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CNN Saturday Morning News
Revolution in Egypt: Party in Liberation Square; Pentagon Reacts to Egypt; Examining the Egypt Ripple Effect; What's Next For the New Egypt?
Aired February 12, 2011 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: A new direction for Egypt. Protests sweep long-time leader Hosni Mubarak straight out of office. In his place: the military now taking a higher profile in Tahrir Square. Troops swarmed into the square just moments ago. More on that straight ahead.
JONATHAN MANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The change may extend beyond Egypt's borders. The toppling of a long-time leader could have ripple effects across the Arab world where people are celebrating Egypt's events.
KAYE: From CNN Center this is CNN. It is February 12th. I'm Randi Kaye.
MANN: I'm Jonathan Mann. We would like to welcome viewers from the United States and around the world to our coverage of the revolution in Egypt.
KAYE: And here's what's happening in Egypt right now.
We know much more about those soldiers that we saw running into Tahrir Square. Our Frederik Pleitgen reports that they swarmed in to take care of a few troublemakers and made some arrests as well. Now, some have taken up positions around the Egyptian Museum. Basically they have formed a human chain around the building that houses some of the most precious artifacts in Egypt.
Also today, Egypt's ruling military council released a statement about the immediate future. They say all treaties including a peace treaty with Israel will stay in place during the transition and they also called on the police to return to the streets as part of a return to normalcy.
MANN: Tahrir Square has been the heart of the revolution. It's also where we saw thousands let loose with utter jubilation at the news of President Mubarak's resignation. Our Ivan Watson is right there in the middle of the madness.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Look at these scenes of euphoria and celebration. Just moments ago, the news came out, President Mubarak is stepping down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't want him!
(crowd chanting)
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.
How are you doing? That's the word that we're hearing a lot. Congratulations. One man said, we did it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: That was our Ivan Watson.
Now back to what's going on in Tahrir Square right now. We saw dozens of soldiers storm into the square. A show of force we really hadn't seen actually up to this point. Certainly didn't expect to see today. So let's take you live to Cairo now where our Fionnuala Sweeney is watching all of the action.
Fionnuala, what does it look like there right now?
FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there. I just missed your question there, Randi, for a second. But if you're asking about what happened just within the last hour, we know that (INAUDIBLE) - but we wouldn't want to overestimate the kind of impact that that's having on what is still massive celebration that's taking place down in the square. (INAUDIBLE)
They did come in to quell some troublemakers. They made three arrests. And Fred Pleitgen who is down on the ground actually spoke to the military commander on the ground. He was very easy to talk to, very relaxed. He didn't want to see his press card. Just basically the soldiers are there to prevent trouble. And I think it's a very clear statement that the military here in Egypt is slowly but surely beginning to make itself heard as a force in this country. That is good news for Egypt. It's good news for the United States. And it's good news for countries around the region.
A short while ago, the military issued a statement. It was another communique and it illuminated just a little bit more to the Egyptian people and the reason beyond the plan for this transition to democracy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENERAL SAMI ANAN, EGYPTIAN MILITARY CHIEF OF STAFF (through translator): It is committed to all the national and international treaties. The Supreme Council for the Armed Forces is urging our great people of Egypt to cooperate with the police and confidence and trust should be restored between the police and the people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SWEENEY: The Egyptian military, General Sami Anan saying Egypt would honor its international peace treaties and that will be causing a sigh of relief in Israel for the moment, at least.
He also went to say in that military communique that this was essentially day one of the new Egypt and he expected the government to be appointed in the last number of days to continue building on what he calls the transition to democracy.
Back to you, Randi.
KAYE: Fionnuala Sweeney for us in Cairo. Thank you, Fionnuala.
What's happening right now in Egypt is being very closely monitored by the Obama administration in the United States. White House officials welcomed Mubarak's decision to step down while urging all sides in Egypt's political upheaval to ensure peaceful transition to democracy. Here is how President Obama reiterated America's support for Egypt in its time of uncertainty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States will continue to be a friend and partner to Egypt. We stand ready to provide whatever assistance is necessary and asked for to pursue a credible transition to a democracy.
I'm also confident that the same ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that the young people of Egypt have shown in recent days can be harnessed to create new opportunity, jobs and businesses that allow the extraordinary potential of this generation to take flight. And I know that a democratic Egypt can advance its role of responsible leadership not only in the region but around the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: The president hailed the Egyptian protesters for their moral force of nonviolence. Jon?
