thousands of flights already canceled. we have the latest. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. let s begin with the breaking news this hour. egyptians erupting after hearing president mubarak announce he will not be a candidate in the next election. his broadcast statement follows intense pressure from his people to simply step down in what they called a march of millions, countless took to the streets demanding change. but mubarak also felt the heat from the obama administration. sources tell us the white house made clear at the highest levels it wanted mubarak to publicly say he wouldn t one for re-election. let s go to anderson cooper. he s joining us now from cairo with the latest. anderson, a lot of folks thought
nobel peace prize, former director of the international atomic energy agency. did he indicate to you, anderson, that he would like to serve or lead the caretaker government that would be in power until they can organize some elections? reporter: you know, he says he wants to do anything that will help egypt become a modern state in line with the rest of the world, and certainly, you know, i asked him about whether he would run for president if and when, you know, transition to democracy becomes real. he says that that s something that certainly would be considered, but it s not a prime focus of his right now, that right now his focus is not only to get hosni mubarak to step down but to help egypt in whatever way he can. take us a little bit behind the scenes, anderson. were you out on the streets all day. you spoke to a lot of egyptians. give us your impressions of what you saw on this day. reporter: well, you know, i spent most of the day in liberation square, and, you know, a l