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Take a look at Liberation Square today. Now, if the Egyptian government is telling the truth, those people in that square who you see, if the Egyptian government is telling the truth, those people are foreigners, they're agitators, they're criminals, they're paid, people paid to be there. But that is not what you see with your own eyes. That is not what I saw standing in that square.
They are people tired of corruption, tired of dictatorship, tired of secret police coming in the night, tired of torture and terror, and tired of being silent. They are people who are no longer afraid. Their fear has been defeated. That is what they tell you. And for them, there is no turning back.
Today in fact, they branched out from that square, staging sit- ins, not just in the square, but at the gates of Parliament and outside the Ministry of Health. There are reports of workers going on strike at post offices, textile mills, even at "Al-Ahram," the government's main newspaper, reports of open revolt there, a sign perhaps that at least a portion of the government propaganda machine may be cracking.
That government newspaper today ran a front-page story condemning, that's right, condemning recent attacks by pro-Mubarak thugs. But the lies from the regime continue. Today, Egypt's foreign minister said the state of emergency cannot be lifted because they have 17,000 prisoners loose in the streets, and many police stations have been destroyed.
And it sounds almost plausible at first, but then you remember that the Mubarak regime has been ruling under a state of emergency for nearly 30 years. That man does not know how to rule any other way. The state of emergency allows the police to do what they want, when they want, to whom they want.
The demonstrators are saying emergency rule must end. Take a look again at Liberation Square. The protesters are actually policing themselves, checking I.D.s, patting people down. The chaos is not in that square, the chaos, the real chaos comes from government thugs who have gone on the attack.
The Mubarak regime has tried to create a crisis. We have shown that night after night, shutting the banks, shutting the trains, trying to shut the Internet. It's a tactic they have used for 30 years, trying to make Egyptians and the world believe that there are only two choices, Mubarak or chaos.
But there are not just two choices. There are other lies as well to tell you about. The government continues to distort or hide the truth about how many people have been killed or detained in the demonstrations. They continue to claim 11 people died. According to Human Rights Watch, that number is closer to 300. And they got that number by canvassing hospitals in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez.
As for the number of detained people, well, Human Rights Watch says at least 119, 119 cases that they can actually document. What does the Egyptian government say? Well, we have asked here and in Cairo, again and again and again, and we have yet to get a single answer. They don't admit to any detentions it seems.
And they continue to lie by painting foreign journalists as outside agitators who along with other foreigners and Islamic extremists have somehow taken over the protest movement. We heard that first from Egypt's President Mubarak.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOSNI MUBARAK, EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT (voice-over): These demonstrations moved a civilized expression of practicing freedom of speech to sad confrontations which were organized by political groups who wanted to throw fire on oil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That was Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak. That is what he said last week. That message was then repeated. We have heard that message repeated again, trying to make it sound like protesters resorted to violence, another lie.
His regime beat and killed people. And when they could no longer get away with doing it directly, they then had pro-Mubarak mobs and thugs do it. Egypt's vice president and their see television continue to blame reporters and extremists and agitators. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OMAR SULEIMAN, EGYPTIAN VICE PRESIDENT (through translator): I actually blame certain friendly nations who have television channels, they're not friendly at all, who have intensified the youth against the nation and the state.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): There is a great number of people who have infiltrated them and there are countless poisonous thoughts that are entering the thoughts of these youths and many of these youths are actually good.
SULEIMAN (through translator): Maybe there are foreign agendas, agendas for the Muslim Brotherhood, agendas for the private political parties, for businessmen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, that's the government's line. Their list of culprits also seems to include Hezbollah, Shiites, agents of Israel and other sinister foreign elements.
And just this evening on PBS' "NewsHour," Egypt's foreign minister suggested the United States is trying to push his country around. He was asked about Vice President Biden's phone call to Egypt's vice president, calling for prompt and meaningful reforms. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARGARET WARNER, PBS: How do you take that? I mean, do you regard that as helpful advice from a friend?
AHMED ABOUL GHEIT, EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: No, not at all.
Why is it so? Because, when you speak about prompt, immediate, now, as if you are imposing on -- on a great country like Egypt, a great friend that have always maintained the best of relationship with the United States, you are imposing your will on him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: So now they're playing another card, trying to stir nationalist pride.
It's the same strategy we heard from the vice president of Egypt yesterday when he said the protesters and reporters were belittling and insulting Egypt.
Sometimes, the allegation from them is comical. The regime is saying protesters in Liberation Square are being paid $100 or 100 euros or they're being fed Kentucky Fried Chicken. The chanting you hear, by the way, is Arabic for, "They called us the youth of Kentucky."
This by the way is the Kentucky Fried Chicken at Liberation Square. Yes, there is one. But even if it could feed hundreds of thousands of people, which it can't, it's closed and has been since the demonstrations began. But as frankly absurd as the idea of foreigners high on 11 herbs and spices trying to take over Egypt may sound to us, you've got to remember, this is a dictatorship with government-controlled media that's been lying to its people for decades.
And now one of those former liars, an anchor for see television, has come forward, resigning her job, putting herself at great risk because she can lie no more. Her name is Shahira Amin. Until last week, she was an anchor on state-run Nile TV. I talked to her earlier tonight about how the lies get spread.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHAHIRA AMIN, RESIGNED FROM EGYPT STATE TV: I had a program on television, and I was given a press release from the Interior Ministry saying that the Muslim Brotherhood had instigated these protests.
And I knew for a fact that the Muslim Brotherhood had opted to stay out initially. They came on board later. And then I had another talk show, and I was told to mention the foreign agents that were fomenting the unrest and also to talk about, as you said, that people were being paid to be in the square.
So when I went to Tahrir Square myself, I didn't find any foreign agents. It was -- these were the Egyptians and it was an all- inclusive revolution. It has everyone on board, women, entire families, and their primary demand, they want President Mubarak to step down, and that was never mentioned on Egyptian television.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Never mentioned on Egyptian television.
Now, I have seen some e-mails suggesting that the reason we on this program are calling out the Mubarak regime for their lies, trying every night to point out these lies, is that it is somehow personal, that because I and my team was attacked by thugs on two occasions, that somehow I have lost objectivity.
And I can understand why maybe some people believe that. But let me just tell you I don't believe that that is the case. This is not personal. This is not to insult Egypt. This is about the truth, and all the reporters on the ground, and frankly all the people in that square and most of the people around the world have seen the truth in Egypt.
You have seen peaceful protesters attacked by uniformed police and then by mobs. And having seen the truth, it is our obligation, I believe, to continue to bear witness to it. For the people in this square, every day now is life and death. There is no going back for them.
We continue to invite members of the Egyptian government in Cairo and in Washington and in New York to appear on this program. They continue to decline. We would like to ask them for evidence of foreign infiltration, evidence that reporters are paying people to protest. We would like to ask them for any proof at all of any of their allegations, but we don't believe they have any.
And so far they have shown none. And they refuse to come here. The invitation is an open one.
Full transcript of the show:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1102/09/acd.01.html
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