fran townsend is back with us tonight.ential statement from the security council saying we condemn the violence, we condemn the human rights abuse. no sanctions. no call for investigation. forgive me, but is that the best the international community can do, despite months of evidence of a brutal crackdown? >> look, this -- it's shameful and embarrassing that that's as much as the international community's been willing to do. i mean, look, the sanctions are important. and the united states and the european union as are a wa repo have increased the sanctions, but those alone will not topple the regime. when you look at the astrosties starting with the 13-year-old boy that you mentioned and through the raid on hama and the cities in syria and the protesters, have to ask yourself, where is the international criminal court. they didn't indict gadhafi in libya for similar types of activities and that's the kind of thing. assad has to see that he'll start paying a real price, not just as a leader, but as a personal matter. and wh

fran townsend, wesley clark. what do you think? i'll be tweeting tonight as well. >>> next, a deadly day on the streets of syria. how many days have we said this now? but it has been another deadly day. top syrian diplomat telling us, no, no, they're actually protecting protesters. we're keeping them honest. >>> later, three young men convicted of killing three second graders, the west memphis three they've been known as, all three men are out of prison today. one was on death row. were they wrongly convicted or wrongly freed? crime and punishment, the west memphis three. isha? >>> you have to see it to believe it, and even then, a baby in a stroller in the back of a pickup. and wait until you hear what the babysitter said about it. that and much more when "360" continues. [ waves crashing ] [ martin luther king jr. ] i still have a dream that one day on the red hills of georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. i have a dream today! [ male

nick burns and fran townsend is with us. i want to go to the map, fran and nick.libya. sara sidner making the point, if you see the stripe this is held by the rebels. the opposition, tripoli the capital right here. you see they're beginning to put a bit of a circle around. the question is a couple of government towns here, regime towns here. fran, to you first from folks you talk to in the intelligence community, do they have any confidence that these guys finally have their act together and they really might have a chance to choke off and then maybe even march on tripoli? >> well, john, this is the most strategic success they've seen coming out of the rebels. the question is can they put the internal sort of machinations aside? we've seen indications there's tension among the ranks of the rebels. if they can put that aside and choke off supplies it give them an opportunity. along with nato support, there's a chance that they can actually achieve their objectives of choking off the gadhafi regime but it remains to be seen. this is going to requires a sustained and

fran townsend, thank you very much for your perspective as always. thanks, fran. >>> well, three down, nine to go, but one member of the debt super committee is already coming under fire. details of the live report from washington. >>> and a real head-turner. on a texas freeway. check this out. a truck driver loses his trailer, ends up in a really bizarre position. [ male announc] it's a fact: your nutritional needs can go up when you're on the road to recovery. proper nutrition can help you get back on your feet. three out of four doctors recommend the ensure brand for extra nutrition. ensure clinical strength has revigor and thirteen grams of protein to protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. and immune balance to help support your immune system. ensure clinical strength... helping you to bounce back. ensure! nutrition in charge! >>> time to reveal today's choose the news. a story you'd like to see. first, shining shoes may be a dying business, but one new yorker is trying a unique way to keep the industry alive. see his unique hard sell that

fran townsend joins us from new york, a member of both the cia and department of homeland security externalsory committee. fran, are these signs that moammar gadhafi is in trouble? and could possibly be losing his grip? >> oh, i think absolutely, fr fredric fredricka. but we have to be careful of declaring sort of gadhafi gone, right, too soon because we've seen internal strife among the rebels. this is, as we've reported now, a very strategic site, zawiyah, and so their ability to take control, hold it, and then build on that, leverage that strategic point, is going to be critical. the rebels are going to have to put their own internal discontent aside and really move now with the help of the arab league and international community. but i think this is a very important point. the question remains, can the rebels leverage it to finally topple gadhafi. >> you mentioned that internal discontent. how serious is that? >> well, you know, it's not clear. i don't know we have very good visibility to that, other than what's been reported. but i will say this. i mean, the easiest way to put that int

