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Memorial in Tahrir Square; Egyptian Americans Celebrate in the States; Applauding Egypt's Uprising; Talking to the New Egypt; The Military's Role in Egypt; Egypt at the Crossroads; Swiss Freeze Mubarak Assets; Conservatives Converge in D.C.; Mandela the Family Man; Celebrating Change in Egypt

Aired February 12, 2011 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Historic change has come for Egypt with the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. The military has stepped into the void, now making their presence known in dramatic fashion.

Another historic change being celebrated, this one happened 21 years ago, the day Nelson Mandela walked out of prison in South Africa. We'll hear from his family as we remember the path he blazed in world history.

From CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It's February 12th. Good morning. I'm Randi Kaye.

A lot of news that we've been following this morning, so let's get started once again.

We start in Egypt where people are gathering for a 19th straight day, but this one is very different from the past 18. This is a day to celebrate the victory and the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. It's also a day to remember those who died in the struggle for freedom.

Just a short time ago, we saw cranes move in to erect a memorial to the dead. We'll have much more on that in a moment.

But this was a scene just a little while ago when that celebratory mood seemed to be shattered with the arrival of dozens of soldiers in Tahrir Square. What looked to be clashes turned out to be something very different. The military says the troops arrested just a few troublemakers, then began to help clean up the square.

Egypt is now ruled by a military council. They released a much anticipated statement not long after the action heated up in the square. They said all international treaties will be honored during the transition and called on the police to return to the streets.

As for now, former President Hosni Mubarak, he's in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh. The Swiss government is now moving to freeze any assets in Swiss banks that might belong to Mubarak or his family.

Now, let's get back to the amazing scene that's been playing out for a while now. A large monument is being moved into place in Tahrir Square. It's a memorial, they say, to the martyrs, those who died in this struggle. Human Rights Watch says as many as 300 people died during the 18-day protest.

Let's go live now to Cairo where our Ivan Watson is standing by. Ivan, I get - you can't help but - but look at it as inspiring and be inspired by these protesters as they attempt to erect this statue to the victims in Tahrir Square.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I'm standing right by this monument. It's basically a big hunk of rock that people have already started to lay flowers onto, that demonstrators making a human chain to keep the throngs of people who are coming through here back as they try to put it into place.

You have to remember that they're demonstrators. We don't even exactly know the number of the dead who literally laid down their lives, who fought and bled to hold on to this Tahrir or Liberation Square against the police, against supporters of Hosni Mubarak and to keep what is clearly an Egyptian revolution alive.

And now you have these throngs of Egyptians who are paying their respects, really, to the people who made this - paid this ultimate sacrifice for what they're describing as freedom.

KAYE: You know, we heard from the military earlier making this statement. They want - they want the people and the police again to come together and - and essentially make nice. Have you seen any of the police in - in the square there at all? Are they back on the street?

WATSON: I haven't seen any uniformed police, certainly not here in Tahrir Square. And I don't know whether or not they'd really be welcomed.

The army is out here in force. They're moving around in their tanks, and we did see a very interesting scene a couple of hours ago when 30 to 40 soldiers came in in almost a sneak attack and tore down the barricades at the entrance to the square in a matter of seconds.

Now, we do know that some of the demonstrators were kind of die-hard holdouts who did not want to tear down the barricades, who were saying that we have to stay here, we have to continue our sit-in until all of our demands are met. Some of the other activists here say that it was time to bring life back to normal, and they mobilized by the hundreds with brooms, with brushes, to - to repaint the curbs here, the stripes on the curbs, and to try to clean this place up after 18 (INAUDIBLE) of a sit-in and days of battle as well.

And one of these activists told me there was kind of an unspoken plan with the military to end the barricades, to end the sit-in despite the objections of what were described as the minority and to try to start to bring life back to normal. And for the first time really, Randi, we're seeing that there are no longer the demonstrators maintaining security here, patting people down, demanding passports from visitors. It's wide open now.

People can congregate and come and go as they please, and they're certainly doing that. There are families here. They're waving flags. A real patriotic (INAUDIBLE) for Cairo and for Egypt.

KAYE: Well, it may sound cliche, but what a difference a day makes.

Our Ivan Watson. Do us a favor and keep an eye on that statue for us and let us know if it gets close to going up. We'd love to see that.

