Today on Kresta in the Afternoon - February 10, 2011

Talking about the "things that matter most" on Feb. 10

4:00 – Egypt army poised to take charge, Mubarak to address nation
Egypt's military announced on national television it had stepped in to secure the country and promised protesters calling for President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster that all their demands would soon be met. The CIA director James Clapper said Mubarak appeared poised to hand over his powers to his vice president, Omar Suleiman. Meanwhile Director of US National Intelligence James Clapper said this afternoon said the Muslim Brotherhood is a “very heterogeneous group, largely secular, which has eschewed violence and has decried Al Qaeda as a perversion of Islam.” Tens of thousands of protesters packed in central Tahrir broke into chants of "We're almost there, we're almost there" and waved V-for-victory signs as thousands more flowed in to join them well after nightfall. Former CIA officer Michael Scheuer joins us.

4:20 – Sarah Palin Supports the Inclusion of GOProud, A Conservative Gay Rights Group, at CPAC – Other Conservative Groups Boycott
Some conservatives who are already upset that this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference (C-PAC) will include a right-leaning organization that promotes gay rights grew even more concerned this weekend when Sarah Palin said that she, too, supports the group. Meanwhile organizations like the Family Research Council, American Principals Project, and Liberty Council have pulled out of the CPAC conference over the inclusion of GOProud. Stephen Mansfield, author of The Faith and Values of Sarah Palin joins us to analyze.

5:00 – Ave Maria University Names New President and CEO
Ave Maria University announced today that Jim Towey will be the new President and CEO. His duties will begin July 1, 2011. Current President Nick Healy will serve as President Emeritus. Current CEO and Chancellor Thomas Monaghan will retain his role as Chancellor. Jim Towey served as Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and as Assistant to President George W. Bush from 2002 to May 2006. He served as president of Saint Vincent College, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania from 2006 until stepping down on June 30, 2010. Thomas Monaghan and Michael Timmis join us in their exclusive first interview.

5:20 – The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II -- The Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy
“As March gave way to April in the spring of 2005 and the world kept vigil outside the apostolic palace in Rome, the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, then drawing to a poignant end, was already being described as one of the most consequential in two millennia of Christian history.” With these words, world-renowned author George Weigel begins his long-awaited sequel to the international bestseller Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II. More than ten years in the making, The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II—The Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy tells the dramatic story of the Pope’s battle with communism in light of new and recently disclosed information and brings to a close Weigel’s landmark portrait of a man who not only left an indelible mark on the Catholic Church, but also changed the course of world history. With the recent news of the beatification of John Paul II, George is here to discuss the book again and talk about a pilgrimage he will be participating in for the beatification.

5:40 – Pilgrimage for the Beatification of Pope John Paul the Great
More than two million pilgrims are expected to throng the streets of Rome for the beatification ceremony of John Paul II on May 1, leaving travel agencies desperate for accommodation and hotel prices soaring. Hotels and city authorities are bracing themselves for crowds as big as the ones that descended on the Vatican when John Paul II died on April 2, 2005, after a pontificate that spanned a quarter century. You can’t buy a hotel room anywhere near Rome and airfares have gone through the roof. But Steve Ray is here to tell you about a pilgrimage that was set up before the hotels booked up and before the airfares went skyward.