tonight on "nightline," meeting the colonel. christiane amanpour travels through a nation on the brink to interview colonel moammar gadhafi. global demands for his departure. he describes his plan and the world reacts in an abc news exclusive. plus, a dose of charlie. >> i am on a drug. it's called charlie sheen. >> the actor describes his rock star lifestyle and vows to sue his former network. we have new footage. and oscar by the numbers. how many times did the hostess change her dress, which film had the best win percentage? tonight we break down the biggest night in showbiz. good evening, aisle bill weir. he was born in a bed win tent and came to power in a coup and

for more than 40 years moammar gadhafi has stood as one of the most bizarre characters on the world stage. his his team of virgin bodyguards gave his eccentric mystique he ruled libya like any other tyrant and a revolution exploded there over a week ago. yesterday gadhafi's own sons insisted to our christiane amanpour there is no revolution and denied using military force against their own citizens but this is video taken today 30 miles from tripoli and shows something different. it is why president obama has called for gadhafi to step down, sent warships into the region and ordered a seizure of $30 billion in libya assets. this fighting was going on as christiane was making her way to sit down with the colonel himself and she has an exclusive interview with the longtime leader of a nation on the brink. >> reporter: our day began high over the libyan capital tripoli.

in a helicopter ride organized to prove that the city is calm and remains under gadhafi's control. even though opponents are closing in, having seized nearby towns as well as most of eastern lib libya. shortly after we touched down in one of the neighborhoods we had just flown over, a family was burying one of at least nine protesters who had been shot to death here last week. the mourners began chanting "beware, gadhafi, you too soon will be buried here" but in other parts of the city are the chants -- these people were shouting for gadhafi as they were waiting in long lines around the bank for a handout from their leader. about $450 or one month's salary. meantime, colonel gadhafi himself had yet to give an interview. when we were suddenly called to meet him this evening.

he drove up to this restaurant on the mediterranean coast wearing his trademark flowing robes and gold-rimmed aviator sunglasses looking every inch the larger than life character that he has carefully honed over 41 years in power. how are you? good to meet you. i'm christiane amanpour. abc. more than anything he wanted us to see he's not hiding but remains here in tripoli. perhaps his long stronghold. he showed no signs of a siege mentality, that's perhaps because he remains utter unconvinced there is an uprising against him. >> no demonstration in the street at all. no, no one against us. against me for what? because i am not president. they love me, all my people with me, they love me all. they will die to protect me, my people. >> reporter: if you say they do love you, then why are they

capturing benghazi and say they're against you? >> it's kw, it's kw not my people. al kw. >> reporter: colonel gadhafi, the president of the united states, the leaders of britain and other leaders, are calling on you to step down, to leave libya, to leave your position of power. will you do that? >> translator: who would leave his homeland? why do i leave my homeland? why do i leave libya? >> reporter: they say that they've done it because you have ordered force against your people, shooting of protesters. >> translator: this is lying, 100%. >> reporter: they say that you order ordered air attacks against people, civilians. your own pilot, air force pilots, at least two have def t

defected saying they did not want to carry out orders against the people. did you give such orders? >> translator: the terrorists were directed to take the weapons and distribute it amongst themselves. so the orders were given to strike these places with planes so the weapons don't get in the hands of the terrorists. >> reporter: the international community is concerned about stockpiles of mustard gas or other kind of chemical weapons. would you ever use those? >> translator: first of all we fixed this problem a while ago. is it even possible for a person to use chemical weapons against his own enemy in this modern age yet alone his own people? >> reporter: i asked him whether he ordered the lockerbie bombing

which killed more than 200 americans more than decades ago. as his former justice minister is not claiming. gadhafi would not give a direct answer. >> translator: this is a door to a conversation. we are finished. i am not prepared to walk between graves. >> reporter: but desite lockerbie gadhafi was brought in from the cold several years ago after giving up his weapons of mass destruction. the united states and other countries lifted sanctions and started doing business with gadhafi again. do you feel betrayed by the united states? how do you account for how they are towards you now today? >> translator: of course, it's a betrayal. a big betrayals and there's no manners, it's silliness, beyond silliness that the world can base their decisions on media reports. is it possible that the world's decisions are based on these report, political decisions?

