Video: As Arab revolt spreads, Egypt braces for 'Day of Rage'

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   >>> there is increasing evidence the world is changing, in spots and in stages. a movement that started in tunisia has now done what a lot of governments feared it would. it has spread elsewhere in the arab world . this week to egypt . as of today, yemen and the world is watching as the clock ticks down to what has been planned as a day of rage tomorrow against egypt . richard engle is on the banks of the nile in cairo tonight on what could be the eve of something big there. richard , good evening.

   >> reporter: good evening, brian. many people are very concerned about tomorrow. the demonstrators say they will start out from at least seven mosques and three churches here in cairo , and then plan to march to the center of the city. they hope to draw tens of thousands of people. the most violent clashes today were outside cairo . near the strategic suez canal , demonstrators torched a police station and a firehouse. witnesses say they stole weapons and opened fire on security forces . egyptian police tell nbc news 87 policemen were injured, one was killed. and this unprecedented popular arab revolt is spreading. in yemen, the arab world 's poorest nation, thousands demonstrated today at a university, demanding reform and lower prices. in tunisia, where this movement began just last month, the emerging new government caved to protesters' demands and agreed to purge officials associated with the ousted former president. a pattern is starting to emerge. the regimes under fire are pro-western police states , widely accused of corruption. and the protests are being organized through social networks .

   >> blackberry is down.

   >> reporter: in a rundown cairo office today, human rights activist sally sammy used twitter, facebook and blackberry messenger to help organize major demonstrations scheduled for tomorrow.

   >> one march can start with 300 or 400 people and grow into thousands and this is what's stressing the state.

   >> reporter: people are already angry in egypt . half live in poverty. but with instant, hand-held communications, now they know they're not alone. perhaps appropriately, president obama today spoke on youtube to call for calm.

   >> so the government has to be careful about not resorting to violence and the people on the streets have to be careful about not resorting to violence.

   >> reporter: egypt 's hosni mubarak , president for almost 30 years, has so far remained silent. but he may now have a rival. the former head of the u.n.'s nuclear monitoring agency and nobel laureate , mohamed elbaradei arrived in cairo today to join tomorrow's protests.

   >> i have said a number of times that the right for peaceful demonstration is an absolute right of eevery human being .

   >> reporter: he has expressed interest in becoming president. tomorrow's demonstrations could be a turning point. the united states , brian, is in a difficult position. of course it doesn't want to be seen as going against the democratic movement , but president mubarak has long been a stable u.s. ally. egypt has a peace treaty with israel. and this country does control the suez canal , so a lot is riding on this.

   >> richard engle in cairo . he'll be covering the story when day breaks there. richard , thanks.

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