get in contact with different persons. so are you going to stay at least for now in cairo? do you feel is? how i feel safe. how do you feel about it? i feel i feel for the people on the streets and the egyptians because they are the ones who are having the hard time. i mean, i m i m a phone. i m a tourist so i m, you know, i feel safe in the hotel. it s just not a problem. so you re going to stay at least for now, and you re not going to try to scramble and get over to the airport and get on any flight that might be leaving egypt? is that what i m hearing from you, kristan? i ll sit tight for the next opportunity but i ll look for the opportunity to fly out and i ll watch the situation as it comes, yeah. is fred pleitgen still with us? fred is our reporter on the scene. fred, are you there? reporter: yeah. i m still here, wolf. it was interesting to hear what kristan was saying. i don t know if you want to ask kristan a question.
reporter: you have a group of egyptian americans in front of the white house chanting that mubarak must go. they re trying to bring their own pressure to bare on the obama administration to ratchet up its own pressure on president mubarak in egypt. i m joined by mr. ibriham. he was in prison by him for several years. the state department says they want mr. mubarak to embrace reform. is that enough for you? of course it s not enough. it s coming too late and too lalt. i think now they should probably ask him to leave peacefully. it s been highly left to tunisia and left different people determine their own future by themselves. there are a million of qualified people who can take over. . reporter: there s a question
of what the new government will be composed of and what the directions and reform that it might declare. so i think it is better not to speculate. when is next in line though? and i don t know if this is going to happen. no one knows. if president mubarak were forced to step down, leave office. who is next in line? who would take over? again, that s rather speculative. in terms of our constitution, the constitution clearly defines in that case the president is unable to undertake his responsibilities, the speaker of parliament undertakes that responsibility until elections are conducted in the span of 60 days. again, this is a matter of constitutional law. and one fugitiinal question. do you know the whereabouts of president mubarak s wife and son? i have no direct knowledge. although gamel was part of the national democratic party s main
unfold, our first concern is preventing injury or loss of life. so i want to be very clear in calling upon the egyptian authorities to refrain from any violence against peaceful protesters. the people of egypt have rights that are universal. that includes the right to peaceful assembly and association. the right to free speech and the ability to determine their own destiny. these are human rights, and the united states will stand up for them everywhere. all right, the president of the united states, nic robertson is on the scene in alexandria, egypt, the second largest city in egypt. same question to you, nic. what the president of the united states just said, how do you think that s going to play, because it s the middle of the night right now in alexandria and cairo. but when daylight comes out, saturday is a regular day in egypt. it s the first working day of the week. how is all this going to play?
when i was in cairo shortly after i was elected president, i said that all governments must maintain power through consent. not coercion. that is the single standard by which people will achieve what they deserve. we will continue to stand up for the rights of the egyptian people and work with the government in pursuit of a future that is more just, more free, and more hopeful. thank you very much. all right. you heard a reporter trying to shout a question to the president, but he walked out right away. president obama, a brief statement, but a very important statement urging calm right now. the military and police saying that everyone must refrain from violence right now.