WATSON: Thank you, Randi.

KAYE: The wave of euphoria that washed over Egypt also found its way to these shores.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CROWD CHANTING)

KAYE (voice-over): Egyptian Americans celebrated in small gatherings and large ones, like this one in Brooklyn. Nearly 60,000 Egyptian Americans lived in the New York area.

(AUDIO GAP)

KAYE: -- gathered to mark the historic moment. This is the Egyptian consulate on Michigan Avenue. People of all ages were there to celebrate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the first time in my life to feel proud that I'm an Egyptian. And here is my son. He was in the protests. He just came two days ago. He was in Alexandria, and he did his part.

KAYE: Egyptian Americans also gathered on a street corner in downtown Bellevue, Washington. Although Mubarak's resignation came yesterday morning in the U.S., Americans here celebrated well into the night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did what we were not able to do, what we were scared to do, what we were afraid to do 10 or 20 years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, I heard the news sitting at my desk. I cried immediately, and my next door person on the cube came out and just gave me a strong, strong hug, and she said she felt for me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: We're also watching the reaction from the nation's capital. The Obama administration applauding the revolution in Egypt and talking about the inspiration that led to this historic change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN RICE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: The proud people of Egypt have reminded the world of the power of human dignity and the universal longing for liberty. The American people have been deeply inspired by the scenes in Cairo and across that great ancient land.

President Obama today recalled the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who said, there is something in the soul that cries out for freedom. As those cries came from Tahrir Square, they moved the entire world. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: President Obama also praised the efforts of the revolutionaries, but he's also warning that the path ahead may be a tough one. For Egypt, the military will be making the decisions on the next step.

CNN senior state department producer Elise Labott joins me now from Washington. And Elise, with Egypt's military in the leadership role, in charge of the country's affairs, is it even clear who the U.S. deals with?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: Not yet, Randi. Obviously, the U.S. knows all the players. They know who's in this Egyptian supreme council. Certainly they know the head of the military, Field Marshal Tantawi, but they don't really know who is running the government, in effect, who is in the seat of power.

What happens to Vice President Omar Suleiman, who they've dealt with in the past? And obviously communications over the last 24 to 48 hours with the Egyptians have been a little bit clogged as the Egyptians sort through all of this.

So now the United States really wants to know who they're going to be dealing with and who is going to be working with the opposition and the government in terms of answering some of these protesters' demands, changing the constitution, lifting the emergency law, really having a political dialogue with the people so that they could move towards elections.

So obviously everybody relieved a bit that President Mubarak stepped down and the anger in the streets might start to dissipate a little bit, but certainly a lot of uncertainty about what happens now.

KAYE: Allies in - in the region viewing the way that the U.S. and President Obama played this out during the crisis. I know that some, it seems to me, have actually felt that maybe the United States turned it - turned its back on Mubarak.

LABOTT: Very much so. Very much so.

I think less about Mubarak himself, but what happens to us if the United States can abandon and, as they say, kind of throw under the bus an ally of 30 years who really has been, even by the own United States' account, the mainstay of Arab security in the region, what happens to us if - if our public become a little but restive, if we have opposition?

And they're wondering what it really means to be a friend of America. Where is America's loyalty? And I have senior diplomats in the region telling me, United States, you want help on the Mideast peace process? You want help on Iran? That help really isn't guaranteed because we don't really know what the U.S. is going to do for us.

Credibility in the region right now is not very high, and it wasn't very high before this, to be - to be honest. KAYE: Elise Labott, thanks for the insight. Appreciate it.

The potential domino effect of these protests could be really significant.

Here's what it looked and sounded like on the streets of the Yemeni capital Friday night after people got word of Mubarak's decision to step away from power. A spokesman for Yemen's biggest opposition coalition said, quote, "Mubarak's fall proves that oppression and use of force cannot add life to the current regimes and time for change has come."

And happening now in the Algerian capital, security forces preemptively tamping down another planned protest before it could even begin. We're hearing as many as 100 demonstrators have been detained in Algiers this morning. Amid chants from demonstrators, change the power.

These images just coming in to the CNN Newsroom.

History playing out on the streets of Egypt. This is really big. But the next big challenge is already here. How will the country be ruled now?