MANN: Let's get more now on reaction from the United States this morning. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is live in Washington with us.
Barbara, the U.S. military works with the Egyptian military. It helps train the Egyptian military and it's no secret it funds the Egyptian military. So is the Pentagon feeling good about having the military in charge in Egypt and the prospects for the rest of the Middle East?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think they're taking a little bit of a deep breath in this period of post revolutionary euphoria, Jon, because they're looking at now who is in charge, what it may mean. In fact, you know, throughout the last 18 days or so Pentagon officials were talking about their support for the Egyptian army for military leaders that they were really, you know, operating in a good fashion during the demonstrations.
But now the work begins. So who are we really looking at here? Well, the key man in Egypt to watch is this man field marshal Hussein Tantawi. He is the head of the military council, chief of defense. By all accounts the man who will start running things. You see him there with Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Field Marshall Tantawi, though, clearly for many years part of the Egyptian security apparatus. And we found that one of those State Department cables you remember leaked by the organization WikiLeaks focused on Tantawi and that cable cited sources saying that, "One can hear midlevel officers at MOD clubs, Ministry of Defense clubs around Cairo openly expressing their disdain for Tantawi. These officers refer to Tantawi as Mubarak's poodle and complain that the incompetent defense minister reached his position only because of unwavering loyalty to Mubarak and is running the military into the ground.
So make no mistake while these military men now in charge in Egypt making the moves to try to restore order and take control, there's a lot of disgruntlement in the Egyptian military and will really be still to see and still to watch how they act and whether they make the moves to transition to a democratic government in Egypt -- Jon.
MANN: Barbara, while we have you, let me ask you about something else that we're seeing and that is clashes, protesters running into real opposition from the Algerian authorities in Algiers. A bit of background. Egypt has had its own domestic security problems but they're nothing compared to Algeria. Brutal civil war in that country. The authorities clamped down and finally got a handle on it, but are they watching Algeria today at the Pentagon?
STARR: Well, let me point out Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, you know, all across the region. And what Pentagon officials will tell you, what intelligence officials will tell you behind the scenes, they're worried about all of this, because you're talking about obviously a regional security situation. What surprised them from an intelligence standpoint in Egypt to a large extent and in Tunisia was the pace, the speed at which the unrest spread and the scope of it.
So what they want is everybody to take a deep breath essentially and stability restored across the region. If these things continue to spread, it's that speed, that velocity, that level of unrest and uncertainty that causes so much concern as much as the U.S. government wants to see democracy, they worry equally about this period of insecurity -- Jon.
MANN: Barbara Starr in Washington. Thanks very much.
STARR: Sure.
MANN: Well, with Mubarak out, the focus now is on Egypt's future and who will lead the way. Up next, thoughts on who will fill the country's power vacuum. Will it be Mubarak's handpicked vice president?
KAYE: Plus, you might call him the man of the hour. The Egyptian activist credited with using social media to spark this historic revolution. We'll have his story for you, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MANN: Welcome back.
If you're just joining us, the simplest way to put it is this: Hosni Mubarak is history. America's longtime ally has been forced from power. The army is in control of his country and U.S. diplomats say it's really not clear who they should be talking to or what is ahead.
Michael Hayden is the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency joining us now from Washington.
Well, let me ask you at a time of confusion and uncertainty, what do you think is happening?
MICHAEL HAYDEN, FMR. CIA DIRECTOR: Well, it's very difficult to tell, Jon. The events of Thursday were actually very illuminating in which it appears that within the Egyptian government there were some serious infighting going on and it was unclear throughout Thursday who actually was in charge.
I think it's more clear now that the Egyptian military - and I'm choosing my words carefully here now. The Egyptian military as an institution has assumed a more direct role over governing Egypt at the moment.
MANN: Do you think there's any reason to expect it to deliver democracy in short order?
HAYDEN: You know, it's going to be a very difficult path for anyone and particularly for the armed forces, I think. But there's some reasons for hope here. After all, let's take a look at what's happened here now. We've had, in essence, indirect military role or the military has had a powerful hand in Egyptian governance for the past three decades.
