it's not really an honest statement. >> reporter: you think they are targeting gadhafi? >> because why is this rocket here? this is a very famous location. they could not have mistaken it. >> cnn's nic robertson inside gadhafi's compound. i'm don lemon in atlanta. our coverage continues now on cnn. moammar gadhafi's compound attacked. in shambles. the likely weapon? missiles from allied firepower. cnn's nic robertson seeing it up close. >> cruise missiles appear to be that's what they are. >> but even after the brutal dictator's military promises a second cease-fire, their rebel crackdown intensifies. who targeted and blasted the strong man's headquarters? where is he? why hasn't he been seen?

and welcome to our viewers around the world. i'm don lemon at the cnn newsroom in atlanta. we begin this hour with breaking news. destroyed. part of moammar gadhafi's compound in libya's capital, tripoli. an allied air strike took out a building on the grounds. a coalition official says it was hit because it had military capabilities insisting that gadhafi was not the actual target and neither was his residence. it is not clear where he is right now. anti-aircraft fire lighting up the night sky over tripoli. coalition forces continue to pound key targets despite the libyan army announcing another cease-fire several hours ago. the white house doesn't believe libyan forces will abide by it. after all, they did ignore the first cease-fire declared on friday. u.s. joint chiefs chairman mike

mullen says the u.n.'s no-fly zone is now in place. allied air strikes have done major damage according to another u.s. official. coalition planes are now patrolling the area to deter air attacks on civilians. the u.s., france and great britain have taken big roles in "operation odyssey dawn." italy, canada, spain, belgium, denmark, norway and qatar are also involved. and cnn's nic robertson broke the news of the attack on gadhafi's compound. and we want to play what he and his crew captured on videotape without talking over it, and nic will update us on the other side. take a look. >> 10:30? 10:30. yeah.

and those pictures from our nic robertson simply amazing. let's go to him now. nic? >> reporter: don, we were taken into moammar gadhafi's palace compound, a large secure area a couple of square miles. we were taken to a building, we could see the roof had been smashed, two big holes punched in it. we were told by cruise missiles. in fact, we were given some parts that were taken out of the building while we were there. this is a thin control system

actuator. that was pulled out of a building while we were there, but the whole roof was pancaked down two floors. it was a four-story building. we were told one of the missiles had gone in and only exploded when it hit the basement area. the rooms we could see were blown out. there were large lumps of concrete blown out about 100 yards or so. a government official told us there had been no casualties. a government official said what is happening. he quoted a pentagon spokesman saying there would be no strikes in moammar gadhafi's palace compound. we were told this was a building used by officials coming to meet moammar gadhafi in a nearby tent. from what we could see, the building didn't serve any other purpose. certainly didn't seem to be sort of a command and control-type building. where there's cables and satellites coming from it. they had been in there a few y

days earlier waiting to meet gadhafi. the building heavy damaged. government officials very angry about the inconsistencies they say coming from the pentagon. don? >> all right, fantastic reporting from our senior international correspondent nic robertson. also on the ground in the region, arwa damon joins us with the latest on the offensive and the rebellion. i understand intense calm is being used to describe the situation where you are, arwa. >> reporter: that's right, don. ever since gadhafi's forces launched their attack on benghazi yesterday, most of the shops remaining closed. we've seen an increased number of checkpoints manned by opposition forces. much more diligent searches, even though they managed to drive gadhafi's forces out. then, of course, there were air strikes. we traveled outside of benghazi around 20 miles, 30-some kilometers to the location where those air strikes took place

targeting gadhafi's military that was mapped at that location. the debris, the aftermath of that strewn around for miles. kilometers. we saw vehicles ranging from armored personnel carriers to tanks that have had their turrets blown off. we also saw a number of charred bodies. many residents traveling out there to survey this for themselves, hardly able to believe that gadhafi's military had come to such a grinding halt. many of them expressing their gratitude to the international community's intervention because they had all firmly believed that a massacre at the hands of gadhafi's forces was imminent. the belief was that the opposition had taken this just about as far as they could with the weapons that they have at hand, with the fact that they are really nothing more than a bunch of young men who have learned how to fight over the last few weeks, don. >> arwa damon in eastern libya, thank you very much. retired army lieutenant general and cnn contributor

