$1 billion in lost revenue, and as terry mccarthy reports, americans still there feel especially at risk. >> we're looking for any u.s. citizens. any american citizens? >> reporter: the race to get out of cairo as anti-american sentiment starts to grow among some of the demonstrations. >> it was violent yesterday with the demonstrations and our apartment, our hospital was right next to the river so we felt it was t would be a lot safer and our parents were worried about us. we were wander to stay away from the protests. >> reporter: with some 90,000 americans in egypt, the u.s. embarrass coordinated a huge effort to evacuate tourists and residents to get them on special charter flights out of the country. >> we're prepared to get out up to 1,500 people today is what our plan is. we're added planes on an as- needed basis. >> reporter: over 2,000 americans have been evacuated already, and with the demonstrations here suddenly

terry mccarthy, cbs news, cairo. >> couric: we have an update on our chief foreign affairs correspondent lara logan. as we reported, lara was attacked by a mob in cairo last friday as she was covering the egyptian revolution. we're happy to report she's out of the hospital now, continuing her recovery at home. she received a call today from president obama, who expressed his concern. meanwhile, on capitol hill, president obama won a showdown vote today over a costly pentagon program. the house voted not to fund an alternative engine for the f-35. the next generation fighter jet. producing that engine would have cost $3 billion over the next few years. budget cuts are also being debated in a lot of state capitals these days, including madison, wisconsin, where more than 10,000 state workers staged a protest today. republican governor scott walker wants them to make greater contributions to their pensions and health insurance. the state faces a deficit of more than $3 billion. now to the perpetrator of the biggest financial fraud in u.s. history. bernard madoff is serving 150 years for rip

mccarthy. terry, thank you so much. here at home, the huge winter snow and ice storm that hit a third of a nation has gone, replaced today by bitter cold. arctic air swept all the way down to texas. the storm is blamed for 21 deaths, most of them the result of accidents on icy roads. today more than 85,000 homes and business in several states were still without power, and more flights, hundreds of them, were grounded today, bringing cancellations this week to more than 18,000. don teague has the latest on the nation's deep freeze. >> a surprisingly high bridge here. >> reporter: a nightmarish scene in northeast oklahoma where an suv carrying eight people slid off the ice-covered interstate >> almost like a ski ramp. >> reporter: plunging 80 feet into a frozen river. three were killed. rescuers saved five others after using hammers to break the truck's windows. >> as soon as they can get this >> as soon as they could get them extricated from the vehicle. >> in oklahoma heavy snow from the blizza

cbs' terry mccarthy is in cairo with the latest. good morning, terry. >> reporter: good morning, betty. pressure is again increasing on president mubarak in this struggle of wills between the protesters and the government. as you can see behind me the protesters still here in tahrir square. but we're also seeing a series of strikes around the country. labor unrest, which is not directly tied to the protests against president mubarak, but even in the suez canal workers are now on strike. even though the ships are still flowing there. and now within cairo, unrest is also spreading from tahrir square. yesterday, protesters ringed the parliament building, and they also blocked the president and the prime minister from getting to his office. and the strategy here is to dilute the security forces so there's more than one place for them to police. the protesters are hoping for a big mobilization of people tomorrow. their strategy now has been to have two big protests on tuesdays and fridays. tomorrow they're calling for a march of millions

terry mccarthy is in cairo. terry? >> reporter: that's right, erica. it's becoming clear the entire middle east is being affected by what began here in cairo when president mubarak stepped down just seven days ago. in cairo, it was victory friday as hundreds of thousands of egyptians converged on tahrir square. once a battlefield, now a monument to their one-week-old freedom. first they prayed. then they partied. i'm standing here in tahrir square amidst a sea of egyptian flags and tens of thousands of people. they're chanting "hold your head high, you're egyptian." these people are not here to protest anymore, they're here to celebrate-- in stark contrast to many other parts of the middle east. in libya, as many as 46 people are thought to have been killed in the last two days by security forces. this morgue was full. opposition forces ran riot through the streets of the eastern city of benghazi and toppled a statue of moammar qaddafi's iconic green book, which contains his political theories. in yemen, at least four people were killed and 12 wounded

terry mccarthy is in cairo. good morning, terry. give us the latest there. >> reporter: good morning, betty. and the crowds here behind me are still digesting that speech by president mubarak last night. if he thought he was going to pacify them, in fact the opposite has happened. it's 11:00 in the morning here and the crowds are bigger than we've ever seen them at this time. now everybody yesterday was expecting president mubarak to step down. the rumors were going around the square, the mood in the square was quite festive. then when his speech came, it emerged that he won't be stepping down. he was just delegating some authority to his vice president and he was still remain the head of state. the crowd got really mad. they started screaming, leave, leave, leave in arabic. and pledging to stage this massive rally today. there was quite a lot of anger in the crowd we saw from people leaving. worried it might get out of hand. now today the crowd is already building, as i said, and it's not even noon. the friday is the day of prayer

