good tuesday, everybody. i'm contessa brewer covering the big news coast to coast. we begin this hour with breaking news beyond our borders. out of libya are the last gadhafi stronghold could be falling as we speak. we're getting reports that hundreds of rebels have stormed mo mar gadhafi's compound. it's believed there are some reports that gadhafi is hiding there. we just got news from the pentagon that says that they just believe the libyan leader is somewhere still in libya and fierce gunfights have been breaking out through the the day there. in fact, you can see the thick smoke here billowing in the sky above the compound. but gadhafi loyalists continue to put up fights throughout tripoli. earlier today snipers had rebels taking shelter near central green square. nbc news chief pentagon correspondent joins me now. are they getting good updates

from the ground? >> reporter: no. they are following the news reports reich everybody else. not only at pentagon, but at nato because they don't have boots and eyes on the ground. they have to gend in large part on what they're hearing indirectly through the rebel sources that report back to their leadership in benghazi. and the media reports. there are reporters actually with the rebels inside the compound there. if in fact, the rebels have taken control over that entire compound, that could deal a serious blow to the command and control efforts of the libyan military because that pretty much was the center of the libyan military. but pentagon officials are quick to caution that even if that compound has fallen there are still elements of the gadhafi military, progadhafi forces not only in and around tripoli, but outside of tripoli that are still conducting offensive military operations. so, the fight was -- is not over yet. the key question that i know you're going to ask, contessa,

is muammar gadhafi in that compound? we'll have to wait and see. one top nato official said this morning in a briefing from naples, gadhafi is history, but they still don't have a clue, his words, as to exactly where gadhafi is. so i guess we'll have to wait and see what those rebel forces find inside that compound. >> and why does the pentagon believe that muammar gooud still remains in libya? >> i think it's more -- we've asked that question. are they zeroing in whenever gadhafi makes the phone calls, are they using spy satellites to try to locate the origin of that phone call? we're tole they are, but not clear that they've actually pinpointed gadhafi's location. but it's more of an absence of information about where he may be. there's no indication that he's actually left libya. that he got on a plane or went cross country. that she showed up in any other

foreign capital oor is on his way to any other country. they're talking about algeria, venezuela, chad, where he maybe offered exiled. there's no information any of that has happened. >> what about this report that comes from the head of the russia world chess federation about a conversation with muammar gadhafi? is there any credibility to that report? >> reporter: the russians have a much better pipeline to gadhafi than anybody in nato and certainly the u.s. have. i don't doubt the russian diplomat's words that gadhafi said fight to the end. but, you know, gadhafi himself is so unpredictable, it's very possible that he'll go down fighting and will not survive. but on the other hand, given his history, he is a survivor. and if there was any way out, you know, he may be trying to to find that. but it looks now as if his options are becoming ever more

limited. >> all right, jim, i know you're keeping close tabs on any developments that come into the pentagon. thank you for your help on that front. we have the washington bureau chief of the al arabiya news channel from washington, d.c. we're getting reports that gadhafi's son saif al-islam made a triumphant appearance those rebels said they captured him. how influential is he with the loyalists? >> he was very influential. he was supposedly the heir apparent. he was the face of the regime since the uprising began. he was the first one who threatened to drag libya into a civil war. this may be the last hoora. it was somewhat embarrassing and humiliating for the transitional authority when the head of the transitional authority publicly said we have them in custody and

we are discussing with the icc, referring to the international criminal court, i think for all intensive purposes the gadhafi regime is over. it's a question of time, maybe the next few hours, maybe the next day or two we will find out the ill fate of gadhafi and his sons. >> that's my next question, if rebels capture muammar gadhafi and some say they already have, but we have yet to see any confirmation on that. if they capture gadhafi what will likely be his hate? >> i would hate to see quote unquote revolutionary justice. which could be execution or a trial that would look very much like the trial of saddam hussein which would really embarrass the new revolutionaries in libya. i think the best bet would be to send him to the icc to be tried in a transparent and one would hope a fair trial. and i'm sure he would be guilty

given his track record, his bloody track record against the libyans and against the neighbors of libya. i think this would be a great thing because this will allow the libyans to focus on the real issue. how to build a shattered country that was destroyed by the diabolic rule of this man and his family. but to waste time in retribution, in trial, look at even at egypt, a country that has a legal system at least and they're having these problems. in libya you don't even have a legal system. so what are we talking about? this is a country that needs to focus on rebuilding itself now and not just looking at the past. although, he should be held accountable, definitely. >> the pictures we're looking at right now some of the celebratory gunfire from rebels as they were storming the compound. again, the rebels say, look, we have collapsed now this compound, gadhafi's compound where we believe he's hiding.