Now they have direct military role - rule, but the whole world is watching. One sign of hope here is that by and large, the officer core of that military has had sustained extensive contact with the American military over the past 25 to 30 years. And I'm not suggesting this is a mentor-student relationship. But they've seen a very professional military - that's ours - very responsive to civilian control in a pluralistic democracy.
One has reasons to hope that the Egyptian officer corps recognizes that and might use that as a bit of a model.
MANN: Well, let me be very frank with you. The Egyptian military has enjoyed essentially impunity. They ran the country, they did what they wanted to their opponents and enemies. The Egyptian military is an institution that got rich running the country. They ran businesses. There's no telling how rich individual members of the military might have gotten in that process. They'd have to give both of those things up and trade it for an uncertain future, potentially face trial if there's real democracy and the rule of law. Some of them are hard men. Do you expect them to do it?
HAYDEN: It's a very - great question and I don't challenge much of what you described as the premise of your question. But if the Egyptian military is looking after its own self interest, particularly in the medium to long term, they have to play a role in transition here. Otherwise, they're going to see what's happened in the past 18 days repeated again and very likely not as peacefully.
MANN: Michael Hayden, former director of the CIA. Thanks so much for talking with us this morning.
HAYDEN: OK, Jon. Thank you.
KAYE: Congratulations for the people of Egypt have been pouring in from around the world. The U.S., Japan, Australia and Turkey among many others have all sent message. But what is certainly on everyone's mind is what's next.
I'm joined by an Mona Eltahawy, an Egyptian-born freelance journalist and blogger. She joins us from New York.
Mona, in the last hour we've seen another communique from the Egyptian military imploring Egyptians to cooperate with the police. We're also seeing now a greater presence of the military in Tahrir Square. How do you think the people of Egypt will react to being told to make nice with the police again?
MONA ELTAHAWY, EGYPTIAN JOURNALIST: You know, the events of the past 18 days were just the latest that showed the antagonism between Egyptians, ordinary Egyptians and the security forces, the police mostly. And we saw that Mubarak unleashed those security forces during the first four days of the uprising with very violent results. So the armed forces were - appeared to be neutral in this violence but I think Egyptians respected them much more than they did the police.
What Egyptians preferred hearing from the armed forces or the military communique today was that it hinted it was going to transfer power to a civilian government. And that I think is what is resonating more with people. The police bit is probably going to take some time because people do not remember them well and police brutality remember was one of the reasons that the uprising started on January 25th.
One of the reasons - January 25th was police day. And that's what people were protesting. So I think that this is going to take a while. No one I know is calling for revenge or any kind of vengeance attacks against the police. It's not what the revolution was about.
KAYE: Let's talk about elections. Are you confident today that one day you will see free and fair elections in Egypt? ELTAHAWY: I am absolutely. Because today I am very, very optimistic because remember it took my country 18 days to end the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak, who was our ruler for 30 years. So I think, you know, to echo something that your previous speaker said, the armed forces were there on the streets of Egypt especially Cairo and they saw the determination of people who would not be bowed down by fear, who were out there every day in greater and greater numbers every day telling Mubarak to go.
So they understand now that Egyptians are empowered. Egyptians have come into their own politically and they're much more mature in their ability to say - they're not scared anymore.
KAYE: Right.
ELTAHAWY: So the armed forces have to realize that on some level Egyptians will be out there protesting them as well if they don't hand over civilian rule.
KAYE: So even though confidence is high and the protesters are feeling quite victorious, what's your greatest concern right now for the country that you love so much?
ELTAHAWY: My concern is that the armed forces again understand that they have to step aside, that since 1952 we've been ruled by a number of military men. The armed forces must understand that now civilians rule Egypt. I want to see the kind of - the greatest needs in Egypt right now are job creation, education, rebuilding the country.
I mean, it's lovely to see people cleaning up the streets and saying, you know, we took Egypt away - we have took it back from Hosni Mubarak. Now we're going to take care of it. But the immediate needs are - along with freedom, job creation, poverty, education and getting people to realize that Egypt is theirs now and looking forward. You know, it's a great time. But, also, you know, one thing I want to add is that -
KAYE: OK, just quickly.
ELTAHAWY: I portray what happened in the Arab world as like a freedom rally and we had the baton in Egypt, we got it from Tunisia. It's now going to Algeria. I want to be optimistic for my Arab sisters and brothers.
KAYE: All right. We will leave it there. Mona Eltahawy, a pleasure to see you. Thank you. Jon.