>> terry mccarthy in cairo. thank you. >>> just ahead on the "morning news," a new city crowned the shopping capital of the world. >>> plus clearing the air. a reporter explains her on-air medical crisis seen in a video that went viral. you're watching the "cbs morning news." e "cbs morning news." thout of you. so much i feel like i have to wind myself up just to get out of bed. then...well, i have to keep winding myself up to deal with the sadness, the loss of interest, the trouble concentrating, the lack of energy. [ male announcer ] if depression is taking so much out of you, ask your doctor about pristiq®. pristiq is a prescription medicine proven to treat depression. pristiq is thought to work by affecting the levels of two chemicals in the brain, serotonin and norepinephrine. tell your doctor right away if your depression worsens or you have unusual changes in mood, behavior, or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children, teens and young adults. pristiq i

terry mccarthy has the latest. >> reporter: the protesters are still here in the square behind me. in fact, many of them slept out in what is becoming a virtual tent city in what is normally a busy public traffic square. in the battle of wills that is developing, the government has announced a pay rise of 15% for public servants. presumably to win their sympathies. and it has announced the stock market will reopen here next sunday. meanwhile, the uprising that has been largely leaderless has finally found its first hero. wael ghonim. he's a google executive in jail for 12 days for his involvement in coordinating the demonstrations on facebook. after significant outside pressure and the intervention of a wealthy local businessman, he was released monday evening, much to the delight of his many social network fans across egypt and also his mother. i want to put a sign on my chest, she says, that reads i'm the mother of a hero. wael ghonim tried to be humble. i'm not a hero, he says. i'm a very ordinary person. the heros are the ones in the street. but the protesters in tahrir square

terry mccarthy is in cairo. what's the latest there? >> reporter: good morning. as you say, there is a semblance of normality here. tahrir square behind me which was clogged with protesters is now open again to traffic. we can't see any protests there at all. all the banners have been taken down and as you go through the city, a lot of shops are open, people going back to work as normal and you get a sense the city is going back to normal. the military has tried to put these constitutions on the fast track. they have a panel looking at potential revisions and they will have a referendum within two months, which is pretty quick. i do have to say that as you go around the city, you come across these flash strikes, these pop up strikes, workers in the media industry, banks, various offices. we even saw strikes outside the archaeology department where people are demanding more money and better jobs. it seems like after the protests, everybody has agreed and think they can take it on to the streets. >> how long will the army tolerate the protests and strikes? >> repor

terry mccarthy, cbs news, cairo. >> couric: bahrain is one of a number of nations in the middle east that are critical to america's security interests. more on that now from national security correspondent david martin. >> reporter: the free flow of oil, the containment of iran, and the defeat of al qaeda-- those are the stakes in the persian gulf and why the u.s. navy has about 30 warships assigned to it's fifth fleet headquarters in bahrain. >> this whole area depends upon the ability to maintain naval and air forces in the region. >> reporter: and it's not just bahrain. it's kuwait, which is the staging area for operations in iraq. it's qatar, where the headquarters for u.s. military operations throughout the middle east is located. along with an airbase used by bombers flying strikes in afghanistan. all part of a deal that's been in effect for 60 years. the u.s. provides the shield behind which the gulf states pump oil. >> the one thing that the u.s. and its allies cannot tolerate in this part of the world would be interruption of oil shipments from the region. >> reporter: that

mccarthy. to elizabeth first. liz, what do you make of these reports that the vice president has now told these opposition groups that he met with this morning that they are making plans to restore freedom of the press, to release the demonstrators who have been arrested, and to repeal the so- called emergency laws which give hosni mubarak dictatorial powers? >> reporter: well, these are clearly substantial talks. and the signs are good. the opposition has already said they were positive and that the government has promised to come up with a road map for going forward. but make no mistake-- the demonstrators, tens... hundreds of thousands of them are not going to go anywhere until they see the end of hosni mubarak. at this stage, that may be a symbolic victory but it will be necessary to get the people to go home. >> schieffer: what about the mood of these demonstrators that are coming in to the square this morning? because i understand a lot of people are coming back. >> reporter: it's extraor

