From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

The crisis in Egypt. Where does the U.S. stand now?

Hello again, I'm Armin Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

Protests are spreading in Cairo and other cities. Workers have gone on strike, but it's not

clear if they share the goal of regime change. Vice President Suleiman is making veiled threats

of a crackdown on civil disobedience. The president and the Secretary of State have shifted

from calls from immediate change to urging an orderly transition.

Should they push for democracy now? Do American ideals conflict with economic and political interests?

Does U.S. equivocation demonstrate strength or a fading influence in the Middle East?

On reporter's notebook later on is the Center failing to hold in Washington.

First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,

whose contributors include the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation,

and the Rockefeller Foundation and its campaign for American workers.

More at rockfound.org. Hello again, Warren Alney, back with To the Point. As the crisis in Egypt continues, can President Obama strike a balance between America's ideal of democracy and the demands of

political reality? We'll hear several viewpoints on that today. On reporter's notebook, the

centrist Democratic Leadership Council is closing down. Is it a victim of political polarization? First, this news update in Egypt today. Protests are spreading, workers are striking, and government efforts at gradual reform are being ignored. Dan Murphy is in Cairo for the Christian Science Monitor. Dan, good to have you back on our program.

Oh, my pleasure. Tell us, if you will, what's going on in Tahrir Square and beyond. I understand the protesters have gone all the way to the Parliament building.

Well, today is a more quiet day at Tahrir, but overnight they made a small effort at Parliament, and they're

there, and it led to the first military occupation of Parliament in Egyptian history. But more

interestingly, there's kind of been a mushrooming of wildcat strikes, both in Cairo and

...