ben wedeman was in egypt at the outset of the revolution. here's what he had to say. >> 2011 has been a year of unrelenting news, but of course, here in cairo the biggest news came on the 25th of january, when we were told that there would be yet another demonstration against hosni mubarak. we attended one and it went to tahrir square, but it was relatively small. we headed back to the office. i started to write a script about that modest demonstration and i got a phone call there was tear gas being fired in tahrir square. so we went down to the street, jumped in a taxi, and started to go there, but we went over, or rather, under, what's known as the six october bridge. and just by chance, i looked behind me and i saw thousands and thousands of students coming down the bridge, shouting down, down with the regime, and heading to tahrir square. when i saw that, i realized this regime is going down. >> ben wedeman joins me now along with arwa damon, nic robertson, and hala gorani. what was about what was happening on that bridge that made you r

ben wedeman, what he had to say. >> 2011 has been a year of unrelenting news. here in cairo, the biggest news came on the 25th of january when we were told there would be another demonstration against hosni mubarak. we attended one at the tahrir square. it was relatively small. we headed back to the office. i started to write a script about that demonstration, then i got a phone call there was tear gas being fired in tahrir square. we jumped in a taxi, started to go there. we went over or rather under what is known as the six october bridge. by chance, i look behind me and i saw thousands and thousands of students coming down the bridge shouting down, down with the regime and heading to tahrir square. when i saw that, i realized, this regime is going down. >> ben wedeman joins me now, look with arwa damon, hala gorani and nic robertson. >> what was it about what was happening on that bridge that made you realize, this is really it. >> it was the sheer number of people. i have seen demonstrations against mubarak and others. it was a handful, maybe 100 or 200. we

ben wedeman is there. ben, what tactics did the police and the military use against the crowds?g to eyewitnesss, it appears that live ammunition has been used against these demonstrators. not only that, from photographs and video we've seen, the soldiers have been throwing molotov cocktails, rocks, bricks, furniture. in one case, one soldier has even been photographed urinating on the demonstrators. this despite the fact that the egyptian prime minister three weeks ago promised that violence would never be used against peaceful demonstrators. it appears that some in the military and the army haven't received that memo. erin? >> thank you, ben. now to paris, where carlos the jackal, once one of the most wanted fugitives in this world, was slapped with yet another life sentence in prison. jim bittermann was there. and jim, was this -- it must have been amazing to be there -- a throwback from a different era? >> reporter: erin, in fact, it is. this is very much back to the cold war era, the days of the gangs and the red brigades, terrorists of a different shape and form back then t

ben wedeman is there. ben, what tactics did the police and the military use against the crowds?ing to eyewitnesss, it appears that live ammunition has been used against these demonstrators. not only that, from photographs and video we've seen, the soldiers have been throwing molotov cocktails, rocks, bricks, furniture. in one case, one soldier has even been photographed urinating on the demonstrators. this despite the fact that the egyptian prime minister three weeks ago promised that violence would never be used against peaceful demonstrators. it appears that some in the military and the army haven't received that memo. erin? >> thank you, ben. now to paris, where carlos the jackal, once one of the most wanted fugitives in this world, was slapped with yet another life sentence in prison. jim bittermann was there. and jim, was this -- it must have been amazing to be there -- a throwback from a different era? >> reporter: erin, in fact, it is. this is very much back to the cold war era, the days of the gangs and the red brigades, terrorists of a different shape and form back then

. >> ben wedeman joins me now with our guests. what was it about what was happening on that bridge that made you realize, this is really it? >> it was the sheer number of people. i have seen demonstrations against mubarak and others. it was a handful, maybe 100 or 200. the bridge was full. we're talking thousands and thousands of people. what became apparent that day, the regime was outnumbered by the people. i think that realization spread so quickly that three days later, basically the regime gave up and handed over the country to the army. >> people died on the bridge. you were beat up, pushed around on the bridge, weren't you? >> that was on the 28th. in cairo, you get shoved around quite a lot. by the security forces -- this goes back many years. >> which day? >> yeah. yeah, on the 28th, we were filming and this was clearly the day when it was all going to come down and sort of with finality. we were with tommy evans and mary rogers. and basically we were surrounded by plain-clothed policemen and basically hired thugs. they l