if we can achieve that, next time there is a humanitarian crisis, you will find western countries and not one countries much more willing to engage in humanitarian intervention. >> fareed zakaria, thank you for ing with us tonight. of course, cnn is staying on top of all of the developments in libya, the aftermath of the earthquake here on the east coast, and, of course, hurricane irene headed toward the u.s. for now that is all from us for tonight. anderson cooper 360 starts right now. >> good evening, everyone. major news on two front tonight. breaking news at home. aftershocks from the totally unexpected east coast earthquake, and a massive hurricane headed our way. moammar gadhafi speaking out. he hasn't been seen since this video taken two months ago. a local tripoli radio station broadcast a taped message in it, he vowed march tir dom or victory.

he said the retreat from his compound was a tactical move. just breaking right now over the computer wires, we're seeing from reuters, mousi ibrahim, the government spokesperson, who was in the hotel with other journalists, but fled yesterday. he is saying to reuters, now the mission is to just liberate tripoli gradually, our men are assuring me, it will only get easier them are trying to turn libya into the next iraq. central tripoli under the influence of gangs. they have been using them to describe the opposition fighters. clashes this morning in tripoli. some of our men died, but for the rebel side, tens died. 65 just from this morning. our armed forces will regain control of the area. he claims nato is trying to terrorize and occupy the country. he has been backing up gadhafi's statements, basically many of them outright lies for a long

time, saying all of these opposition fighters were influenced by drugs, all high, young people, that they were on some sort of pharmaceutical drug. take what he says with a grain of salt. those are the statements he's making at this moment. at gadhafi's compound as the sun went down, new fighting. loyalist gunmen, loyal to the regime, trying to take back the compound. sar sar sarah sidnour was there whether it happened. >> come on, sarah! >> we're having to run out of the compound now, we see gunfire coming from outside of the compound, and it's getting a -- it's getting too close, so we're leaving. we're not going to go all into the compound. now from the outside of the compound, firing towards us.

>> let's go! >> yeah, go ahead. just got gunfire incoming over our head. >> tracer behind me. >> we are seeing all of these tracers, hitting the water tank, hitting the area, so we've got to go. >> doesn't get more front line than that. sara sidner outside of gadhafi's compound this evening. and fighters poured in, carrying out boxes of guns and ammo, some went room to room searching for gadhafi but found no trace of him. they did manage to shut off a key escape route, taking the airport, possibly paving the way for transitional leaders to fly in from benghazi. such a move could take place on thursday, a lot depends on the fighting. the thursday date assumes continued progress bringing tripoli under opposition control. opposition forces say they have

driven the majority of government forces back to gadhafi's hometown of sirt. that remains to be seen. many of the statements made by opposition forces over the last several days have turned out not to be true. witnesses around this time sai gadhafi appeared. we're trying to establish communication with matthew chance. and he his crew and other reporters, trapped inside a hotel. being kept there by gadhafi loyalists, still in control of the area. the situation growing more tense by the minute. all of that ahead. a quick wrapup of an extraordinarily memorable day. >> reporter: in the streets of tripoli today, cries of victory, barely audible over the nonstop rattle of celebratory gunfire. opposition forces fighting ferociously this morning with remnants of the government army,

still defending moammar gadhafi's compound. after a siege lasting for hours, opposition forces break through. >> this is an historic day. psychologically speaking this is an important day, especially for the rebels who gadhafi said would never be able to break his spirit, would never be able to take the city. but they have taken gadhafi's compound and you can see now some of the press coming out, so clearly they had it. clearly they have taken this over and clearly there is extreme excitement here in tripoli. >> gadhafi's compound is not only his official residence but a symbol of his regime and defiance to the rest. opposition fighters searched the compound room by room, knocking down walls, confiscating valuable weapons, ammunition and even personal documents and medical records of gadhafi and

his family. but the one thing they want most is nowhere to be found. moammar gadhafi has vanished, and with control of the palace, insurgents say they control 85% of the city. today's victory, however, took a turn as residents began looting the come pointed and celebratory gunfire turned into chaos. >> that's the eastern -- the first part of the eastern gate. large blast holes in that gate. the sun is setting in this area just behind us, so it's starting to become darker. over here, you're seeing these are cars that belong to the gadhafi regime sitting, blowing out rounds on top of them. -- i'm going to try not to get hit by any of those rounds and then if you go just over here, you see the people streaming through the main gate. all the way into the compound. you see streaming into the main