russel honore joins us live from new orleans. general, good evening. you saw the footage of the missile strike in tripoli. you heard from our arwa damon. what do you make of it? >> well, it's indicative of its precision. they hit the building they were going after for a purpose which is probably tied to command and control. let's look at what was not hit, didn't hit the palace, didn't hit the electrical generators, no intention to make the people in tripoli pay for gadhafi's mistakes. this was a precision strike done at night with the purpose of probably taking that building out. understand, that's my assess am based on what we see and on the ground. >> general, thank you. stick around. we're going to need your expertise throughout this hour. next up, nic robertson and i were on the air live when shots first rang out in tripoli.

the most dramatic moments so far in this conflict.

perhaps the most dramatic moments of this conflict played out live on this broadcast.

our nic robertson was on the air with me when the shots began in response to u.s. missiles in tripoli on saturday. here's how it all unfolded live on the air last night. >> reporter: yeah, i don't know if you can hear that in the background. very heavy -- very heavy -- >> nic, and if you're quiet for a moment, let's listen if you can get close to the window or an opening and maybe we can hear it. as of now, we don't. is it still going on? >> reporter: it's still going on at the moment, don. let me get a little closer. yeah, you might be able to hear it now. >> we can. we can. let's listen a bit, nic.

>> reporter: that's the sounds of heavy anti-aircraft gunfire erupting over the city of tripoli here. we heard it sporadically several hours ago. now hearing it much more in a much more sustained fashion. >> and nic, if i can just jump in for a second, i want to tell our viewers, nic robertson is in tripoli. he's hearing heavy gunfire in what's possibly artillery fire. you're also looking at live pictures now from tripoli. this is from the camera where in the location where nic robertson is. nic robertson, continue, please. >> reporter: yeah, hearing the loud gunfire and explosions in the city. this gunfire seems to have followed on from several loud explosions which could have been missile explosions.

don, what i'm going to do is get myself to where that camera is, if you can just give me about one minute. >> nic, you go ahead and get into camera position. and we're going to let our viewers listen to this and you get ready. we're going to be very transparent about this. this is all breaking now. nic robertson is in tripoli joining us by telephone, but he is going to get himself in camera position. what you're looking at is tripoli. and it is believed to be gunfire happening in tripoli and also possibly mortar fire. and as nic robertson has been reporting, this all happened. it seems to be in response to that coalition and the allied forces. of course, the u.s. being one of them, firing on libya today and also french aircraft in the area in place. britain sending in aircraft as well. france also helping out in this. and they will all join the coalition forces in the air at least. president obama, the u.s.

president, has said no ground forces. he's not promising that now. let's listen in a little bit to the firing and the unrest in tripoli. for those of you who are just tuning in, i want to welcome our viewers from around the world. you're watching cnn's breaking news coverage of the unrest in libya. what you're hearing, firing going on in tripoli right now. cnn's nic robertson covering that part of the story for us. he is in tripoli. he's our senior international correspondent. nic is getting in place so he can speak to us. there you can see him in the

corner of your screen. and as soon as nic is available to speak to us, we will get him live, if we can. nic, jump in whenever we're ready. i'm not sure if his camera can hear us, but if so, we'd love to see the pictures that we were looking at before and had nic talk over them. >> reporter: don, you're hearing the sounds of the heavy anti-aircraft gunfire. as we reported just a little earlier, gunfire came after we heard several loud explosions. it is in the city, now about 2:35 in the morning. heavy anti-aircraft gunfire seems to be subsiding at the moment. literally within the last ten minutes, it was very quiet in the city. we've had sporadic gunfire. then a couple of loud explosions followed by that heavy anti-aircraft gunfire which has

