in egypt, this is "nightline," february 11th, 2011. good evening, i'm terry moran. and the sky here in cairo is just beginning to grow light. a new day is dawning, as few days ever do anywhere. seems like nobody slept in this capital city last night. they've been at it all night, horns blaring, singing, literally dancing in the streets here. overflowing with joy at the departure of a man who held what seemed like absolute power for three decades over this country. but hosni mubarak is gone. and egypt is preparing to begin again. listen. this is the sound of a people rising. what we witnessed here today,

what the people of egypt accomplished over the past 18 days, was a transformation, a revolution not just of their political system but of themselves. >> i'm elated. i never thought i'd see this day happen. i'm so happy. i just can't express it. i never could believe it. tears of joy. >> reporter: after all the years of humiliation and powerlessness in defeat, it ended with a dour man in a blue suit. president hosni mubarak has decided to step down from office, said the vice president. he was supposed to inherit mubarak's powers. it was a dizzying, frenzied, tense final day. in the morning, right at mubarak's door step in front of the presidential palace, pro and

anti-government protests clashed ominously. millions of ordinary egyptians were furious at mubarak's ref e refusal to resign last night. >> our objective is changing. the whole rotten regime. >> reporter: across the city, they spilled into the streets and headed for the regime's power centers. the egyptian state television building. the heart of mubarak's media and propaganda power to the revolutionaries, it was a tower of lies. >> it's not important for the people because it's been telling lies and government progress beg propaganda. once this building is taken over or down, the regime is down, as well. >> reporter: and tahrir square was rapidly filling up, again. the protester's planned a massive march on the palace.

then, reports that mubarak had left cairo, headed for his home at a resort on the red sea. the tension mounted. we just got word that hosni mubarak has left cairo, maybe left the country. so, we are going to go to the presidential palace, where there is a large demonstration, mostly ant anti-mubarak people, but some supporters, as well. we're going to check out the security situation. along the way, thousands of people making the 13-mile, two-hour walk from downtown to the palace it was an absolute river of rue manty along the broad avenue. an amazing sight. we are on the road to the presidential palace. we're still probably a half an hour by foot to the palace and this is just a river of people stretching miles behind me and miles in front. at the palace, the crowd grew

and grew. they knew mubarak had left town but it wasn't enough. >> he came yesterday and said, oh, we're here to protect, we're here to do whatever you guys want us to do and he still misleading the people. it's got to end. it's got to end. and today, i think, my person opinion, it's going to end that way. >> reporter: soldiers guarded the palace behind coiled wire. and then, in an amazing gesture, the tanks just slowly and gracefully turned their turrets away from the people. and the soldiers joined in the revolutionary moment, waving flags, stirring the crowd. and we saw a reminder of the human cost of this revolution. a young man whose brother was killed in the protests tried to climb through the wire. his grief, overwhelming. but the crowd was not grieving. this is a celebration tonight. you have the same feeling here

of empowerment and joy and determination that you have in tahrir square. it seems like all of egypt has become tahrir. across the country, the demand was the same. leave. and then -- in an instant that changed history, he did. in alexandria, in suez, unbelievable scenes. the news hit this crowd like an enormous wave. in an instant there was ecstasy. and in tahrir square, the heart of the revolution, an unbelievable scene. cairo turned into a parade, flags flying everywhere. >> we've been here every single day and today we brought our son to see this historic moment. he will read about this in books when he grows up. >> this day is one of the most beautiful days in my life. egypt is the heart of the world.