gate of the compound. a lot of smoke coming from the compound. you see these huge walls, these were supposed to be protective walls. it gives you a sense of the power of the gadhafi regime. this honestly is the nicest part of the city. you're seeing these large, very nicely -- let's pull back a little bit. let's just pull back. i'm getting hit by some of the shells. >> other parts of tripoli continued to see fighting on the streets. journalists held by government forces report explosions and gunfire. matthew chance is trapped there. >> we're pretty frightened to be honest, michael. we're all kind of like in this sort of silence that's come over us. we're upstairs, very hot in the hotel. we've all got our body armor on. we don't really know what to expect there is a sense that we

feel we've kind of been used. we're stuck here, not able to go out. we don't want to be here. we want to get out of here, but we're not being permitted to do that, so it's almost like a situation where we feel we're being kept here against our will. but the government says they are taking care of us, gadhafi loyalists say they are here to protect us, but it just doesn't feel like that up here sometimes. >> it's up clear how many gadhafi loyalists remain in tripoli, and it's also unclear if this is the beginning of a prolonged urban battle. here is what's great concern with the situation with matthew chance. we have no way of actually contacting him. we have to wait until he checks in with us. the situation there we believe to be deteriorating rapidly. we are waiting for word from matthew as you can imagine, all of us are very anxious to hear from him and the other reporters there. the situation seems to be changing.

really by the minute. very tenuous. we're not sure what the latest situation is. if he does call in while we're on the air at this hour, we'll, of course, put him on the air and get the latest. sa sara joins us from green square. what's the situation where you are right now? >> reporter: again, there is a lot of celebratory gunfire. sometimes tracer fire overhead. the situation, there are about 200 people, most of them rebel fighters who have come into green square. i can tell you the last time i was in green square 48 hours ago, this was a whole different scene. people were much more afraid. much more afraid to come out and celebrate. they were in fighting mode. now totally different. everyone celebrating, they are going around the square, screaming, gadhafi needs to go, screaming libya is free. they are waving the flag.

that rebel flag is actual the flag that was in place before the gadhafi regime came. they are also handing out -- they are handing out these keys, and giving -- a person who was a very well beloved leader. they are handing out chocolates to people, getting all sorts of things and just going absolutely nuts. blasting in the air, people from all over the country are here, celebrating, anderson. >> sara, you were at that remarkable scene at moammar gadd aft gadhafi's compound. we saw a lot of people looting, taking weaponry out. was anyone in control? once the opposition fighters won at the compound, at gadhafi's compound, was anyone kind of overseeing it or taking charge? or are these fighters just kind of on their own and kind of taking orders on their own? >> reporter: it's very difficult

to hear you, but i think you're asking if anyone was in the control of the situation at gadhafi's compound. certainly they were at the beginning. there was a plan to break through the walls that were there. this is a heavily fortified compound. it has as much security as anywhere in the city. they believed they would have a massive fight to get into what is the equivalent of the white house here in tripoli. they were able to get in, that part i think was well coordinated. what wasn't expected, they would be able to get in so quickly. go through the building, it's a very large compound and we started hearing the gunfire as we were standing there, realizing all of a sudden it was not celebratory, that it was coming right at us, that there were tracer fire over our heads, suddenly pandemonium, people running out of that area, trying to get to cover, nobody knew what to do, they weren't sure where the fire was coming from, and then we realized that the fire was coming from outside of

the compound to the east. we talked with the rebel source of ours and they said gadhafi forces are still there, and the headline at that point is that gadhafi forces are actually shooting into the compound, which was the home of moammar gadhafi. an unprecedented move. everyone surprised. but the rebels say they are doing that because we have control of gadhafi's compound. >> how far are you from the hotel where matthew chance and other reporters are right now. allegedly under the protection of libyan government troops? >> reporter: we're in walking distance, anderson. in walking distance. we feel very nervous for our colleagues. we feel very nervous. there is a lot of honking. we have been watching the situation here and nobody really wants to be in the situation where they are under the

protection of gadhafi forces, because clearly in in city, the rebels have it. we have driven through here today, and each and every checkpoint has gotten much more strict. there are more checkpoints. they clearly control much of the city, and i think right now, any gadhafi forces in and around the area would be fearful and they would be thinking that they would be fighting for their lives and that's certainly what we've seen in pockets, but even if these forces know that xwad aftery regime is broken and cannot regain power, now it's a situation where there are literally fighting for their lives. they are backed against a corner, and it's really a very nerve-wracking situation for our colleagues in that hotel. all of the journalists who have been so brave to stay there, because they are not allowed out, anderson. >> do you know how much territory, how many blocks, how many neighborhoods, the gadhafi loyalists still control?