MANN: While we're still working through reports or rather the news we have about Hosni Mubarak's resignation, we have a report about another familiar face in the Middle East giving up his job. Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat has resigned as chief negotiator, this word from another member of the negotiating team.
The timing of this is very particular, unrelated to the events in Egypt but something else that's been on our radar as well. Erakat was the subject of a Leaks' scandal. Leaked documents that purported to show that Erakat had come to some kinds of agreements with Israel that his critics described as back-room deals that would severely limit Palestinian claims to Israeli territory, severely limit the number of refugees that would be allowed to return to Palestinian territory under a future peace deal with Israel and in fact detailed some cooperation you could say between Palestinian security forces and Israeli security forces. The leaks were enormously damaging to Erakat's reputation.
He described them himself as a smear campaign but now they may have had their effect. Saeb Erakat has resigned as the chief Palestinian negotiator. We'll have more on that story and the events in Egypt, coming up. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MANN: Welcome back.
Wael Ghonim, remember that name. It belongs to one of the many faces behind the Egyptian revolution. As everyday people celebrate on the streets of Egypt following the resignation of long-time president Hosni Mubarak, it was activists such as Ghonim who risked their personal liberty to make it happen.
CNN's Ivan Watson talks with one of Egypt's young voices calling for change.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON (voice-over): Armed with little more than a laptop, Wael Ghonim does not lack like the leader of a revolution but look how the people react when they spot him in the streets. Strangers call out his name, embrace him, even stop their cars in traffic just to say hello.
(on camera): Did you plan a revolution?
WAEL GHONIM, EGYPTIAN ACTIVIST: Yes. We did.
WATSON: What was the plan?
GHONIM: The plan was to get everyone on the street.
WATSON (voice-over): Along with a group of young Egyptian activists, this 30-year-old marketing director for Google worked in his spare time to organize the January 25th protest that sparked a grassroots revolt.
(on camera): Was this an internet revolution?
GHONIM: Definitely this is the internet revolution. I'll call it revolution 2.0.
WATSON (voice-over): But after the third day of protests, secret police snatched Ghonim off the streets.
GHONIM: No. I was targeted of course. They wanted me.
WATSON (on camera): What was going through your mind at that moment?
GHONIM: I was super scared.
WATSON (voice-over): During the week and a half Ghonim spent blindfolded in solitary confinement, the Egyptian uprising just kept growing. When he was finally released on Monday, Ghonim emerged to discover a city transformed.
GHONIM: When I went out to the street, I can't - I can't tell you my feeling. I can't tell you my feeling. I was so proud of the people.
WATSON: But he also learned many of his fellow street protesters had been killed in days of bloody clashes with Egyptian security forces and gangs of government supporters. More than 300 dead according to human rights watch.
This Egyptian internet revolutionary now has a warning.
GHONIM: No one is going to go against our desire, no one. And I'm telling this to Omar Suleiman. He is going to watch this. You are not going to stop us. Kidnap me. Kidnap all my colleagues. Put us in jail. Kill us. Do whatever you want to do. We are getting back our country. You guys have been ruining this country for 30 years. Enough! Enough! Enough!
WATSON: Ivan Watson, CNN, Cairo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: And we certainly know from him that social media played a major role in Egypt's revolution. Will it be a model for other countries as well? We're going to take a look.
MANN: Plus, what happens next in Egypt could have a profound effect on U.S. and Mideast relations. That means keeping a close eye on who eventually takes control of the country. That story coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MANN: Welcome back.
We've been talking about these events in the Middle East as a bit of a, well, domino because Tunisia was last month, Egypt this month and now word that the Palestinian Authority has been affected. Both the president of the Palestinian Authority and its parliament have remained in office long past the end of their terms. They haven't given up power, but now there's word they will be holding an overdue election.
KAYE: And for more on that, we want to get right to Kevin Flower who is live in Jerusalem for us.
Kevin, can you bring us up to date on this?
KEVIN FLOWER, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Absolutely, Randi. Some really start ling news here, today. What we've heard from the secretary-general of the PLO, Yasser Abed Rabbo, in a press conference just a short time ago, what he talked about was the Palestinian Authority would hold legislative and presidential elections no later than September.
