All right. Happening now. We have exclusive reporting from CNN's team on the ground in Syria, just days after the fall of the Assad regime.
Loud explosions rocked Damascus overnight. Plumes of smoke hanging over the city. CNN's Clarissa Ward, one of the few Western journalists on the ground in the region.
Clarissa is with me now. Communications have been tough. We have you.
Please just tell me where you are, what's behind you? So, John, we are actually here in one of several garages belonging to Bashar al Assad. We are on the compound of the presidential palace.
And you can see this is a man who had expensive taste. We've seen Aston Martins, we've got Lamborghinis, we've got Ferraris. I want to add as well that we've been walking through this compound.
There are many garages. We were just in a lot where there were dozens and dozens of armored cars, if you can believe that. I don't know how anyone would need so many armored cars.
And I'm bringing you over here because you can see this collection of classic cars over here. And the reason this is all significant, John, the reason that we're talking about this, that we're showing you this is because really, this is indicative of the deep, deep corruption of the Assad regime, which is a big part of why this whole uprising started in the first place. Back in 2011, Bashar al Assad had been ruling for some years his father for many decades before.
And the levels of corruption and greed, the opulence and the lavish lifestyle when so many Syrians were struggling to put food on the table. You imagine, John, the last 14 years, Syrians have been under bombardment. They've been tortured, maimed, kidnaped, killed.
And meanwhile, Bashar al Assad was living literally like a king with garages full of cars, with palaces with incredible mosaics and marble. And we actually watched in the presidential palace some ordinary people who managed to sneak in, walking around with their jaws drop. They could not believe how he was living at a time when Syria was suffering so acutely.
And so this really is a metaphor for for the root of the rot, for where it all started and what it really means, the spirit of this Syrian uprising. Obviously, we're not going to sugarcoat it. There is a lot of anxiety in this moment.
There is a lot of anxiety about the makeup of rebel forces, about whether there will be chaos, whether there will be strict Islamic law. And so it's not that everybody is out in the streets celebrating, but most Syrians are united in finding these displays of wealth and opulence truly sickening and indicative of the sickness of the Assad regime. John Color.
So you can add, Maija, to the list of those that have dropped at these images behind you, these rows and rows of luxury cars, given what's happened in Syria. Also, I guess my surprise, the days after the Assad regime fell, that they're still there. And in one piece.
So explain to me the state of civil society in Damascus right now. Is there law and order? Right now there is.
There was half a day when Assad first fell where there was looting in the streets. It was quite chaotic. Then you had more rebel forces from higher terrorism coming down from the north with orders to really secure the capital.
And they're the ones who are in charge of this entire complex. They are not letting anybody in and out. I believe we are some of the few who have managed to get in here, and they have taken pains again and again to keep telling us that the cars have not been touched, that the cars will not be moved, that the cars will not be stolen because they see their lack of corruption as being a badge of honor and a real contrast to the behavior of the regime there was in the presidential palace in parts, evidence that in those initial hours or that first day after Assad fell, that people had come in and ransacked the palace.
But again, the rebels were really stressing to us. This wasn't our group. We don't do this now.
I will say one small detail that I found interesting, John, when we went into the palace, the rebels who were guarding it would not talk to me or look at me until I put my scarf on. And so as much as they are making these moves and saying things such as, you know, people can wear what they want, this is a pluralistic society. We respect the rights of minorities.
You do still have absolutely, extremely conservative tendencies from the majority of these rebel forces who are now controlling much of this country, John. And that has been one of the major questions. Islamic fundamentalism.
What role will it play among the people who may rule this country going forward? Clarissa Ward, we're so lucky to have you there in front of these cars, symbolic of what has happened in Syria for the last several decades, symbolic of what is happening at this very moment that you were allowed in to show people these pictures. Thank you for the work you and your team are doing.
Please keep us posted on the streets of Damascus, many Syrians are celebrating Assad's fall from power. Earlier, I spoke with CNN's Clarissa Ward, who was on the ground in the capital of Damascus. Hi, Clarissa.
Describe the scene for us. What's going on? I'm not.
Hi, Amira. You know, it's so interesting to see because over the last few days, there has been a lot of tension on the ground. People have been staying at home, and it's a very cautious going out.
They've been nervous about what will happen today. It is a different feeling. We are certainly starting to feel some of that elation over that issue that comes.
You are gone forever. And I wanted to bring in my new friend here. Judy, how are you doing?
I'm good. This is. Tell me what this feels like.
This is absolutely amazing. After all of this years, we are live on the international TV. This is.
This is amazing. Unspeakable. This is us.
After 50 years of darkness. This is us after 50 years of death. This is absolutely amazing.
Did you talk? Imagine. You know, we've had 14 years now.
No. You ever imagine this? This is nuts.
You can't. You can't even cross this idea over your mind. Never.
This is actually is. It's every day you woke up and you go out of the door and and think that I'm going to die now. I'm going to die.
No, tomorrow I'm going to die. This is all of us we have been raised on for the past 13 years. I have no idea how to tell you how I'm feeling right now.
This is absolutely amazing. And I have no words. I have no words.
You know, some people are concerned that a lot of the rebels are Islamists. They are from organizations that have extremist ties. Do you worry about for me, after what I have witnessed yesterday and what happened inside Nia prison?
this is absolutely fine. Let's have the rebellion. Let's have this Islamic whatever.
Oh, we're going out. This is more, This is more peaceful than what the regime and the Assad regime was doing to our, mother, to our daughters, to our people here in Syria. This anything that would come after the Assad regime would be more we're more better humanity, more humane.
You can say, this is this is unspeakable. This is unbelievable. I have no words.
Thank you. Thank you for being here with us. Thank you for sharing our our freedom.
Thank you for being with us. Thank you. Thank you so much.
And, I mean, this is what you're hearing again and again. It's not that people don't have anxieties about what comes next. It's not that people don't have questions about the nature of some of the rebel forces, but what you hear over and over is this idea that God just let us have this man, let us have this moment.
For the first time in 14 years, the bombs have stopped. For the first time in 14 years, we can take to the streets. We can demonstrate.
You don't have to worry about being shot. Or killed. And I think there's just a desire to be allowed to celebrate.
Despite the ambiguity about what this next chapter may bring. People here want to feel optimistic. They want to celebrate, and they want the world to see their victory.
Yeah, you can absolutely feel and hear the joy in that woman's voice as you spoke with her. Clarissa, just quickly, where are the rebels as you've been driving around Damascus and elsewhere? Have you been seeing them on the streets?
Are they also joining in on the celebrations, or are they, doing more, I guess, administrative stuff? The rebels are all over the streets. There's a few of them.
There's one right here, in fact, just they're, they're all over the streets. They're guarding the various ministries. They are guarding the presidential palace, for example, where we were earlier.
They are trying to get all of the various administrations back to work, get traffic police back to work to make sure that the fabric of society, that the wheels of society keep on moving and most of them have been very friendly, have been very polite, they have been good, strict edict from their leadership that they need to respect, Syrian minorities, that they need to respect that this is a pluralistic society, that they should not be losing their religious views on anyone they come across. I will say, when I was at the presidential palace, as you, heard before in my report, they asked me to put on a headscarf. That was an isolated incident.
And here we are on the streets and you can see there are women who are covered. There are women who are not covered. There are Muslims, there are Christians.
Those are ordinary Syrian people celebrating.