>> reporter: that's very hard to tell. what we can tell you, definitely a different scene in the neighborhoods that we've seen so far, it's a definitely a different scene than it was even just ten hours ago. the rebels are moving through the city "sweep the city" of gadhafi forces. i think what's happening, anderson, they really will being backed into a corner in corners of the city and they are trying to fight their way out. but rebels are coming at them and this is one of those situations you don't want to be caught in the middle of that. >> if there were gadhafi forces or former volunteers, loyalists who wanted to escape and go to sirt, gadhafi's hometown, are there roads that would still allow them to get there? >> reporter: not that i know of. the rebels have closed off most of the roads. we couldn't get anywhere near

tripoli without going through at least 20 checkpoints and they've done that around the city from the east and the west. so it would be very difficult for someone to get out without -- without -- at least having to go through a bunch of checkpoints. now, whether or not while they are looking through the checkpoints they are able to as err taken exactly who you are, that's another question. most of the people at the checkpoints are very young, very inspeexperience inexperienced. if you flash the victory sign, they kind of say, okay, come through. whether or not they know who they are dealing with, that's a different matter, anderson. >> something just come across my computer. a statement from mousi ibrahim, claiming that the tribes which have traditionally been loyal to gadhafi, he said they are "organizing and heading to the capital in order to rescue it from gangs."

do you buy that? >> reporter: it's hard to same it's hard to say, anderson, but this is the same line we've been hearing over and over and over from the regime. that suddenly thousands of people are going to rise up against these rebels. why are they here in green square? why were they able to bust in to the gadhafi compound? a place that nobody could get into, unless they were close friends or allies of moammar gadhafi if all of these people are lies rising up against this regime -- excuse me, against the rebels, where are they? why didn't they stop them from getting in the gadhafi compound, why didn't they stop them from getting to the middle of the square, why didn't they stop them from cutting off all the roads? where are they? that's the question that rebels have in mind. they believe they are not

coming. >> hold on. we have contact from matthew chance. what is the situation where are you in that hotel? >> reporter: in terms -- not much to report in terms of what is happening outside the perimeter outside of the hotel. i know you're speaking to sara. i don't have any qualification from what's happening here. we're still in the very kind of grim situation, where we're in a hotel, we're on the top floor of the hotel. we've corralled ourselves into the top floor. gadhafi loyalists still very much in control of this hotel and the immediate perimeter around it. beyond that, i can't give you any good indication of what extent gadhafi's forces, to what extent they have control over this area, but we are very close to colonel gadhafi's compound. we were very close to the fighting going on, that the rebels wrestled control of that compound from the gadhafi forces.

the concern we have now, anderson is that, you know, we seem to be one of the few remaining patches of territory in libya which is still controlled by gadhafi's forces so we're kind of very anxious about what might happen at this hotel in the hours ahead. >> earlier we heard from you, and you said that the mood was grim, that you were all basic until this room, obviously very hot. you're all in your body armor. do you have communication with the -- the libyan forces which are inside the hotel? not allowing you to leave? >> reporter: i don't know if we can describe it as communication. they are walking around the hotel, patrolling the lobby floor, they are in the basement as well. within the past few hours, a number of them have come up to the journalist floor as well and gone into some of the rooms which is something we're a little concerned about. in general, we don't have much communication with them, having

said that, about two hours ago, leaning on the balcony, overlooking the interior courtyard of the hotel, and one of them shouted to me? i suppose you're happy now, you journalists? and i asked him what he meant. and he said he was referring to that the rebels were making gains and taking control of gadhafi's compound. so, you know, there is still that sort of little bit of hostility toward us, a little bit in which tense in which gadhafi loyalists were dragged along in this conflict and regarded the international media being on the rebels side. obviously that's not the case. we're just here trying to report ga gadha gadhafi's side of things on this. it's very restricted circumstances. we're not happy being at the hotel for our own security. but that's not something in the