Up next, some insight from one of the foremost authorities on Mideast politics. We're going to talk to this expert about the military and what changes may be in store for Egypt under the rule of this military council, at least for now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. It's 14 minutes past the hour.

One thing has become clear in Egypt. The military is in charge at the moment, left in place by a departing Mubarak in what some are calling an ambiguous and even unconstitutional way.

Robert Springborg is a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School and has studied and written extensively on Egypt and the Middle East. He is in San Francisco with us this morning.

Good morning, professor. What do you make of the military's maneuvering today in Egypt, asking that the - that the people cooperate with the police once again and having - having another statement, their communique number four?

ROBERT SPRINGBORG, FORMER DIRECTOR OF AMERICAN RESEARCH CENTER IN EGYPT: Well, the military would like to reestablish order as quickly as possible, get business back to usual. Revolutionary momentum is not good for the military. After all, it's been running the country since 1952. And so to return to a situation of normalcy is - is absolutely vital for it.

And, as we can see, the opposition is divided on how fast it wants to go back to a condition of normalcy. And so the military, for the moment, is in the driver's seat and is, as we hear from their very words, they remain quite paternalistic, we're going to do this, we're going to do that. It's not like we and the people.

So the military has some pretty ingrained habits here and - and it's going to be a while at best before those habits have changed.

KAYE: The military, though, certainly for the last 18 days has really had to walk a fine line between the protesters and - and Hosni Mubarak. But the protesters say that they trust the military. In fact, they were chanting often during the protests, we are one, the people and the military.

So should the protesters trust the military?

SPRINGBORG: Well, there's a lot of hypocrisy on both sides here. The military has carefully cultivated its image, in part by doing good works such as sponsoring sports stadiums and football tournaments and having museums and ensuring that the school children's textbooks log the role of the military. So public relations efforts, and indeed their soldiers were ordered to reach out to the protesters. But, behind that, of course, there's an - an iron fist.

And, for the protesters, of course, they wanted to - to neutralize the military. They didn't want to challenge it because they were being beaten and tortured, in fact, by the Ministry of Interior's forces. So they need the - the military as an ally against that.

But now we're in a new world, and the real intentions of both sides will - will become much more apparent. And the real intentions of most of the protesters is to have a civilian democratic government. The real intention of the military is not to have that. And so we have the potential here for a - at least a political struggle.

KAYE: And the military does have some power here. I mean, they can - they can dismiss parliament, they can change the constitution. Right now is the Egyptian constitution even worth the paper that it's written on?

SPRINGBORG: No, it's not. This constitution goes back to the original Nasserist constitution of '56, '57 modified by Sadat in '71, and then amended by Mubarak in 2007. It as always an authoritarian constitution, made yet more authoritarian by Mubarak himself and done so in a completely illegitimate fashion.

So the constitution is - it's a guide to some realities now because people are - are frightened that if you wipe away the constitution altogether, you've got nothing, just naked military rule. So the constitution's being held up by both sides as at least something.

But the problem for the military is there is no place in the constitution for the role the military is playing and, as time goes on, if the military tries to continue to play an overweening role, then the matter will turn on, well, where are you in the constitution? How are you legally doing this?

So it's in the interest of both sides to get some sort of an agreement on the roadmap ahead as quickly as possible, unless matters degenerate. And so this will require hard bargaining over the constitution itself, over elections, over the emergency law, over a whole host of things. And it's very important for Egypt that they begin to make progress on these vital issues right away or - or it could end up in loggerheads.

KAYE: Professor Robert Springborg, pleasure to speak with you. Thank you.

SPRINGBORG: Yes.

KAYE: You've heard the saying about the weather, if you don't like it, well, just wait five minutes. That's true this week if you do live in the Central Plains.

Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf with your weekend forecast next.

Plus, we've been told that he could be worth billions. We're talking about Hosni Mubarak. The move to freeze his assets.

What's it all about? We'll explain, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. It's about 20 minutes past the hour. Time now for a long - very long overdue check on today's weather.

Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf tracking today's storms in the CNN Severe Weather Center, and I understand a little warm-up is on the way.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We have a huge warm-up on the way. You know, it's not something that - that you could necessarily feel or actually see, but it's something you will definitely feel.

