[Becky Anderson, Cnn:] for weeks. That the sectarian political oligarchy, as they call them, is responsible for endemic state corruption. Which has pushed this country they say to a state of economic collapse. Well, two weeks of unprecedented government protests have paralyzed this country. Let me get you to Ben Wedeman who is standing by for you at our Beirut bureau which is just moments away from where I am here on Martyrs' Square in Beirut. Ben, we don't know what he's going to say as of yet but these calls have been thick and fast and no protesters standing down. What can we expect at this point?
[Ben Wedeman, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Certainly we understand that Prime Minister Hariri is really at the end of his tether. He's tried last Monday to put forward this reform program which actually was supported by his allies within the cabinet. But the country has been paralyzed now since the evening of the 17th of October by these nationwide protests. And what we've seen today is, really, the second major outbreak of clashes in downtown Beirut where we are seeing some divisions among people here. Right near where I'm standing is a place called the Ring Road. A major artery in Beirut and we were there while there was a bit of a confrontation between local residents. Many of whom are Shia, many of whom are supporters of Hezbollah and Amal, the other large Shia political party, and they were demanding from the protesters who had blocked that road for days that they leave. Because we spoke to some of the local residents. One man, for instance, said he's a driver. He has not been able to work a day since the protests hit Beirut's streets for real on the 18th of October. These are people who live hand to mouth. They depend on what they earn every day to feed their families. So there's a lot of anger in some of the working-class neighborhoods, the disruption, these road blockages are causing. So very quickly, it descended into rock throwing. The local residents were pulling the barricades out of the street and very quickly it descended into a battle in which the security forces were trying to keep the two sides apart, but they failed. In the end, these people, many of them chanting pro-Hezbollah chants made their way to Martyrs' Square where they essentially trashed the tents, ripped down posters and we had just below me here in the Riadh Solh Square near the Prime Minister's office, they got here. There was almost a clash between them and the anti-government protesters. The riot police intervened to keep the two sides apart, but they did fire tear gas and they did, we see, we have it on video, they did have OK, Ben. Stand by. Stand by. We need to listen to Saad Hariri who is speaking now.
[Saad Hariri, Lebanese Prime Minister:] I've taken a decision to stop the downturn in the political, economic situation. I asked for time to listen to the people and to protect the country from dangerous economic, political matters and social events. Today we have reached into a blocked road. It is a big shock. I'm going to the palace of Baabda in order to hand over the resignation of my government to President Michel Aoun and to the people of Lebanon in all areas. And that's what the majority of the population that came to the main square have demanded. And also to ensure that there is a framework to protect the security of the country. I call on all Lebanese to put Lebanon's interests and the security of Lebanon and the protection of the civil population of Lebanon before anything else. Regarding my all my partners in
[Anderson:] We were listening to Saad Hariri who is saying that he has resigned from the government here. He was speaking after weeks of demonstrations throughout the country. Let's see if we can get that back for you. OK. Let's get you to Ben Wedeman. Ben, you were listening to that. And as we try to get that speech back, Ben, your thoughts at this point.
[Wedeman:] Well, we heard Prime Minister Hariri say we've reached a dead end. And certainly for this government, that definitely is the case. He said he's going to go to the Baabda palace, which is the President's palace, just outside of Beirut and will hand in the resignation of his government. Which and he didn't indicate what comes next. They're not clear what is going to happen. Really a great big power vacuum has just been opened up. He clearly expressed a certain amount of understanding and sympathy for the protest movement. And we understand that he has been supportive of the basic demands of the protesters to crack down on corruption, to see some sort of new political arrangement here in Lebanon where the government is not based upon a sectarian division of power. Now so his political bloc, the Mustaqbal Future party, perhaps is going to come down on the side of the demonstrators. But what we have clearly seen now is that Hezbollah and Amal, the two main Shia parties are clearly on the opposite end in this situation with him. This was a government that had three ministers, two Hezbollah ministers, one who is affiliated with Hezbollah, the health minister. And it was an odd arrangement, but this is the only way you can run this country is you have to bring everybody into a big tent. That tent, like the tents in Martyrs' Square have now been ripped down, and there's probably a lot of scrambling going on in the presidential palace in Baabda to figure out what is the next step. Because not only is Lebanon in political turmoil, it is in economic turmoil. The banks in Lebanon have been closed since the 18th of October. They will be closed again tomorrow. We heard Riad Salame in that interview with you, Becky, yesterday saying that Lebanon is days away from collapse. And I think we're a day closer to that now Becky.
[Anderson:] Ben, let's just repeat what we heard. The Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri says he going to submit his resignation, and I quote him here. I have reached a dead end. No one is bigger than the country, was the translation. He gave that speech in front of a portrait of his late father, Rafik Hariri, who was himself Prime Minister, of course, assassinated. Just give us some context to who Saad Hariri is.
