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A portion of Amy Goodman's interview with Prof. Vijay Prashad, giving background on Obama's Special Envoy to Egypt Frank Wisner who over the weekend said Mubarak should stay. A decidedly off-script moment for the administration, who quickly distanced themselves from his remarks.

VIJAY PRASHAD: Frank Wisner, Jr., had a more steady career in the State Department, was the ambassador in Egypt between 1986 and 1991. During that period, he became very close friends with Hosni Mubarak and, at the time, convinced President Mubarak to bring Egypt on the side diplomatically of the United States during the first Gulf War. Subsequently, Frank Wisner was ambassador in the Philippines and then in India, before returning to the United States, where he became essentially one of the great eminences of the Democratic Party. One of the things he did during this recent period is author a report for the James Baker Institute, where he argued that the most important thing for American foreign policy is not democracy, which they treat as a long-term interest, but stability, which is the short-term interest. So, Frank Wisner, Jr., is seasoned State Department official, a very close friend of Mubarak, a man more committed to stability than democracy, and, yes, an employee at Patton Boggs, where one of the portfolios is for Patton Boggs to lobby on behalf of the government of Egypt.

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The folks at Kharabeesh.com have a simple explanation for Hosni Mubarak's intransigence: he's very high.

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Bill Maher tried out his best Bill O'Reilly impersonation last night on Real Time with guest Mona Eltahawy, Egyptian-born journalist and a leading advocate for the current uprising. While O'Reilly Maher trotted out a list of pseudo-"facts" underlining the "reality" of the Arab world to someone who was born there, Eltahawy smacked his arguments down one by one, saying at one point "I didn't think we were going to get into Fox News sparring matches". She declared that what we're seeing now with this uprising is nothing less than the demolition of these myths about the Arab world, for example the need for the strong man as leader, and that the people are inherently passive and lazy.

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) was impressed enough to say: "Sister's on message. She does not flinch. You're exactly right," as she detailed where the money and support comes from that allows dictators like Hosni Mubarak to stay in power for so long.

The segment above was from the Overtime portion, which was not aired but appears on the Real Time website. The full segment which aired is seen below the fold.

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Tamer Shaaban's video, a snapshot of the Egypt protests on Jan. 25, has accumulated nearly 2 million views on YouTube.

via Huffington Post:

Despite the attempt by the Egyptian government to shut down the Internet throughout the country, a a harrowing video montage of home video from the chaotic streets of Cairo. has surfaced on YouTube

The protests began on Tuesday, January 25, when thousands of people blocked the streets to sound off about unemployment, government corruption, and the autocratic rule of President Hosni Mubarak, who has been in office for thirty years.

The protests were inspired, in part, by the recent uprising in Tunisia, which began because of widespread anger over corruption and unemployment and ended with the ousting of president and strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

The video was created by Tamer Shaaban, described on YouTube as "another Egyptian who's had enough."

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Some early reporting from Al Jazeera after the violence overnight in Cairo.

Violence escalates in Cairo square :

Bursts of heavy gunfire aimed at anti-government demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir [Liberation] Square, left at least five people dead and several more wounded, according to reports from the Egyptian capital on Thursday.

Sustained bursts of automatic weapons fire and powerful single shots began at around around 4am local time (2.00GMT) and was ongoing more than an hour.

Pro-democracy protest organiser, Mustafa el-Naggar, who's in Tahrir Square, said the gunfire came from at least three locations in the distance. He said the Egyptian military entered the square with tank squads to try to keep some order, but did not intervene.

An Al Jazeera online producer in Tahrir Square witnessed doctors attending to two gunshot victims, one who was shot in the head. "There was a puddle of blood on the concrete beneath the man ... but he still had a pulse and might survive," our producer said.

The gunfire marks an escalation of tensions, which began on Wednesday when supporters of embattled president Hosni Mubarak charged into Tahrir Square - some on horses and some on camels - clashing with pro-democracy demonstrators gathered there.

