now has the rest of the world taking notice today, saturday, february 5th, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good saturday morning to you, everyone. p i'm lester holt coming to you live from jordan. >> and i'm amy robach here in new york. what an incredible week you've witnessed in the middle east. >> it feels like an incredible month all compressed into it a few days. historic and at moments quite scary. this morning tahrir square continues to be the center of protests against president hosni mubarak after days of violence, those demonstrations have become more peaceful, but things as you might imagine are very tense there. there are reports tomorrow interest demonstrators are calling for what is being called a day of, quote, martyr's blood. as for hosni mubarak, what was being billed as the day of departure, it has come and gone and embattled egyptian leader is sill hangi still hanging on to power, but he's facing increasing pressure. the military and other officials are looking at ways to limit his decision making. as to why we are here, we made the short trip to jordan, frankly, it was becoming too dangerous for us to say in cairo. pro mubarak thugs have been targeting foreign media. the situation was turning hostile and violent. obviously we still have people and live capabilities in the country, but our thought was to sustain a live two hour broadcast might put us at risk, so we have moved the sort night over to jordan. and i'll tell you more about our trip out of the country coming up a bit later in the broadcast. >> and it goes without saying we're very happy you're safe and away to come to us live this morning. also coming up here at home, the new jobs report. only 36,000 jobs created last month. that's far below what washington and the white house were both hoping for. we'll take a closer look at what those numbers mean for you. also he's the celebrity chef who wants to get america's kids eating better, but jamie oliver and his cameras have just been thoen out of another school kitchen. we'll tell you why. plus nearly a year to the day since tragedy at seaworld, a new killer whale show. officials say it will now keep trainers out of the water, but can it guarantee their safety. first let's head back to lester with the latest on the crisis in egypt. every day seems to be another turning point. today the day after the latest big protest, everyone watching and waiting to see what happens next. where are the pro mubarak forces. it's been rather quiet this there today. mubarak sill in power. he's been meeting with his new cabinet. this is day 12 of the uprising. we want to go to ron allen. he remains in cairo and he has the latest for us. good to see you. >> reporter: good morning. request to s good to see you. is this sort of the after victory celebration there in the main square in cairo morning. it's very peaceful, very calm. the military is still firmly in charge of the area. there are check points set up, they're screening people who want to come in. there are some indications that they are turning people away. but there are still thousands upon thousands of people in the square, many much them there overnight. and as you've said, they are now planning for more demonstrations. they are planning a week of resistance. so there is still a lot of determination, a lot of energy trying to drive mubarak from power. that of course has not happened. the other challenge that the protesters face is that there are some people here who feel that enough has been accomplished. they want to get back to work, they want to get back for school, back to life as normal as possible because this protest, the protests have taken a tremendous tolle on this country. some $3 billion lost. and you can imagine what it means to an individual who has not been able to go to work or earn a living for 12 days. >> and we know the demonstration yesterday was largely peaceful, but there were some street skirmishes. fair to say those were outside tahrir square? >> reporter: yes, they were. they were on the fringes. the key thing yesterday is that the pro mubarak forces did not meet the anti-mubarak forces anywhere near the square. they were kept away or they chose to stay away, but that did not happen. the military has become as everyone knew is the key player in all of this. they accepted up, they put up barricade, they controlled the crowds and kept the two sides apart. the military is also going to play a key role in the political transition. this has been a government run by the military in the sense that hosni mubarak and many of his key deputies are former generals in the military. there are a lot of political talks going on. the prime minister had a meeting with opposition figures last might. we're not sure what was really accomplished. today there is a meeting going on with key leaders in the government and a so-called council of elders, people from the community, business leader, others outside of the government trying to put forward ideas of how to move the country forward politically. the key question i think is will all this satisfy the opposition and the protestors. they are determined to stay out in the square to keep the pressure on. lester? >> nbc's ron allen for us in cairo this morning watching development there is. thanks very much. president obama says he wants mubarak to make the right decision, but he's not calling for his immediate resignation. for more, we're joined by jamie rubin, former assistant secretary of state under madeline albright. we're happy you're with us this morning. we've heard the president it talk about speeding up the transition. a lot of it sounds like diplomatic code words. is the president without saying it trying to nudge him to leave now? >> yes r, i think president oba has einvolved his position over the last ten days and now it's very clear after yesterday's huge outpouring of support for the pro democracy movement that the regime's effort to use the tricks of the trade, to use vie lepsz, to use crack downs on the media and any number of other methods failed. and so i think yesterday was the final turning point. it's now clear that president mubarak has to go. president obama and his officials behind the scenes working i'm sure through multiple channel, diplomatic channels, perhaps intelligence channels, are trying to develop as he said an orderly transition. and that's complicated because of the constitution in egypt was set up to -- as an advantage to president mubarak and needs to be changed. it's complicated because of all the different