let's bring in fran townsend, cnn's national security contributor and member of the cia's external advisory committee and has had experience dealing with gadhafi regime. last year she visit ed high-ranking officials at the invitation of the libyan government. fran, what are you paying attention to right now at this hour? >> reporter: it's interesting, kyra, from a number of perspectives. i met with the gadhafis. once some of these sons are in cap activity, some people think that will affect moammar gadhafi. i do not think so. he is not driven by the normal personal emotional things. i do think he will try to evade capture. i do think he will fight to the end. i don't think he's going to look for an exit plan. in fact, i spoke to a senior italian ofgs, who has been directly involved in this. and i think even our european allies are quite stunned that gadhafi doesn't seem to care about an exit plan. their take is that he wants to be a martyr. and it looks like the rebels may give him that opportunity. >> fran, we're having you shalls with your audio. we want your insight in this, especially y

we're joined by fran townsend. of 2010, fran visited high-ranking officials at the invitation of the libyan government. and we have representative of contractors and others. the u.s. strategy in this campaign leading from behind, taking a supporting role in the end, did it work? >> well, the question is, is it working? while success may be a delayed, i don't think it's going to be defeated. i think that over the next several days and weeks we'll see more intensification of the pressure being brought by the rebels. i don't think gadhafi will survive this. if he does it would be a major blow of play to aunited states and others. >> not having a front role for the united states was obviously, a very big difference for u.s. foreign policy. the president received criticism early on. looking at it now how do you see it? >> i think president obama is very sincere in his belief that there's been a decline in american power. he's also very sincere in his belief that the arabs cannot be an american production. it can't be an

we're joined by fran townsend. officials at the invitation of the libyan government. we have william cohen. and we have representative of contractors and others. the u.s. strategy in this campaign leading from behind, taking a supporting role in the end, did it work? >> well, the question is, is it working? while success may be a delayed, i don't think it's going to be defeated. i think that over the next several days and weeks we'll see more intensification of the pressure being brought by the rebels. i don't think gadhafi will survive this. if he does it would be a major blow of play to united states and others. i don't see that as a viable outcome that he stays or remains with his son or others in power. >> not having a front role for the united states was obviously, a very big difference for u.s. foreign policy. the president received criticism early on. looking at it now how do you see it? >> i think president obama is very sincere in his belief that there's been a decline in american power. that's one. he's al

. >> with us now, fran townsend who advised president bush. several research missions in afghanistan and pakistan with navy s.e.a.l.s. fran, the large -- most deadly at being a in the history of this ten year war. i want to show our viewer where is it took place. this is in some of the most treachero treacherous. what does it say as we pay tribute to these heros that this is still where a lot of the hardest parts of this war are being fought? >> well, it tells and you number of things. first of all, this is right on the outskirts, pot venot very fm kabul. it was the sacred ground that our troops protected. mostly to give the karzai government the opportunity to extend their reign, their government. this is very close to the capital. this is an area that has been handed over to afghan troops. this was an immediate reaction force that was coming in because we had personnel on the ground in need of assistance and so you had u.s. soldiers as well as afghan commandos. and it tells you that the gains that we make there are very fragile. so as we beg

here to talk about the big picture, fran townsend who advised president bush and is on the boards ofia and homeland security down. in may of 2010, she visited libyan officials at the invitation of the libyan government. also with wright, author of a book that looks at rage and rebellion. you were telling me 31 years ago, you first met moammar gadhafi? >> i interviewed him several times. >> everybody has a bizarre moammar gadhafi story and i know you've met him, as well, fran. so let me ask you both just as a start off and more specific, and that is what is he apt to do now? it seems to me you can be saddam hussein and crawl in a hole and help they don't find you, you kill yourself, you are killed or you give up. >> this was a man who had and a half navigated his reentry. he's now gone. the main son left to advise who runs one of the key military units that is protecting tripoli and the inner circle. and he's the one person who will be with his father. and so when you look at what are the scenarios, the military option seems far more likely than some kind of negotiated surrender. >> a

