watches live pictures of this popular uprising, is the military in a position that it must usher in true change because it knows these demonstrators are determined at this point two and a half weeks into this movement? well, i think that s a question that we can t answer at this point. but in fact, let s keep in mind one thing. if president mubarak steps down, and of course, at point we don t know that for sure, it s only changing the head. the body, the state structure, it the ministry of the interior, which is massive, the army, it s a regime that has made egypt what it is today, not president mubarak by itself. and the army is very much part of that regime. in fact, in 1952, egypt had what later he call a revolution but it was a military coup d etat. and since then all the presidents have been from the military. we re not talking about the
crumbling. you were there from the beginning of this crisis. you saw that crumbling unfold, and it s just reached a crescendo today. i think importantly, wolf, you mention all the other factors. i think probably the most important factor right now for president mubarak and the men who surround him is the sheer size of the crowd in the streets of cairo and in tahrir square. the expectation was that the movement would lose some of its steam, some of its passion, it didn t, quite to the contrary. it actually gained momentum. several things contributed to that wael ghonim, gave that interview on egyptian television but also the determination of this pro-democracy movement to take this ruler down to make sure he steps down, that nothing less would satisfy them. they ve been saying it for weeks. many predicted they would not continue to occupy the square. they have. michael holmes joins me now with more on these rulers on
happening over the past two or three weeks in the middle east beginning in tunisia, now spreading to egypt. who knows where it may be going next, but we re getting this conflicting statement now from the information minister in egypt saying mubarak will not step down, so i guess we re just going to have to wait and see what mubarak does once he appears on state tv. yes, i think protesters, observers, anyone who cares about the middle east and its strategic importance around the world holding their breath right now, wolf. wondering what president mubarak is going to say. what time will he speak, will it be a live address? will he transfer power to the military, and, if so, what happens tomorrow? what s important now is what s happening at the epicenter of this entire movement in tahrir square. cnn s ivan watson joins us now live with more on the mood and what demonstrators are saying they want to hear tonight, ivan. reporter: well, hala, just moments ago we heard some of the crowd c
president at this the point. so really in the new egypt, if this is the new egypt we re seeing behind me it, figures will have to emerge, some consensus will have to be formed around certain individuals because at the moment, this is a movement in too rear square that seems to take pride in the fact they don t have a leader, they don t have somebody they have to follow. and i think that s part of the phenomenon. it s in a sense a revolt against a paternalistic attitude that president mubarak was very much identified with, sort of the i know best, you kids shut up and let me do my job. so, the next few months, as the situation evolves, we will see people emerge. but at the moment, there are no clear and likely candidates for the presidency here. but what about wael ghonim, the google executive who was
energy agency, mohamed elbaradei or the current head of the arab league, is there someone who is a likely future president of egypt that is emerging as a sort of consensus capped out there? no, wolf, there isn t. mohamed elbaradei has made it clear that he will not be satisfied with the ouster of president hosni mubarak. he wants a completely different political setup. as far as amar moussa he is seen as a political opportunist who for years was very much a mubarak man and only very recently has come out and expressed support for the ant anti-mubarak movement. so this is really the problem, wolf. there are no figures with adequate political standing who are out there who could run for