For example, in Oklahoma City just this past week they had some of the coldest temperatures that they've ever experienced. Well, what we're going to be seeing, by the time we get to Thursday this coming week, a big change in the jet stream that's going to take us from those chilly conditions to a huge warm up.

Today, though, what we're seeing for the time being, a little bit of snow fall. In fact, across the Great Lakes, we've got the prevailing wind going from west to east, and there you have it. Some of the light snowfall east of Buffalo and near Erie and back into Cleveland, our friends in Pittsburgh, up by Heinz Field, certainly you're going to get those scattered rain showers, or rather snow showers even down near Primanti Brothers.

Meanwhile, what we're seeing, at least a big weather maker in that part of the world, is going to be the prevailing wind of that frontal boundary that's going to be pushing from west to east. However, when you get to the Deep South, precipitation is not much of a problem until you get to extreme South Florida. But for parts of Georgia and into the Carolinas, just beautiful conditions.

Same story for the Northern Plains, the breezy conditions in the Northern Rockies, some places going anywhere from 40 to 50-mile-an- hour winds, with some gusts possibly approaching the mid-70s. So we're talking about the potential of hurricane force winds through the Northern Rockies.

Back out the Cascades, the situation is going to be rainy along the coast, maybe a foot of snowfall in the higher elevations. And it is (INAUDIBLE) Southwest, we are looking at the possibility of just a nice, beautiful day with highs going up to - read them and weep - 62 in El Paso; 51 in Albuquerque; 72 in Los Angeles; not bad at all in San Francisco, with a high of 63; 49, Salt Lake City. Back to the east we go, Chicago with 34 degrees; 48, Memphis out by Beale Street; 58 in New Orleans; and Atlanta with 53 degrees.

Glad the snow and the ice is gone from the Deep South. Let's enjoy it and take a big breath because, as you know, the weather can change very quickly.

OK, Randi. Back to you.

KAYE: We're just glad you're back.

WOLF: Good to be here.

KAYE: Glad to see you.

WOLF: Great to be seen.

KAYE: Thanks, Reynolds.

WOLF: You bet you.

KAYE: Not to be lost in our coverage of the revolution in Egypt, the resignation today of the longtime chief negotiator for the Palestinians. Saed Erekat had previously said he would resign if an investigation into the leak of Palestinian negotiation document showed the source of the papers came from his office.

Well, the Al Jazeera television network aired documents suggesting Palestinian negotiators offered to give up large parts of East Jerusalem to Israel.

It's one thing to topple a government in the name of democracy and another to actually get the rights you want. Up next, we ask the question, does the revolution that toppled the regime of Hosni Mubarak really pave the way for free and fair elections in Egypt?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FAYE: After the dust clears from the revolution in Egypt, can the country develop into a viable democracy? We want the talk about that with Benjamin Barber, the author of the bestseller "Jihad vs. McWorld."

Benjamin Barber is a senior fellow at the organization Demos, an internationally recognized political theorist and professor at Rutgers University. He joins us from New York. Good to see you.

Tell us -

BENJAMIN BARBER, DISTINGUISHED SENIOR FELLOW AT DEMOS: Good morning.

KAYE: -- can Egypt really become a working democracy? And how long do you think that might take?

BARBER: Yes, it can.

This has been a remarkable week. I had a research assistant who yesterday said, this is my first revolution, and I think for many people around the world who are under 20 years old, this is their first revolution. Very exciting.

But we do understand that a revolution is a first step towards democracy and a lot of work has to be done to get there, and that does and will take time.

The American Revolution in 1776 didn't realize the promise of the new republic until after the civil war, 80 years later. I'm not saying it will take 80 years in Cairo, but it will take long and hard work.

So far they have decapitated a regime and removed a symbol, an emblem of dictatorship, and that's a great, great victory. But the regime itself, the military regime, is still in place. Elections have yet to be held. People have to organize themselves now into parties. The Muslim Brotherhood has to be integrated as a legitimate party, with its own perspective but without violence.

So there's a lot of hard work to be done, and that's work that now will take persistence of a kind that you can't get simply from demonstrating in the square but comes through organization, through work, through cooperation. But I think the Egyptian people have shown themselves capable of that.