fran townsend. let us know what you think. we're on facebook. i'm on twitter @ anderson cooper >>> next a deadly day in the streets of syria. it has been yet another deadly day. government protestors targeting -- government forces targeting protestors >>> later three young men convicted of murdering a second grader. the crime drew natural attention, so did developments today. the west memphis three they've been known as. all three are out of prison today. one was on death row. were they wrongly convicted or wrongly freed? crime and punishment the west memphis three tonight. first isha sesay. >> reporter: you have to see it to believe it, and even then a baby in a sfroeler in the back of a pickup. and wait until you hear what the babysitter said about it. that and much more when 360 >>> syria today, 23 killings >>> syria today, 23 killings today alone. in a moment you'll hear from a top syrian diplomat who says that security forces are there to protect protestors, not mo them down with gunfire. he says we have it all wrong tharkts world has it al

. >>> with us now from new york, we have cnn national security contributor fran townsend who advised president bush and now is on the external advisory boards of the cia and homeland security department. in may of 2010, she visited high-ranking libyan officials at the invitation of the libyan government and also with us is the national security analyst peter bergen with me here in washington. let me start with you, fran. the family is now or so we think part of it in algeria. what does this tell us about whether gadhafi's days are numbered? >> you know, gloria, it's interesting to me that where we find that they're in algeria because it was cnn that reported about a week ago that they had attempted to flee to tunisia where they refused to accept them. look, this i think all is part of gadhafi's exit from the scene, if you will. there's no question he wanted to find -- he clearly was looking to find safe haven for his family. he had to deal with the rebels what ijs. and the hunt is on for him, but it becomes frankly less imperative for gadhafi to flee now that he's got his family or a

for ten years along with cnn national security contributor fran townsend, who advised president bushnal advisories boards of the cia and the department of homeland security. john, i want to start with you, because there are competing interests here. we should want to honor these heroes. and yet there are pressures from commanders to the defense secretary saying in 22 of these cases there are navy s.e.a.l.s, your comrades and colleagues, who covert units and could their families be at risk if the names are publicly disclosed? what's your take on that? >> i think the commanders are absolutely right, you know, we do what we do, we're not looking for thank yous, you don't need to know a soldier's name to pray for a soldier, you don't need to know a soldier's name to say thank you. the problem is operational security, if you know their names you could put pieces together and then the men and women who serve have a threat at home or maybe their families. i think the operate rational commanders are absolutely right. >> fran, how do you deal with the competing interests in the sense that som

fran townsend. let us know what you think. we're on facebook. i'm on twitter @ anderson cooper >>> next a deadly day in the streets of syria. it has been yet another deadly day. government protestors targeting -- government forces targeting protestors >>> later three young men convicted of murdering a second grader. the crime drew natural attention, so did developments today. the west memphis three they've been known as. all three are out of prison today. one was on death row. were they wrongly convicted or wrongly freed? crime and punishment the west memphis three tonight. first isha sesay. >> reporter: you have to see it to believe it, and even then a baby in a sfroeler in the back of a pickup. and wait until you hear what the babysitter said about it. that and much more when 360 continues. [ waves crashing ] [ martin luther king jr. ] i still have a dream that one day on the red hills of georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. i have a dream today! [

fran townsend is a member of the cia external advisory committee. visited high-ranking libyan officials at the libya's invitation. also joining us is james spider" marks. first of all, mustard gas, what is it and how dead is it? >> well, it is deadly. and the issue is that he has well over i think the specific amount now is about 25,000 pound of this stuff. i don't know for sure. last count inventory before it was starting to be reduced and rendered safe, he had close to 23 tons of this stuff. so the fact is he also has precursers for seran gas. he's got yellow cake and low-enriched uranium. all of these facilities sadly are not being addressed in a very, very visible way which needs to be job one at this point, anderson. this transition is all about ensuring that this stuff doesn't end up in the wrong hands. and it doesn't seem to be getting the discussion and the emphasis that it needs to have. >> fran, a lot of people probably roll their eyes when they hear wmd because this is a loaded term from what happened in iraq. but it's not just skuds and