>> couric: terry mccarthy. terry, thank you. president obama was in the oval office when he got the word that mubarak was stepping down. the president watched the celebrations in cairo on television and a short time later made his first public statement. chip reid is at the white house tonight. chip, it's been a very long week and the president seems to be very happy to see it end and end this way. >> reporter: oh, yes, katie. after the dangerously unpredictable events of yesterday, today the president sounded deeply relieved as he praised the egyptian people for their courage. >> the people of egypt have spoken, their voices have been heard and egypt will never be the same. >> reporter: but while the euphoria continued in egypt, president obama had a warning that there will be difficult days ahead. >> this is not the end of egypt's transition. it's a beginning. >> reporter: the beginning of a long, arduous path to democracy. with the first stage of that path now controlled by egypt's military leaders. the president had a messag

terry mccarthy, cbs news, acapulco. >> smith: off the horn of africa tonight, a u.s. navy warship is shadowing an american yacht hijacked by somali pirates. the 58-foot sailing yacht "quest" was captured friday off oman. on board are the owners californians scott and jean adams and phyllis mckay and bob riggle of seattle. plus an unknown number of pirates. u.s. officials hope to convince them to surrender without violence. still ahead on the cbs news, wildest hobby ever? a suburban mom may have locked up the title. but up next, the battle in wisconsin, state workers against the state government. you've bel with heart-related chest pain or a heart attack known as acs, you may not want to face the fact that you're at greater risk of a heart attack or stroke. plavix helps protect people with acs against heart attack or stroke: people like you. it's one of the most researched prescription medicines. goes beyond what they do alone by helping to keep blood platelets from sticking and forming dangerous clots. plavix. protection against heart attack or stroke in people with a

>> mitchell: terry mccarthy in cairo, thank you. on the diplomacy front this weekend we saw more of the delicate balance the white house is trying to strike in dealing with the crisis. dan crawford takes a look at what the stakes are today and down the road. >> reporter: the protest had sent shockwaves through the middle east leaving the white house scrambling to stay ahead of what analysts call a geopolitical earthquake that could forever change the region. >> it requires complete rethinking of the american approach to the middle east. >> reporter: the white house's initial response to the protests was muted but in the 13 days since the obama administration, while stopping short of calling for president mubarik's immediate resignation, has pushed for an orderly transition to democracy. today in an interview with fox news's bill o'reilly president obama had this to say. >> that egypt is not going to go back to what it was. the egyptian people want freedom. they want free and fair elections. >> reporter: in a potentially explosive an

katie. >> couric: terry mccarthy in cairo. thank you. >> she has been blogging extensively about the uprising. i know you know scores of people moana in tahrir square. what are they saying? what are you hearing from them? >> they're lived, katie. they're really disappointed. all day long they heard rumors that mubarak was about to step down and they wanted to celebrate that but also maintain that they want the entire regime to step down. so when mubarak came on and said, "i'm staying but i'm also delegating my vice president," they said we've got two mubaraks now, not just one mubarak. they're very angry and very determined and vowing to keep it peaceful and they've now marched on to the tv building where they're calling for more people to come and join them. >> couric: meanwhile, it's been so confusing all day long. what do you think is going on behind the scenes? everyone is trying to figure it out. >> it's a great question. president mubarak took 90 minutes to finally give the speech, and people were wondering is it because

terry mccarthy is in cairo this morning with more. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, terrell. the atmosphere in tahrir square here behind me this morning is still pretty upbeat. the protesters have been singing and chanting to keep their spirits up. two weeks after the demonstrations began, the protests continued. some came to shout, some to pray, one couple even came to get married. >> more than i can imagine. and it's more than a wedding. it's a dream wedding. >> reporter: after nightfall, gunshots in the square. the army fired in the air trying to control the crowd. across the city opposition groups met with vice president omar suleiman and the two sides failed to make any progress on the key issues of president mubarak leaving power and the dismantling of military rule. we don't have any other demands, says this opposition figure, other than the demands of the people. the upheaval in egypt may have left tourist sites empty. but in cairo, many banks and shops have reopened. and people found their way around the demons

terry mccarthy in cairo, egypt. thanks. >>> in wisconsin today lawmakers hope to force a vote on a controversial state budget. opponents have been rallying for days now. the proposal requires government workers to pay more for health care and pennings and limits union negotiating rights. earlier wisconsin governor scott walker told chris this is not a union busting budget. >> our workers have protections today and after this bill passes. what you have are union leaders who don't like the fact that they're want going to be able to mandatorily enforce that every one of the workers here at state and local government have got to be a part of the union. >> yesterday democratic lawmakers left the capitol to prevent a vote. they say they'll stay away today as well. >>> and it was the running of the brides this morning here in new york. hundreds of brides to be, there it is, just happened a couple of minutes ago. they made a mad dash to grab the wedding gown on their dreams at filene's basement. they're being sold for just

