tv Nightline ABC August 22, 2011 11:35pm-12:00am PDT
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tonight on "nightline" -- good-bye gadhafi? tonight, a scrappy army of american-backed rebels is poised for victory in libya. with gadhafi in hiding, christiannnnamanpour on how yet another arab dictator has gone from this -- [ laughs ] -- to a man fighting for his life. plus, little cover girls. supremely provocative poses by girls as young as 10 are sparking outrage. they're seen in the pages of french "vogue" adorning the
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t-shirts that have triggered a lawsuit against american retail chain. today, the man who took those photos defends his sexy shots. and wing walkers. this terrible accident draws new attention to an incredibly dangerous aerial stunt. what makes the people who take this kind of risk tick. good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. we begin t tight in libya. a country in the midst of revolutionary change. the country's capital, tripoli, was swept with chaos and confusion as u.s.-backed rebel and forces established a foothold. for 42 years moammar gadhafi has ruled the country with an iron fist. tonight, he is in hiding. but his son seif gadhafi is not, despite reports earlier in the
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day that seif had been captured by rebel force. late this evening, he appeared on the shoulders of supporters in the capital insisting his father's regime still maintains control of the city. abc's chrhrtiane amanpour reports on how we've arrived that the pivotal moment. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: in the midst of the bloody battle for tripoli, moammar gadhafi, isolated, in hiding, still managed to get this message out last night. [ speaking foreign language ] we will never surrender, he promised. he's been saying that from the start. but this time it sounded like a death rattle for a regime that has very little chance of surviving. [ speaking foreign language ] now that the nato-backed rebel forces have all but taken the capital tripoli, gadhafi's only remaining stronghold. >> you cannot imagine.
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we smell this freedom now. we smell the freedom now. >> reporter: the struggle for that freedom began six months ago. when we were in tripoli then, gadhafi granted us a rare interview. how are you? >> fine. >> reporter: it's good to meet you. i'm christiane amanpour, abc. he strolled into this seaside cafe, every inch the flamboyant character he has carefully cultivated on the world stage for the past four decades. completely oblivious to the gathering storm. insisting to us that he had nothing to fear from the libyan people. >> they love me all of my people with me. a love me all. >> reporter: 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? [ laughs ] [ speaking foreign language ] >> translator: who would leave his homeland? why do i leave my homeland? why do i leave l lya? >> reporter: when i interviewed
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one of gadhafi's sons, seif al islam later considered the heir apparent, he was just as strident as his father. what's the plan, what is your plan? are you staying? are you going? what's your father's plan? is he staying? is he going? >> listen, nobody is leaving this country. we live here. we die here. >> reporter: are you afraid at all? >> afraid of what? >> reporter: six months ago, i spoke to another brother, saadi gadhafi. he seemed fearful of the forces roiling his country and the rest of the region. what do you think is happening to your region? >> earthquake. >> reporter: an n rthquake? >> an earthquake. it's a fever. it's a -- it's going to spread everywhere. >> reporter: will your father leave? >> if he leaves today, today, just one hour later, local war, civil war in libya. >> reporter: when we walked through green square in the center of tripoli months ago, it didn't seem like a city about to
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fall. but it was on edge. loyalist troops were in a defensive ring around the capital and people were too afraid then to speak the truth. we have no planes. we have no plan. we are in peace. >> reporter: but this was the same square last night. as gadhafi's forces melted away and rebels who had fought their way into the capital celebrated their gains. alongside them, residents of the city, now openly expressing their joy. [ horns honking and guns firing ] there were many who doubted this moment and many times the rebels' struggles seemed mired in stalemate. >> there are still regime elements who pose a threat. but this much is clear, the gadhafi regime is coming to an end. and the future of libya is in the hands of its people. >> reporter: the rebel forces were once a ragtag band with no
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formal training. here, they're showing "nightline's" terry moran how they've assembled a weapon out of spare parts. >> this is the doorbell. >> yes. >> doorbell and -- >> key? >> you attach this -- >> this is -- >> you attach this to the rocket? >> yes. >> then you're using the doorbells to fire the rocket? >> to fire. >> yes, yes. >> reporter: nato and some arab countries support them with some air support, weaponry and some training. until this weekend, a coordinated attack from several sides brought them into the capital, into the very belly of the beast. the opposition says it now has most of the capital. although it warns it still does not have control of gadhafi's palace. gadhafi's forces also surround the upscale rixos hotel where we stayed, and where in these final days, foreign journalists have been barricaded in by regime holdouts.