officials who have been tied to mubarak who will now need to move on. >> we saw the pro mubarak forces in the street and while it's widely believed many of them were security forces, is there any true organic popular support for hip and is he right to some extent that to simply walk away now could invite more at least short term trouble in the streets? >> i'm sure there is a substantial amount of broad support for president mubarak in egypt. i couldn't begin to give a percentage. i don't think anybody can because this haven't been real opposition parties and real honest polling and all of that. but as far as whether him stepping down will cause chaos, i think on the contrary. the longer president mubarak fails to make clear that he's going to step down, the longer egypt's economy, egypt's stability is in question. the moment he makes clear he is leaving and establishes an orderly process to hand over power to presumably his vice president, i think things will begin to get back to normal in egypt. the argument that after mubarak is chaos i think has failed to satisfy people in egypt nor the leaders around the world. >> let me ask you this. the next election is this in th fall. assuming the anti-government protesters remain peaceful, could we all turn around and it's fall and he simply exits as scheduled? >> well, it's certainly possible that this could drag on. and i doubt it will drag on until september. but it certainly could drag on for many, many days if not weeks. i've always thought that there is a chance that the demonstrators, now that they have ownership of the square, this they could stay there. meanwhile president mubarak might stay where he is in the presidential palace. but i do think there is a certain momentum that built in the last three days. first with the violence and the crackdown, the attempt to change the calculus, change the momentum back towards mubarak failed. and yesterday's huge demonstrations make clear that his regime has ended. it's just a question of which day or which week he makes that public. >> always good to have you on. thanks so much for sharing you expertise with us. it's ten past the hour. let's head back to amy. while the white house keeps a close eye on egypt, it's also watching the latest job report. unemployment dropped to 9%, but only 36,000 new jobs were added, a fact that has many worried on in waupg and shington and on ma street. >> reporter: tony hasn't had steady work since being laid off 2 1/2 years ago. he's burned through his savings and sod his motorcycle and more. >> i'll go around the house and just go we don't need that, we don't need that. and i'll put it up on ebay. >> reporter: last month, he and his wife got help to pay the mortgage from their pregnant daughter and her husband. >> this is hard for me because it's very humbling. but we come down and there's $500 sitting on our desk and we look at each other and go where did that come from? >> reporter: so many have been out of work for so long that the government is now tracking people who have been unemployed for as many as five years. the average length of unemployment they found is nine months, an all-time record. >> we've just never seen anything like this since the great depression. having this severe of job loss that's lasted for this long has translated in to unprecedented lengths of unemployment. >> reporter: the toll is more than just financial. >> it starts wearing on you, you question your ability as a person, you know, what's wrong with me. >> reporter: reginald richardson says he sees depression and anxiety in people out of work for about a year. >> as their unemployment continues and we see even greater symptoms, people having rage, greater frustration, disappointment, hopelessness. >> reporter: warren stays hopeful by volunteering at the same food bank he relies on for affordable meals. >> we're going to make it through this. come hell or high water, we'll make it through. >> reporter: hooking forward to the day he can start to pay back all the help he's getting from those around him. john jank yang, nbc news, chicago. steve liesman is an economics reporter and obviously still many people still looking for work and yet we have an unemployment number now the lowest in two years. >> it is coming down, but for two reasons. one, we've had a number in the drop of unprovided, but also some americans are getting discouraged and not looking for work any more, not showing up in the ranks of the people who are in the labor force. the participation rate, those americans saying i'm part of the labor force out there, that's come down. lowest since 1984. one caveat on these numbers, the 36,000 number could have been affected by the weather. we kind of hope that's the reason why the mum was so low and we get a snap back. maybe not if february because we have more weather in january. we may have to wait until the spring thaw. >> we know the job growth number was a little disappointing. we were expecting 136,000, we got 36,000. what happened with that? >> well, economists were too optimistic, again, for really the second month in a row. we've seen the economy on the payroll side, remember, this are two survey, one the government calls up and asks different people are you working or not. the other one gets information from businesses and that other one is the one where it's been really underperforming. they have been too optimistic and also we see a persistent decline in government jobs. on the weather side, some of the places where you would expect to see weather affecting jobs like construction and temporary help, we've seen some of those be negative and that may be again the sign that it was the weather. >> despite the jobs reports number, it was still a strong week on wall street. >> it's a great question and i can tell you what's happening right now is that wall street is looking through this number. there is other data out there, manufacturing data, there's data about retail sales at the stores from christmas and from january, that's been strong. and wall street says this number may have wrong and the other data over here is pointing the way towards better economic growth and hopefully it must come given that wrenching report we've seen and better jobs to come. >> egypt impacting anything in the market in terms of oil and gas rates? >> it's day to day almost hour to hour, you can see it in the market. first of all, gas is a huge issue and oil is an issue. wider unrest in the milgz east something the market is watching closely. when egypt calls down, you can see the market get