they should be looking for the truth of what is happening on the ground in libya. then make their decisions. >> reporter: we asked him what he thought of president obama. >> translator: my opinion i said before on many occasions. i believe he was a good, young man. i supported his international policies and the relationship between the two countries has changed but it seems he's been misinformed and i can't believe the statements he has made. >> reporter: he said he thought outside powers wanted to recolonize libya and vowed to fight off invaders alongside the libyan people. for "nightline," i'm christiane amanpour in tripoli. in the city of benghazi tonight the site of bloody attacks by loyalists. abc news got reaction about his claims he never used force against then. many called him a liar and others said we don't warrant him to leave, we want him to die, he

killed our people, end quote. our thanks to christiane amanpour for that. when we come back, he is waging a public battle to save his career. we have a revealing interview with actor charlie sheen. a company-wide memo about the meeting? uh-huh. this is the meeting. we are the company. don't sweat it. i just switched us to sprint, so e-mail, web...on 4g... it's all unlimited. [ cellphone buzzes ] you just texted me to read the memo? unlimited text too. we really need you on this conference call. rick, it's lyle. rickster? i'm here. there he is! [ male announcer ] switch to sprint and get unlimited 4g data on a wide range of devices. sprint 4g, it's business without limits. trouble hearing on the phone? only on the now network. visit sprintrelay.com. and go everywhere. to help revitalize a neighborhood in massachusetts,

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charlie sheen has partied his way into more than a few jams over the years but tv's highest paid sitcom star is embroiled in a new controversy waging public battle against the studio that made him rich after a radio rant against the creator

of "two and a half men," they blamed his statement, conduct and condition. sheen, then invited andrea canning and our cameras to witness his condition firsthand. >> charlie sheen is going off the deep end. >> i am on a drug. it's called charlie sheen. i'm tired of pretending i'm not a bitchin' rock star. >> reporter: it's been fodder for years. >> charlie plans to sue cbs. >> at this point because of psychological distress. oh, my god. take it or leave it. >> reporter: infamous for his taste in drugs and alcohol. what are we talking about how much? >> man, i was banging seven-gram rocks and finishing them because that's how i roll. i have one speed, go. >> reporter: sites like tmz chronicled his legendary partying. a drug-filled rampage landed him in the hospital. you don't worry you're going to die when you take that many drugs. >> die something for fools. >> tell me about the last time

you took drugs. >> i probably took more than anybody could survive, you know. >> reporter: how do you survive that? >> because i'm me. i'm me, i have a different constitution, a different heart. i got tiger blood. >> reporter: he's famous with his run-ins with the law. a restraining order from denise richards and felony charge for thre threatening brooke mueller with a knife. >> he became more frustrated and his grip became tighter and i became more tight in my own body and started to struggle. >> reporter: what really happened in that hotel room? >> i can't do that right here and that means i have to expose people. i can't do that. i don't roll people. >> reporter: were you violent? >> no, no, i was not. >> reporter: why did they say you were violent. >> i don't know. because they were making stuff up. >> reporter: he denied reports

he had gone back into rehab and insisted he was clean now. you're clean right now. >> sure. >> reporter: when you look back at the last time you used drugs, are you disgusted with yourself? >> no. >> reporter: do you think -- >> i'm proud of what i created. >> reporter: you're proud of that party moment? >> of course, why wouldn't i be? >> reporter: why would you be? >> because i exposed people to magic, to something they're never going to see this their boring lives. i may forget about them tomorrow but they'll live with that memory for the rest of their lives. >> reporter: are there any drugs in this house? >> to my knowledge, no. if i know about them, i'll find them and throw hem away. >> reporter: what about the people that supply you with drugs, are they out of your life. >> again, i cannot speak about things that are sort of, you know -- i just -- that's nobody's business. i think you know the answer to that. you know. >> reporter: he told us the reason he's talking now is because the cbs comedy "two and

