mubarak for almost 30 years the one man who ruled egypt has now officially stepped down. that statement coming from the office of the presidency. ben wedeman who has covered this story for not just years, but for decades. ben, i've got to hear your thoughts right now. and hear about the reaction. >> reporter: well, jim, you see the reaction just in front of me. what we saw was one man was on his phone. he shouted out, the president has resigned, and the crowd went wild, cheering, shouting. this is a moment that many of these protesters have been waiting for for years. it's a truly historic moment. the first time in modern history that you have an egyptian president voluntarily resign, of course, voluntarily under intense pressure from the egyptian streets. and what's amazing, jim, is that it was only 17 days ago, january