KAYE: And there's so many questions. For example, how long the - will the military remain in charge of the country's affairs? Will it do anything about parliament or the government?

As they try and figure this all out, what are the pitfalls for Egypt, and - and, really, the people there, as they attempt to change leadership and - and head toward free and fair elections?

BARBER: Well, the largest pitfall is that the most organized, efficient organization in the country is the army, and for 30 years it's been supplied by the United States. It has deep relationships with the United States. The Supreme Military Council, that is the interim government, is made up of old time generals who are not that different than Mubarak himself. Different in temperament, different in attitude, but still part of the same establishment.

So how do you hand over power?

One model that might be interesting to look at is Turkey, where following the Ataturk Revolution of 1922, the army played the predominant role for a very long time. But in the last four or five years, with the rise of a moderate Islamic party, AKP, you've seen them play a role as constitutional guarantor, but, at the same time, they have permitted politics to go ahead, they permitted an integration of Muslims into political life that has been fairly successful.

So maybe if the army can find a way to stay around, but in the background as a guarantor, and encourage and catalyze the development of a real politics so that the young digital generation that was so evident in Tahrir Square has an opportunity now to gain the political experience of citizens.

One of the problems is it takes citizens to make a democracy. It takes protesters to make a revolution, but it takes citizens to make a democracy, and we need now to have ways for the Egyptian people to really take on the responsibilities and confidences of citizens.

KAYE: And I just want to get just sort of a brief response from you on this, because you actually challenge this domino effect throughout the region that a lot of other people are saying there is going to be a ripple effect, where there's concern about Algeria, there's concern about Iran, Jordan, Israel - you name it, certainly Yemen. But you say no.

BARBER: I say no for this reason. Actually, we've had a 225-year-old domino effect -1776 in the U.S., 1789, 1970. Democracy is a domino effect, but it takes a long time. And to think that each of the countries - Yemen, Lebanon, Libya, Algeria - all of which have had their own histories, have their own cultures; some are sunnis, some are Shiites; some have military dictatorships, some have secular dictatorships; some are run by Muslims, as in Iran; some are shiite, some sunni. To think that they will all fall in an easy and quick pattern is a mistake.

On the other hand, it is certainly true that the spirit of democratic self-government and self-determination that you've seen for the last couple of weeks in Tahrir will be infectious and will have an effect. I think every country in the region will be changed.

But Tolstoy said every family is unhappy - every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Every revolution will be revolutionary and democratic in its own way. So we're going to see a lot of differences as well as similarities.

KAYE: Well said, Benjamin Barber. I'm going to quote you on that from now on.

BARBER: Thank you.

KAYE: Thank you. Pleasure talking with you. Come back any time.

BARBER: Nice to talk with you. Thanks a lot. Bye-bye.

KAYE: Bye.

Your up to the minute headlines from Egypt are next.

Plus, he used to give advice to then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. This morning, Mideast expert Fouad Ajami answers the tough questions about Egypt. What should America do next?

You're going to want to hear his answers, so do stick around for this discussion.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It is just about half past the hour. Welcome back, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. Thanks for starting your day with us and sticking around with us.

Checking your top stories now, for the first time in nearly 30 years, Egyptians spend their first day without President Hosni Mubarak in power. The embattled leader resigned yesterday after two and a half weeks of street demonstrations calling for his departure. The Egyptian Military is now in a government caretaker role as the nation takes its first steps toward democracy.

Pakistan's anti-terrorist court has issued an arrest warrant for the country's former President Pervez Musharraf. Prosecutors allege Musharraf has been less than forthcoming in providing answers surrounding the 2007 assassination of Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

And we monitor the health of award-winning actress Elizabeth Taylor this morning. The 78-year-old movie star in a Los Angeles Hospital suffering from symptoms associated with congestive heart failure.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. Thirty-three minutes past the hour.

Despite his efforts to stay in power, Hosni Mubarak finally saw the writing on the wall scripted by thousands upon thousands of his countrymen in Tahrir Square.

Fouad Ajami is a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. He's joining us this morning from New York. Professor Ajami, I want to ask you first about today's military statement saying that the country really needs to come together, that the people and the police need to start making nice again.

Is it really possible for the country of Egypt to become one?