a half men" that he stars in was finally canceled for the rest of the season afshin ranted on the radio against chuck lorre, the show's creator. are you apologizing for anything right now? >> i set that one up nicely. >> reporter: some of his remarks were interpreted as being anti-semitic. >> there's nothing this side of deplorable that a certain chaim levine, yeah, that's chuck's reel name, mistook this rock star for -- >> i'm really upset about how something was interpreted. i feel terrible about that. suddenly labeling me an anti-central mitt. people that know me. there's nothing about that in my history anywhere. the people that know me said, dude, what's that about? i saw a real name written by dude, wow, maybe a month ago. i'm carlos estevez. he's chaim levine. we had something in common. if he calls me carlos estevez --

>> reporter: he goes by chuck lorre. you chose to call him chaim levine. you took the hebrew version. >> i read it off a vanity card and said it as a joke. i didn't make a big deal about it and everybody else did like most of the things that i roll out, you know. >> reporter: he feels he's done nothing to be punished for and he's angry at cbs. are you going to sue? >> well, i mean, wouldn't you? i don't have a job. i got a whole family to support i love and people beyond myself, people a lot more important than me are relying on that money to fuel the magic. >> reporter: what are you going to sue for. >> tons. they're actually going to put it on a scale, a little more, a little more. add some gold. all your toupees. i don't know. for what i worth and what they think they can take from me.

i'm not issuing a challenge, another teaser, another sound bite thing, whatever. but it's just -- i'm just going after what's right and what's real so i'm here to collect. you know. >> reporter: for now it's unclear whether it will get that far. but sheen is making it quite clear he's intent on playing this battle out in public. for "nightline," i'm andrea canning in new york. >> and charlie sheen has a lot more on his mind. he shares with andrea. you can see that tomorrow morning on "good morning america." tomorrow night in a "20/20" hour he invites her into his home, a live-in nanny and a porn star. hollywood's night out and 37 million people in the united states tuned in. we have oscar by the numbers.

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i am on a drug. it's called charlie sheen. so did you watch the big show last night? swoon over colin firth, gasp over a few plugging gowns? before you can collect your office pool winnings we bring you the 83rd academy awards by the numbers. >> reporter: oscar 2011, 195 minutes, 24 categories, 38 statues handed out. one incident of profanity

bleeped. >> when i watched katie, it looked so [ bleep ]. >> one example of elegance under pressure. >> i have to warn you that i'm experienced stir inrings somewh in the upper abdominals which are threatening to form themselves into dance moves. >> reporter: best actor winner for "the king's speech," also best picture. >> "the king's speech." >> speaking of which number of other winners they had the word king, two, 1949, 2003. the number of oscars against the nominations it received. four out of 12. same math for 1 tp 27 hours. true grit, 0 out of 10. percentage of presenters that spoke non-english, 1 in 3. dresses anne hathaway wore, 7.

73. number of feature films made in a single lifetime by stroke survivor and show stealer kirk douglas. >> oh, lose. 3,3332. seats in the kodak theatre. the number of dollars they paid people to fill those sits so it looks filled even when people go to the bathroom. >> in front of a billion people you're going to do that. >> yet 37 million, that was the u.s. viewing audience meaning there would have been 963 million people in other countries up all night watching about movies they've seen in a language most don't speak. i bet melissa leo has a word for that. >> i'm shaking in my boots here. >> i'm john donvan for "nightline." >> i'm bill weir, good night, america. up next on an all-new "jimmy kimmel live" --

>> good-bye to cate blanchett and welcome home a homeless guy in a spider-man costume. >> you gave me a box of porn. >> did i? >> it was radical. >> jimmy: not on drugs. what the hell goes on when he is.