>> reporter: the joy was so intense it was hard to talk to people. but when we could stop for a moment to talk, language was not barrier. people were naturally el low went. >> beginning of justin. beginning of what you see. what we say. >> reporter: and you did it. >> yes. we did. >> reporter: revolution day. a day when the seemingly impossible became a reality. when a people rose and made themselves a new country. a new world. a new life. >> before that revolution, i was ashamed to hold my egyptian passport anywhere. now, i'll be proud to hold it anywhere in this whole world.

i am proud to be an egyptian. i am egyptian. >> reporter: the pride and joy were just palpable out there. some of the most exhilarating scenes the world has ever witnessed. when we come back, you know, the scene in tahrir square was made up of thousands and one individual stories. and we're going to go into tahrir square to get to know some of the faces of the revolution. [ male announcer ] how can rice production in india, affect wheat output in the u.s., the shipping industry in norway, and the rubber industry, in south america? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex global economy. it's just one reason over 80% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence.

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the individuals who went one

by one into tahrir square on friday created a human mass so enormous it could be seen from space. literally. but each and every man and woman, each person who came into that square came with their own individual stories. with their dreams for egypt. this ancient and marvelous land for what this country can be like tomorrow. jim sciutto is in the square with a look at the faces of this revolution. >> reporter: terry, you mingle in the crowds in the square and you're practically assaulted with powerful, personal stories. i remember the man who told me tonight, he's 42 and he can't wait to vote for the first time. the opposition leader who i've watched for years fight to get her husband released from prison, both of them out there celebrating tonight. and a journalist who was in prison for criticizing the government, who brought his daughter so that she could witness history. all of them, stories of an egypt

transformed. of the tens of thousands of the faces in the square, we were with mow hall med the very moment his face lit up with the exhilarating news. >> he's gone. >> reporter: tell me how you feel right now. >> it's a great day in egypt. today is my first day of life. he goes. that's it. >> reporter: at 30, he had never known an egypt without hosni mubarak as president. >> i tell all the world from here that, you have to look for egypt for the next years. it will not be the same. not the same people, not the same mentality. everything will change. not only the regime change. >> reporter: this is the very instant when the exhilarating news reached the square. soldiers on the balcony signaling down to the crowd that the president was gone. in an instant, all the anger, the frustration, the disappointment of years, decades, disappears in this moment of joy and celebration. it is a moment that couey could only dreamed of. tonight, egypt is a land of

dreams that just 18 days ago would have sounded impossible. >> now anyone have the ability to dream to be the president. >> reporter: including you. >> including me. and i hope so. >> reporter: tahrir square, liberation square, became celebration square. tireworks flew. tanks became dance floorps. children cheered. old men cried tears of joy. >> but we are absolutely elated. egypt is for the egyptians. >> for the whole world, power to the people. power to the people. i'm speechless. >> reporter: gigi is one of the young leaders of this revolution. a blogger who has chronicled the government's abuse, never dreechling she'd be celebrating helping to bring it down. how do you feel? >> it feels amazing. it's the best feeling i've ever felt. it feels free, happy, vindicated. >> reporter: how much has changed in just two weeks.

during the worst of the violence, she was shot in the back with a rubber bullet. and when abc news first met her, our interview was interrupted by a government agent, shouting her down for speaking to foreign journalists. now, her interviews are interrupted only by chant iing, fireworks. i don't see this stopping. >> it's not going to stop, probably until morning or even in the coming days, it's just going to be -- 30 years. 30 years of repression and authoritarianism and dictatorship, we want to celebrate and then reform. >> reporter: and what were they chanting? >> raise your head high, you're egypti egyptian. >> reporter: pride permeates every corner of tahrir square. even the saddest ones. we visited the square's own makeshift hospital. during the worst of the violence, they treated the injured and handled the dead. 11 people died here. one of them was ahmed's

25-year-old son, shot through the heart. "i'm ready to sacrifice all my sons," he told us. but as we talked, the very first rumor of mubarak's departure spread through the room, turning ahmed's sadness to utter joy. tonight, as they prepare to shut do down, their work done, the doctor's signed each other's lab coats. souvenir met sssages of celebration. what does it say? >> congratulations about it. >> reporter: that mubarak is gone? >> yes, yes. >> like, kick your ass out. >> reporter: would assume talking about mubarak there. >> yes. >> reporter: they're celebrating with humor, with smiles and also with tears after so many years under an often despised

government. there are many sad memories. but tonight, a chance to refresh, to reset, to start new memories, new stories for themselves and, terry, for their country. >> thanks to jim sciutto for that report. on the faces of the revolution, each and every one of them. when we come back, we'll talk with abc's christiane amanpour to get her unique and very deeply experienced perspective on the momentous events in egypt. if it can do this, here. and it can do this, here. and it can also do this, here. just imagine what it can do, here.