security at the hotel is prepared to let us do. >> i heard you say earlier on the air you felt like had you been used. how so? >> reporter: in lots of different ways, i suppose. obviously, we're here so that the government feels that they've got the ears, the eyes of the international media. to put across their point of view. whenever they want. and a good example of that last night, when saif al-islam gadhafi, he was reported to have been captured by the rebels as they advanced a day earlier, made this surprise appearance in the lobby of the rixas hotel. it wasn't the lobby at all, it was in a car outside the hotel. i managed to speak to him. you may remember that. in that sense, we -- we feel and they feel we're valuable at the

moment, so we want to try and continue that. try to continue reflecting the government position as much as we can. >> matthew, have -- you have -- obviously, you have asked to leave, and what do they say? what is the reason for not letting you leave? >> reporter: we have confirmed over the past several minutes, past half hour there is a boat from malta that stopped in a port in libya, near tripoli, and the maltese government spokesperson, who i've been in contact with, has told us here that the space on that boat to take us all out to malta and to safety obviously. but the trouble is, we've not managed to negotiate an exit from the hotel, and what the people here is a, the gadhafi loyalist who's are controlling the hotel say, is that they are

here for one reason only and that's to protect us. and so at the moment, that seems that we're not being permitted to move outside the hotel, even though we made the point that we believe it's our right to move outside the hotel if we choose to do that. that's not something they've agreed to yet. >> have they indicated any knowledge, the men who are in the lobby, the loyalists, have they indicated knowledge of the fact that it seems like according to sara sidner, the area they control now is relatively small? sara close by in green square, the gadhafi compound has fallen. it would seem that the area that loyalists control have considerably shrunk in the last 24 hours. >> reporter: yeah, i mean, we've certainly been hearing that as well. and i'm sure that, you know, the people down stairs in the hotel have been hearing the same reports.

they will know what the reality is. they are not saying anything like that to us, though. they are potentially either in denial or denying it to us, saying everything is safe outside, that the government is in control outside. and that there are no nato warplanes flying in the sky outside. basically trying to give thus idea that the government is fully in control still. even though we know from our other sources and our other reporting that the gadhafi compound has fallen to the rebels, and i've not heard anybody here sort of talk about that, acknowledge that fact. only that one instance which i mentioned to you earlier, where the loyalists shouted up to me, i suppose you're happy now, you journalists. and that was an indication that he was aware of what was going on outside and was a little angry with us for that -- for that having happened. anderson. >> matthew, we wish you and your

crew well. please stay as safe as you can. and sara sidner as well. let us know what you think. we're on facebook. follow us on twitter @anderson cooper. up next, the battle at the airport. up next, arwa damon. we want to give you a full sense of what's happening in real time. we'll talk to arwa live. there live when the opposition fell. where from and how can he be found and captured? tracking moammar gadhafi. >> anderson, it hasn't happened in more than a century. an earthquake on the east coast and a pretty big one. we'll have details. and a big hurricane coming right behind it, that, and much more, when "360" continues. but my data is doubling. my servers are maxed out. i need to think about something else when i run.

[ male announcer ] with efficient i.t. solutions from dell, doug can shift up to 50% of his company's technology spend from operating costs to innovation. so his company runs better, and so does doug. dell. the power to do more. and i was a pack-a-day smoker for 25 years. i do remember sitting down with my boys, and i'm like, "oh, promise mommy you'll never ever pick up a cigarette." i had to quit. ♪ my doctor gave me a prescription for chantix, a medication i could take and still smoke, while it built up in my system. [ male announcer ] chantix is a non-nicotine pill proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix.

don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these, stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some of these can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack. dosing may be different if you have kidney problems. until you know how chantix affects you, use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. ♪ my benjamin, he helped me with the countdown. "5 days, mom. 10 days, mom." i think after 30 days he got tired of counting! [ male announcer ] ask your doctor about chantix. over 7 million people have gotten a prescription. learn how you can save money and get terms and conditions at chantix.com. moammar gadhafi on the r

radio, vowing victory or death as a martyr. his spokesman promises to turn libya into volcanos. lava and fire. volcanos, lava and fire. those are his words and he claims tribes loyal to gadhafi are making their way to tripoli to liberate the city. french wire services are reporting that troops loyal to gadd aftery have fired a number of scud missiles from sirt to misrata. arwa damon live from the airport. >> reporter: a pretty -- sounds quite convince, but we must note a lot of this is outgoing fire. this is the rebels literally unleashing everything they have right now around them and what they believe gadd aftery's forces advance. they are worried if incoming artillery hits one of these