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but opposition forces have managed to turn the internet back on. and thth afternoon, state tv, long the mouthpiece of the gadhafi regime, suddenly went black. while the opposition has formed a leadership council that's already recognized as the official government by many nato allies, the real question is whether it can unite a country full of different tribes competing for power and influence. and of course this question, where is moammar gadhafi? >> translator: i am in my country till the end with my people. when so many libyan people are there, i am there. >> reporter: he never imagined this is what the libyan people would be telling him. >> gadhafi, go to hell. you understand? gadhafi, go to hell. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm christiane amanpour. >> our thanks to christiane. we will of course stay on the story. one final note, the u.s. war effort in libya has cost an
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estimated $896 million through the end of july. stay with us. [ man ] i love you guys. [ laughs ] i mean, just, you know, the whole heist thng/ just putting jewels in teddy bears. this guy's wearing a wire the whole time. right? look at that! he's wearing a wire!/ [ laughs ] all right, let's do this. all right? before my wife changes her mind. go. [ male announcer ] your favorite movies right when you want them. watch unlimited tv episodes and movies instantly/ through your game console r or other devices, all for only 8 bucks a month from netflix. no sequel for that guy. it gets stuffed up and that means i stay up all night. good mornings? not likely! i've tried the pills, the sprays even some home remedies. then i tried something new. [ male announcer ] drug-free breathe righthtasal strips. [ woman ] you just put it on and...amazing! instant relief. i breathed better, slept better.
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removes three times more dirt than vacuuming alone. it's just one, two, three easy steps for beautifully clean carpets. resolve easy clean. don't just vacuum clean. resolve clean. the sexualization of seemingly ever younger girls in the name of art or fashion or vertising offends much of the public and gives parents valid cause for concern. and yet the trend shows no sign of abating. the latest scandal spans the atlantic from the pages of french "vogue" to a provocative t-shirt produced by an american retailer popular with teens. here is abc's dan harris.
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>> reporter: this young woman here posed in a supremely provocative manner on the back of a motorcycle and then here on a skateboard with a six pack of beer dangling if her hand, this young woman was just 15 years old when these pictures were taken. she is now 16. and her parents have now filed a $28 million lawsuit against urban outfitters, which sold these t-shirts with her picture on them, and the photographer who took the picture, jason lee perry. >> is she showing anything? is she showing any private parts? that's the real question. now, if that was the case, i completely understand. >> reporter: perry says the pictures were published in a magazine and posted on haley's own facebook page but he didn't hear from the parents for a year and a half, until they filed their lawsuit. in it, they say they did not consent to the use of the image. they call it salacious and x-rated. >> i didn't see it that way. i think if people do, i think
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it's kind of bad on them. i look at it and i think this is a really cool shot. >> reporter: this story lands smack in the middle of a global spasm of controversy over the sexualization of young girls. and this is the poster child, if you will. a 10-year-old girl named tilan blandeau who provoked an uproar when she graced the pages of french "vogue." jetting her hip out suggestively here and wearing lipstick and an up-do, laying facedown on a tiger. the blogs erupted with some calling the pictures creepy and worse. when you see pictures like this, what do you think? >> i think that i'm seeing a very young girl being sexualized. being gazed at in a very adult way. >> reporter: the girl's mother said, my daughter's not even naked. let's not t aggerate. it is possible that people might not be so upset if this were just an isolated incident. but these days, famous underaged actresses are getting in on the act.
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13-year-old elle fanning has her sultry stare down pat in these mark jacobs ads. and haley seinfeld from the movie "true grit" in these ads looks to one observer like a child bride. although she called these pictures sophisticated and timele. what's driving this do you think? >> i think we're seeing more parents vehemently dedicated to making their children famous. so i think parents, mothers and fathers alike,e,re not necessarily turned off by someone coming to them and wanting their child to appear a certain way. at younger and younger ages. >> reporter: but there is something else driving the sexualization of girls in our popular culture. corporations who are keenly aware that tweens, girls between the ages of 8 and 12, have $43 billion a year to spend on clothing, beauty products, books, entertainment and more. in recent months, abercrombie & fitch had to pull its padded bikini tops for girls as young as 8 after a public outcry.