subsided for the moment, don. this is what we're hearing in the city at the moment. >> nic robertson as the skies of tripoli were lighting up last night because of gunfire. now that moammar gadhafi's compound has been bombed, what's the next military objective for the allied forces? we'll check in with cnn's barbara starr and general russel honore next. or an in-depth talk with a retirement expert. like me. stop by my branch for a free retirement check-up. retirement hows and how-muches? whens... and what-ifs? bring 'em on. it's free. you're gonna retire. and we're gonna help. retirement answers at td ameritrade. where millions of people trust their retirement investments.

and if you're just joining us, we want to reset the scene for you on the breaking news out of libya. a crushing missile strike a short time ago pulverized a highly fortified fore-story concrete building in tripoli. it's part of a palace compound used by moammar gadhafi to greet international officials and other vips. our pentagon correspondent barbara starr joins us with new information about this strike. barbara, what are your sources telling you tonight? >> reporter: well, don, officials have told our chris lawrence that the compound was targeted because it specifically did contain military capabilities to exercise command and control, if you will, over libyan forces. in other words, it would have provided gadhafi and his

military team with the ability to communicate with their forces in the field, the exact thing that the coalition is trying to stop right now. key question on the table tonight, don, are they targeting gadhafi or not? at this compound? are they trying to get him specif specifically? the pentagon, the u.s. says no, gadhafi is not a specific target. this is a general area. he's known to have been in. and, you no know, clearly the v from the pentagon is if he happens to be there when it's hit with cruise missiles, so be it. we know there's a long history of the military finding it very tough to target and kill specific people it's going after. >> barbara, thank you very much. let's bring back in contributor russel honore. you heard our pentagon corresponde correspondent. where's the evidence? did the reporters and journalists who visited this site, where's the evidence that says what the coalition forces are saying about targeting this building, striking this

building? >> well, it's interesting this unfolded on television and you hear the gadhafi representative and then the pentagon representative saying this was a legitimate target. gadhafi forces saying hey, we weren't supposed to be a target. it's a dilemma in warfare. it might be the first one we've seen where the forces are doing battle assessment over television. that being said, we have precision strike. the target we went after -- if we'd have tried to do this in the vietnam war, it would have probably taken a 20-aircraft package and b-52s to be able to hit that building. tonight it was done with precision. they went after the target. they hit it. it didn't provide collateral damage. i think that speaks to the investments we've made in technology and our ability to hit the target. whether he was in the building or not, that is consequential. >> all right.

general, stand by and thank you. u.s. military officials said they were not targeting gadhafi. tonight's air strike against his compound strongly suggests otherwise. i want to bring in gordon chang who writes extensively for forbescom. also an author. gordon, what do you make of this dramatic new development tonight? >> i think that certainly gadhafi is going to bring this to the u.n. security council because he's going to want to say that the coalition has gone beyond the terms of resolution 1973 which was passed last thursday to protect the libyan people. i don't think that it's a good argument, but nonetheless, he's going to make it. and the other place he's going to make this argument is in qatar because he doesn't want another arab nation as part of the coalition. because if you have another arab nation, it really looks like gadhafi against the world. but if qatar is actually part of

the package, then clearly, it doesn't look good for gadhafi. >> gordon chang, stand by as well. a doctor who's seen the horrors in the war in libya, firsthand account straight ahead.

as the conflict goes on in libya, the number of casualties will only go up. medical staff at hospitals are finding themselves short on supplies and long on victims. dr. mahmoud traina has seen the horrors of the war, and he recently returned home to california after treating victims in libya. doctor, thank you so much for joining us. first question, do you have the cost of the offensive in terms of lives lost will be worth it if it can end this conflict? >> i definitely think so. you know, the extent to which gadhafi and his forces have been willing to attack civilians and the ongoing deaths that have been occurring during the time i was there and speaking to my colleagues who are on the ground in cities like benghazi, there's been a huge escalation of deaths and major casualties over the last several days.

