For half a century, one family has brutally ruled Syria, and nearly overnight, that rain ended.

The shock still has not worn off, especially for those who fought against his regime.

I feel like I won't believe it till I see it. I almost don't want to like jinx myself, but I also

want to declare it to the world, Damascus is free. Mouaz Mustafa and his family left the city of

Damascus in 1995. He was a teenager then.

He studied in the United States and made a life here. Now, he's executive director of a nonprofit called the Syrian Emergency Task Force.

The country isn't just the focus of Mustafa's work. It's what he thinks about all the time.

It's my life. I mean, and it's the greatest honor of my life to have been part of a revolution

calling for dignity and democracy and freedom. When he came into our studios, he was getting

ready to board a flight. His first trip back to the place of his birth in many years.

Damascus is a city transformed, newly liberated by a Syrian rebel force.

What are you going to do the first thing when you arrive, when you land on that soil?

I'm going to kiss the ground. I'm going to kiss that soil that I've dreamed of going back to for so long.

As you see, these huge numbers of people released from Syrian prisons, are there specific democracy advocates or activists or people you've worked with who you are waiting to see if

they emerge?

I have an uncle who is my compass in life.

You know, sometimes in our families you have one person who just you really get along with,

you know, like more than best friends.

After I took John McCain to Syria in 2013 or so, my uncle and his wife, his little kids, who was one year old at the time, Omar, 4-year-old

Maria, 14-year-old Sally, they were all taken. Thank God we were able to find a way to get my

aunt and my nephews and nieces home, but my uncle, I think he's dead, but I still have some

hope maybe in one of these dungeons when we open them

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