Protests in Yemen; Unrest in Syria
JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: There are some major developments on the unfolding situation out of Libya. We now know who will take charge of the NATO military campaign and we're just getting word President Obama is talking to members of Congress about the situation in Libya. We will go live to the White House as soon as something breaks. Also, the violence is escalating across the Middle East. In Jordan, thousands take to the streets to protest their government. Listen to this. Fights break out. Sticks and rocks are thrown. One government leader says things are getting out of hand. And in Yemen, thousands fill the streets to protest their leaders. Listen. One U.S. ally calls the situation there -- quote -- "deteriorating rapidly." Remember, some officials are calling Yemen the new Wild West for al Qaeda terrorists. We will get to all of that in a minute. But, first, Mubarak is gone in Egypt. Gadhafi is under siege in Libya. Is Bashar Assad next? That's the question today rumbling across the Middle East because the spark of revolution has reached the Arab powerhouse Syria. This is Damascus today. Anti-government protests spread to the Syrian capital and beyond. Here's where it started, Daraa, south of Damascus. And believe it or not, we are told with all the arrests about a month ago, a dozen teens is how it started. They were arrested for spraying anti-government graffiti. That was the spark. Then on Wednesday, this -- government forces opened fire there in Daraa. Accounts remain sketchy, but the tape we're about to watch does give us some idea. As we said, the exact circumstances remain unclear, as do the number of deaths. But, yesterday, the government conceded it made a mistake and announced new reforms. Today's response from the street suggests that may not be enough. We're joined live now by CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom. He's watching events unfold from his post in Abu Dhabi. And based on reports we're getting and the video we're seeing, demonstrations are spreading. Is this getting to the point where it's now become a direct challenge to the regime of Bashar al-Assad?</s>MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Joe, the protesters, the eyewitnesses, the human rights activists we spoke to today all said that is the case. They said what the government offered up yesterday was far too little and far too late. They simply don't trust what the government had to say. They don't believe that reforms will be implemented. Today very disturbing accounts -- we were told by eyewitnesses at least 15 people killed when they were trying to march from a town close to Daraa to Daraa to express solidarity with the demonstrators in Daraa. We also heard that in Daraa itself, that they toppled a statue of former President Hafez al-Assad and they burned a large picture of current President Bashar al-Assad. This looks as though it were a movement that started looking for local reforms, asking for more economic opportunity. It was more of a localized matter. But in the past few days, as protesters have come under increasing violence, it's really coalesced into an anti-government movement and it's got the Syrian government quite worried -- Joe.</s>JOHNS: So we have reports today of government forces firing on the demonstrators. And I suppose a question is, does this suggest to you on the ground there that the Syrian government may be digging in its heels?</s>JAMJOOM: Last night, when we heard from the Syrian government and we got that response, it looked like a conciliatory tone. They were defiant at some points in saying that the Syrian government was not going to fire on protesters. They were also defensive at times. But they said, look, mistakes have been made, but we promise to implement reforms and do it soon. But from what we're hearing today, it does look like the Syrian government is trying to -- is really trying to crack down hard on these protesters. Now, we can't independently verify a lot of what's going on there. We have to rely on what we hear from activists. We're not getting responses from the government and we haven't been able to get in there. But this looks like a severe crackdown and it looks like they're trying to discourage by any means these protesters from coming out. But what's interesting is, the protesters there, they seem to have gotten past their fear. In a country like Syria, it's extraordinary to see these kinds of demonstrations, where there's such authoritarian rule there. They say they're going to keep coming out. And today it looks like they have -- Joe.</s>JOHNS: There was also a protest today in a Syrian city called Hama. Can you sort of explain for us the significance of that protest and the location?</s>JAMJOOM: Joe, very significant. Hama is a city where in 1982, there was an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood and the Syrian government killed over 10,000 people to try to quell that uprising, to try to put it down. Now, the fact that there are protesters in Hama that are willing to come out, they know in Hama better than any other city in Syria what kind of ramifications protesters or uprisings can face by the government when there's such an authoritarian regime. So the fact that you're seeing this spread to even there shows how much the momentum has spread and gained in Syria and how much this anti- government movement has really taken root there -- Joe.</s>JOHNS: And not to minimize what we're seeing in Libya, even Egypt, can you sort of just describe for our audience here in the United States and around the world, really, why is it that Syria looms so important throughout the Middle East? What's the point there? What's the stake in Syria?</s>JAMJOOM: Joe, Syria is a key; it's a vital regional player here. Syria has its hand in so many internal affairs of so many countries in this region. On one hand, it's very closely allied with Iran. It also backs Hezbollah. It's very closely tied to Lebanon. The U.S. knows that there can be no comprehensive Middle East peace without Syria. And even though Syria was a country that was internationally isolated for decades in the last four or five years, under the rule of Bashar al-Assad, he's been approaching the U.S. There's been a warming of relations even with the U.S. and other Western countries, a key regional player. You can't really do much in the Middle East without relying on Syria to play a role. So, if Assad, if his regime is under threat, it makes people wonder what's going to happen, how is Syria going to play a role and what will happen to the broader picture here in the Middle East? -- Joe.</s>JOHNS: Now, very quickly, Mohammed, it's a lot for us all to follow, but we're now hearing about demonstrations in Jordan. Have you been hearing anything about that?</s>JAMJOOM: Yes. We heard a lot today about demonstrations. Now, there have been demonstrations the last couple of months in Jordan that have taken place on Fridays like today. Today was bigger in scale. We heard that there were dozens of protesters injured and dozens of security forces injured. When you have pro-government loyalists and anti-government demonstrators get into clashes, and the security forces tried to intervene. The foreign minister in Jordan said that there had been demonstrations the past few months since this wave of unrest started spreading through the region, and, again, it's just causing more concern for regional neighbors of Jordan, if this is the next country where there will be more protests -- Joe. Mohammed Jamjoom in Abu Dhabi, thanks so much for that great reporting. Coming up, new information that Canada has agreed to step up and lead the mission in Libya. So what does that mean and how does it affect the U.S. military? That's next. Also, new worries today at one of those troubled reactors in Japan, why this could be the worst thing we have heard so far. We will be right back.