and again, all the pentagon is saying is they think that muammar gadhafi is somewhere still in libya. let's go to al jazeera which has a reporter on the scene in tripoli right now. >> reporter: certainly the latest pictures inside the compound of gadhafi's headquarters. james, in terms of the rebels and the fight itself, there's big question marks over the discipline and the focus that they have. from what you've seen and from who you've been talking to amongst the rebels, are they well organized? are they taking orders from a high yar ki? >> some are. some have received quite a lot of training. there's one unit called the tripoli brigade. people who have come to tripoli, left tripoli at the beginning of the uprising here in libya and gone to other parts of libya

like the mountains and benghazi where they got military training. they've now come back to their hometown. they are one of the units which is spearheading the opposition military advance. there are other people, though, young men who have got hold of a weapon, no training at all and they've decided that it's their day to come to the streets. >> being around the capital for most parts of the day, there were some hot spots, weren't there? there were security checks. from your knowledge at the moment, what are you hearing about where the conflict is, if it is happening at all? >> reporter: sorry, it's rather hard to hear. the -- my view of the picture across the city and it's very hard, it's very dangerous. there are certain areas we're not even attempting to go to at this stage because we know that they are going to be very dangerous flash points, but most -- more of the city --

>> so that was the reporter from al jazeera inside the compound. these are the first pictures we're getting. that you see the statue of gadhafi's head and you saw very symbolically one of the rebels putting his foot on the top of the statue head of muammar gadhafi. and then there's the infamous fist outside of this building remember some months back we saw muammar gadhafi and say the rebels are never going to win. he was on that balcony with the fist out in front. it appears he's in hiding. he did tell a prominent russian today that he is in tripoli and he vowed to fight until the end. it's interesting that the reporter was getting the questions about whether the rebels are taking orders. what's next? once these battles die down and presumably we're getting very close to that moment, what's next in a power vacuum? >> well, what's next is to try to restore order. what's next is for the

transitional council to move from benghazi to tripoli to try to set up a transitional government with certain authorities to seek international recognition, to unfreeze the libyan assets which are are in the tens of billions in european and american banks. >> is that premature? we saw great britain talking about it. as soon as the u.n. signs off it will unfreeze the assets. but without a clear power structure to take hold, sit premature? >> maybe not all the assets will be -- should be unfrozen immediately. but definitely. i'll give you an example. today the foreign minister of turkey visited benghazi and they announced that the turks provided the salary for the civil servants and the people who need salaries during the month of ramadan. it is crucial for the transitional authority to be able to provide the basic needs

of the libyan people at this crucial transitional period. otherwise they would lose any sense of legitimacy. before you organize leathers, the constitution, all the things that are part of the requirements of building an -- national institutions. some money should be given to the libyans, but not necessarily all of it. >> at this point, watching this first video following the rebels taking the compound. we just saw on al jazeera some of the first video inside the compound where the rebels had climbed up on that statue of the fist. putting their feet on top of the statue head of muammar gadhafi. again, the rebels are celebrating victory. firing up their weapons. claiming that they have all of gadhafi's sons in custody. again we saw a video of a triumphant saif al-islam who is probably one of the most

influential of gadhafi's children. raising his hands in a victory sign earlier today. it's not clear that this is a done deal. >> absolutely not. after what happened yesterday, we shouldn't believe some of these early claims until we see them in custody and until other sources confirm it. i think this is -- these are the last moments. these are the last moments of the gadhafi's regime. >> black smoke as you can see on the right-hand side of your screen now rising above muammar gadhafi's compound there in libya. this was considered military headquarters there in tripoli. and yet, the rebels now say they've taken it over. in fact, i saw a report that the rebels had raised a flag, raised the rebel flag above this compound and the google earth is showing that compound?