aircraft, it could cause a devastating explosion. they want to preserve locations like the airport as much as possible. >> who controls the airport right now? >> reporter: anderson, rebels are still fully in control of the airport, but that gun battle there lasted for a gun nine hours and then at around 10:00 p.m., it began to calm down. but we're still hearing sporadic explosions, sporadic exchanges of gunfire and around an hour ago, gadhafi forces according to rebel fighters, drove a vehicle up and sprayed gunfire into this compound. shortly thereafter, the rebels drove up in a car that they said they killed one gadhafi fighter in, wounded another. it was covered in blood. they say they are struggling to control this area, east of the airport. this is a sprawling farmland and

it is also where two military bases are located. in fact, rebel fighters have been speculating that perhaps some sort of very important person or persons, the forces loyal to gadhafi continue to want to protect, is perhaps somewhere in the vicinity, because they say they are seeing an abnormal, unexpected amount of resistance around this airport. >> so are -- is the airport itself operational? are flights in and out coming out? >> reporter: no, it doesn't seem flights are coming in and out of this international airport for quite some time now. a number of airplanes grounded from a variety of different nations ample cording to what rebels are saying, what we have been able to piece together, this airport has not been operational ever since the nato no-fly zone came into effect and it would seem that part of this airport complex was being used by the military there are some

military aircraft on it, and when the rebels first took it over yesterday, at around noon, local time, they say that they found a number of locations in the fields right around the runways, where gadhafi's forces have hidden weapons underground. we saw some of the various containers that were buried under ground. they had a variety of weapons, artillery. it would look as gadhafi's forces tried to dig themselves in this location, keep it as secure as they possible could. this is on the highway that goes straight to gadhafi's compound. rebel fighters are yet to control that stretch of highway from thaw runs from the airport straight to tripoli. there are also key military facilities on it, one is the main refueling station, the other is a very critical fuel deposit center, where they go to

refuel, restock, that sort of thing. it seems as if gadhafi forces are going to try to put up a fight. the rebel fighters are throwing everything they can to push these fighters back as much as possible. >> be careful. appreciate. difficult days ahead. moammar gadhafi last appeared on tv on june 12th. he spoke on the radio tonight. conflicting reports of where he is. american officials tell cnn they do believe he is somewhere in tripoli. last night as you know during his surprise appearance, his son, saif al-islam said his son is alive and well. the question, how to find him? joining me is fidel al amin and kimet. you believe gadhafi has not been in tripoli quite some time. if he's not there, why weather

do they think he in. >> they think he's very close to the algerian border, that's a possibility. there is a road there to algeria that is sympathetic or has been sympathetic to gadhafi's regime for a while. the other possibility, that he's much down closer to the south, close to mali, to the tawariq area, where he might be able to find a safe haven. as far as sirt, the latest information i have is that the -- the heads of the tribes in sirt are negotiating a peaceful surrender to the city there. so if they are doing so, which is believed to be the fact, then gadhafi is not there. probably he will not be there. >> at the start of the nato campaign, you expressed concern about how nato might be able to pull this off. are you surprised at all how this has played out?

>> not really. much like the nato air campaign in kosovo in 1999, it took 78 days, we fully anticipated this was going to take some period of time. probably took longer than necessary, but it's good to see this has finally reached a tipping point. but six months is an awful long time to be carrying on a protracted military campaign against a country like libya. if you take a look at the costs it produced to nato weapons stocks and the reputation of nato as an organization, this quasi victory has come at some cost. >> general kimit, does it concern you, the ease of which or the relative ease that opposition forces were able to move into tripoli? i ask this question, just in the time we've been on the air in the last 30 minutes, new reports of libyan government forces firing rockets or attacking positions in misrata and one

other location, so it possible that they basically did as gadhafi claims on the radio, make some sort of tactical withdrawal and fan out in other areas? >> i don't think so. what we're seeing here is the last gasps of the gadhafi regime. the last gasps of the gadhafi military. they may be able to do some sort of post conflict insurgency small scale insurgency. by and large it looks like the rebels have finally achieved the aim they set out to achieve six months ago. >> fidel, do you agree with that. because ibrahim has made the statement that tribes are on their way to tripoli to liberate the city from gangs. >> there were no tribes, even as i mentioned right now, the tribes in sirt itself is negotiating a peaceful