>> terry mccarthy in cairo. thank you, we appreciate it. >>> now for another check of the headlines, cbs news correspondent and "morning news" anchor betty nguyen is at the news desk. >> good morning, rebecca. good morning to you at home. early this morning, the republican-controlled house passed a bill that makes deep cuts to federal spending. the measure passed along party lines. it slashes funding to president obama's signature legislation which is health care. republicans say the $61 billion in cuts are necessary to reduce the federal deficit. now this sets up the possibility of a government shutdown if the house cannot reach a compromise with the senate. >>> 14 democrat state lawmakers in wisconsin have left the state. vowing to stay in hiding for weeks in a standoff with republicans over a plan to balance the budget. by leaving the state, democrats have stalled a vote on republican governor scott walker's proposal to cut state workers' pay, benefits, and bargaining rights. the plan has sparked massive demo

but not any more as terry mccarthy reports. >> reporter: giza, home to the pyramid that are more than 4,000 years old. until two weeks ago, they were visited by thousands of tourists a day. but now, giza is empty, and horse guides like farag abu ghanim, who has 25 employees and 35 horses are in trouble. >> from where we feed our family? and from where we feed these horses? >> reporter: each horse costs almost $10 a day to feed. farag has already gone into debt to pay for them. tourism accounts for one out of every 10 jobs in egypt. >> reporter: these pyramids normally attract 12 milliion tourists a year to egypt but since the protests began, they've been deserted, and all the attacks on foreigners in the streets many worry it will be some time before the tourists come back. egypt is a daunting prospect for travelers. the must visit an egyptian museum located right in the middle of the demonstrations. and in the red sea resort of sharm el sheikh, american investors are holding up millions of dollars in development projects because of the unrest. >> five years-- it's going to take us fi

once again, we have a team of correspondents covering the story and we begin with terry mccarthy in cairo. >> reporter: the square is finally emptying out tonight, but today is a day for egyptians to look to their future. for many in tahrir square, the daya began with rubber gloves gs and garbage sacks. it was the great cleanup of a square that saw battles, bloodshed, and an 18-day sit-in. sue annual was swept into drains. stones prepared as weapons were put back into the sidewalk. as burnt out vehicles were carted away. >> all egyptians will be looking for to rebuilding this country. they will look forward to a better country, and they will do all that they can to their best to move ahead. >> reporter: the military quietly passed the message around that they wanted people to begin leaving the square, which is normally a busy traffic intersection. hundreds of volunteers are dismantling tents in tahrir square where people have been sleeping but these protesters say their movement is far from finished. like many egyptians, 20-year-old alia el-sadda doesn't know what will come next. >> of co

jeff. >> terry mccarthy in cairo. thank you. >>> fire broke out near the smithsonian in washington d.c. this morning. smoke poured out of a detached building that contains the natural history museum's cooling tower. several streets were closed. there are no reports of injuries. >>> federal aviation officials are investigating a near midair collision not far from new york city. nancy cortis has that story from reagan's national airport. >> reporter: jeff, good morning. this incident occurred back on january 20th when a passenger jet narrowly missed colliding with a pair of 200 ton military cargo planes. in the congested skies over new york, an american airlines jumbo jet carrying 259 people came within seconds of a midair collision with two c-17s operated by the u.s. military. the passenger jet had just taken off from new york's kennedy airport en route to south paolo brazil. while it was climbing, an air traffic controller noticed. it was just one mile away from two air force cargo planes, and told another controller

terry mccarthy is in libya with more on this unrest. >> reporter: good morning. the protest movement on the topple of president mubarak in egypt is spreading to libya where gadhafi runs one of the most impressive regimes in egypt. in cairo life has largely returned to normal. evidence here of the demonstrations that paralyzed the city for 18 days and tanks still stand guard on tahrir square after news some of its artifacts were stolen during the riots. close by is a shrine commemorating the prefers killed in the square. but across the arab world in libya, protests took the streets in the second largest city overnight. a video apparently showing the protests was posted on youtube but couldn't be independently authenticated. they want the ouster of the government of gadhafi who has been in power since 1969. in bahrain, protesters gathered for a third day. two protests have died so far in ba ran and the king went on television to promise the deaths would be investigated and urged the people to go home. but for some protesters, it was too little, too late. from the k

