on saturday, abu salim said he held the door open as khamis got into an armored car. minutes later it was blown apart by an apparent missile strike and based on the young soldier's information rebels announced that khamis was dead. if qaddafi is holed up in sabha it will be hard for the rebels to get him but be he's a master of disinformation, likely to say he's going in one direction then heading off another to elude the rebels out to capture or kill him. >> pelley: thank you, barry. blues great david "honeyboy" edwards has died at his home in chicago. ♪ i'm a country man, i'm a country man ♪ lord, i just don't know right from wrong ♪ >> pelley: edwards was believed to be the last of the original delta bluesmen. he played guitar and sang with nearly all of the legends. edwards, who was 96 years old, was fond of saying "the world don't owe me nothing." we might just disagree. president obama explains to veterans why he changed a long- standing policy on presidential condolence letters. that story when we come back. >> pelley: the united states has been at war if afgha

"gadhafi looked calm" says abu salim. during a 15-minute meeting gadhafi hands over the control such as it is to khamis, there is an intense family farewell, a sister to her brother, a father to his son. from here, gadhafi with his daughter at his side became a deposed tyrant on the run. they left the compound in a group of suvs while the fighting was still going on and headed south. abu salim's commander told him gadhafi was headed for sabha, where he can use strong tribal ties and the vast desert for protection. it's a familiar hideout for him. it's where he fled after the u.s. bombing in 1986. on saturday, abu salim said he held the door open as khamis got into an armored car. minutes later the car was blown up in a missile strike. based upon the young soldier's information, rebels announced that khamis was dead. if gadhafi is holed up in sabha it will be hard for the rebels to get at him but he is a master of disinformation. it's entirely possible he said he was going off in one direction and went off in another to el

abu salim hospital is one vast and chaotic mortuary. there are bodies everywhere, mostly men of fighting age, but i have seen two bodies of children, and i've counted at least 75 thus far. there is no doubt the anti- qaddafi rebels have prevailed in abu salim. but today, in this awful place, we saw at what cost. >> lehrer: ray suarez takes the story from there. he talked earlier today with itn's lindsey hilsum in tripoli. >> welcome back to the program. is there progression on the ground from the point of view of the rebels? have they been able to secure areas, bring in essential supplies, do something like consolidation in the areas they control? >> i think that there has been progress. certainly over this week. we've seen tripoli become calmer. there's still some talk of fighting, still a few snipers. but i've been traveling around every day since monday and more and more neighborhoods are secure. what seems to be happening is that you've got like neighborhood committees. these are young men and sometimes older men. and they stand on

a short distance away indeed abu salim district, rebels are still hunting for snipers' nests.igger threat could be still ahead. that was the answer. [gunfire] soon, a full-scale street battle. [gunfire] the fighters were dangerously exposed. they brought out their improvised big guns. and there rocket-propelled grenades. >> they believe colonel gaddafi's troops are just a distance of this road. they are trying to push forward. >> for about an hour, we were pinned down. then it was time to make a getaway. the rebels were running low on ammunition. we escaped with two bullet holes in our car. this was just one pocket of resistance. who knows how many more there maybe? the rebels are tightening their grip here, but in the capital, these are still dangerous days. bbc news, tripoli. >> this is a student who lives near martha's square in tripoli. i asked her what the streets were like in the capitol this morning. >> it was quite quiet, to be honest. i am not really used to the quietness. there are not any gun shots. we have not have that for six months. >> why do you think it has ca

this afternoon smoke and the sound of gunfire from abu salim while qaddafi's only daughter aisha appealed by telephone to a tv station based in syria for libyans to rally round her father to stop libya from becoming another iraq rally around her father, to stop libya from becoming another iran. this is rebel footage of one of the colonel's leading bodyguards who's been captured. "where is qaddafi" the rebels where is qaddafi the rebels are heard asking him and he shrugs in reply. perhaps the prospect of a $1.3 million reward will provide some clues. >> brown: the human cost of the civil war is mounting. and the continued fighting is bringing more casualties to hospitals. james mates of "independent television news" has that part of the story from tripoli. >> reporter: just inside the main gates of qaddafi''s compound of bab al aziziya the battle is not over-- far from it. shortly, before we arrived here a rebel soldier had been killed. his comrades fought back with every weapon they had. they clearly have the upper hand in this battle but victory still eludes them. the fighting has alread

the rebels thought they had an idea earlier this afternoon in the neighborhood of abu salim. this is a neighborhood that's very close to gadhafi's compound, and the suspicion was that his officers and perhaps even gadhafi himself and his sons escaped through tunnels and actually found themselves in that neighborhood. there was a heavy gun battle there today, and there are rumors circling around that gadhafi himself was there. so far, that's proven to be untrue. there were other fights around the city as well. there was a gun battle at one of the hotels here in town that used to be run by the government. the owner is said to be quite a gadhafi loyalist, and there are a number of western journalists there. we've known this was going to happen. it's a real statement on the fact that this city right now is not stable, and it's not going to be stable for some time to come. we are going to see these pockets of fighting over the next few days, and the hunt for gadhafi is certainly on. if they find him in this city, there could be quite a battle. >> stephanie, gadhafi has again warne

