 meters back. And they still started shooting a lot of tear gas even when there were not protesters around the police. Just the amount of tear gas that they shot went up into the air and it the blew up to the hotel.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The most frightening part was when later the protesting; all those people coming across the bridge and then wondering where they were going to go. Because the next street available is the street that goes right in front of our hotel and wondering if they were going to be able to come in or not, or where they were going to be dispersed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I saw a few people helping this person who looked unconscious or injured. And bring him into a van and yes, taking him away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The most frightening part was probably when we saw fires erupting in certain places and then we kind of wondered if we should pack a bag and be ready to evacuate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel for the people on the streets, the Egyptians because they're the ones who are having the hard time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Egyptians --

CLANCY: Our iReporters there --

KAYE: Yes. Really.

CLANCY: Some good stuff that they eyewitnessed on the streets and managing to get a-hold of them and matching them with some (INAUDIBLE). It's good to hear those kinds of reports.

KAYE: Really powerful stuff as it unfolded.

Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak asked his cabinet to resign and CNN has confirmed that has taken place.

CLANCY: Big question now, Randi, is this too little, too late?

Mona Eltahawy, an Egyptian commentator based in New York. She's a columnist for Asharq al-Awsat, that's an Arabic daily newspaper; it's also on the web. She's a former correspondent for Reuters right there in Cairo.

Miss Eltahawy, what has to happen here? Is President Mubarak going survive this? Can he?

MONA ELTAHAWY, COLUMNIST, ASHARQ AL-AWSAT: Right. I'm not with Asharq al-Awsat anymore, but I was going into Egypt. If you had asked this question before Mubarak's speech yesterday, I would have said, you know, it's not clear. After his speech yesterday which was completely out of touch with what was happening on the streets, I believe that this is the end of Hosni Mubarak.

I think what we're hearing from Cairo now, the latest I've been following on Twitter, is that the armed forces are separating the protesters from the security forces. And this is a good sign.

And as an Egyptian I hope this continues, because what you saw happen in Tunisia was the armed forces refusing to shoot at civilians, and that sent a clear signal to Ben Ali that his days were over and he fled. And they toppled the dictator.

What I'm hoping happens in Egypt now is people heard Mubarak's speech, they don't like it. They want him to go, not the government and they continue to go to the streets. The army sees this and I hope the armed forces recognizes and convinces Mubarak his days are over.

CLANCY: You know -- Mona, as we look at this, Mubarak is pretty determined to stay there, and he is a former military man. He has his own allies in that military.

ELTAHAWY: Well, of course. You know, which dictator especially after 30 years is going to go willingly unless he's actually told you must go. This is where the will of the people must come in.

He probably does have some allies in the army but the Egyptian armed forces are huge, and the Egyptian armed forces have heard the voices of the people. Today's protests in Egypt are much bigger than the protests on the first day, five days ago, and people continue to come.

We're about to enter a time of curfew in Egypt and people will continue to defy the curfew. It's the time now to think of the country, and not of the dictator who has ruled that country for 30 years.

KAYE: Mona, Randi Kaye here. How much pressure, though, can the U.S. put on Mubarak to step aside? I mean U.S. credibility is already in question because it's been supporting Mubarak's government there. So we have our Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling for a reform saying that it's needed. But what can the U.S. really do to help nudge him out?

ELTAHAWY: You know, this is a revolution that is -- that is being made by Egyptian people, and it will be completed by Egyptian people. Egyptians are not asking for anyone to come and get rid of Mubarak for them. Egyptians will do it themselves.

What I as an Egyptian and my fellow Egyptians back home staging this revolution want is we want the U.S. administration finally after years of taking the side of stability at the cost of our freedom and dignity, we want the U.S. administration to lead our revolution. We will take care of it, but we want the U.S. administration to take our side.

President Obama said during his inauguration --

CLANCY: Mona, who takes over?

ELTAHAWY: -- that people must be on the right side of history.

CLANCY: Mona, who takes over?

ELTAHAWY: Who takes over?

CLANCY: He steps aside, tomorrow. Who takes over? Who manages arranging new elections? ELTAHAWY: We are a country of 80 million people. We can come up with an interim government. We can do what the Tunisians have bun. They have an interim government and the interim government that brings in people from every political background in Egypt and says, let's set elections three months from now, six months from now. We can do it.

Egypt is not Hosni Mubarak. Egypt is a country of 80 million people.

CLANCY: All right. Mona Eltahawy, I want to thank you very much for being with us. Showing us a little bit of a how this whole affair, what's happening on the streets has energized the people of Egypt. Now doubt about it. Mona's a great example of it. You heard the enthusiasm in her voice.

KAYE: Throughout the morning we will be checking with our correspondents in Egypt for the latest on what's going on there.

But first, authorities have more information surrounding the mysterious death of a Pentagon official. Will it be enough to crack the case? Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Coming up on the top of the hour, time now for a look at your top stories this morning.

Detroit police released a gun battle fought on surveillance tape last week when a gunman stormed a precinct station and just opened fire. Four officers were wounded. The 38-year-old gunman was killed after officers returned fire.

In Delaware, the medical examiner says blunt force trauma was the cause of death of former Pentagon official John Wheeler. The 66-year- old was found dead New Year's Eve in a landfill. Police are still trying to determine just who killed him.

Actor Charlie Sheen now back in rehab. A spokesman says Sheen voluntarily entered an undisclosed facility yesterday, a day after being treated for a hernia. Sheen's hit show, "Two and a Half Men" now on hiatus.

CLANCY: He is the man behind the curtain running Egypt for almost three decades, but the question is, who really is Hosni Mubarak? We're going to examine his rise to power ahead.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)