surrender. there will be no thousands or hundreds of thousands rallying to tripoli to save it from the rebels. i think what he's been doing now, they may be -- i agree with the general that there may be pockets of resistance here and there. it will take a few weeks to clear up the -- the city, the tripoli, maybe less, and maybe a few months to clear the rest of the loyalists, but they have no support. we haven't seen these tribes, he called them the tribal cashed, even his own tribe didn't show up. so you can tell. >> you were just in tripoli, spending time with opposition forces, what do you attribute their ability to advance so quickly? when we first saw them, other than the fighters in misrata, and a few other cities, who have fought extraordinarily bravely, who have fought -- really learned how to become urban

fighters in a short amount of time, because their lives were on the line, a lot of fighter who's came from benghazi, were very disorganized. were kind of advancing and retreating. fighting wildly into the air. wasting ammunition, not digging into positions. have they improved markedly, and if so, why? who has helped them? >> i think they improved. i think there are some kind of tactical support from nature york fr nato, from the united states, from france. they also have a good number of senior officers who fled and joined the opposition and able to help. the other thing is they have changed tactics. they have leash elearned to tak it easy and be patient. and hold the ground they liberate and not be in a hurry. the other thing, they are able to recruit in the city itself and who knows the cities and who

knows how to deal with the local population, so that helped a lot. >> thank you for your expertise. >> ahead, i'll speak with a young woman in tripoli, witness to today's fighting. but, first, what's next for libya if gadhafi relinquishes power? we'll talk about that. and other breaking news story, a rare magnitude 5.8 earthquake rattling the east coast. did you feel it? meteorologist chad myers has the latest on it. l-zeruck on the rod or because heavy duty made motor trend's 2011 truck of the year. no, it was good because you told us so. consider this a thank-you. the chevy model year wrap up. get in on our greatest model year yet. right now, combine the all-star edition discount with other offers for a total value of $6,000. our greatest model year yet is wrapping up.

whether it can be done safely and responsibly. at exxonmobil we know the answer is yes. when we design any well, the groundwater's protected by multiple layers of steel and cement. most wells are over a mile and a half deep so there's a tremendous amount of protective rock between the fracking operation and the groundwater. natural gas is critical to our future. at exxonmobil we recognize the challenges and how important it is to do this right. [ male announcer ] you never know when a moment might turn into something more. and when it does men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day, so you can be ready anytime the moment's right. ♪ [ man ] tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. don't take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure.

[ man ] do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than 4 hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, stop taking cialis and call your doctor right away. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if cialis for daily use is right for you. for a 30-tablet free trial offer, go to cialis.com. in servicing clients that serve our country. my name is marjorie reyes. i'm a chief warrant officer. i am very grateful and appreciative that quicken loans can offer service members va loans. it was very important for me to be able to close and refinance my home quickly. i wanted to lower my mortgage payment. quicken loans guided me through every step of the process. the whole experience was amazing! [ tony ] serving those who serve us all... one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. [ indistinct conversations ] [ hissing ]

agents, what did we learn here today? that lint balls are extremely flammable! well, yeah. and that 15,000 dryer fires happen every year! that's why it's important to regularly clean and inspect your vents! correct. where did you get that?! i built it. [ male announcer ] we are insurance. ♪ we are farmers ♪ bum, ba-da-bum, bum, bum, bum ♪ a senior nato official says the war in libya is not over, but it's close. the rebel leaders are starting to think of a post-gadhafi libya there will be a meeting tomorrow with officials from the u.s., uk and other international leaders to talk about aid from libya. one said that it's important to bring the country together to start a smooth transition right now. but there are questions about

whether the ntc is ready to leave and how reliable the statements are. matthew chance mentioned this earlier, yesterday, opposition leaders said that saif al-islam was in custody, but then he showed up outside a hotel in tripoli. we have a member of the cia external advisory committee. she visited high-ranking libyan officials and was in gadhafi's compound at one point and we a senior fellow at stanford university's hoover institution. >> i say they are up to the task. if you look at what they have been through and what they have done, and look at the cast of characters, some of the principal figures. al-jalil is a good man and a technocrat is prime minister. and the minister of finance, who

left a job as economics professor that left to go back to his country. can they run this country with that? of course not. a primitive, crude, vulgar man. if you take a look at the cast of characters and they have alls said, they don't intend to rule libya themselves. they will set the stage for a normal transition. >> and this may be a naive way to look at it. libya, a country of 6 million people, so rich and has such potential for -- had gadhafi focused just some of his resources on building the education system, building the school system, the hospitals there, it would have been a different story, perhaps. >> that's right, anderson. they will face some critical tests that will be remembered, the decisions they made. will they try gadhafi, saif al-islam, will they try them there or honor the commitments to the international criminal court and turn them over? look what's going on at the

