were suggesting that, and then mubarak came out with this statement that, frankly, frustrated white house officials. last night the president, of course, gave a written statement that was the clearest break yet from the mubarak regime, more forcefully aligning the administration with the protestors. as one aide said to ming we want to make it clear, we re on the right side of history here, we re deeply frustrated not just with mubarak but vice president suleiman who came out and seemed to dig in his heels with mubarak. a lot of folks inside the administration were hoping for looking to suleiman as one potential person who could preside over the transition and be some kind of honest broker, but the more that he said go home, go back to work, turn off the satellite channels, it made that eventuality less likely in the views of the administration because of credibility on the egyptian street. so, in some ways if you look at
who is going to fill the vacuum of charting a new future of egypt? it will be the military in consultation with others. and remember that the muslim brotherhood is just one component here. what you ll see is a lot of people that there is consultation across many different lines. this is not at all like iran in 1979. i think we have every reason to be hopeful that this is not going to turn into a radical islamic regime. so i think the president, the secretary of state, the vice president of the united states have all done a commendable job in negotiating and talking and nudging, that s what this is. they have nudged mubarak along until he finally saw the handwriting on the wall. senator bill nelson, always good to talk you to. thank you for joining us.
and i reserve judgment. i mean i think on the one hand one wants to celebrate. on the other hand, one has to look with some doubts about the intentions of the military in the long run. we have to keep in mind that the military is part and parcel of the regime. the senior officer corps supported mubarak and benefitted from mubarak financially. they are involved in business. they have their own perks and their own economic benefits. and that s why when the military tells you we re going to reform, you say yes but show me the proof in the pudding. thank you so much for coming. open the left of your screen you re seeing a wide shot of the street leading into the square. that is the same shot we were showing a little over a week ago with the molotov cocktails being thrown and the bottles and rocks, the scene of violence. a reminder this did not come without a cost. a lot of people lost their lives. what a change we ve seen. list want to let folks know some