joining us from via skype from new york is cnn national security contributor fran townsend. met with gadhafi when you visited libya previously. tell us, what kind of man is he? is he the kind of leader that would voluntary step down? >> absolutely not. i'm met with not only gadhafi but his sons. we've seen some of the sons taken into custody. i think you can expect that gadhafi will fight to the bitter end. he's said he wants to be a martyr. i was speaking with a senior italian officials who's been involved in, and there's no indication that he has any interest in an exit strategy. he likes the south of libya so may have been down there, but i suspect he will be prepared to fight and lose. >> hosni mubarak has been caged, tried in court in egypt. it looks like gadhafi would be boxed in. does he have any incentive to turn himself in? >> he's waited now, he's got no negotiating leverage to use, right? he is facing the international criminal court. he clearly is responsible for the murder of civilians and war crimes. so it's not clear to me where he could go and what he could n

fran townsend is a member of the cia external advisory committee.n may of 2010 she visited high-ranking libyan officials at the libya's invitation. also joining us is james spider" marks. first of all, mustard gas, what is it and how dead is it? >> well, it is deadly. and the issue is that he has well over i think the specific amount now is about 25,000 pounds of this stuff. i don't know for sure. last count inventory before it was starting to be reduced and rendered safe, he had close to 23 tons of this stuff. so the fact is he also has precursers for sarin gas. he's got yellow cake and low-enriched uranium. all of these facilities sadly are not being addressed in a very, very visible way which needs to be job one at this point, anderson. this transition is all about ensuring that this stuff doesn't end up in the wrong hands. and it doesn't seem to be getting the discussion and the emphasis that it needs to have. >> fran, a lot of people probably roll their eyes when they hear wmd because this is a loaded term from what happened in iraq. but it's n

context from experts nick burns is the former undersecretary of state and cnn national contributor fran townsends also with us, she's a member of the external advisory board of the cia and the department of homeland security. i want to go to the map first, let's go to libya, sara sidner making the point i want to show you if you see the stripe, it's held by the rebels and tripoli the capital, they are beginning to put a circle around. but the question is the government towns here and the regime towns. fran from you first, from the folks in the intelligence community do they have confidence that the guys finally have their act together and they really might have a chance to choke off and maybe even march on tripoli? >> well, john, this is the most strategic success they've seen coming out of the rebels. and the question is can they put the internal sort of machinations aside? we've seen some indications that there's tension among the ranks of the rebels. if they can put that aside and actually really choke off supplies, it will weaken the hold inside tripoli and really provide them with an opport

we want to talk to cnn national security contributor fran townsend, and she is a current member of theia external committee, and what do you make of this, fran? al qaeda's number two is now gone, and how significant for this organization? are we even safer? >> well, absolutely. this is abdel rahman is an individual with historical ties and connections to many of those in the al qaeda organization. he was a key link in the war in iraq to zarquawi who is now dead, and he had a personal relationship with those in the al qaeda core leadership and to reach out to the affiliates, and we have seen the affiliates gain strength in the peninsula where we saw the attempted bombing on christmas day, and the underwear bomber, and just this week, a responsible attack in algeria. so the affiliates are gaining strength, and rahman is one of the key people to keep the connection between the al qaeda core which is severely degraded especially with the killing of bin laden and the increasingly strong affiliates around the world. >> so, fran, we heard from the secretary leon panetta saying within the mont

let's bring in our national security reporter fran townsend who serves on the external and homeland securityd and has had extensive experience dealing with the gadhafi region. this is amazing what's going on right now. is there an insurgency potentially that's in the works? >> i think there is, wolf. you know, one of the interesting things is as the forces around gadhafi have slowly begun to disintegrate and allowed the rebels into tripoli, what you worry about these forces will take off their uniforms and live to fight another day, much like what we saw in iraq, so the potential for that is quite dangerous for the transitional national council, and one of the things that the u.s. and western european allies will have to help them as they begin to try and form a government. >> because it's amazing to me that one of the sons of moammar gadhafi, mohammed gadhafi is taken prisoner and then he escapes. here in "the situation room," let me play a little clip. >> sure. >> muhammad was captured yesterday, arrested yesterday, and then when they went to take him somewhere else for his protection, mr.