crackdown. but there's no doubt, they're testing the courage of these protestors. because fundamentally, i believe, and i believed throughout the story that hosni mubarak has never took these people seriously. he thought they would scurry for cover. he thought he could intimidate them and frighten them. and i think in many ways mubarak has in him something of ahmadinejad. i mean, the idea would be that he would have something of a crackdown akin to what the iranian regime did in 2009. but egypt is not iran. the circumstances are different, and egypt is under the gaze of the world, and to a considerable extent, under the gaze of the united states. i think there is an enormous amount of american influence. not so much public diplomacy, but behind the scenes. the message has gone out to the regime in cairo, and hosni mubarak, as to what the u.s. can and cannot bear. >> the state here, ben, denies that attacks on journalists have been coordinated by the state. and yet today, they seem to