rixos hotel. this is an opportunity to assert leadership over this fledgling new country and bring international attention to the fact that these journalists must be leased. must be granted safe passage. these are opportunities for a young country, with young leadership. beginning come together, bright men. can the group of bright men in the ntc, actually turn that into political capital and political leadership this is their moment. this was a test. >> we saw pictures of people leaving with weaponry from the gadhafi compound and the ntc, they came out and said, look, people need to behave and act responsibly at this time. almost learning the lessons from what happened in iraq in those heady days after saddam fell. >> look, anderson, after 40 years of tyranny, we have seen relative restraint from tripoli. and the leader of this council has pleaded with everyone, no

retribution, no vengeance. given what these people have endured we could have expected them to be much more -- >> it's easy for us to be sitting here and say, look, you shouldn't have retribution, but if you have been living under a man who could kill whomever he wants, imprison whomever he wants, that's a hard thing. >> if you will give me the time some other time, everyone is talking about tribes in libya, i want to tell you one thing. there are no tribes. the despot destroys the tribal system. that everyone must relate to the despot. and there is no tribe -- effective tribal system there wasn't one in iraq, because you have the head man and he destroyed everything. and he -- he creates this only direct relationship between himself as god and himself as diety and the people, so when people tell you about the tribes in libba there really aren't

tribes. >> it was a fascinating, bizarre system, where gadhafi set himself up as the embodiment of the revolution. he didn't even allegedly have a leadership role, but he was the leader. >> even those closest to him, the head of the international service, and moussa koussa, both of them when i visited libya, they complained if he was having a bad day or angry at them, tho those closest to his responsibility, he would throw them in jail. everyone lived in absolute and total fear of him. >> i was reading a great book called "the emperor." he did the same thing. these dictators are very effective, even though gadhafi may seem crazy. very effective playing one group off another group. we got to go, because we're very over time. i appreciate it. a resident of tripoli, a woman, talks about what she has seen in

her neighborhood. where there are pro gadhafi forces. she is no longer afraid to speak out and insists on using her name, she wants people to know she and others are no longer afraid. and other breaking news story here in america, up and down, the east coast shaken by a rare 5.8 earthquake. i didn't even feel it. i was told there was an aftershock in virginia. we'll talk to meteorologist chad meyer. end. app grapgic: yeah dawg! man 2: allow me to crack...the bubbly! man 1: don't mind if i doozy. man 3: is a gentleman with a brostache invited over to this party? man 1: only if he's ready to rock! ♪ sfx: guitar and trumpet jam vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. my name is lacey calvert and i'm a yoga instructor. if i have any soreness, i'm not going to be able to do my job.

but once i take advil, i'm able to finish out strong. it really works! [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] make the switch. take action. take advil.

slight aftershocks reported in virginia tonight after a 5.8 earthquake hit northern virginia. the second most powerful quake in that state's recorded history. so powerful, some of us felt it in this building in new york city. i didn't. not sure what i was doing. no reports of major injuries, but there are reports of damage in a few counties in virginia. washington international cathedral. inspectors checking for any possible structural damage of the washington monument and other landmarks.

the white house, it was evacuated and court buildings in lower manhattan. we are joined live with more. is this an active quake zone? >> not at all. the map behind me show the active quake zones, the madrid, california, all that but the earthquake was right there. literally, no threat, no risk of that, although there have been a few earthquakes here. nothing like this nothing like 5.8 and nothing with aftershocks for a long time. the last earthquake that was close to this was over 100 years ago in virginia. not saying that there weren't earthquakes 2,000 years ago we didn't know about, but not an active zone. >> how widely felt was the quake? >> it was felt all the way from about monday tremendotreal, alln

to knoxville and alabama. that's because there is one big plate on the u.s., on the east coast. in california, there are a bunch of plates. the plates are broken up into a million pieces, but when this shook right there in western virginia, it's like the whole bell rung. the whole eastern part of the u.s. rung all at one time. when you talk about the west coast, if you break all of this. let's just take this. a bunch of lines here, a bunch of faults here. if you shake this fault, this part right here in california, two miles down the road may not even feel it. and especially 100 miles down the road may not feel it. when there aren't breaks or faults, you felt it everywhere. >> and shortly after we went on the air, another aftershock which hit richmond. will there be other tremors? >> a 4.2, and it just happened. the big one was a 5.8. the biggest aftershock was probably about 4.8. what you felt, it could be a little stronger and then these will go down in about three months they'll be gone, but