And, Jonathan, as you mentioned, there have not been parliamentary or presidential elections here for a number of years. President Mahmoud Abbas has been in power since 2005, legislative elections haven't taken place around the same period of time, so we've had this political vacuum. They've been postponed multiple times, much to the chagrin of the Palestinian public, who is looking at the changes in the Middle East and saying, when are these changes going to happen, here.
So, clearly, this is a nod to some of the winds of change that are sweeping the region. The Palestinian Authority making a big change, here. Elections coming up, what we don't know is whether Mahmoud Abbas will run in these upcoming presidential elections. He said in the past that he would not. That's going to be a question being posed to him in the days ahead.
MANN: Kevin Flower, our Jerusalem bureau chief with breaking news from there. Thank you very much -- Randi.
KAYE: And we might have some more news to tell you about. We want to get to Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, where Joe Duran, CNN photographer, is standing by for us.
Joe, what is the scene there? I understand the military certainly has a presence there in the square. We've seen -- we saw them actually enter the square in very large amounts of troops, actually entering the Square earlier. What's happening right now?
JOE DURAN, CNN PHOTOGRAPHER: Well, at the moment, there is quite a commotion. They are trying to bring in a very large piece of marble stone, which I believe people are saying that it will be a monument to the people who died here on the square. They're trying to put it into place, but people are trying to make their way to the stone. It's a very large piece of marble and it's got flowers on top. The crane is trying to put it in place, but people are quite emotional, chanting, as you can hear them.
KAYE: What are they chanting? And is everybody -- like the military trying to stop them from doing this?
DURAN: Well, they're chanting what they've been chanting for the last two weeks. And a lot of "Allah Akbar, god is great." They started at one point singing the national anthem. Let me just see if you can hear. One second.
(CROWD CHANTING)
DURAN: As I said, there's -- it's mostly civilians. There's no military around this monument.
KAYE: So nobody is trying to stop them from putting this up?
DURAN: Nobody is trying to stop them. I think people are just emotional trying to see what's going on, trying to push their way in. The volunteers trying to push them back.
KAYE: And when you say emotional, if you can just take that a step further. Are people crying? What are they feeling as they see this statue come in for the victims or the martyrs of (INAUDIBLE)?
DURAN: It's a symbolic (INAUDIBLE), obviously, and people are trying to show their (AUDIO GAP) to the martyrs the last couple of weeks. I don't speak Arabic, so I know people are trying to tell me things and I don't understand. But, it's just an emotional moment. And people are starting to see and touch the stone.
KAYE: All right, Joe Duran, hang with us. We want to bring in Fionnuala Sweeney who might have a different view of all of this happening. She's in Cairo, as well, near the Square.
Fionnuala, do you see this happening? Do you see this attempt to put up this large statue?
FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I do see the crane. I mean, essentially, we can see from our vantage point what you're seeing, because I'm beside our camera man. I perhaps have a wider view than then the shot you're seeing, right now. But you can see a lot of movement with the Egyptian flag. I mean, further down that avenue, away from Tahrir Square, you can see there's a kinds of a human chain of people standing and there's an attempt to get some order. There's now another, what looks like a small crane, forgive my lack of industrial knowledge about this, coming into the road leading up to the streets and it seems to be a little bit of activity there.
I mean, look, Randi, essentially, this is still a country that can't quite believe the very after what happened the night before. And you can see all around you businesses are getting back to business as usual. Slowly, slowly but surely. It's very, very early day. There are still people crowding into the square here, it's the Saturday, it's the weekend. But I've been asking people who know this city far better than I do and they are saying you can see from the boats on the river, you can see from the general activity that things are more normal now in Cairo than they have been over the last couple of weeks.
And I think this -- what Joe is talking about is evidence of the emotion of the situation and the determination of the demonstrators to mark in some way, some significant way the sacrifice that was made by some of their fellow demonstrators over the last couple of weeks. And the situation will be fluid for a while. There's bound to be high emotion. One wonders, thinking ahead, how long the demonstrations will last in Tahrir Square.
The tent cities, we understand, are coming down slowly. But there are still people there. And I think one thing to watch out for over the coming days will be, will the demonstrators remain united, decide to stay in the square, to ask the military -- to demand from the military that they have the state of emergency lifted, that political prisoners be released, that freedom of the press be enshrined in the constitution or will some of them drift away and go back to work as there is some evidence that that may be happening already. But these things are a little too early to call right now. It's less than 24 hours since Hosni Mubarak stepped down from power. And this is largely a city celebrating.
