it s like 180 degrees. something we never experienced in our lifetime. one egyptian put it simple, most people have discovered in the last few days that they are worth something. and this cannot be taken away from them anymore. there s a feeling of euphoria down here. it s relief. it s joyousness. [ horns honking ] i m so excited. i can hardly hear what you re saying, so i m just going to give them a chance to talk. i am very happy now. always the people of egypt are very happy because mubarak is going. i think we will be a country that has freedom.
at what level? the bureaucracy here has to talk to the bureaucracy there. they have to get a bead on what their policy is. there are many, many questions and they re looking at that right now. it s not very clear at all. john, what have you learned about what has transpired in terms of the white house and the government in the last 24 hours, vis-a-vie egypt? we know there have been mixed signals. yesterday morning when the president said they were witnessing history, they thought and were told that mubarak was going to leave yesterday. they are quite happy he left today. to jill s point, this is a fascinating moment, because normally it is the president and then his secretary of state who are the faces, the voices of american foreign policy. during this crisis, the most important voices were the secretary of defense, robert gates, and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff who have personal relationships with senior egyptian military officials and secretary gates alone spoke to
have toppled the regime. this is incredibly significant when you think that just a few days ago, it was president mubarak on the cover almost every day. this was the newspaper of the regime. and now the regime is gone. and this newspaper is selling like hot cakes. anderson? save me a copy, if you can. ben, i also understand on state television that president reporter: i will. that president obama s speech was carried live and people had people have been calling into state television, they had call-ins where people have been critical of corruption of the regime, of state television and the anchors have been apologizing. reporter: this was an interesting day, because we had this huge demonstration outside of state tv, and state tv was running a banner that only five of their anchors were there, because no one could leave or
this is one of those times. the people of egypt have spoken. their voices have been heard. and egypt will never be the same. by stepping down, president mubarak responded to the egyptian people s hunger for change. but this is not the end of egypt s transition. it s the beginning. i m sure there will be difficult days ahead, and many questions remain unanswered. let s talk about the days ahead. joining me live, former cia director, james woolsey, jill dougherty, john king and professor dr. fouad ajami. mr. woolsey, how what is your biggest concern in terms of the months ahead? i m guessing it s an islamist takeover or something to do with the military. what s your biggest concern and how do the egyptian people avoid it?
welcome back. those are the words today from a central figure in the egyptian uprising. wael ghonim is a google executive on leave from his job turned activist. some people say the roots can be traced back to what he was posting on facebook. he said, welcome back egypt today. a spokesman called ghonim a hero. today we can also call him a revolutionary. he had a lot to lose, a family, great job, detained by security forces for ten days. he was blindfolded. no one told him what was going on, whether he would live or die. just a few days ago, he said he was ready to die for the cause. i spoke to ghonim earlier today. shortly after we all learned that mubarak stepped down. wael, your thoughts on this extraordinary moment? i m proud to be egyptian. i just want to say from the bottom of my heart congratulations to all egyptians. you know, i want to say welcome back, egypt. i just want to say to hosni