Anderson Cooper Attacked by Mob in Egypt

The anchor was "punched 10 times in the head," CNN producer Steve Brusk Tweeted.

Anderson Cooper was attacked in Egypt Wednesday.
CNN producer Steve Brusk Tweeted, "Anderson said he was punched 10 times in the head as pro-Mubarak mob surrounded him and his crew trying to cover demonstration."
Cooper then escaped to the roof of a nearby building, where he said on air that he and his crew were trying to get to a neutral zone between protestors and pro-Mubarak supporters when they "were set upon by pro-Mubarak supporters punching us in the head. The crowd kept growing, kept throwing punches, kicks...suddenly a young man would look at you and punch you in the face."
Cooper told CNN's live blog that the attackers "pushed and shoved the CNN crew and punched them in the head... but no one was seriously hurt."

Added Brusk on Twitter, "Live images now of crowds on opposite side of trucks throwing rocks. A CNN reporter called earlier scene snowball fight with rocks."
CNN's Ben Wedeman told the blog that "he overheard a panicked army officer say the situation was out of control and there was nothing the army could do to restore order."
Cooper landed in the country Sunday night to cover the protests againt President Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power for 30 years.



"It's a fast-changing situation," he told The Huffington Post Monday. "It feels like it changes every few hours."
On Monday, Christiane Amanpour called The Hollywood Reporter from Cairo, where she had been reporting since Saturday.
"We had no idea what to expect,” she said. “But it is always more scary from the outside than it is from the inside.”
The journey from the Cairo International Airport to her hotel took over an hour because "every 50 to 100 yards our car was stopped and there were people with machetes, meat cleavers, swords, rifles, metal bars,” she said. “Once they saw [who we were], they waved us through. I would describe the journey as tense but friendly.”