Protesters from both sides fought pitched battles in Tahrir Square, the epicentre of ongoing demonstrations against Hosni Mubarak, which entered their tenth day on Thursday.

Pro-Mubarak supporters also threw Molotov cocktails and homemade bombs at opposition protesters, who erected makeshift barricades around the square. Our online producer there visited an ad hoc 'prison' where protesters had captured around six pro-Mubarak supporters.

The Egyptian army reportedly also arrested several people following the violence early on Thursday, however the numbers were unconfirmed. Read on...

An Egyptian woman gives her graphic firsthand account of the violence unleashed by Mubarak's regime. Jillian York supplies us with a partial transcript of Mona Seif's horrifying ordeal.

I was just listening to Al Jazeera and heard a familiar voice: @monasosh aka Mona Seif, sister of my friend Alaa Abd El Fattah; though I’ve never met her, I know her voice from a @Speak2Tweet message sent just two days ago, in which she sounded optimistic. Now, on Al Jazeera, you can hear the tears and desperation through her voice. I only managed to jot down a few pieces of what she said, but here it is:

If everyone is so concerned, why is Mubarak still there and we’re losing people every minute?

When asked, “What would you like to say to the world?”

We are not leaving this place. There are only two options for the world: Either they stick to mubarak and his regime and we lose thousands of people in this square and it goes from Liberation Square to Massacre Square. Or, they say no to mubarak’s regime and give people here a chance at a real life.

She was then asked who was in the crowds. Her response:

A lot of them are teenage kids, very few of them are older than 25. It’s astonishing but it really is sad because we know this can be avoided and they don’t have to waste their lives.

The presenter then asked if she was reassured by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s earlier words that the violence from the pro-Mubarak side was shocking. Mona responded:

Not really, this is the same hilary clinton who a week ago said mubarak’s country is stable. What would be assuring is for me to hear that Mubarak is about to give an urgent speech and say he is leaving.

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Rachel Maddow used some of the interview from Al Jazeera last night.

Mona Eltahawy on Democracy Now this morning, discussing the Egyptian uprising.

AMY GOODMAN: You have called Mubarak the Berlin Wall.

MONA ELTAHAWY: Absolutely, because, as you remember, in 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell, you saw revolution—revolutions and freedom movements across Eastern Europe. Mubarak is our Berlin Wall. When Tunisia had its revolution and toppled Ben Ali, everyone thought, "Beautiful little Tunisia, you’re so brave. But it’s never going to happen anywhere else." Now it’s happening in the traditional leader of the Arab world. Egypt is a country of 80 million people. Once Mubarak falls—and he will fall; I mean, he’s crumbled. Several days ago, as far as I was concerned, he was done. Once Mubarak falls once and for all, you will see what will happen in the Arab world. This is going to—every Arab leader is watching right now in terror, and every Arab citizen is elated and cheering Egypt on, because they know the significance of this.

AMY GOODMAN: Mona Eltahawy, I want to thank you very much for being with us, Egyptian-born columnist and speaker on Arab issues, based here in New York. Al Jazeera English, by the way, is now reporting up to two million people in and around Tahrir Square. And, of course, there are protests all over Egypt.

Though Egypt has had its Internet services shut down for nearly a week Egyptians are still finding ingenious ways to get their message out. The video above of a young woman in Tahrir Square was shot today, where 250,000 gathered in anticipation of tomorrow's Million March and general strike.

And Google has added this new speak-to-tweet service today. A young woman in Cairo left this message.

"I just wanted to let the world know that we have been disconnected from our last point of communications from the internet. And there is strong word going around that we will again be disconnected from mobile phone calls.

Um, so I wanted to let everyone know in case you don't get any feedback from what's happening tomorrow, and I didn't want anyone to worry about us.

