Journalists Attacked; Latest From Alexandria, Egypt
KAYE: The latest developments now in Egypt. A natural gas pipeline in the Sinai town of El Arish has been set on fire. State run TV quote, the Sinai governor as saying, "the fire was an act of sabotage." It's unclear if it's related to the political unrest sweeping the country. The pipeline is expected to be closed now for at least a week. That could pose a real problem for Jordan, which relies heavily on its fuel. Opposition leaders and intellectuals held talks today with Vice President Omar Suleiman. They discussed ways to ease President Hosni Mubarak from power. One of the groups called the Committee of the Wise says Suleiman was willing to listen. Members call for protests to continue at Tahrir Square every Tuesday and every Friday until Mubarak resigns. The protest there today have been largely peaceful, there was a standoff between anti-government protesters and the military. You are looking at live pictures there of Liberation Square in Cairo. Demonstrators formed a human chain earlier to stop military tanks from crossing through barricades into their enclave in the Square. Witnesses say the scuffle broke out when soldiers knocked down the barricades. Demonstrations supporting the uprising are planned today across the United States and Europe. One is happening outside the Egyptian embassy in Washington this afternoon. CNN's Sandra Endo is there and joins us now live. Sandra, what is the scene there at this hour?</s>SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randi, it's supposed to start off at about noon here in front of the Egyptian embassy at the nation's capital. You can see the barricades set up and some protesters starting to gather with signs in hand. And this is all, as you mentioned, in solidarity for the uprising in Egypt. This is actually a group of grassroots organizations coming together. And now I'm joined by Sarah Sloan who is part of the organization of this whole demonstration we're about to see today. Tell me what the message is and what you're trying to say.</s>SARAH SLOAN, PROTEST ORGANIZER: We're trying to show our solidarity with the people of Egypt who have been in the streets every day opposing the U.S.-backed Mubarak dictatorship. We have a special obligation to be protesting here in D.C. and around the United States because every day the U.S. government gives over $5 million, amounting to over $2 billion every year to prop up this dictatorship that the Egyptian people have made clear they want to see gone.</s>ENDO: Are you happy with what you're hearing and seeing from Egypt, the mass protests sometimes they're violent, but also the message you're hearing from President Mubarak?</s>SLOAN: Well, we believe the message of the protest is clear that Mubarak and his entire regime has to go immediately and it has to be replaced by a government that serves the interests of the Egyptian people not of the U.S. government. OK. Thank you so much, Sarah Sloan. Again, Randi, this is going to kick off at noon. Their plan is to protest in front of this embassy and then march to the White House for further demonstration -- Randi.</s>KAYE: All right. Thank you, Sandra. It starts, I guess, about 45 minutes from now. Thank you. You've been watching events in Egypt unfold right before your eyes. Journalists including some from CNN have been on the frontlines from the very start of this uprising. But in recent days they've become target of people who don't want the world to see what's happening.</s>KAYE: Journalists rush to cover the uprising in Egypt and bring the story to people around the world. But they were quickly silenced.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down.</s>KAYE: On Wednesday CNN's Anderson Cooper and his team were attacked in Tahrir Square while covering the protests.</s>ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER 360": I've been hit now like ten times.</s>KAYE: That same day CNN International correspondent, Hala Gorani was also roughed up covering the story. A stranger escorted her to safety.</s>HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: This is a little chaotic. I have someone helping me out here.</s>KAYE: On Thursday when Anderson Cooper ventured out again to capture the protests, his car window was smashed. He tweeted, "Vehicle I was in attacked. My window smashed. All OK."</s>COOPER: We were all OK. We, you know, immediately started screaming to the driver, "Go, go, go, go, go." And we were able to get out of there. The car was pretty badly damaged. But again that was a minor incident compared with what had happened to numerous journalists today.</s>KAYE: Anderson had to broadcast his nightly program "AC 360" from an undisclosed location Thursday due to safety concerns.</s>COOPER: I can't tell you where we are frankly for our own safety.</s>KAYE: And it wasn't just CNN. Reporter Lara Logan from CBS was marched back to her hotel at gunpoint. An ABC producer and cameraman were carjacked at a checkpoint and driven to a compound where they say men threaten to behead them. A Fox News Channel correspondent and producer attacked so severely they were hospitalized. All it seemed a coordinated effort to instill fear, destroy camera equipment and stop the story from spreading. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took notice.</s>CLINTON: We condemn in the strongest terms attacks on reporters covering the ongoing situation in Egypt.</s>KAYE: Who is to blame for the attacks on the press?</s>DOUGHERTY: Senior State Department officials say they have information that shows that there was some type of connection between the ministry of the interior and those attacks.</s>KAYE: But the Egyptian ambassador told CNN the government condemned the attacks and was not behind them. Still, in a televised address, vice president Omar Suleiman singled out international TV reporters.</s>OMAR SULEIMAN, VICE PRESIDENT OF EGYPT (through translator): I actually blame certain friendly nations who have television channels. They're not friendly at all.</s>KAYE: Meanwhile, on Friday the attacks continued. The Arabic network Al Jazeera reported its office in Cairo had been attacked by, quote, "a gang of thugs". The office and all of the equipment inside burned. The Al Jazeera network's office had been closed days earlier after it broadcast video of anti-Mubarak protesters. The only media it seems that is free to broadcast is state-run Nile TV, a pro-Mubarak network. Early on Nile TV called the protests, quote, "riots", and accused protesters of violating the security of the country.</s>SALMA ABDELAZIZ, INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENT EDITOR: Well, since the beginning they've been covering the protests, but they have mainly been focusing on pro Mubarak rallies rather than anti-Mubarak rallies.</s>KAYE: Nile TV has since backed off a bit, telling the protesters to go home, that their message has been heard. Still, their coverage apparently too slanted even for a Nile TV anchorwoman, who walked off the job this week in protest.</s>SHAHIRA AMIN, FORMER NILE TV CORRESPONDENT: I don't want to be part of the propaganda machine of this regime. I'm on the side of the people.</s>KAYE: The people and the protesters who want their story told by journalists who now find it too dangerous to do their job.</s>KAYE: Today, Egypt's new prime minister said there has been no concerted effort to hinder journalists in and around Tahrir Square adding that he has, quote, "made clear that they have full freedom to do anything they want". Just ahead of the Super Bowl, a dangerous situation at the stadium where the Steelers will tangle with the Packers. We'll go live to Arlington, Texas for the latest on the snow and ice that slammed the city this week.