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Anderson Cooper Refuses to Leave Egypt After Attack

By Rob Shuter | Posted Feb 3rd 2011 -- 09:15 AM


After Anderson Cooper and his camera crew were set upon by supporters of President Mubarak in Cairo on Wednesday, his bosses at CNN urged him to leave immediately as they no longer could guarantee his security. But Anderson has told them "no way" -- this was the biggest story on the planet, and he wasn't going to miss reporting on it.

"What people [may forget] about Anderson is that he is a real reporter. Some dismiss him as a pretty face and nothing else, but that isn't the case. He's the real deal," a network insider tells me. "Anderson's passion is for news. When a story breaks his first instinct is to jump on a plane with a camera and to document the real story. Other network hosts talk the talk from their luxury studios, but Anderson is on the ground."

All this comes one day after CNN's Steve Brusk tweeted that Anderson was punched in the head 10 times while trying to find a neutral zone between the two fighting groups gathered in the streets.

Footage of the debacle was aired by the network later in the day, and it showed a level of chaos that would frighten even the hardiest of journalists.

"We were set upon by pro-Mubarak supporters punching us in the head," Cooper said on 'American Morning' following the attack. "The crowd kept growing, kept throwing punches, kicks ... suddenly a young man would look at you and punch you in the face."

And although no one was seriously hurt, CNN wanted the face of its network back reporting from New York. "Anderson said no way. I'm staying as long as this incredible story lasts," a friend of Cooper's tells me.

It's not just Anderson who is having scary confrontations in Cairo during this historic uprising. CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric was surrounded by protesters as well, although she was not touched. Christiane Amanpour has also had a brush with yelling protesters.