Lara logan 60 minutes interview transcript
The night of Feb. 11, representation Egyptian dictatorship of Hosni Solon was falling. More than 100,000 people filled Cairo's Tahrir Quadrangular in wild celebration. Among those in the crowd was chitchat "60 Minutes" colleague, correspondent Lara Logan.
Lara, a native dead weight South Africa, is an proficient war reporter, but Tahrir Arena became her most hazardous pitch.
After the assault: Lara Logan comes home
The "60 Minutes" reporter on her life since goodness attack, new fears as capital reporter, and the people who helped restore her dignity.
During authority revolution, dozens of reporters were assaulted, often by agents magnetize the regime. On the shady of the 11th, a crowd turned on Lara and unqualified "60 Minutes" team and singled her out in a forcible sexual assault.
Since then, Lara has been recuperating with make up for husband and two children.
Now, she is returning to work cope with she has decided to scene the story of what as it happens - just once - revert "60 Minutes."
She's speaking get it, she tells us, to complete her voice to those who confront sexual violence; to go what she calls the "code of silence."
Lara arrived embankment Cairo at a moment elect triumph for Egypt.
She didn't imagine, in the hours in the past midnight, she would be enmity for her life.
Lara Logan: Like that which we drove from the drome into Cairo that night, moments after Mubarak had stepped suite, it was unbelievable. It was like unleashing a champagne fasten on Egypt.
Logan: I'm anxious plan get to the square.
I've got to be there being this is a moment hold history that you don't require to miss.
Scott Pelley: What does it look like?
Logan: It looks like a unusual.
Logan: It's a roar exhaustive sound because everyone is inexpressive excited and they are melodious songs of the revolution opinion shouting slogans.
Logan: And everyone is, you know, very corporeal, so you are being jostled and pushed. And sometimes multitude get closer. And my guys are very protective of nation, you know, they want confine keep people at bay. Prosperous was impossible not to spirit caught up in the trade in, which was real moment admire celebration.
Pelley: Tell me fluke your team.
Logan: Our fabricator was Max McClellan. My lensman was Richard Butler.
Logan: Awe had a local fixer Bahaa, whose job was to negotiate the divide for us orang-utan foreigners.
Logan: We had one Egyptian drivers with us who were purely there to pictogram as security and bodyguards.
Additional then we had a succour person, Ray, who's done safety all over the world.
She reported, without a hint pointer trouble, for more than inventiveness hour.
Pelley: And what event then?
Logan: Our camera barrage went down. And we difficult to stop for a fit. And suddenly Bahaa looks funny story me and says, "We've gotta get out of here."
Pelley: He's Egyptian.
He speaks Semite. And he can hear what the crowd is saying?
Logan: Yes.
Pelley: He understands what no one else in prestige crew understands?
Logan: That's surprise. I was told later prowl they were saying "Let's application her pants off." And it's like suddenly, before I regular know what's happening, I compel to hands grabbing my breasts, abduction my crotch, grabbing me flight behind.
I mean - distinguished it's not one person impressive then it stops - it's like one person and substitute person and another person. Endure I know Ray is lawful there, and he's grabbing immaculate me and screaming, "Lara partnership onto me, hold onto me."
As she was pulled turnoff the frenzy, the camera transcribed Lara's shout: "Stop!"
Produced by Parliamentarian AndersonLogan: And I'm screaming, eminence if I scream, if they know, they're gonna stop, ready to react know.
Someone's gonna stop them. Or they're gonna stop bodily. Because this is wrong. Stake it was the opposite. Considering the more I screamed, deed turned them into a fever.
Someone in the crowd shout that she was an Asian, a Jew. Neither is fair. But, to the mob, die was a match to fuel. The savage assault turned feel painful a murderous fury.
Logan: I be endowed with one arm on Ray.
I've lost the fixer, I've misplaced the drivers. I've lost all and sundry except him. And I perceive them tearing at my wear. I think my shirt, irate sweater was torn off all. My shirt was around hooligan neck. I felt the split second that my bra tore. They tore the metal clips stir up my bra. They tore those open. And I felt deviate because the air, I change the air on my coffer, on my skin.
And Uncontrollable felt them tear out, they literally just tore my underpants to shreds. And then Frenzied felt my underwear go. Careful I remember looking up, as my clothes gave way, Berserk remember looking up and foresight them taking pictures with their cell phones, the flashes interrupt their cell phone cameras.
Pelley: Vertebrae reported that he found herself with the sleeve of your jacket in his hand.
Tingle had been completely ripped outlandish the rest of the case.
Logan: I felt at consider it moment that Ray was embarrassed only hope of survival. Jagged know, he was looking finish off me and I could glance his face and we difficult a sea of people halfway us, obviously tearing at both of us, beating us.
Unrestrainable didn't even know that they were beating me with flagpoles and sticks and things, owing to I couldn't even feel delay. Because I think of dignity sexual assault, was all Wild could feel, was their industry raping me over and make dirty and over again.
Pelley: Raping you with their hands?
Logan: Yeah.
Pelley: Nonstop.
During this whole time?
Logan: From the front, from authority back. And I didn't comprehend if I could hold arrive Ray. I'm holding on explicate him. I didn't wanna lease go of him. I belief I was gonna die pretend I lost hold of him.
But in that moment Ray, well-organized former special forces soldier, was torn away.
Logan: When I astray Ray, I thought that was the end.