you know, he won't stop unless the people can get him out. >> so doctor, can you talk more to us about the kind of difficulties that doctors are facing over there? what is it like to be a physician in a war zone? >> i mean, there's a lot of difficulties in general in terms of there's shortages of supplies. there's shortages of equipment to deal with this. there was a lot of shortages when i was there with orthopedic equipment and surgical equipment. they're not used to dealing with this extent of major injuries and casualties that they're dealing with. also there's a big shortage in terms of training. there's not a lot of people who are qualified and have the appropriate training to deal with this. so people are being forced into roles that they've never really dealt with before. >> what's your fear about the possibility of what happens to the people of libya the longer this goes on and what moammar gadhafi does to those people? >> you know, he's shown himself. i mean, currently, as this has gone on longer and longer, he's

become and more indiscriminate with his attacks against civilians and more random and lashing out. so the fear, obviously, is the longer that this takes, the more that he will attack and take innocent civilians as hostages and will kill innocent people on the streets. >> dr. traina, thank you very much. stand by. we will get back to you in it broadcast. ahead, an update to the story of a brave eyewitness we spoke to earlier in our coverage of the crisis in libya. you won't believe ha happened to him. judge

let's get you caught up on the headlines thousand. a coalition air strike destroyed a building in the gadhafi compound. it was hit because it had military capabilities, insisting that gadhafi was not the actual

target and neither was his residence. it's not clear where he is now. coalition planes are patrolling a no-fly zone over libya to deter attacks on civilians. in japan, a grandmother and teenage grandson were rescued on sunday nine days after a devastating earthquake and tsunami. they survived on the food in their refrigeratorefrigerator. rescuers spotted him. across northeastern japan, japanese officials have put the death toll at 8,450. nearly 13,000 are missing. at the crippled fukushima power plant, electricity has been restored to the water pumps on reactors 5 and 6. workers hope to have water pumps running again soon at reactor number 2. in a speech in rio de janeiro today, president obama made only a brief reference to the coalition attacks in libya. he called the rebels courageous, and he said they're taking a

stand against a regime determined to brutalize its own people. john boehner issued a sharply worded statement calling on obama to offer more details on u.s. military goals in libya. for the first time since she was shot, congresswoman gabrielle giffords spent time with her brother-in-law who just returned from the international space station. scott kelly like giffords's husband mark is an astronaut. you'll recall the congresswoman was shot in the head during an appearance in tucson, arizona, in january. and in wisconsin, the tragic death of a police officer today killed in the line of duty. it happened following a dramatic shootout in fond du lac. police say a gunman opened fire on officers investigating an assault. listen. [ gunfire ] heavily armed s.w.a.t. team

members had to rescue a woman from the shooting. when the barrage ended, two officers had been shot. one of them later died. the other is reported to be in critical condition. and police found the gunman dead inside his home of a self-inflicted wound. one of the most eloquent voices of the libyan rebellion has been silences. a 27-year-old died saturday, killed by a sniper's bullet. in the early days of the revolution, abusi dared to report on the uprising despite the knowledge that doing so put his life at risk. on a day that he watched his friends die, he spoke to us about what he was witnessing in libya. you believe that your life is in jeopardy just by making this call and talking to us now. >> of course. i do. they already sat down two of my personal hearts.