realtime now. and yet, across the city we're still hearing reports of gunfights breaking out. how safe are the citizens of tripoli at this point? >> i was stuck yesterday after they took over most of the tripoli, which is a city of two million people. we did not see mass ablgts of looting. we did not see acts of revenge. we did not see bloodletting. we did not see the ugly pictures that we're seen in april of 2003 after the fall of baghdad from the hands of saddam hussein. this is an encouraging sign. obviously we have to admit that some of these armed men are loosely connected. they are not necessarily under a centralized authority. they don't have a clear cut command and control. they are not military formations with very well structured leadership. and yet we did not see the kind of chaos that we've seen in

baghdad in 2003. this is encouraging. i think there is a role now for nato, for the international community to help them, to restore order quickly. it's going to be a daunting challenge to collect the weapons from these young men and to put together these disparate groups under one unified military command many the next few weeks and months. >> thank you so much for joining us for keeping a close eye on this. we'll continue to watch the developments out of this situation in libya right now and bring you the new reports. i do want to get you caught up on the other big story we're watching right now. we have live pictures outside a new york courthouse where moments ago sexual assault charges again the former inf chief dominique strauss-kahn were dropped. you're seeing the chopper video from outside the court. the right hand is the video of strauss-kahn just leaving the courtroom. we've just received a statement from dominique strauss-kahn saying these past two and a half months have been a night mar for me and my family. i want to thank all of my

friends in france and in the united states who have believed in my innocence to the thousands of people who sent their support personally and in writing, he expresses appreciation to the judge, his staff and says that he's gratified the district attorney agreed with the lawyers that this case had to be dismissed and then he goes on to say he's looking forward to returning home and resuming something of a more normal life. nbc's ron allen is at the courthouse in new york. here with me in the studio defense attorney michael jones. ron, let me begin with you, how did this all come about to where we were in court today? >> reporter: well, the entire court proceeding took about ten minutes. it was very, very brief. an assistant district attorney basically said that the complaint nant, the woman who claims she was attacked by dominique strauss-kahn has been untruthful in just about every interview that they conducted with her on matters great and small as they put it. they released a 25-page document

yesterday that was essentially a scathing indictment of this woman and her voracity and her credibility. especially from the -- essent l essentially from the beginning she told multiple stories. she told multiple stories about her asylum application to get into this country several years ago. and most damning she told them an emotional story of being a victim of a gang rape in her country several years ago. emotional details about how her 2-year-old daughter was ripped out of her arms and said a week later that none of that was clear. for the prosecutors it was an example of how this woman could tell a dramatic story of being the victim of a rape that never happened. that was their worst fear if that case went ford that might be what she's doing in the courtroom before a jury. the bomb line is they -- the prosecutors say that they do not know what happened. and they cannot believe this woman because she told so many

stories, gave so many versions of the truth about so many issues. so strauss-kahn left her a minute ago. it's unclear whether he has hiss passport or not. many would think he'd be on his way to france as soon as possible. the statement did not reveal what he's going to do next. his attorneys we expect them to give a statement at some point. essentially that he has been vindicated. he must feel vindicated about this decision. and again, the prosecutors for the woman who made this complaint it's all been incredibly -- just an incredible experience all the way around. nothing good for anybody involved in the situation. i'd have to say the prosecutors wondering about why they per sued the -- pursued the case. the prosecutors said there was some sort of sexual encounter but it was unclear to them if it was forced or consensual. at this point waiting to hear from his attorneys, but

strauss-kahn we do not believe will make a statement at this point. >> ron, thank you. we did get the written statement from dominique strauss-kahn, he didn't come out and talk to reporters on camera. by the way, the prosecutor here says we did not arrive at nor did we reach this decision for dismissal lightly. ultimately we are governed by provable facts. michael, is that really the problem with the case? his lawyers may say that dominique strauss-kahn is vindicated. this does not vindicate him? >> to a certain extent. it doesn't show that he's innocent. the prosecutors did not say he was innocent. the defense attorneys said that he was innocent. >> they also say that one of the responsibilities of the d.a. is to determine if the case is credible. in this case now they have gone forward and said, in this case the d.a. has decided it's not credible. there's no need for a special prosecutor. the accuser in this case, her lawyers had asked for a special prosecutor. what's the impact of this? ?

