and our own mike taibbi is with rebel forces in the mountains outside tripoli, in the town of nalut. a place they've controlled almost from the start of the conflict five months back. and as mike reports tonight, the rebels have launched a new assault on gadhafi forces just today. >> reporter: we saw rocket after rocket fired by rebel fighters from mountain top positions to the valley below. the plan was to once and for all clear gadhafi forces from two valley towns where they were stubbornly dug in. from those towns gadhafi's troops had been bombing towns like nalut, and they threaten to try to retake the nearby border crossing with tunisia. if the rebels were to lose that crossing, a run to tripoli would be an impossibility. in the early morning haze, the rebels pounded their targets for hours. at this range it's an artillery war. these are soviet made rockets seized from gadhafi forces now aimed right back at those same forces. the rebels cheered each on target hit. though some were reluctant to show their faces with gadhafi forces hardly vanquished. >> do you know if they've retre

mike taibbi is with us to tell us more about how h is going to unravel more than the newspaper is goingsh -- issue sunday. >> yes, a lot of people who have been following the story realize how is it going to next level with its last issue sunday. and this is how it got that way. sienna miller and elle mcpherson, and not people whose phobe should phone should be hacked, but politicians and other people and regular people, it went to the next level when it was victims of brutal crimes and the young girl who was killed's family, and their phone was hacked and suddenly service members who had died had theirfamilies' phones hacked. and so there were several levels of inquiry must be pursued right now, and then all of the sudden an announcement of james rupert who is the heir apparent of r rupert murdoch. and this statement says that apparently, ak unshs taken years ago by certain individuals in what had been a good newsroom have breached the trust that the news of the world has with its readers. there is one line that struck me in the long statement of 1,500 words, james murdoch said about t

mike taibbi is in the region with the very latest. eporter: good morning, richard. we heard a lot of brave talk from the rebels, commanders and regular fighters about moving on to their next big target which is less than 60 miles from tripoli and moving on to tripoli where we're told there are armed rebel groups waiting for the signal to move. that was the talk. but without the action that's been promised from the international community it's hard to to see how that could happen. by any measure this has clearly been an up and down week for the rebels, win, then losing, and fighting to retake a single town that would move them one notch closer to tripoli about 80 miles away now. the new promise of international financial and political support was welcomed news for these fighters. a former gadhafi air force colonel who is now fighting for the rebels. good news for you to hear? >> exactly. very good news. gives us more chance to give freedom to our people and our country especially. >> reporter: the chances for a rebel victory seemed limi

breaking news with mike taibbi.o much. >>> mixed reviews for president obama's first-ever twitter town hall. during yesterday's hour-long event, the president took about 17 questions from users all over the country. most were about jobs and the budget, including this one from house speaker john boehner. boehner asking quote, after embarking on a record spending binge that's left us deeper in debt, where are the jobs? >> obviously, john's the speaker of the house. he's a republican and so this is a slightly skewed question. but what he's right about is that we have not seen fast enough job growth relative to the need. we haven't gotten the kind of cooperation that i'd like to see on some of those ideas and initiatives but i'm just going to keep on trying and eventually, i'm sure the speaker will see the light. >> kim is business editor of the times-picayune in new orleans. she was part of the team that picked the presidential tweet questions for the news conference. thanks for joining us. as we look at what the criti

nbc's mike taibbi reports from london. >> reporter: this was a result, the closing of this newspaper,his 168--year-old newspaper on sunday, that few people saw coming, even though the story has really been propelled to the next level. what did that, what caused it to go next level is that it's not just celebrities whose cell phones and voice mails have been hacked. >> if approximate it's true, if this has happened, i would like to see everyone responsible in court. >> reporter: regular people and people in desperate and difficult circumstances. the relatives of crime victims, the victims of brutal crimes, and now the insination, allegation that relatives of british soldiers killed in action in afghanistan and iraq were themselves alleged victims of cell phone hacking. their messages and voice mails also eaves dropped upon by whoever at the "news of the world" is responsible for it. and that's what the ininquiry is supposed to determine. the son of rupert murdoch did comment. >> clearly the practices of certain individuals did not live up to the standards and quality of journalism that

mike taibbi, nbc news, london. >>> that's news4 at 4:00.ews4 at 5:00 starts right now. >>> first at 5:00, casey anthony's sentence for lying to police, and tonight we know exactly when she will walk out of jail. >> dirty politics are a simple mistake. who is responsible for flipping the switch on a water fountain during a local mayor's big campaign speech. >>> wildlife in the suburbs. a local community is on edge after spotting a black bear and her cubs hanging out in the neighborhood. >>> and good evening, welcome to news4 at 5:00, i'm wendy rieger. >> i'm pat lawson muse. jim is off tonight. one man is now connected to a series of arsons in the district. this is video from one of the crime scenes in april. five firefighters were injured, one critically. the suspect accused of torching this home is now story.ody. >> report 3ó04's john7 in northwest with the latest on this developing story. john? >> reporter: well, this is a very bizarre case. according to these court documents, the suspect allegedly, after he set these fires, would immedia

mike taibbi has details on the newspaper's demise onchts rupert murdock had little to say as the scandaler: but son james murdock, if the allegations are true, the newspaper was inhuman. >> i feel regret. clearly the practices of certain individuals did not live up to the standards and quality of journalism that we believe in. >> reporter: one practice that met no standards, that grieving relatives of murdered children or of british soldiers killed in action had their cell phones hacked and their voice mail messages accessed. >> if these actions are proved to have been verified, i'm appalled. i find it quite disgusting. >> reporter: so did prime minister david cameron and both sides of the aisle in a rare emergency session of the house of commons, all in agreement that the public needs to know who was hacked, who did it,nd who knew about it. >> once we know that, then we will know where the blame lies and obviously the people responsible must pay a penalty. >> reporter: one person murdoch says is not responsible, roberta brookdz. murdoch chose to save her rather than one of britain's old

nbc's mike taibbi has more. mike? >> reporter: the so-called phone hacking scandal has been around for years. six years, to be precise. but in the past week it went from a story about celebrity cell phones being hacked to regular people as alleged victims, including the grieving relatives of crime victims or soldiers killed in action and the explosion that's followed led to the extinction of the biggest circulation newspaper in the english speaking world. media baron rupert murdoch has had little to say as the scandal jumped to another level. >> i'm not making any comments. >> reporter: but son james murdoch said if the allegations are true, the newspaper's behavior was inhuman. >> i feel regret. clearly, the practices of certain individuals did not live up to the standards and quality of journalism that we believe in. >> reporter: one practice that met no standards, that grieving relatives of murdered children, or of british soldiers killed in action, had their cell phones hacked and their voice mail messages accesse