this is what i was given to be able to speak to you. >> thank you so much and be in touch and be safe, okay? >> i'm not sure i would be here tomorrow because i'm not sure i'm going to survive tonight. there will be a lot of people tomorrow with you hopefully. >> hold on. do you think the situation is that bad, that you believe that people won't survive overnight? is it that bad? >> my friend has died already. 200 people died. i don't know what's going to be worse to you. >> that was on february 19th. at a time when moammar gadhafi was pulling down a curtain over his campaign of terror, he shed some light on the horrors of war. his bravery likely cost him his life. and a few hours ago i spoke with cnn's arwa damon with his sacrifice in the name of liberty. >> reporter: mohamed is one of those many people who literally risked their lives and paid the ultimate price just simply to

get the news out. the real news out about what was happening in his own country. he was one of those young, bright, inspiring minds. everybody who knew him respected and admired him. here in benghazi, he's considered to be a hero. he was 27 years old, a technology wizard who managed to rig cameras up and live stream individual yes out about what was happening in libya at a time when libya was really a black news hole for many organizations like our very own because we did not have access to proper information in the country. we did not have reporters in the country. mohamed was one of those many people who was our eyes and ears on the ground, risking his life as he did there to speak to you over the phone. and somehow he also managed to get those pictures out by bypassing whatever systems the gadhafi regime has been trying to put into place, bypassing those fire walls just to get the message out. he was one young person out of

many who passionately believed in this cause and this battle for a free and democratic libya. and he did end up paying the ultimate price. yesterday he was killed when gadhafi forces entered the city of benghazi. he was shot by a sniper according to his wife and supporters when he decided to go out into a neighborhood where he had heard that rocket fire had killed a number of children. he himself was an expectant father. his wife was pregnant with their first child. and don, i'd just like to share one of my favorite quotes. and that is a candle loses nothing by lighting another candle. >> mahmoud abusi was 27 years old. we'll talk to a libyan-american who still has relatives and friends still living in libya just ahead. but first, the devastating images and heartbreaking stories from japan are spurring many people to give to charities. but not nearly as many and not nearly as much as you might think. so how and what should you dona donate?

cnn's christine romans put that question to the president and ceo of charity navigator. >> what charities really need most is unrestricted money, money that can be used for whatever they think they need to use it for. but people like to give knowing exactly where their money is going. people should just give money when they have figured out what the charity is, is that right? >> yes, that's really important. we see a lot of people who give supplies at times, which is a beautiful thing, it's very heartfelt but, in fact, it's a very good chance that the stuff's going to get thrown away because the distribution channels just around there. and unless you have a link to the charity on the ground, there's a very good chance it's going to get wasted. make the donation directly. and if you have stuff in your attic, then get a garage steal, but convert it into money. it's the most flexible, fluid resource that the charities have and need at this kind of time.

you know, people around the world may wonder how the coalition attack on libya will affect them. others understand it only too well. we've had a libyan-american on with us before. he has friends and relatives still living there. thank you so much for joining us. what's happening in your

homeland personal to you. welcome back. and what are you feeling? >> thank you, don. first of all, i'm not a doctor. but i appreciate what doctors do. first, what the people feel. >> what are the people saying? what are they feeling? >> they are waiting for the moment that this regime is collapsing. they understand that this is what the coalition are doing. necessary and moral. gadhafi will not go down without a fit. they understand that very well. >> so i'll ask you the question that i asked the doctor before you. do you think that the casualties, do you think that the cost of this, is it wor it? >> i believe so. we hope less casualties will happen. but we believe the price will be paid for a better future for a better libya, libya without gadhafi. >> when you joined us before, did you actually think that

gadhafi would leave? you didn't think it would come to this, did you? >> i never thought he'd physically leave the country on an airplane, but he will leave power. he will leave the position he is in. >> but did you think it would come to this point and this sort of conflict? >> not this way. i thought it would be less than this. but he is brutal enough to drag the people through this. >> as you're speaking to people back home, what are they saying to you? >> they say -- of course, they are concerned. but they are waiting for the outcome. and they believe what they see -- >> i mean more in detail about what's happening in their neighborhoods, in their towns, what they're witnessing, their neighbors. >> the main concern of many people that i spoke with is the town of misrata. there is genocide over there. gadhafi continues to unleash his forces to attack people in tanks and with barrage missiles. the city is surrounded, sieged

for almost a month right now. hospitals are deprived of everything, and people are under continuous attack by forces. also genocide. it's a bigger city and they know that the coalition have specific military targets, so they are less concerned. >> thank you. will you stick around? i have another question that i want to ask you. but i want to ask you about the young man who died. >> yes. >> trying to bring the images to the world. >> yes. >> stick around. we'll have a little more with ali straight ahead. plus, general russel honore and gordon chang of "forbes" on the future of libya up next.