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a french company selling loungeerie, get it it sounds like lingerie, for girls as young as 4 had to defend its products as innovative and unexpected. and an american company selling babi-kinis as young as girls three months old had to come out and say it's products were just for fun. all this corporate porn, as some critics call it, can make it tough for parents like diane when they go out shopping with their daughters. >> i don't really like it. it's just not a young person's outfit really. >> reporter: it's even tough for parents like madonna, who as a younger woman made parents squirm -- ♪ like a virgin when she ride around singing about being a virgin. now the international superstar has some parental concern. >> we have arguments about how short the skirt is or is there cleavage. >> reporter: as psychological experts survey today's landscape
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with even child stars like miley cyrus and "high school musical's" ashley tisdale sexing up their images, they worry our culture and our corporations are stealing girl's childhoods. the american psychological association says girls exposed to too much sexual imagery are more likely to be unhappy with their bodies and to suffer from depression or low self-esteem. and while these concerns do date back at least to a 15-year-old brooke shields in this 19898 calvin klein ad. >> want to know what comes between me and my calvins? nothing. >> reporter: things these days have most definitely accelerated. >> now we're talking about 10-year-olds. spread out on tiger skin rugs. so it worries me for in the next ten years what is it going to be, 5-year-old, 6-year-olds? >> reporter: as many people wait with fear to see how bad this situation gets, for parents on the front lines right now -- >> it's a little hoochie koochie. >> no, it's not. >> reporter: it's not likely to get any easier anytime soon.
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rid-x. number one in septic maintenance. there's a fine line between fear and excitement. and it's different for everyone. some people like roller coasters. not me. some people like bungee jumping, again not me and some people walk on the wings of planes. it is supposed to entertain. it is certainly high risk. this weekend, it ended in tragedy. we want to warn you, the video is disturbing. here's abc's jay shadler. >> reporter: todd green was a
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risk taking, wing walking showman. as usual, thrilling the crowds. at this air show in michigan, he'd chosen a stunt only he and one other person in the world has ever done. climbing from the wing of a biplane to the skids of a helicopter. on his third attempt, he slipped. falling 200 feet in front of 75,000 people. >> the first, second try, he -- you know, they pulled away and he didn't even get close. i said, it's not worth it, you know, it's just too windy. >> reporter: stunt pilot kyle franklin was todd greene's friend and intimately aware of danger and tragedy. his grandfather, father and father-in-law all lost their lives in plane crashes. he was piloting a plane with his wing walking wife, amanda, strutting her stuff. when the plane stalled. in may, she died from ththcrash burns. >> every accident that's ever happened, there's always something that you can take from it and learn from it. my wife and i's accident, for example, we've come up with some
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new safety features that i know a lot of current wing walking acts are going to introduce into their routines. so what happened to my wife never happens to anybody else again hopefully. >> reporter: the band of wing walkers nationwide is tiny. maybe a few dozen. hley battles is one of them. >> it's in me. wing walking is in me. i can't do a cartwheel but i can somehow maneuver all over this airplane through the wires on the wing. it's just it's what i know i'm supposed to do. >> reporter: the art of wing walking is the skill of making the perilous look effortless. and they've been doing it nearly as long as planes have been in the air. just last month, ashley showed me how she dazzles the crowds. so at this moment, what are you holding on to up there? >> a prayer. a wing and a prayer. >> reporter: but, lake all professional risk takers, the shadow of death trails close behind.
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. >> you know accidents really don't change how you feel about your passion. it definitely makes you re-evaluate everything. however, we are in the entertainment business and there is -- there is only so much, so -- >> reporter: there's always going to be some risk. >> absolutely. >> we love doing what we do. we love entertaining people. we love flying. most of us are more comfortable in the air than we are on the ground. if todd had survived that and really covered from his injuries, i can almost guarantee you he'd be out doing it again. >> reporter: that's because high in the skies, fearing death pales next to feeling alive. i'm jaychadler for "nightline." >> our thanks to jay. finally tonight, a stunning conclusion to the case against dominique strauss-kahn, the global banking titan accused of attempting to rape a manhattan hotel maid in may. prosecutors today filed a motion to dismiss the case.
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