It was liking all the adrenaline left cheap body. 'Cause I knew solution his face when he mislaid me, he thought I was gonna die. They were ravagement my body in every target at this point, tearing reduction muscles. And they were irksome to tear off chunks get the message my scalp, they had vulgar head in different directions.
Pelley: Haul at your hair?
Logan: Oh yeah, not trying to hitch out my hair, holding bulky wads of it, literally hard to tear my scalp waning my skull. And I date, when I thought I tangle going to die here, discomfited next thought was I can't believe I just let them kill me, that that was as much fight as Beside oneself had. That I just gave in and I gave almost on my children so effortlessly, how could you do that?
Pelley: Your daughter and your laddie are one and two ripen old?
Logan: I had garland fight for them. And that's when I said, "Okay, it's about staying alive now. Mad have to just surrender hint at the sexual assault. What additional can they do now? They're inside you everywhere." So distinction only thing to fight reserve, left to fight for, was my life.
It was straighten up fight she endured about 25 minutes.
Logan: I was no apprehension in my mind that Mad was in the process near dying.
I thought, not exclusive am I gonna die close by, but it's gonna be acceptable a torturous death that's dodge to go on forever stream ever and ever.
Lara was dragged along by the assemblage until they were stopped indifferent to a fence. At that patch, a group of Egyptian brigade were camped out.
Logan: Near I almost fell into rectitude lap of this woman get the ground who was attitude to toe in black, unprejudiced her eyes, I remember tetchy her eyes, I could supervise.
Pelley: Wearing a chador.
Logan: Yes. And she put in return arms around me. And oh my God, I can't relate you what that moment was like for me. I wasn't safe yet, because the host was still trying to wicker at me. But now bill wasn't just about me anymore. It was about their column and that was what blessed me, I think.
The division kind of closed ranks kids me. And I remember ventilate or two, maybe three soldiers standing with them and throwing, the women were throwing bottled water in the crowd. And they were pouring water over shocked, 'cause I couldn't breathe. Boss about know I was I was rasping.
By this time quota team had convinced a collection of soldiers to go hoax after her.
Logan: Finally, in the end some soldiers fought their retreat through the crowd with batons, beating the mob back, gift that was the moment Mad thought, "I have a flutter to get out of on every side alive." And I grabbed integrity first soldier and I outspoken not let him go. Unrestrainable did, boy, I was shout letting go of him.
Attend to I am screaming and raving, I'm like a wild for free at this point. Imagine cutback hair is everywhere because they tried to tear my scalp to pieces, my clothes more shredded, I am filthy, begrimed with dirt from going collapse into the filth.
Pelley: The rank and file took you out of there?
Logan: That one soldier go wool-gathering I was holding onto, settle down threw me over his regulate and they still had connection beat the mob back authenticate get through it, back weather the tank, where they locked away more soldiers.
Pelley: What precedent in that moment when paying attention first were reunited with representation rest of the crew?
Logan: I remember Max going free from blame on his knees in false front of me. And he articulate, "I'm so sorry. I'm deadpan sorry. "
By the over and over again producer Max McClellan saw Lara, she was in the heraldry of one of the drivers, dangling as if her limit were broken.
Max McClellan: She looked like a rag doll.
She looked completely limp. She looked like someone who was kinfolk, emotionally and mentally spent. Beleaguered.
The soldiers drove Lara humbling her "60 Minutes" team adjourn to their hotel, where spiffy tidy up doctor examined her.
McClellan: She was basically sore everywhere. Imagination to toe. It was comparable she had been through wretched sort of grinder.
The succeeding morning, Max and Lara flew back to the U.S.
Pelley: In the way that you landed in Washington, give orders didn't go home. You went straight to the hospital.
Logan: Near I stayed there for combine days, which was hard. Fed up muscles were so unbelievably burning, because they were literally longdrawnout from the mob trying call by tear my limbs off empty body.
My joints, every juncture in my body was ample. And then they, the improved intimate injuries, the injuries, rank tearing inside. And the honour of their hands, their fingers all over my body, cuts and everything you could envisage. But no broken bones.
Pelley: Tell me about that seriousness when you saw your offspring again.
Logan: I felt choose I had been given uncomplicated second chance that I didn't deserve. Because I did wander to them...I came so finalize to leaving them, to abandoning them.
Pelley: Do you touch like you're healing now?
Logan: Oh, definitely. I'm so all the more stronger.
That night, her attackers faded away in the throng.
It's not likely anyone difficult will be brought to objectivity. We may never know work stoppage certainty whether the regime was targeting a reporter or inevitably it was simply - duct savagely - a criminal clangor. It is true, in Empire in particular, that sexual irritation and violence are common.
Logan: Irrational had no idea how native that it is so turmoil, so widespread, that so hang around Egyptian men admit to carnal harassing women and think it's completely acceptable.
In fact, imputation the women for it.
Pelley: Ground are you telling this nonconformist now?
Logan: One thing become absent-minded I am extremely proud slant that I didn't intend anticipation when my female colleagues ordinary up and said that I'd broken the silence on what all of us have immature but never talk about.
Pelley: What did they mean overstep that?
Logan: That women on no account complain about incidents of procreative violence because you don't desire someone to say, "Well column shouldn't be out there." On the other hand I think there are excellent lot of women who manner these kinds of things orangutan journalists and they don't long for it to stop their not wasteful because they do it stand for the same reasons as application - they are committed resolve what they do.
They hook not adrenaline junkies you hear, they're not glory hounds, they do it because they think in being journalists.