>> it's within the discretion of the prosecutors to determine if their star witness is a credible witness. unfortunately, the cumulative effect of all the lies, the misrepresentations that they were able to discover as the prosecutors investigated the case, led to the conclusion that they couldn't put this woman before a jury and say to the jury you need to believe what she says when they didn't necessarily believe what she said. >> how important is her credibility when it comes to a civil case? >> the problem is the credibility is going to follow her into this civil case. she's going to be subject to cross examination in the civil case. >> there's a lot of outrage today that there was a blame the victim, that they're looking at a woman's past when it comes to was she the victim of a crime. is that the case here? >> comments are made like that in a lot of rape cases that end up in a situation where they don't prosecute. but if you take the time to look at this woman's record and the allegations and the facts that

came out and the misrepresentations and the difficulties that the prosecutors had when they would interview he, at one point she allegedly curled up on a ball on the floor. that's not rational behavior even if one has been traumatized. that's the problem that the prosecutors looked at that and said how do we put this woman on the stand and subject her to cross examination when there seems to be a multitude of instances where she lied or misrepresented the facts. >> michael, thank you very much for joining us. another big story we're following at home. bracing fur hurricane irene. the u.s. emergency chief said moments ago the entire u.s. east coast should be on alert from florida to the carolinas. families are pulling out the storm shutters. stocking up on supplies preparing for what could be a category three storm by the time it makes landfall. right now it's headed for the bahamas. right now lilia is there. what are you seeing in terms of the effects? >> reporter: i've got to tell you, contessa, it's surprising

how relaxed tourists are walking down the street, down bay street the main tourist area here. we have been talking to some folks who are heading back to cruise ships which are changing routes. some of them going towards mexico, others to the florida keys, anything to get out of nassau and the bahamas. we did interact with the prime minister. he gave a press conference earlier. he said that he's alerting all bahamian citizens to take this threat seriously. if it hits, if irene comes through the entire bahamas it would be the third time since 1866 that one single hurricane takes over the whole entire ark pel go. also authorities are opening up shelters throughout all the bahamas especially in the southeast where winds are expected as soon as this afternoon and later tonight. of course, folks are cramming the hardware stores and the grocery stores now preparing.

and we are doing so ourselves as well. >> lilia, thank you very much. appreciate that. let's get the latest forecast from weather channel meteorologist maria larose ya. where's this thing headed next? >> it continues to move off to the north and west. right now a category two storm with maximum winds of 100 miles per hour. right now it's 70 miles to the south of grand turk island. if it continues on this northwest track, it's going to take over most of the bahamas if not all of the islands there. there are hurricane warnings out. looking at the forecast we do expect it to become a major hurricane by tomorrow morning. this is a max winds of 13 omiles per hour. we do expect for it to stay a major hurricane, category three, maximum winds up to 125 miles per hour by friday morning. beyond friday morning can still see a fairly wide area of uncertainty from charleston all the way to new york encompasses

the possible track that irene could take by the start of the weekend. it does look like as it moves to the northeast it could be din niching to a category one. even with that we still fully expect major impacts from the mid-atlantic to the northeast. here's our impact graphic extreme and through the bahamas and the major hurricane tears through there. we have moderate levels of extreme care, threat level through new york city on into boston. that is mainly because even with a category one forecast right now for parts of the northeast, it is saturated ground here. so any additional rain from philadelphia to new york, obviously we're in surplus at this point, you add a little bit of wind we are expecting the potential for widespread damage including toppling trees. still with the forecast as it stands, the northeast, new england has to stay on high alert as well as the east coast. >> appreciate the update there. coming up, we continue to keep our eye on the situation in libya where we see black smoke rising from gadhafi's former compound. but the rebels have now they say

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following breaking news out of libya. in tripoli rebels have gained access to muammar gadhafi's compound. we have seen joyous celebrations from rebels who say they have severely chris matthewsed gadhafi's camablities. where the libyan leader is? no one seems to know. no one seems to know. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] we've got all you need for back to school

