Chaos, no other way to describe the Molotov cocktails thrown from rooftops, or the men on horses and camels charging the protestors and letting them have it. More than 600 were wounded and three killed today. Quite a response to what was supposed to be a peaceful and rational proposal for Mubarak to step down by not running for re-election.
The conundrum for Egyptians is a question of class. There are several million people who stand to lose big time when Mubarak's three-decade regime ends. But there are several million others who will benefit, and who want some type of democratic government. Those pro-democracy forces have made some alliances in the past week that might make their skins crawl with the Muslim Brotherhood, with the military, with who-knows-who. There's been an undercurrent of what-in-the-world-are-they-doing in these protests, because while the sentiment for democracy will be applauded in the West, making it happen seems a long shot.
How long will the pro-Mubarak forces fight back? How long before the pro-democracy demonstrators take up arms to defend themselves? And how long before the military takes sides, violently?
As for Mubarak himself, he'll leave office in great financial shape, thank-you-very-much. Experts estimate his family's worth might be as much as $70 billion. You could nearly live on that.
We'll have the latest from Egypt, tonight at 11. Jim Dolan leads our coverage.
Also at 11, the ice storm came and went. The good news is that it was fast-moving, and hit overnight. But it made for a tough morning commute, especially for those who had to drive on icy roads, but even for those who drove in the slippery, slushy aftermath. Meteorologist Lee Goldberg heads our coverage, and we have reporters in the field, as tens of thousands are still without power.
One of my favorite movies is "The Endless Summer." It was a seminole picture in my life and the lives of so many surfing baby boomers. I found myself, in this endless winter, watching clips of it just to remind myself that the sun will shine, and some of us will be in liquid soon. But not soon enough.
We'll also have any breaking news of the night, plus Rob Powers with the night's sports. I hope you can join Liz Cho and me, tonight at 11.
