The clashes in Egypt include government vehicles mowing down protesters and attacking journalists. CNN's Arwa Damon reports (note: the video includes a stunning moment when a police van plowed through a crowd in Cairo, striking several individuals).

Egyptian TV shows the music video "My President" while local and international journalists risk their lives to cover violence in the streets.

Egyptian journalist Ethar El-Katatney has monitored Egypt's state TV coverage since the uprising began on January 25.

Click here to check out our fascinating OFF-SET interview with El-Katatney, exclusive to the Parker Spitzer blog!

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Joining us to answer today's five OFF-SET questions is Ethar El-Katatney, staff writer for Egypt Today and Business Today Egypt.

Journalists attempting to cover unprecedented unrest in Egypt reported being targeted, beaten, arrested and harassed by security forces and police for a second day Thursday.

Meanwhile, Shahira Amin, a reporter for Egypt's state-run Nile TV, resigned Thursday.

"I spent the day at Nile TV yesterday," she told CNN. "I was only allowed to air the pro-Mubarak rallies that were going on, as if nothing was happening at Tahrir Square. We weren't allowed to reveal any figures. There was a near total blackout," she said, calling it "hypocritical ... I just don't want to be part of it."

Ethar El-Katatney has been monitoring Nile TV–on which she appears twice each week presenting a media round-up segment– and Channel 1, both of which are state-run.

She is scheduled to appear on Parker Spitzer on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011.

How has State TV covered the demonstrations against President Mubarak?

 It's laughable really. We've been seeing two static shots: one a romantic shot of the Nile, and one of the tanks underneath the offices. On Jan 25, when 10,000 protesters where in Tahrir, they didn't even mention it. Since then, every single caller is pro-Mubarak, as is every guest.

You never hear of why anything is happening, just what the government is doing: so that 400 inmates had been re-captured, but nothing on how they had escaped. In 10 days, not one shot of a protest sign against Mubarak has ever aired, and many, many patriotic songs. A ton of conspiracy theories. Basically, they create an alternate reality. FULL POST

Spokesman Mohamed Morsy says the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood is dedicated to freedom of religion and press.

"We are not against people. We are not against mankind. We are not against the Jews. We are against Zionism. We are against torturing the Palestinians," he said.

UPDATE (2-4-11) Here's a transcript of Eliot's conversation with Morsy:  FULL POST

CNN's Fareed Zakaria says reform and growth triggered a "revolution of rising expectations" in Egypt. Click here to read his fascinating cover story in the latest edition of Time magazine. 

Scholar Fouad Ajami comments on a New York Times report that the US is discussing a plan for Egyptian President Mubarak to quit immediately and turn power over to a transitional government headed by Vice President Omar Suleiman.

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Lina Wardani, a reporter for Ahram Online in Cairo, was arrested, beaten and taken away by Egyptian police last week.

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Answering five OFF-SET questions is Reed Brody, counsel and spokesperson for Human Rights Watch in Brussels.

His work as lead counsel for the victims in the case of the exiled former dictator of Chad, Hissène Habré – who faces trial in Senegal – and in the prosecution of Augusto Pinochet, has been featured in three films, including “The Dictator Hunter.”

In the human rights community, would Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak be considered a dictator?  

Indeed he would be.  Mubarak  has ruled through a state of emergency that has been in place almost continuously since 1967 under which the government suppresses political dissent, disperses demonstrations, harasses activists and detains journalists and bloggers, as well as  Muslim Brotherhood members.  His election in 2005 to a  fifth consecutive term with 88 percent of the vote was marred by severe limitations on the opposition.

 What do you think the most important message the United States and other democratic countries can send to Mubarak and others in Epypt?

They should  condemn the violent  attacks on pro-democracy demonstrators and  make clear to President Mubarak and Egypt's military hierarchy that  further abuse will come at a very high price, including an immediate suspension of all military assistance. FULL POST

Today's Number of the Day is 2.6%...

We know it’s still all-Egypt-all-the-time, but here’s an important number we need to highlight today. The productivity of U.S. workers went up 2.6%, even though economists only thought it would increase by 2%.

Why is this important?

Productivity gains equal wage increases — you have to produce more to get paid more. And when productivity goes up 2.6%, people can finally start to think about wage increases again.

Over the long haul, few things are more important than wage increases – that’s the American way.

For more on the story:

Nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased at a 2.6 percent annual rate during the fourth quarter of 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. CLICK HERE to read the Bureau of Labor Statistics news release.