there will be aftershocks quite a long time. >> hurricane irene, do we know where it will hit? right now, officials from north carolina northward are warned to be prepared. how bad could it be? >> it could be quite a blow to the northeast. and you're probably thinking, weren't you talking about the carolinas? it will miss florida, you may see 20-foot waves and there could be coastal flooding for sure. but it's getting stronger and bigger right now, the storm will probably be back up to a category 2 later tonight and for tomorrow into a category 3. right over the turks and cacaos, go downhill, at least 100-mile-per-hour winds there. runs up the east coast and slams into north carolina or at least the outer banks, but look at that. it could actually hit d.c. or new york by sunday afternoon with an 85-mile-per-hour sustained wind. now, it could be as far east as boston, but that's a big deal.

>> chad, appreciate the update. up next, back to libya. for months, people opposed to gadhafi were afraid to speak out. no more. a woman who wants to use her name. shares what she saw on the streets of tripoli today, when we continue.

we have been reporting on the war in libya all night. i want to take a moment to focus instead one of the many people caught up in it. her tripoli neighborhood has been full of pro gadhafi fighters. she insists we use her name because she wants the world to know how proud she is to be a libyan and on the dawn of a new day. to be facing the dawn of a new day. here is part of our conversation. what's it like in tripoli where you are right now? >> well, right now, everything is -- in my neighborhood everything is pretty calm for the time being. the neighborhood is completely secured, we have checkpoints put in place by all of the freemen of my neighborhood.

but from my window i can see bab al-aziziya, where there is still conflict going on, but not as bad as what we saw today. >> what was so bad today? >> today was the day he bombed us. we were heavily bombed. first time he bombed us. and nothing happened to us. and you are building -- your area was hit by rockets from gadhafi forces? >> yes, heavily -- heavily hit by rockets. >> you listened to gadhafi speaking on the radio. >> what i understood, the first point is that -- as he said, today, the fact that he retreated from bab al-aziziya is a strategy he put in place. second, he said it was the end of this whole situation will be either my death or victory.

>> you've asked to us use your real name. are you not scared anymore? for months, nobody has talked to us from tripoli, nobody has wanted us to use their real name. has fear gone for you? >> definitely. definitely gone and i will explain to you why people were not giving their names or even talking. it's because, for example, two streets away from my house, there was a van with a satellite dish on top of it that was just there to spy on conversations. so whenever they detect something that is against them, they just come and secure. >> you say you've never been prouder than you are right now, than you are today? >> yeah. definitely. >> why is that? >> well, when you see that first of all, let's not forget if my figures are right, 70% to 75% of the libyan population is a young

population. this is the first point. the second point, when i see all of the rebels are my age, i'm 26 years of age. and at the end being victorious against the man who has been ruling a country for 42 years, 42 years, with this iron fist, how can you not be proud? they are just heroes. >> maram wafa stay safe. we'll talk to you again. we'll be right back. heart atta. it's my back. no, this is new bayer advanced aspirin... clinically proven to relieve tough pain twice as fast as before. what, did you invent this or something? well, my team did. i'm dr. eric first, from bayer. wow. look. it has microparticles. it enters the bloodstream faster and rushes relief right to the site of pain. better? great! thanks. [ male announcer ] new bayer advanced aspirin. extra strength pain relief. twice as fast.

test our fast relief. love it, or get your money back. yeah. 24 bucks later. that hurts. it's not like i really had a choice. snack on this. progressive's "name your price" tool showed me a range of coverages and i picked the one that worked for me. i saved hundreds. wow, that's dinner and a movie. [ dramatic soundtrack plays ] this picture stars you and savings. but mostly savings. out there with a better way. now, that's progressive. no, it's just for new people. hey ! chocolate, vanilla or strawberry ? chocolate ! chocolate it is !

yeah, but i'm new, too. umm... he's new... er... than you. even kids know it's wrong to treat new friends better than old friends. at ally bank, we treat all our customers fairly, with no teaser rates and no minimum deposit to open. it's just the right thing to do.