They did this before; the only difference is the last time they did this, I was completely freaked out. I was too scared that they are going to shoot us all and nobody would know about it.

This time, I'm not scared at all. I feel as if, like, I want to ask them 'bring it on!' We are excited. We are happy. We are going to be in Tahrir Square tomorrow. We are going to be huge and we are going to do our march and do our protest and Mubarak is going out. Be with us. Bye bye."

(via KPSP) Google announced the product in its blog on Monday, saying they are just trying to help the "people on the ground."

"We hope that this will go some way to helping people in Egypt stay connected at this very difficult time," the blog stated. "Our thoughts are with everyone there."

The numbers that people can call to get their word out are:
+16504194196 or +390662207294 or +97316199855

To check out all the voicemails as they come in, visit twitter.com/speak2tweet.

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Democracy Now! senior producer Sharif Abdel Kouddous is in Egypt now and shares his thoughts on what he's seen there, the transformation of a country he once knew. You can follow his tweets @sharifkouddous.

Transcript via Democracy Now!.

AMY GOODMAN: Sharif, you landed in your home city of Cairo just a few days ago, but it was not the same country you grew up in. Describe your feelings and what you have found, but start at the airport.

SHARIF ABDEL KOUDDOUS: Well, Amy, I’ve traveled to Egypt countless times from the United States after I moved there for college and then work, and when my plane from JFK touched down in Cairo International Airport on Saturday, the day after the massive protest where the protesters beat back the Interior Ministry, police and state security forces, I did land in a different country than the one I had known my entire life. Egypt has been reborn. This is not the Hosni Mubarak’s Egypt anymore. And no matter what happens next, it will never be again.

This is a unprecedented popular uprising, the likes of which myself and many others never thought they would see under President Mubarak. They are taking to the streets, men and women, rich and poor, all segments of society. They are defying the curfew for the past few days, packing into Tahrir Square. And their mood is celebratory, and it’s victorious. They are sure. They are sure that they will not leave until Mubarak does. And they are chanting in the streets every day.

They talk about what has taken place over the past week with such pride in what they have done. Tomorrow marks a week from the January 25th National Police Day, when the first protest began, and culminated on Friday. Friday was essentially a battle between the Interior Ministry and the people, and the people won. They talk about how they came up on the bridges leading to Tahrir, faced off with hundreds and hundreds of riot police from the Interior Ministry, from the state security forces, and were met with violence. They talk with how they walked with their hands up in the air, showing that they were coming peacefully, chanting, "Salmiya! Salmiya!" which means "Peacefully." And they were beat down. They were tear-gassed over and over again.

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Noted Egyptian journalist and speaker Mona Eltahawy takes CNN to task for their sensational descriptions of the events in Egypt and call it for what it is: a people's uprising and revolution.

The New York Times describes an interview on CNN with Mona Eltahawy:

Eltahawy ... appealed to the media to not fall for what she described as a Mubarak regime plot to make the protests in Egypt seem like dangerous anarchy. "I urge you to use the words 'revolt' and 'uprising' and 'revolution' and not 'chaos' and not 'unrest, we are talking about a historic moment," she said.

Moments later, as Ms. Eltahawy suggested that looting and damage to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo shown on Egyptian television was the work of "the police and the thugs of Hosni Mubarak," the lower third of the screen displayed the banner headline: "EGYPT IN CHAOS."

She added, "Egyptians want to fix Egypt, they don't want to destroy Egypt."

The network then displayed video from Egyptian state television of damage to the museum, which has been shown around the world on Saturday.

Less than hour later CNN finally smartened up (a little) and began calling it what it is, as Robert Mackey noted.

Less than an hour after Mona Eltahway, an Egyptian blogger and journalist, appealed to CNN to stop focusing on looting and security problems in Egypt following the government’s decision to withdraw the police from the streets, the broadcaster has changed its onscreen headline from “CHAOS IN EGYPT” to “UPRISING IN EGYPT.”