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rebel fighters looted an armory there seizing new sniper rifles. they're in jubilant moods now saying it's over. gadhafi is finished. we're also getting an update now that fames of the victims to have 1988 lockerbie bombing are pressing the obama administration to demand whoever comes into power in libya is pressed to hunt down the former intelligence agent of libya who was convicted of the bombing and as you might remember, once released from scotland to return home because he apparently they said he only had a couple months to live. we've just seen video of him at a public event not that long ago. we have the washington bureau chief of the alaribyan news channel. we see the rebels not only taking over the compound, but the weapons as well. what's the situation facing the citizenry of tripoli at this point?

>> if they don't restore order quickly, you may have, you know, acts of chaotic behavior and vandalism, maybe looting. so far we have not seen, heard any reports, credible reports of mass looting or mass killing or anything. but definitely unless you restore order quickly this could be a possibility in the next few days and weeks. >> we have reports that fighting is sill going on. that there is still snipers, progadhafi loyalists who are firing off shots elsewhere at the advancing rebels. so it's not as though the fighting is completely over. it's just that they've taken over the compound. we've seen the black smoke rising from this compound for more than an hour now. so it looks like it is still burning. and the rebels are going in saying this is for the libyan people. are the libyan people as a whole behind this? >> most revolutions throughout history are not waged by

majorities of people. usually they're waged by a determined minority, numerically. we shouldn't be surprised. there are many people in regimes such as the ones in libya who are afraid to take a position unless they see who's winning. we should allow for that. but definitely most libyans with the exception of a tiny base of the gadhafi regime suffered a lot under his despotic rule. libya should have been one of the richest countries on the continent of africa because it's a large country with lots of hydrocarbon resources, tiny population less than seven million people. the per capita income should be the highest. yet he squandered all that wealth on foreign military ventures and incredibly unrealistic economic projects. so most libyans were really affected by it. and the best and the brightest of libyans were exiled or

killed. >> and again, the picture that you're seeing now is a lot of tripoli where that black smoke the rising over gadhafi's compound -- and richard engel is reporting right now for nbc from tripoli, let's listen in. >> reporter: there was an assault that started in the very early hours on this fort tied compound where em standing right now in the center of tripoli. then air strikes quickly developed. the rebels advanced as close as they could get to the wall. they started lowering antiaircraft guns. firing them on to the walls. eventually they managed to breach a hole in the walls themselves. stream into the compound and now there are thousands of people, rebels and ordinary people in the area who have come in to see what is inside. we are watching an incredible amount of looting going on right now as they are taking weapons. not only weapons, but television sets, golf carts, cars,

bicycles, anything that was inside is now going out the gates. >> richard, as i understand it from your reporting fighting has ceased at this point and the gunfire we hear is distinctly a libyan type of celebration. they're firing gunshots straight into the year? >> reporter: yes. there has been a lot of celebratory gunfire. there will be more of that tonight. this is a -- every time people have started to celebrate with gunfire -- i think one is over. i think what news around this country is tonight we're going to be hearing gunfire ringing out throughout the city. i can tell one thing on a personal note, i thought this might happen. i have a pair of ear plugs in my pocket. i'm going to be wearing them all

night. >> your ears may be ringing. we are all wondering where gadhafi may be, when was the last time anyone saw or heard from the libyan leader? >> reporter: i cannot hear you. >> when was the last time anyone actually saw or heard from gadhafi publicly? >> reporter: they have heard from gadhafi recently. during the battle for tripoli when the rebels first entered he gave a fervent speech. there was almost desperation in his voice. he said where are my people? come out. fight, fight. women, children come out and defend me. i open my arms. he was pleading with the people to fight alongside and fight for him. and listening to that last speech, i did get the sense that he believed it. he thought that there would be millions of people to come out and die for him and they simply didn't do it. listening to the urgency in his

voice, you can feel that he believes that in the final moments his people his supporters would come and rescue him. >> richard, still on the topic of gadhafi, you used a word a moment ago to describe him. you said he may be insane. on what do you base that remark? remind everybody the tenure of this leader. >> reporter: i've listened to the speeches of the leader for the last 16 years. everyone from saddam hussein, arafat. they were not the speeches of a sane person. they rambled. you can't follow any train of thought. he was bringing in references, he had -- he talked about things that were illogical. he was by most accounts he was insane and he's getting more insane as he got older.