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fixing the name. it'siber none. looks like one. well, i know. i put an "n" there. ah! fiber one honey clusters cereal! that's really good! it tastes good, so there can't be fiber in it! it's actually got about half a day's worth of fiber. [ asst mgr ] it says so right on the box. [ fiber seeker ] really? try it. [ mr. mehta ] honey, touch of brown sugar, crunchy clusters -- any cardboard? cardboard no, delicious yes. so where's the fiber? maybe it's in the honey clusters. [ male announcer ] fiber one. cardboard no, delicious yes. >> announcer: "nightline" continues from egypt with terry moran. >> christiane ayman tour's exclusive interview with president hosni mubarak last week offered some amazing insights into his thinking in

the waning days of his 30-year reign. christiane joined us earlier tonight from new york to share her perspective on these events. and to begin with, i asked her the big question. how important is the egyptian revolution? >> reporter: terry, it's massive. just as you've been reporting all day. this is monumental. because, this has not happened in that part of the world for decades and decades. the prevailing conventional wisdom was, we need to stick with those authoritarian leaders, because that is what's fog to give us stability. that's what the rest said, the rest of the world said. and now they've seen that in 18 days, the so-called stable leader has been toppled by people power. so, this is putting a whole new paradigm in that part of the world. perhaps stability will be better guaranteed by the voice of the people and proper representative government. and this has never happened in

that part of the world. that a largely peaceful revolution has toppled a decades-long military-backed strongman. >> it has been breathtaking, as you know, to watch it take place. so, what comes next? you say perhaps this is the road to stability. how do they get there? >> reporter: well, rementive democracy is going to be the road to stability. but of course everybody is concerned about what does happen in the interim. because places like egypt, for obvious reasons, the leaders did not allow any political movement, any political space. so, there is a political vacuum. there is no proper democratic process in place. though, there are leaders, though there are opposition party people, there's no culture in the recent history of democratic process. so, of course, people are concerned that if you go to immediate elections after this kind of fall of an authoritarian regime, who know what can happen. but the people have spoken. this is not about religion. this is not about any kind of

dogmatic ideology. this is about egypt, about young people that kept saying to us over and over again what we want is what you have. the ability to speak freely, the ability to choose who leads us. >> absolutely. basic human dignity. right now, the generals are in control. the military's running the show. what do you make of that? >> reporter: well, terry, look. you can't be too naive about this, because what's happened is that a military-backed leadership, mubarak, has given way and given power to a military leadership. so, what we really now have to see is, after, you know, more than 50 years of military rule in egypt, we've got to see what this military does. it has said the right things, it said that the people's grievances are legitimate, that the military government is no substitute for real democracy. but we're really going to have to wait and see if they immediately lift the emergency law that we've been talking about for the last 18 days. that's crucial if they do it quickly. that is going to be a clear

signal of their intention. whether they really do institute a quick constitutional reform to allow a new democratic process to take place. and whether they do broaden the space and talk to all kinds of different voices in the opposition. i think this is going to be crucial. and we're going to soon see whether they move as fast as the demonstrators and the protesters and the pro-democracy egyptian people want. >> definitely. last question. last month in tunisia, they toppled a dictator. this month, in egypt, mubarak goes. are you and i going to be playing tag team in revolutions across the middle east for the next year? >> reporter: maybe we'll do it together from now on. look, it is a new dawn, and as we've been reporting, the fear has been shaken off once and for all. once they've seen that this is possible, without the military turning on them with the military protecting the people and protecting the country, i