Anderson Cooper, Hala Gorani, CNN crew attacked in Egypt

Anderson Cooper and his CNN was attacked Wednesday (Feb. 2) by a group of protesters in Tahrir Square in Egypt. He recounts the skirmish: "We were set on by pro Mubarak supporters, punching us in the head ... they at first started going for the cameras, they didn't want any pictures taken ... we realized the situation would get very bad, very quickly. We turned around and started to walk calmly ... it was pandemonium."

"There was really no control to it," he continues. "Suddenly a young man would come up, look at you and then punch you right in the face. The instinct is to push back or punch back, but  in a situation like that you really can't because that just inflames the crowd all the more."

Anderson tweets after the incident, "Got roughed up by thugs in pro-mubarak crowd..punched and kicked repeatedly. Had to escape. Safe now."

English editor of the Ma'an News Agency George Hale tweeted of the encounter, "Anderson Cooper punched 10 times in the head as pro-Mubarak mob surrounds him and his crew at Cairo rally - CNN manager" and "I heard he's fine, thankfully."

In a separate video, CNN reporter Hala Gorani recounted being caught in a riot where she was pinned up against a wall and feared being trampled. She says anyone looking Western and certainly anyone that looks like press is in trouble over in Egypt, though she was pulled out of the melee by a protester.

Anderson Cooper is no stranger to jumping in the fray. During the Haiti earthquake aftermath, he famously helped rescue an injured boy from a crowd of looters. Anderson Cooper is kind of our hero.