>> we're watching some new video just into our newsroom of some of the scenes we're seeing there in tripoli. as you report from inside the compound, richard, the obvious question is who's in charge now? who is in charge of keeping law and order? we remember during the egyptian uprising you did have that strong institution of the military that the people respected. clearly there's no such analog in libya. so who will keep the order? >> reporter: there is no order right now. certainly in this compound it is clearly lawless. they're firing in the air. they're stealing weapons. they are celebrating. the order will be kept by the people themselves, by their tribes, by a loose leadership council, by the rebels, the mosques will play a role. already the mosques were playing a role in getting the word out. i'm on the phone right now -- it

will be very difficult for me to communicate. there's no cell phones, no internet. so the mosque using the loudspeaker will pass vital information, battle update ifs if for people, to give them words of encouragement. we heard that gadhafi's compound had been breached by the mosque next to our broadcast location. and once we heard that people started shouting. we came down in here and it turned out to be 100% accurate. we are right in the compound as we speak. >> richard, we will keep with you until your cell phone battery dies. that we can promise you. when we talk about the rebelon, using that catch all term, are they truly a cohesive group, or are there factions within the rebel cause that will be brought now the cause of deposing gadhafi has been executing? will we start to see those track amateurs in this coalition? >> reporter: undoubtedly you

will. when you're fighting there is a certain degree that comes out. that will melt away and be very hard and exciting business of forming a government is begins and will probably begin in the next few days. there are divisions between the two sides of this country. between the east and the west. this historic division between the people of benghazi and the people of tripoli and there will be tension. there will be tension as extray tree yacht libyans come in and decide they want to play a role in this. i'm sure there will be executions. some rivalries for power. already we've seen a come of suspicious killings between the rebels themselves. but whether it's civil war will break out, it seems unlikely. they don't want to have more problems. they've had 42 years of living inside the mind, a very confused place of muammar gadhafi for the last four decades.

i think they would like to travel abroad, go to europe, see where their oil has been going to italy for the last several years and now get bogged down in sectarian or tribal conflict. >> richard engel reporting there for nbc news in a special report. we're watching the developments coming in from libya. again, we've just seen now the rebels say that they have taken complete control of gadhafi's compound. they say it is over for the libyan leader, but still no one seems to know exactly where he is. we'll continue to follow those developments. wanted to get you up to date as well on hurricane preparations here. and north carolina's emergency management director has issued mandatory evacuation order for people who don't live on the island. tourists, nonresidents must leave by 5:00 tomorrow morning. right now it's voluntary for people who live there. right now they do expect mandatory evacuation orders to

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. we're following breaking news out of libya where rebels reportedly are going from room to room in gadhafi's compound searching for the libyan leader. so far to no say vail. the question is is he really in the compound as rebels expected or has he moved elsewhere. the pentagon says they expect gadhafi is somewhere in libya still at the moment. alfred is our interpreter for msnbc. >> right now the rebels inside the compound, the gadhafi compound not only there, but this is the house of gadhafi. the house of gadhafi that was bombed back in the '80s by the americans after the scandal. this house gadhafi has been addressed his people for the last six months or so.

the rebels inside the house. they looting all weapons as you see on the screen here. and there's no sign of gadhafi or his son. safe al-islam yesterday gave an interview to local reporters saying he was here. he wasn't arrested and he's in control. but right now no sign of him, no sign of gadhafi himself. not only that, but there's more than 20,000 gadhafi troops that disappeared suddenly. the reports that they entered the city, they entered the compound was no resistance. there's a lot of question marks that some of them say it might be a trick that they're going to attack them like what they did three days ago. so far the situation is stale vague. we have no idea where does the troops disappeared. we know for sure that not only the rebels entered the compound, but also the people, the residents of tripoli are enter the compound with the rebels. >> really? this has got to beon odd scene. i'm seeing a report as hundreds of people are running into the