a lift. when it sparks back up, things like the treasury bonds prices go up because people are running for the security of u.s. assets because they're concerned about what's happening in the middle east. >> steve liesman, thanks as always. another big story is the latest blast of winter weather and what it could mean for the super bowl. janet shamlian is live in arlington with the latest on that. >> reporter: are g. morning. from canceled flights to snow and ice falling off the roof of cowboy stadium and injuring several worker, they're hoping for a better day here today. testimonies sti temperatures sill in the still in the 20s, but it's expected to warm up and should melt some of the ice and snow.in the still in the 20s, but it's expected to warm up and should melt some of the ice and snow. 700 flights were canceled at dfw yesterday. love field was closed for a while. and this morning there are some very unhappy football stands sitting in cities like green bay and pittsburgh. both airports are open today and they're going to add some capacity to try to get those fans here, but now, amy, there are predictions for more precipitation, perhaps freezing rain tomorrow morning, super bowl sunday. >> oh, my goodness. and you mentioned the big chunks of ice that were seen falling off of that stadium roof. many people were injured. do you have a status report how they're do somethiing? >> reporter: most were minor injury, one person still hospitalized. but they're very concerned and blocking off all entrances of the stadium, you can only enter true a tub he will for personnel that immediate to get inside. they'll take another look morning. >> are the janet, thanks so much for the update. and now for a check of the other morning's news story, tamara hall is at the news desk for us this morning. we begin with an investigation of a near collision. it happened 80 miles southeast of new york city. the national transportation safety board says the jet was carrying 260 people to brazil from jfk and actually came within a mile of two air force c-17s. the warning system on that boeing 777 alerted the pilots to the impending collision and they chang changed course. in scotland, an american mother appeared in court for the first time so charges she murdered her three children. kyra simmons is live in london with more. >> reporter: she was in tears as she was led it. is he had to compose herself for a moment. she's accused of murdering her three children in august last year, repeatedly stabbing her twin sons who were both just eight years old and her daughter who was only five. she and her will husbahusband m the united states 13 years ago, they appeared to be a loving family, but after the killing she caused a gas explosion if her home in which she was injured and she appeared to be limping as she was taken away until her next court appearance in march. >> thank you. and the story of a man today knox will now be seen on the small screen. a made for tv movie will air later this month on life time. knox is serving a 26 year prison sentence for the murder of her british roommate, meredith kercher. kercher's father criticized the film. finally, jay when know can add another accolade to his mantle. he was named hastings pudding man of the year. he was coasted by the glau department before sharing some stories about his own experiences in the limelight. that is the news. now back over to amy and bill. and bill, you have a lot to talk about in my home state of texas. >> a nightmare down there. >> this weather is the big story for everyone. >> san antonio, houston getting snow and ice. i mean, this this winter has been ups down to say the least. and we'll warm it up a little. just enough maybe to melt some of that stuff off the roads. but what we're watching is a little storm diving down, a weak one coming down through the dako dakotas. and the question is how much freezing rain and snow will this bring on super bowl sunday to dallas. right now looks like just a coating in the morning possibly. high temperature should be 42, so everyone getting to the game should be okay. today in dallas hopefully a little more sunshine. the highways have been a mess, too. god good saturday morning for you, a few upper 30s out there this morning. but lunchtime we're going to see some snow in the hills, winds above 1,000 feet, in the north bay, santa cruz mountains getting some gusts maybe 40 miles an hour. 60 to near 70 today. warmer tomorrow, staying dry through friday of next week. just fine. only new england will deal with a snowstorm today and tonight. that's your weekend forecast. all right, bill, thank you. as congresswoman gabby giffords continues to recover from the shooting in tucson, her astronaut husband is getting ready for his next trip to space in april 37 tom costello has more on the decision and the mission. >> she's doing very, very well. >> reporter: wearing a blue wrist bond that reads peace, love and gabby, mark kelly said their families were unanimous. it's time for him to return to space. >> i know her very well and she would be very comfortable with the decision that i made. >> reporter: kelly declined to describe his conversations with giffords or her condition saying only she spends eight hours a day in rehab. but with her recover ary surprising even her doctors, kelly last week asked nasa for per notion rejoin his crew and prepare for their april mission. after some simulator and cockpit time this week, nasa agreed. >> it is the best thing for our mission to have mark be the commander. >> reporter: on the orbiting space station, mark's twin brother, scott kelly. >> i think my brother is doing about as well as anyone could expect in this type of a situation. >> reporter: for mark kelly who spent 18 months ratraining, thi is his fourth and final shuttle mission. in space he'll have e-mail, phone and perhaps video link as giffords' mother makes decisions about her car h. care. kelly responded to critics who say he should remain grounded with her. >> they don't know her very well, so they don't know what she would want. she is a big assumer of my career and nasa. she really values the mission of nasa. >> reporter: meanwhile in tucson, volunteers are wrapping and boxing the thousands of cards, flowers and tributes to the victims of last month's attack as a city and a husband try to find some normalcy. for today, tom costello, nbc news, washington. still to come, the latest on the texas woman caught in the chaos in egypt. but first, this is "today" on nbc. 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