FOUAD AJAMI, PROFESSOR AT JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Absolutely. The Egyptians have always been one. I mean, this is one of the most unified counties in the world. The pharaohnic (ph) tradition, the unity, this - this people living on the banks of the Nile, yes, several millions are cop, but this has never been such a default line in Egypt.

And I think this revolution itself was a great exemplar. It was a great illustration of the unity of the Egyptians. They came together, they conquered their fear and they banished a tyrant who had built an impressive state of domination over them. So, yes, I'm very optimistic about them.

KAYE: The protesters, the people they say that they trust the military. The military is now in control - AJAMI: Yes.

KAYE: -- of the country's affairs. How willing do you think the military is going to be when it comes time to give up its power and when it comes time for - for elections?

AJAMI: Well, this is the imponderable. This is the uncertain future that will await this revolution. But if we understand the history of the Egyptian military and if we understand the consequences of this revolution and how it played out, I don't think the military wants to stick around and rule the country.

The military were given this historic function to lead the country in this transition by the deeds of Hosni Mubarak himself. He had devowed all political life. He had sidelined everyone, every political party, every political figure. He sent people to jail. He imprisoned other people. He exiled other people. So the army remained the one institution that would pick up the pieces and give the Egyptians this time of transition on their way to elections, on their way to democracy and on their way out of the tyranny that they were living in.

KAYE: I thought it was also really important today - and if we can just get a quick response from you that the military and their Communique Number 4 said that they will honor - they're committed to honoring international treaties. Would that include Israel and do you believe that?

AJAMI: Well, I think the treaty with Israel is exactly what the military really owns and what it defends. And this is the treaty that really in the end was never discussed in the streets of Egypt. This was a piece made by Anwar al-Sadat. It was honored by Hosni Mubarak and it was protected by the military.

The Egyptian Military have no desire to return to the adventurism and the steady world with Israel. They will defend and hold and maintain that peace.

KAYE: Professor Fouad Ajami, your insight is always very much appreciated.

AJAMI: Thank you.

KAYE: Good to have you with us.

How much Hosni Mubarak is worth? It depends on who you ask. Some say $2 billion. Others put it much closer to $70 billion. No matter how much it is, though, there are major efforts to take it from him and keep it from him.

Stephanie Elam will be back to talk about that. She has all the details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. Good to have you with us. Switzerland's government move quickly to freeze any assets in the country's banks that might belong to Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak or possibly even his family. This is to avoid any risk of embezzlement of Egyptian State property.

CNN's business new correspondent Stephanie Elam joining us live in New York to talk about this. Stephanie, is this even possible?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: You know, Randi, that's the question I've been asked most often about this story. I thought Switzerland was a place you went to put to make your money to make it safe -

KAYE: Exactly.

ELAM: -- so nothing like this could happen, right?

Well, what we're seeing here is a little bit of a change from Switzerland in the sense that we've seen over the past - past few years that they've gotten lambasted for the fact that some people felt like they should have come forward when they knew that they had funds that belonged to someone who had some issues whether it was political or otherwise.

Switzerland has said that they've done this and they've done this before when it comes to a person who is politically exposed. That's the way they put it. They did it in Tunisia, for example, most recently. But they're doing this to make sure that all of the assets that are in - who knows how many bank accounts may be there from Mubarak, first of all, because we don't know how much he's worth. We don't know how many accounts that he and his family may have in Switzerland.

So they're doing this to make sure that none of these assets that are there actually belong to the Egyptian government. They're saying that they don't want to worry about any sort of embezzlement here, trying to cut it off in the past early on to make sure that all of the assets here do actually belong to Mubarak.

But, again, the question of his wealth, Randi, we don't know - we don't know how much he's worth and excuse the realm in the billions. So if it's so much money, obviously, there could be a lot of digging that they're doing in Switzerland at this point.

KAYE: Yes, 2 billion, 70 billion, who's counting, right?

ELAM: I mean, that's huge. If you have that much money, one could argue that you would probably just leave office and go buy an island somewhere. But we don't know the truth to these numbers and so until we get that.

And keep in mind, Switzerland is still being rather close lipped about this, because they're not telling us how many accounts there are. They're not saying how much assets they're keeping their eyes on. So we don't know a lot of information. We just know that they have confirmed that they've frozen the assets to make sure that nothing that belongs to the state - to the government of Egypt doesn't actually make its way elsewhere.