complex, that some are driving golf carts as this area resonates with gunfire. so you've got the gunfire along with the golf carts. quite the image. by the way, richard engel is inside the complex now. and again, on a special live report for nbc let's listen in. >> reporter: there's a combination of that and military base. there's a large perimeter wall. it's not square. it zigzags across the city. it's roughly l shaped. inside the compound are guest houses from gardens to intelligence buildings that monuments they're describing with the fist, holding the crushed -- the model of the crushed american plane. when you look around it looks a little bit like the green zone in baghdad. saddam hussein's compound. a walled area where he could receive guests. where he could live. gadhafi didn't mingle much with his people especially the later he got in his years.

he could live quite comfortably in here and receive guests. he'd drive around in golf carts and be prepared if this building ever came under attack because of the high walls and because of the massive amounts of weapons in here. >> richard, you mentioned nato's role being decisive at key moments particularly the air support that rebels received from nato forces which of course also involved american assets. my question to you is we see there's no shortage of weapons there. are those weapons being supplied by nato forces? where are they coming from? >> reporter: i'm not sure i heard all of your question. the nato role in this was clearly decisive. today there was a nato role in briefing the compound. we heard nato jets this morning as the battle for gadhafi's compounds began. we heard the loud booms, the

unmistakable booms of some sort of bombs, big bomb drops from a jet. so nato was involved in this fight. nato was involved in many of the major battles. what nato has been doing is clearing away, clearing a passage and then allowing the rebels on the ground to do the fighting. and in a way it's a new model of war. very different from iraq. very different from afghanistan. in iraq the americans fought the war for the iraqis. the americans toppled saddam hussein's regime. and many iraqis never took ownership of it. and instead a lot of iraqis frankly put their hand out and said why aren't we living a better hand immediately. since the libyans had to fight their way, literally fight their way into the center of their own capital, they've been taking more ownership of this, that could be a very positive sign going forward. >> richard, as you come upon 7:00 in tripoli, let's remind our viewers what has unfolded on

this extraordinary day where we have live pictures inside the compound of the looting, the celebration, the black smoke. an area that would not be at all penetrable as recently as yesterday is now run over by civilians and rebel leaders. richard, describe what you're seeing. >> reporter: i'm in the compound surrounded by high walls, folks are streaming out. in front of me is a man smiling. he is carrying at least four maybe five assault rifles. another person is coming out with a new car. there are still some explosions. people are carrying rpgs with them. there is some degree of unexploded order nabs in here. i think this is people have to be very careful where they walk in this compound. there is heavy destruction inside. there's not just one building. there are dozens of buildings within the perimeter walls in this complex.

there are gardens. terror reck asian areas, many of these buildings are completely destroyed. >> we actually are looking at live pictures from inside the compound. and it's hard to tell who may be rebel forces and who may just be curiosity seekers. are you seeing that, richard, where you have people who are civilians coming in wanting to see what's there? >> mostly we're seeing looters. we're not seeing families, we're seeing men in their 20s and 30s and 40s carry things. leaving the compound. there will be some curiosity seekers perhaps tomorrow when families come. this tends to attract people and everyone's going to want to come here and take their picture inside this compound that has been such a forbidden city for them for so long. no, this is not cower i don't sayity seekers so much.

these are rebels and looters. >> we should mention that president obama according to our coronet traveling with him, kristen welker has spoken this afternoon french president nicolas sarkozy. the two men spoke about the need for an orderly transition in libya which brings me to my question to you. what now, richard? i think a lot of people are wondering there's now a vacuum of power to the extent that gadhafi clearly no longer controls this country. who does? >> reporter: i'm sorry. i couldn't -- i'm on a portable satellite phone. i could not hear a word you said. you dropped out. are you asking whatnot for the people? >> more or less, who does control this country right now? >> reporter: no one controls libya right now.