for a closer look at that cbs news terry mccarthy joins us live from cairo with the very latest. terry, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, erica. a violent crackdown on protesters in bahrain this morning which is, among other things, a key regional ally for the united states because that is where the u.s. navy's fifth fleet is based. before dawn this morning, violence broke out in the island kingdom of bahrain. thousands of protesters had camped out overnight in pearl square in central manama. but if they had hoped bahrainian security forces would leave them alone they were disappointed. 2:45 in the morning, local time, riot police approached the square from several directions. they began firing tear gas and buckshot and rubber bullets. witnesses said the tear gas was so thick, that many people were vomiting from its affects. abc reporting miguel marques in the crowd. he and his crew were attacked and had their familiar rattan away. >> journalists! journalists! he said no! he said no! he said no! ah! >> reporter: marquez managed to escape and refleked on what happened later

terry mccarthy is in cairo this morning with the latest. terry, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, jeff. gentlemen just got back from the square. the mood is getting ever more optimistic down there as they hear this protest is spreading around the country and feel that president mubarak is under increasing pressure to resign. one of the new developments is spreading of strikes around cairo, around the country. the bus drivers in cairo are on strike and railroad workers and even suez canal some of the workers there going on strike. the canal is still open, though, to shipping. now, unrest is also spreading around the city. it's not just protesters in tahrir square. they are blockaded the parliament. the prime minister couldn't get in there yesterday. tomorrow calling for a march of millions. the idea more people involved in this the more people are protesting against the government the harder it is for the government to shut them down. jeff? >> terry mccarthy in cairo, thanks. >>> on the heels of homeland security security janet napoli

terry mccarthy, nbc news, cairo. >>> at this morning's national prayer breakfast in washington, mark kelly, the husband of wounded arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords joined president obama and others for the event. as he began his remarks, mr. obama spoke to mr. kelly. >> we have been praying for mark's wife, gabby giffords, for many days now, but i want gabby and mark and their entire family to know that we are with them for the long haul. and god is with them for the long haul. >> kelly told the audience that his wife is getting a little bit better each day and he made a request. >> and please, please, please continue to keep gabby's thoughts and prayers in your heart. it is really helping. thank you. >> that was mark kelly. >> finally happy new year. the beginning of the chinese lunar new year, the year of the rabbit. they're celebrating in hong kong with a big parade including one group of kids dressed up as, yes, rabbits. according to the chinese zodiac people born in the year of the rabbit are curious, calm, stylish, and passionate. at six minutes past the hour, that must

terry mccarthy is for us in cairo with the latest from there this morning. good morning, terry. >> reporter: good morning, chris. the protests the top of president hosni mubarak and ripping through the midwest with demonstrations in iran and bahrain and iran. the streets are calm in cairo as the focus shifts from demonstrations to negotiations. the military convened a panel to discuss changing the constitution to facilitate free elections in six months' time and mubarak is thought to be in sharm el sheikh amongst rumors his health has taken a turn for the worse. meanwhile, the shock waves from the top men of mubarak's 30-year rule has energized protests in iran. captured in this cell phone video from yesterday. the protesters chanted whether cairo or tehran, death to the oppressors. they dough faced posters of the supreme leader ayatollah and were met with tear gas from the police and iranian lawmakers called for the death penalty for leaders who organized the protests and fearful of a repeat of the mass demonstrations that followed presidential elections in

cbs news correspondent terry mccarthy is in cairo this morning. good morning, terry. >> reporter: good morning, jeff. the protests have called for another mass demonstration today. 15th day of this uprising and some thought they might lose energy. you can see behind me the square is, yet again, filling up with tens of thousands of people. this morning, the demonstrators awoke they found a first hero, ghonim a google executive jailed 12 days and most of that time blindfolded for his involvement in coordinating the demonstrations on facebook. he was released monday evening much to the delight of many social network fans across egypt and also his mother. i want to put a sign on my chest, she says that reads i'm the mother of a hero. after his release, ghonim treated freedom is a blessing that deserves fighting for but in his first press appearance he tried to be humble. i'm not a hero, he says. i'm a very ordinary person. heroes are the ones in the street. but those weary protesters are digging in for the long hall in the square. they have been organ

that is where we find cbs news correspondent terry mccarthy who joins us from cairo with more on the story. terry, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. as these massive protests continue, probably the biggest we have seen so far in tahrir square and we have learned that president mubarak has left cairo for sharm el sheikh although no word of him leaving power as the protesters are demanding. for much of yesterday, expectations were high that mubarak was going to announce he was giving up power. when the speech came, people listened in silence. as the president of the republic he said i do not find any embarrassment or fault listening to young people in my country and respond to go that. mubarak clearly wasn't listening to the young people in tahrir square. when it became clear he was not stepping down, the mood in the square turned on a dime. you can see jubilant crowds turned angry and they had on simple message for him. they chanted in arabic, leave, leave. >> don't have any trust in this government and now in this president. now he is making people like more having fights toge