[Wedeman:] Well, Saad Hariri became Prime Minister after a rather, he became the leader of the Future Party after the assassination on the 14th of February 2005 of his father Rafik Hariri who was the Prime Minister who really ran Lebanon for much of the immediate post-civil war era. Much of the reconstruction in this part of Beirut was done under his rule. But he was somebody who had very close relations with Saudi Arabia. Rafik Hariri, the father is. But we saw that in November 2017, Saad Hariri was essentially held hostage by Saudi Arabia when he went to visit there. The Saudis very unhappy that Saad Hariri has several times included Hezbollah in the government. And as I said before, Hezbollah, like it or not, the United States considers it a terrorist organization. But here in Lebanon, it is a very large and well-organized political party that simply you can't ignore it Becky.
[Anderson:] Sure. We heard a lot of cheering here. You probably heard it yourself on the square and in the streets. Erupting as that announcement came in that Saad Hariri, the Prime Minister here, is submitting his resignation, having it, as he explained it or put it, come to a deadlock. To a dead end. Is this a victory for the people Ben?
[Wedeman:] At this point, I'd say it's a mixed victory, at best. Because what we are seeing that this revolution or October revolution as some people are calling it, which initially began with a surprising amount of cross-sectarian unity. Where people were united in their grievances against the government. But we have seen with these road blockages in particular a lot of people who initially supported the protest movement have become disillusioned. And, therefore, I think those who were cheering the downfall of this government are also well aware that there are many people who are opposed to this protest movement as it stands today given the amount of disruption it has caused. And Lebanon is now sort of in political limbo, economic limbo waiting for somebody else to take the helms of a state that is listing very seriously Becky.
[Anderson:] I interviewed, as we were discussing, I interviewed the Governor of the Central Bank here yesterday. And in that exclusive interview when he told me that it was this was a country just days from economic collapse, unless immediate action were taken. I also asked him whether Saad Hariri should resign. This is what he told me just 24 hours ago.
[Riad Salame, Lebanese Central Bank Governor:] Prime Minister Hariri wanted to resign to form a new government. He doesn't want to resign and leave the country in a vacancy because it will worsen the situation. But I believe that what he has all his political movement now is to try to get a consensus on a new government or changes in the present government in a way to satisfy the people of Lebanon and to regain a certain trust.
[Anderson:] Well, that was Riad Salame speaking to me yesterday. 24 hours later and we have the announcement that the Prime Minister here is submitting his resignation. The Central Bank Governor there making the point that he believed that Saad Hariri had wanted to resign earlier but that he didn't want to leave a vacuum here when things are in such crisis. The point is, there is now a vacuum, correct? What happens next?
[Wedeman:] Yes, there's a vacuum. There's a vacuum. And sources close to Saad Hariri have told us that, in fact, he wanted to resign much earlier after the outbreak of these protests on the evening of the 17th of October. But the worry is that in the absence of sort of any cohesive government that the country could veer off into chaos. Unfortunately, perhaps the clashes we saw today were perhaps the final straw for him given that it does appear that there's just a complete lack of unity among the political leadership of this country as to how to move forward and god help whoever succeeds Saad Hariri.
[Anderson:] Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, here on Friday had warned the government not to resign. He said if it did, his party would bring its supporters into the streets saying and I quote him here that would change the equation. The government's refusal to relinquish power some say has only boosted that movement. I want to take a short break. I just want to give you sort of 60 seconds, though, just to sort of wind up where we are at this point. So final thought just for the moment. Saad Hariri has gone. We know where Hezbollah stands. You've alluded to what has happened just here in Beirut today with supporters as we understand it of the other Shia block, the Amal. Things are very much on edge here. This resignation is, by no means, giving Lebanon any closure at this point, is it?
[Wedeman:] No, no. It just opens up so many other possible avenues for I don't want to say chaos, but disruption and certainty. And as Riad Salame told you in his interview, what Lebanon needs, it's not only its financial system, its political system is confidence. And what we see as confidence is evaporating. Confidence in the government's ability to somehow take advantage of this protest movement to perhaps create a better political system. One that is less corrupt, one that is more representative. One that is more responsive. And at the same time, confidence in the economy. And every single day the banks remain closed, confidence evaporates just as quickly as it does on the political side. We don't know when the banks are going to be reopened, but the worry is when they do, there will be a run on those banks. People want to get their money out. They would like to get their dollars out because many people have dollar accounts. But what we found is even those who have dollar accounts, when they go to get their money out of the ATM, what they can only get is Lebanese lira and the Lebanese lira is slowly showing signs of weakness. It has been relatively stable since 1997 at about 1,500 lira to the dollar. That stability, that stable exchange rate is starting to waver and that could set off a whole series of catastrophic changes for this country. Where even though there are some people who are very rich and have gotten much richer in recent years, there are many, many more people who have gotten poorer and poorer. And that's part of the fuel for this protest movement Becky.
[Anderson:] Yes, yes. By a number of reports, there is a 30 percent poverty rate in this country. And with the numbers of Syrian refugees over the past years coming into this country, of course, the impact on the infrastructure and the economy, even worse, as a result of those the extra numbers in here at this point. Banks closed. Shops closed. It's relatively quiet out here at present. There's that kind of sense of unease. What happens next? We do know this hour is that after nearly two weeks of unprecedented anti-government protests that have paralyzed this country of Lebanon, the Prime Minister Saad Hariri has announced that he is submitting his resignation. That we know. What we don't know, here is what happens next. Stay with us.