KAYE: Stephanie Elam counting Mubarak's money for us this morning. Thank you, Stephanie.

ELAM: Sure.

KAYE: Here in the United States, the influential conservative movement has its say on what's happening in Egypt. Up next, we are heading live to the CPAC Convention in Washington. What they have to say about the uprising just might surprise you, so stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: A major gathering of Conservatives is going on in Washington. It's called CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference. It's an important high profile platform for leading Conservatives.

CNN's deputy political director Paul Steinhauser is at the conference in Washington today. Paul, good to see you. First off, tell us what are they saying there about Egypt?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, Randi, Egypt is not the top topic here at CPAC. And this is one of the oldest and the largest gathering of Conservatives from across the country. They got 11,000 people here this year. And it also comes just a little less than the year before the start of the Republican Presidential Primary season next year. So that means it's the really first cattle call, I guess you could say, for a lot of people who are thinking about running for the Republican Presidential nomination. Some of them have talked a little bit about Egypt. A little critical of President Barack Obama, butm again, not the overall theme.

But take a listen to Rand Paul, the congressman from Texas. He ran last time, he's thinking about running again. Here's what he said about the U.S. spending all that money on foreign aid for Egypt. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RAND PAUL (R), TEXAS: Well, we've invested a lot of money in to Mubarak. And I don't think it was a good investment. It was stable for a while, but it was building the resentment and the instability that finally burst out. So I would say the third of the $70 billion was not worth it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: That's Rand Paul speaking to our Wolf Blitzer there yesterday.

And Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, he's also thinking of running for the Republican Presidential Nomination. Our Jessica Yellin, our national political correspondent, caught up with him. He was a little bit critical of what this White House is doing with Egypt. Here you go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM PAWLENTY, FMR. MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: The Obama administration's understanding and reaction to this seems to be one of surprise and confusion. Their initial reaction to all of this seemed confused and disoriented, and that's not a good signal for clarity and strength when projecting America's interests abroad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: Again, Randi, some talk of Egypt, but again not the main focus here at CPAC this year - Randi.

KAYE: I remember I was at CPAC last year and there's always a lot of good headlines coming out of - out of there. What else should we know today in terms of news coming from there?

STEINHAUSER: Well, we just had Haley Barbour, the governor of Mississippi, who's also thinking of running for the White House talking to this crowd. He talked a lot about fiscal matters. That is the big topic here. The massive deficit, the debt and, of course, government spending. And you can imagine here they want to cut, cut, cut with this crowd.

Later today, of course, the results of a straw poll which we'll keep an eye on. It's a lot talked about. We'll see which person comes out on top. Rand Paul - I mean, Ron Paul won it last year. Randi, back to you.

KAYE: All right. Paul Steinhauser at CPAC for us. Thank you, Paul.

More than two decades ago this weekend, Nelson Mandela walked out of a South African prison. The time behind bars kept Mandela, the family man, away from his wife and children. Time they can never get back. Up next, an exclusive interview with one of his daughters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Ten minutes before the hour. Glad you're with us.

Twenty-one years ago yesterday, Nelson Mandela walked out of a prison in South Africa a free man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's Mr. Mandela. Mr. Nelson Mandela, a free man taking his first steps in to a new South Africa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: He went on to become South Africa's first democratically elected president in 1994. And there the mission continued. Uniting a nation where citizens had grown up hating or fearing each other under apartheid.

He's now retired from public life and South Africans started worrying about two weeks ago when news spread that he was seriously ill with a respiratory infection. Doctors say he is now doing OK and they're actually happy with his progress. But the 92-year-old still has a medical team on stand-by at his home.

But that's Nelson Mandela, the global icon. What about Nelson Mandela, the father? During his 27 years as a political prisoner, his mind would drift to his little girls forced to grow up without a father.

Nadia Bilchik is joining me now and you had a chance to actually speak with one of the daughters. Shall we take a listen -

NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Yes.

KAYE: -- to that first? And then we'll -

BILCHIK: Zenani Dlamini Mandela or Zenani Mandela Dlamini.