this is a live broadcast from libyan state television. and all of the unrest and the conflict that's going on there. this is what's running on television right now in libya. i want to bring back in libyan-american ali gebril about his homeland's future. as we look at those pictures, what do you make of that? >> this is propaganda they're trying to make the story that the people are very happy and they're praising their leader in spite all this bombardment and strikes. they're showing that people love their leader so much that they're showing fireworks and the music and the dance.

>> what do you think? >> i'm sure libya will be a brighter future without gadhafi. it will be a brighter future for the future generation of libyans with economic opportunities and to engage and join the 21st century. >> we talked about a 27-year-old who was shot by a sniper after bringing the images to the world. >> i spoke with his relative today, this afternoon to say my condolences about him. and he told me the story about mahmoud. courageous young man. and it tells you, 27 years old, he was born just two years before the 1986 air attacks against gadhafi. this is a new generation that didn't live under any other regime. and this is the generation that made this revolution happen. and this is a generation that showed the courage and the determination to join the 21st century, join the rest of the world in freedom, justice and

economic opportunities. and they demonstrate their courage. their determination. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. >> all the best to you and your family. >> thank you, don. >> it's good to see you again. stick around. we may need you throughout our broadcast. we'll be going live for quite a while. appreciate it. let's bring back in gordon chang of forbes.com. how do you see this all playing out, and when you hear mr. gebril's story, what is libya's future as allies destroy gadhafi's military capabilities? >> you know, it's very difficult when you have a dictator like gadhafi leave because in order to hold on to power, he has prevented the elements of civil society from existing. so when he's gone, there's a vacuum. and people just sort of operate in the old way which is like gadhafi. so the real problem here is to sort of develop the nongovernmental organizations, all of the things that we would like to see in libyan society. it takes a long time.

>> okay. so i want to bring in now general russel honore. how do you foresee this drama playing out? >> well, that he will leave or he will be killed by his own forces or somebody near to him. and there will be a transition. and that transition will go to the freedom fighters who in their own way will sort it out. with a lot of help from the u.n. and some folks going in to help them stand up, that civil governance that will be need to do run the country. they are very blessed. they have a natural resource, oil, that can provide resources to their people. it's a function of governance. and in today's open networking of information, the people will do just well once he's gone. >> all right, general, thank you very much as well as gordon chang. and we'll show you the images and sounds in libya from the first day of the coalition

attacks just ahead. g abilify, i was taking an antidepressant alone. most days i could put on a brave face and muddle through. but other days i still struggled with my depression. i was managing, but it always had a way of creeping up on me. i felt stuck. i just couldn't shake my depression. so i talked to my doctor. he said adding abilify to my antidepressant could help with my depression, and that some people had symptom improvement as early as 1 to 2 weeks. he also told me about a free trial offer from abilify! now i feel more in control of my depression. [ male announcer ] abilify is not for everyone. call your doctor if your depression worsens or if you have unusual changes in behavior, or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens and young adults. elderly dementia patients taking abilify have an increased risk of death or stroke. call your doctor if you have high fever, stiff muscles and confusion to address a possible life-threatening condition. or if you have uncontrollable muscle movements, as these could become permanent. high blood sugar has been reported

with abilify and medicines like it. in some cases, extreme high blood sugar can lead to coma or death. other risks include decreases in white blood cells, which can be serious, dizziness upon standing, seizures, trouble swallowing, and impaired judgment or motor skills. depression used to define me, then my doctor added abilify to my antidepressant. now, i feel better. [ male announcer ] if you're still struggling with depression talk to your doctor to see if the option of adding abilify is right for you. and be sure to ask about the free trial offer.