it is being held by their morals, the community leaders, the rengs leaders. the political rebel council is fairly weak. it was already divided in two, anyway with a western command and eastern command. there was no one in this country that anyone could call president or high minister. the only kind of law and order is what people are imposing themselves. but the rebels are greating a great deal of security. there are more check points in the city than almost anywhere in the world. this morning we drove through 30 or 40 check points. they were set up every couple hundred yards. they are concerned that the rebel fighter that gadhafi loyalists could be hiding out in an apartment or a particular neighborhood and have been spreading out to try and impose insecurity. while people are watching this image, there has been looting

here inside the the compound, but there has not been looting inside tripoli. maybe one minor incident. tripoli is in the being looted just gadhafi's compound. i'm seeing someone carry out a gold-plated perhaps solid gold rifle from gadhafi. >> richard, as we watch from here this live picture from inside the compound, i know you've been in tripoli several days now, actually. i wonder what the sentiment there is. is there a palpable excitement among the residents of tripoli that at long last this leader is gone? >> reporter: there was a sigh of relief. a lot of people what they feared most would happen would be a doomsday scenario. that gadhafi in his final moments would pull the trigger and unleash whatever weapons he

has left. and we are concerned he would unleash chemical weapons. it is reported he still has a stockpile of chemical weapons, although maybe not the delivery system. there is a sense of relief that this compound was taken that a doomsday scenario didn't happen. that yes there was fighting, a lot of damage caused as the loyalists inside the compound fight intensely with heavy weapons fired into civilian areas over the last 48 hours or so. but the massive missile assaults on to a particular city that never happened and libyans are relieved about that. >> it raises a good question. you mentioned the chemical weapons, the stockpiles, they're being watched by nato forces. is it your assessment at this point that gadhafi would no longer have the ability to wreak havoc or inflict massive civilian casualties as so many people feared? >> it's, you never want to speculate because gadhafi's

still at large. and undoubtedly he has some supporters in his hometown. there are loyalists that remain. it's -- it's too early to speculate that something terrible might not happen. that he might not have another card up his sleeve. but it's -- it seems more and more unlikely with every hour that passes. zpli just want to mention to our viewers the images they're seeing there are from inside the compound. that's quite an chi connick statue. muammar gadhafi commissioned that statue after the u.s. bombed libya in 19786. it's the golden fist clutching a fighter jet. now we see looters and civilians climbing all over it. and we saw people stomping on a golden likewise of gadhafi's head. before we let you go, we have a

couple of minutes left, it bears repeating this seems to be a decisive takeover of the gadhafi compound at this hour the biggest question remains that is what of muammar gadhafi. your final thoughts, richard? >> reporter: the biggest question people have here is not necessarily where is gadhafi, is do they now have full control of tripoli and the people here believe that they do. gadhafi has become a fugitive in this country. he's no longer considered president. he's been pushed out of his capital. he's been pushed out of his fortified compound. they all -- there is a manhunt across this country. libyans want to find him. they want to kill him. they want to put him on trial. now they no longer believe that he's still in power. >> all right. nbc's richard i think el one of the first to report live from inside the gadhafi compound watching these extraordinary events unfold as we come up on

about 7:00 time in libya. richard, we hope you recharge that cell phone battery. >> that's a live reports from nbc news as well with richard engel on the ground inside gadhafi's compound where hundreds of rebels and now civilians have entered the gates of the libyan leaders compound. as we have reported have broken into the armory. they have taken some of the assault rifles there and have gone room to room looking for the libyan leader. they expected that he was holed up inside this compound. but so far no reports that rebels have found him. they say their intention is to turn him over to the international criminal court. the pentagon is telling us they believe that gadhafi is still within libya and in fact, a prominent russian says that he spoke with gadhafi who said he's still in tripoli alive and well and planning to fight to the end. "andrea mitchell reports" takes over from here. good day. here we are in washington with

these dramatic pictures of the events unfolding. the reporting of richard engel exclusively from inside the gadhafi compound. the reports that the rebels have of course breached the compound and the whereabouts of muammar gadhafi. all u.s. sbrejs reports have indicated that they believe he is not om still in libya, but still in tripoli in bunkers perhaps in that very compound. as we see the smoke rising over the compound in the city of tripoli, i'm joined by stephanie goss. you have watched this war unfold from the front lines throughout. been with the rebels, been on the other side. tell us the impact of this now as the rebel leadership which is a military compound. >> reporter: it wasn't that long ago that these scenes seemed impossible. the rebels seemed like a rag tag group.