rebels have been searching for qaddafi loyalists in the neighborhood of abu salim where there was heavyighting yesterday, as well. there are reports of piles of corpses in an abandoned hospital. the red cross says it is concerned about the treatment of detainees on both sides. >>> incredible story here. a man's best friend to the end. this was the display of loyalty. a soldier's dog refuses to leave his master's side even during the funeral. hundreds turned out last week to say goodbye to navy seal jon tumilson. he and 29 other u.s. service members died in afghanistan when their chopper was shot down. this video is viral. that's hawkeye beside his master. another seal has adopted hawkeye. >>> coming up, struggling with student loans. the shocking rise in defaults and who is paying the price. >>> all indications point to this being a historic hurricane. >> the window for preparation is quickly closing. >> north carolina prepares for a direct hit from hurricane irene. the drastic measures being taken to prepare for this massive storm. >>> and it's also a little chilly in some locations th

the south of tripoli in the district known as abu salim and this is traditionally a stronghold of his supporters and khadafi is thought to be hiding out now there so the rat reports that the rebels are now fronting for coming to duffy but unfortunately we cannot confirm this information. you talk about. rebels who these anti-government forces you say are patrolling the streets and yet also you describe a sense of calm there in the libyan capital certainly we do get some conflicting reports coming out of the water uncontroverted the end of the day i do but i do believe you when it comes to the atmosphere you paint a picture of optimism for a post libya but rebel rebels claim they have a small cities now four of them that are still loyal to gadhafi how capable do you think is the opposition of governing the country there for the control we've had many say that those who do and to become part of the transitional government are a mixed bag of rival tribal factions. he jacqueline laurita coburn the situation here on the ground is very complicated the country's economy has been badly affect

tripoli trying to hunt down khadafy in one of his district in the south of the city district known as abu salim. has always been stronghold of his supporters but actually we we this information has been confirmed and we still have no sign of khadafi actually. that parent lee and definitely this is far from over. as you say we've got a lot of information and misinformation coming to us from both sides of the coverage here but no it's your second time in libya since the conflict broke out six months ago what kind of movie is it compared to when you first visit. well rory what we saw while driving from the tunisian libyan border to the capital tripoli differs a lot from what we used to see here in june and july when the western part of the country had been controlled by cut off his forces new leaders flags. waving everywhere and all the buildings all the walls covered with profit say in arabic english and french are welcome to new libya welcome to freely via also everywhere. so it's complete it's just absolutely different country absolutely different. picture and trademark rebels. pick up tracks o

fallen into the hands of nonprofessional fighters one of the biggest stories was discovered at the abu salim top security prison in southern tripoli where inmates were released after nato bombed the area of a do this the father of three young boys refuses to appear on camera still fearful of age from gadhafi loyalists he was among the first to seen to help destroy the arsenal. which they don't want well most of all of the hands of my songs on the news i'm concerned where our country will be going with the girls this is a very dangerous thing it's not a toy but with the country it was with arms it looks like libyan kids have already developed a fascination for the weapons of war but. rang up her real life and will go back to guys like se then you're thor's you say you go soon start gathering up friends through mosques i hope police are back on the streets and young gunman demonstrate their readiness to. will give you back to live as soon as they ask a system which many here are afraid that this eviction may have a painful withdrawal the girl has become one of the symbols of the libyan rebels

indication of the ongoing chaos dozens of bodies have piled up in an abandoned hospital locate in the abu salim neighborhood the site of the heaviest fighting. >>> 53 people are confirmed dead in mexico from a fire that happened at a casino. yesterday gunmen burst into the "casino royale" in monterey. they spread gas and lit the fire up. survivors said the armed men apparently were trying to rob the place. some people were so frightened they moved farther inside the building. they were then trapped by the fire. many are still missing this morning. >>> 5:20. hundreds of firefighters battle a major fire near yosemite national park. damage and the impact to tourists. >> surfing the web may never be the same. the bay area community testing out the fastest internet on the planet. we'll go there coming up. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, dry mouth is uncomfortable. it can also lead to serious dental problems. [ male announcer ] new act total care dry mouth is alcohol-free and has fluoride to strengthen teeth. stronger teeth and dry mouth relief. wrightsville north carolina..... the powerful storm is expected to s

to the south of that in abu salim, they also claim to have half the area.h, rebels have seized green square, but there is still fighting in the nearby port. they've also moved along the coast. qaddafi loyalists surround the rixos hotel with reports of heavy fighting. tonight, the battle for tripoli looks like this. the red areas are held by the rebels, the green show where pro-qaddafi forces remain. as nato jets continued strikes across the libyan capital, the message to colonel qaddafi couldn't have been any clearer. the end is near and events are moving fast. what's clear to everybody that qaddafi is history and the sooner he realizes it the better. >> reporter: the past 24 hours have been shrouded in much uncertainty, but this evening, it's become clearer than ever that the momentum is with the rebels. >> suarez: next, a two part report from itn's lindsey hilsum in tripoli. >> reporter: all day long, the sounds of battles and smoke rising from gadhafi's bab al ziziya compound. it's a huge area in the center of tripoli. he's unlikely still to be there, bu