[Velshi:] Well, we've been keeping an eye on other countries that could be influenced by what's going on in Egypt. Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Jordan last week to demand political and economic reforms. Today, Jordan's King Abdullah II dismissed his government. He ordered a new prime minister to implement what he called "genuine political reform." So I want to take a look at Jordan for you for a second to show you just how important Jordan is. Take a look at this. Jordan, which is here, shares borders with Israel, with Saudi Arabia. The southern tip of Jordan is just across the Gulf from Egypt, and, of course, Syria to the north, Lebanon to the west. Here's a quick Jordan 101 so you know what we're talking about. Jordan was part of the Ottoman Empire until the Ottoman Empire collapsed at the end of World War I. Britain took over administration of the region. It created a country called Transjordan in the 1920s. Transjordan won independence from Britain in 1946. Transjordan, by the way, because it's across the Jordan River. It changed its name just to Jordan in 1950. Now let me tell you a little bit about Jordan's government. It is a pro-western constitutional monarchy with a bicameral parliament and universal suffrage. Bicameral means two types of parliament and everybody gets a vote. The king signs and executes all laws. Now, King Hussein you will remember him he ruled from 1953 to 1999, when he was succeeded by his son, King Abdullah. Let's talk a little bit about the relationship with Israel. It's got a long border with Israel, and it administered the West Bank until Israel took control of the region in the 1967 ArabIsraeli War. Jordan renounced its claims to the West Bank in 1988 and signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994. Jordan, by the way, is home to many, many Palestinian refugees. Jordan's population is about 6.4 million people, including 7 million let me show you that right here. I've got it written down for you including 1.7 million Palestinian refugees and other displaced persons. Ninety-two2 percent of the population are Sunni Muslims. And Jordan's official language is Arabic, but English is widely spoken in Jordan. Let's go to CNN's Jill Dougherty. She's standing by at the State Department. Jill, does the U.S. believe that this decision by King Abdullah is going to actually satisfy this growing movement in Jordan as it may be growing in other countries?
[Jill Dougherty, Cnn Foreign Affairs Correspondent:] Well, that's the question, isn't it? Because it's a question in a lot of these countries in the region that have continuing problems you know, massive young populations, people with an education, perhaps, but no job prospects, and also people who have been shut out of the political process. Now, Jordan is in a much better situation than Egypt, but it really is anyone's guess in any of those countries right now whether it would satisfy them. But, again, Jordan does not appear to be in the revolutionary situation that Egypt is right now. And I keep you know, Ali, I was thinking as you were talking about Hillary Clinton's speech just a few weeks ago when she was in Doha mentioning many of these same points. The regional governments that are usually and traditionally friends the United States, if they don't begin to address the needs and the demands of their people for more economic participation, political participation, they could be run over by this wave as well. And you heard it from Senator Kerry. So that's the hope, that this would be enough.
[Velshi:] Let me ask you this, Jill. There's a meeting going on in Washington with the president, with Secretary Clinton, with a number of his top advisers. And they are walking Ed and I were talking about this earlier they're walking a fine line between supporting the revolution and ending up like Iran did, where it seemed to be the sensible thing at the time to support the revolution, and then the world got stuck with an Iran that does what Iran does. What do you see as the shift in Washington and how important it is?
[Dougherty:] Well, you know, if you're talking about Iran, that actually, interestingly, was on the mind of Mubarak a couple of years ago from the WikiLeaks cables. He was worried that the shah had given too much, the shah had opened up, and he paid the price of being swept away by the Iranian Revolution. And Mubarak was saying to the U.S. ambassador, basically, I'm not going to do that, I want stability and I'm not going there. So now we're in a very, very different situation. But, you know, I think Iran has similarities. You've got lots of people on the street, very angry people. But when you really look through, what do they have? If you look at the leadership, they had in Iran more than 30 years ago the Ayatollah Khomeini, charismatic. Regardless of what you think of his politics, he was very charismatic, he lead a movement. Right now, on the streets of Egypt, you have a coalition, a coalition of at least probably six different groups, and it's led nominally by a man who is not exactly Mohamed ElBaradei not exactly charismatic, kind of a bookish type of person. That's different. And the ideology. There was an Islamic ideology in Iran back in 1979. There's really no ideology per se on the streets at this point. It's really jobs, jobs, jobs, bad economy, and the pent-up demand by people.
[Velshi:] Yes. It is remarkable how much we all have in common no matter where we are in the world. We want a better chance and we want to work. All right, Jill. Thanks very much for your insight on this. This will continue to be a complex issue that we are trying to follow. I asked you to weigh in on Egypt. Our question was, what role, if any, should the U.S. play in what is happening in Egypt? Here's what I got from my Facebook page. Tara says, "The U.S. should show support for the people and back their belief that Mubarak should resign. Let the people know we support them, but nothing more. We are not the world's police." Kelly writes, "It seems obvious that we don't want to be on the wrong side of history this time. Change is inevitable. The U.S. and the world should support the people of Egypt in their cries for freedom." And this is from Sue. "I think we're handling it perfectly. It's not our government's business to decide who should or should not lead a country." Tim says, "If human rights are being violated, then and only then should we become involved. It is a peaceful revolution. Let's keep it that way." And finally, this nugget from Dennis: "Hmm. Israel and the U.S. just changed their Facebook status with Egypt from "married" to 'it's complicated.'" That's a good one. Let's check on Twitter. "The U.S. role should be helping the Egyptians get their free elections publicly, while keeping our own interests in mind privately." Here's one from Smart Alec Alex. "We do give money, but now is the time to stick to principles. The Egyptian people want a positive change and the U.S. should have no part." And finally, from StJon, "We are involved in every country. It's called diplomacy." Thanks for your responses. Keep them coming. I read every single one of them, even when you're not so nice to me. A little town called Boulder City with a rocky past suddenly has a bright future thanks to a natural resource that won't ever run out. We are "Building up America" next.