KAYE: And let's just, if we can, just to help our viewers understand what they're looking at. It is about 4:38 in Cairo, Egypt and on the left side of your screen, we've been watching a very large crane that is apparently trying to bring a marble stone statue into Tahrir Square. The protesters are working to make this happen. Apparently the military, we're hearing from our Joe Duran, CNN photographer on the ground, the military is not there, certainly not trying to prevent this from happening. It's a marble stone with flowers on top, apparently a monument to the victims or the martyrs as they're being called. They are chanting "god is great." They are looking to put an Egyptian flag, as well. In a way, it seems as though they are really trying to mark their territory, Fionnuala, and really saying to former President Mubarak and others, "we were heard, our voices were heard, and you better not forget."
SWEENEY: I think essentially that would be a very, very strong message for the military. But the military in a communique, released just over an hour ago, illuminated is a little more its thinking process in terms of the direction this country is taking and saying as far as the military council is concerned, that this is a new day for Egypt. They expect the government that was put in place by Hosni Mubarak just over the last week or so to continue to function, to work towards this transition to democracy.
I mean really when you think about this, it is such is a huge challenge to transfer a country that essentially has been under the rule of thumb of one man to a fully-pledged democracy and it isn't just any country. It is a country that is the beating heart of the Arab world, although I'm sure there are a few other countries in the Arab world who would disagree with that -- 18 million people, I mean, Cairo and Saudi often battled it out for influence in the region, but down through the years, at least the last century, what happened in Cairo resonated throughout the Arab world. And of course one of the external factors we're looking for now and programs Kevin Flower alluding to that report that there will be Palestinian Authority elections, that may be one indication. But it's early days yet.
But to go back to your initial point, Randi, the demonstrators are here. The question is, are they here to stay?
KAYE: Our Fionnuala Sweeney there in Cairo, Egypt, along with Joe Duran, our photographer. Thank you both for bringing us the pictures and bringing us the information, as well.
MANN: It's amazing, if you had your television on 24 hours ago, turned it off and turned it on again this morning, Tahrir Square still bursting with passion and excitement, crammed with people, still a hive of activity and yet everything, everything about that place and that country have changed.
KAYE: It's really -- I think a lot of people thought maybe the protesters might go home.
MANN: That's what I was thinking.
KAYE: Maybe they got what they wanted and this was over, but now --
MANN: It's been 18 days. They need to work, they need to shower and feed themselves.
KAYE: --still want to be heard and this marble statue that they're trying to put up may very well be their final emphasis on what happened here yesterday with Mubarak resigning.
MANN: They keep our eyes glued to the Square yet again for a whole new unexpected region. It's not just our eyes, people are watching around the world. We'll bring you more about that in a moment. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MANN: Welcome back.
We've been talking an awful lot about Egypt, but we've had our eyes on other countries in the region and now we have the first video of something we've been watching. Algerian anti-riot police gathering at the scene blocking entrances to the capitol, Algiers. Protesters are trying to push for reform in the North African nation. Demonstrators in the region, all across the region, have protested against unemployment, corruption and high food costs.
We saw the impact in Tunisia, they toppled their government. We saw the impact in Egypt, they toppled their president. And now in Algeria, a country that has had decades of issues trying to maintain its authority, most particularly against an Islamist uprising that took tens of thousands of people in a brutal civil war.
They finally prevailed against the Islamists, they finally, I guess it's fair to say, reasserted their authority, but now in the wave of change that's sweeping across the Arab world Algeria is itself, feeling some of the tremors. We're watching it closely and we'll bring you developments as they come in.
KAYE: I mean, they've had a curfew system, what, since 1992. So, they're certainty trying to keep things under control there, but from the looks of it, they might have a little trouble.
Egyptians living in Britain are celebrating, as well, today. CNN's Nima Elbagir is in London for us.
Nima, describe the scene if you can, for us. NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randi, the official program has actually come to an end but people are still here. They're still chanting, they're still dancing, they're echoing a lot of the slogans that we've been hearing in Tahrir Square over the last 18 days and they don't seem to want to go home. They really want an outlet for their joy.