KAYE: So let's hear what she had to say and then we'll come right back and talk some more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZENANI DLAMINI MANDELA, DAUGHTER OF NELSON MANDELA: When I heard they were about to release my dad, I actually didn't believe it at first. I was very excited of having, you know, the prospect of my father being released. But I was also wondering what is the - what kind of world is he coming to because he'd been away for 27 years.

BILCHIK: Zenani, you were only 5 years old when your father, Nelson Mandela, was sentenced to life in prison. What about those years?

Z. MANDELA: Yes. My mother always had a picture of daddy on the dining room wall and so I had a vision of my dad being a very large man with the side parting. So when I saw him when I was 16 the first time, I was actually quite - I was quite shocked to see that he was very skinny. He didn't have a side parting to him, but he looked the same as the - as the gentleman in the photograph.

I longed to know what it was like to have a normal family, but I understood when my mom explained to me who my father was and why he was in prison.

BILCHIK: Would you share for us your experiences of a father-daughter relationship?

Z. MANDELA: My father is quite authoritarian, and from prison he - he really ruled the family in terms of, you have to get your education, this is the way I want you to behave. And those values were instilled in us even though he was in prison. You know, he used to write us letters.

BILCHIK: How is he doing?

Z. MANDELA: I had a slight cough so we weren't, you know we're not allowed to see him if you're not well. But he's doing great. You know, he's improving slowly. The doctors are happy with his progress, and we as a family are happy with his progress also. But he's in great spirits. He loves to be with his grandchildren and great- grandchildren. And he's got a great sense of humor.

My father always said that he - he wasn't alone in bringing about change in South Africa and that there were many, many people and individuals who played a role. So we should not make it seem as if he was the only one who played a role. My father I think would love to be remembered as a family man, as a person who, if he could change one person's mind, then he's done his job.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: An incredible story what that family has been through and what an honor for you to be able to speak with them.

BILCHIK: Yes. And one of the things that Nelson Mandela said the day he was released from prison, he said in gratitude to my wife and family, I am convinced they have suffered more than I have. So think about these children, three of his six children are still alive, three have died.

But what it was like to have a father incarcerated. And for these girls, Zindzi and Zenani, their mother was also incarcerated for periods of time. So he really sacrificed his family.

And now in his twilight years, he's getting time to spend with the family. So we're going take a look at some Peter Morey photographs of Nelson Mandela, Madiba as he's fondly known, with his family. He has nine -

KAYE: It's so nice to see him surrounded by his family.

BILCHIK: Yes, 18 grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren. Now, Zenani has two daughters, Zindzi and Zamaswazi, and Zenani's children, Azipo (ph) and Zyanda (ph). And Zamaswazi's daughter is Zamakhosi. So you're seeing them all there.

If you're wondering why they're all Z's, that is because that is the name given to call a (ph) royalty.

You're seeing David Manaway there and Zaziwe Manaway and a lovely story when David Manaway met Madiba. He said how did you meet my granddaughter? He said, I taught at (INAUDIBLE) University and I thought my granddaughter only went to a girls-only. He said, that's why I was there. And they got on famously after that.

KAYE: All right.

BILCHIK: He has a great sense of humor.

KAYE: It sounds like he certainly does and it's great that you're able to bring that to us. Really appreciate it, Nadia. Thank you.

We've seen certainly some of the incredible images that have been coming out of Egypt. Up next, we will talk live with CNN's Ivan Watson. He has been in the eye of the storm. And today, he is there keeping an eye on this statue that is being erected by the protesters in Tahrir Square in honor of the victims. So we'll get the very latest from that and speak with Ivan when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Eighteen days. That's how long it took for real change to sweep through Egypt - 18 days of protest. The light at the end of the tunnel was a simple statement. President Mubarak has resigned. With that announcement, a massive sigh of relief and cheers heard around the world.

Our Ivan Watson was right in the middle of all the madness.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: Look at these scenes of euphoria and celebration.

Just moments ago, the news came out. Hosni Mubarak is stepping down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't want him!

WATSON: Normally, it would be pretty frustrating to be stuck in Cairo traffic, but tonight it's a party. Look at the scene. The people are out in their cars. They brought their families out. They're waving flags. The kids are out as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Freedom!

WATSON: Freedom! (INAUDIBLE). How are you doing? How are you? Good?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

WATSON: OK, guys. Have a good night.