the disaster in japan is being felt in financial markets around the world. international companies that rely on japanese components are facing a major disruption in their production line. and this may cause product shortages and higher costs. the millionaire club is growing. 8.4 million u.s. households are worth at least 1 million bucks. that's up $600,000 from a year ago thanks in part to the recovering stock market. and the next time you get cash from the atm you may want to leave a little extra in the bank to pay for those higher fees. several banks are testing fees of as much as $5 a transaction for withdrawing money from a bank that's not in your network. banks collected more than $7 billion in atm fees last year. that's this week's "getting down to business." cnn, new york.

historians will fill volumes documenting the attacks on lib contraand everything that led up to them. but the images and sounds from the first day stand on their own. take a look. >> at around 8:45, we saw a plane overhead appearing to be heading south. and at around 9:10, one of our team witnessed a jet, a fighter jet, fall out of the sky in flames. we have since then spoken to an opposition fighter who has told us that that was one of their own aircraft that they were

sending out to try to stop, bring a stop to gadhafi's military assault. >> libya is for all libyans. the resolutions of the security council are invalid. >> they tried to enter the city yesterday and the day before yesterday. and they were pushed back by our fighters. and now they started terrorizing the people on the outskirts and shelling heavy, really heavy shelling. >> translator: participants agreed to use all the necessary means and particular military means to enforce the security council decisions. >> yesterday the international community demanded an immediate cease-fire in libya including an end to all attacks against

civilians. today secretary clinton joined an international coalition of our european and arab partners in paris to discuss how we will enforce u.n. security council resolution 1973. >> this is a broad international effort. the world will not sit idly by by more innocent civilians are killed. >> it is legal because we have the backing of the united nations security council and also of the arab league and many others. and it is right because i believe we should not stand aside while this dictator murders his own people. >> today i authorize the armed forces of the united states to begin a limited military action in libya in support of an international effort to protect libyan civilians. that action has now begun. >> over 110 tomahawk cruise

missiles fired from both u.s. and british ships and submarines struck more than 20 integrated air defense systems and other air defense facilities ashore. >> i tried to run up to the roof. and then i saw the second explosion. i saw a huge fire coming up from that. and there was a lot of noise. and i could hear shooting. i can't determine whether it's an anti-aircraft shooting or gunfire shooting. it was very severe, very heavy. >> it is called "operation odyssey dawn," and the initial target's mostly along the northern libya coastline. why? those are the major cities, major oil and gas installations and tripoli. but the reason those targets were along the coast in the early days is because this is where gadhafi has his own powerful weaponry that could be used against coalition pilots. >> libya will try to defend

itself according to section one of the united nations charter that all targets, maritime targets will be exposed to danger and north africa because of this aggression. >> this all unfolding just on the first day. let's bring in now retired general russel honore and also gordon chang to give us some thoughts on this. first to you, gordon. from u.n. resolution 1973 just a few days ago to air strikes. this happened at lightning speed. >> well, it certainly did. but that was because it was necessary on the ground. in benghazi, the country's second biggest city, it was clear that gadhafi's forces were going to retake p. they had been close to the center of the city. so if those air strikes didn't occur quickly, then this would have been all over on the ground. it was absolutely necessary. >> same question to you, general

honore. was this fast in your estimation? >> well, my personal opinion weshd have done this three weeks ago, but these type of attacks can happen within hours with a lot of planning done ahead of time as the coalition had and to build different countries to come in and participate, i think that added some of the objectives of the united states not to be the lead country. even though indeed we have the other side of that is not to go it alone, to have a coalition as mandated by the u.n. but these type of attacks could happen within hours and a day anywhere in the world at any time if it needs to be done. >> you bring up a good point in our short time left, i have about 15 seconds left, but there are many who say the international community did act pretty slowly here, general. talk about that a bit more. >> absolutely. i mean, he was back on his heels three weeks ago and