But it hasn't just been about Egypt, today. You spoke rightly about the demonstrations in Algiers and we've been hearing a lot of concern among the demonstrators, here in Trafalgar Square and hope Algeria is the next country they celebrate in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a first. (INAUDIBLE) really, really good demonstration for Egyptian people and we are really happy for that. For change in Arabic countries in North Africa and Middle East and for Algeria, I think that's hard to say because these people, my generation and all generations are the same, so we want freedom.
We want all democracy in our country. We live in our other country, so I'm not living Algeria, but I want freedom for my country. And today we got big demonstration Algeria, but I think that's not really running good because government, they send more than half million policeman to stop this demonstration, so that is really bad for our country and for our brothers and sisters in my country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELBAGIR: Many people here have told me that they hope this will be the Berlin Wall moment for the Middle East in North Africa, that there will be a domino effect of autocratic regimes across the region -- Randi.
KAYE: Nima Elbagir, thank you very much for that.
For those of you who have been watching, you know some of the images from Egypt have been powerful. When we come back, a look at some of the more poignant moments of the revolution in Egypt.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Sometimes you look at the scene in Tahrir Square and the words just simply escape you. The crowds leading up to yesterday's announcement that Mubarak was leaving, were staggering. The chanting of "freedom, freedom" still echo across Egypt today.
Here's how events played out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUHAMMAD HOSNI MUBARAK, EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I, President Muhammad Hosni Mubarak, has decided to step down as president of Egypt and has assigned the higher council of the armed forces to run the affairs of the country.
(CHANTING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just moments ago the news came out, Hosni Mubarak is stepping down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm proud be Egyptian. I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, congratulations to all Egyptians. And I want to say welcome back, Egypt.
(CHANTING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a sense of liberation for me, for every Egyptian, a sense of emancipation of the whole Egyptian people. And for the first time Egypt has a chance to be democratic, to be free. Egyptians have a chance at dignity, of freedom. So, it's amazing, just like 180 degree. It's something we've never experienced if our lifetime.
BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: One Egyptian put it simply, most people have discovered in the last few days that they are worth something, and this cannot be taken away from them anymore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An absolute feeling of euphoria down here. It's relief, it's joyousness.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Freedom.
(CAR HORNS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The crowd here is so excited. I can actually hardly hear what you're saying, so I'm just going to give them a chance to talk.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am very happy now, and always the people of Egypt are very happy because Mubarak is going.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we will be a country that (INAUDIBLE) --
(CHANTING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that we have changed the history of, not only that of Egypt, but all over the world. And we will rebuilt Egypt. I repeat, we will rebuild Egypt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we make history now. And I think we deserve this and we need this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's the best day ever.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today's an overwhelming day for Egypt. Everyone's happy. Everyone's finally free. We have a chance to change -- freedom.
(CHANTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP) KAYE: Now that social media is being credited with helping spark the revolution in Egypt, what's being said across the Twitter-verse today? We will find out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Social media may have been what helped bring protesters if Egypt together, but that doesn't mean they've signed off now that Mubarak is gone. CNN's Jessica Ellis joins me now.
And Jessica, while Ghonim, the activist, hailed as a hero is continuing to Tweet, what are you finding that he's saying, now?
JESSICA ELLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's still very active online. His first tweet this morning was, "Good morning, Egypt. I truly missed you in the past 30 years."
Now, on his Facebook page, he has over 738,000 followers and we translated one of the comments this morning and he said that, "May God bless the matters of the revolution. The revolution's heroes are these people who died and only today their right has turned to them."
He's also changed the image on the profile and this picture is of the military spokesman that spoke out yesterday and paused and stood at attention and just saluted the people, the victims, the people that died in the protests. So this morning, Wael Ghonim and his friend did the same thing. They took a picture of themselves and they posted on Facebook that they are saluting the victims that died in the protests.
And we've just seen on Facebook, you know, looking at all of the comments and the threads people have become so personal with this revolution, when they're seeing individuals and seeing them on social network sites, they're posting images, they're sending comments.
Within the first 15 minutes of the announcement, yesterday, that Mubarak was stepping down, 10,000 comments were made on Ghonim's Facebook page. It's absolutely incredible. So, that's just what we've been following on Egypt. It's been massive online and we'll be following it in the days that come.
KAYE: All right. Jessica, thank you.
Our coverage of Egypt's unfolding revolution continues with iDesk for our viewers around the world and CNN SATURDAY MORNING, for our viewers, right here in North America.
