>> reporter: what is this is really about is moammar qaddafi's survival. his army is now in the cross hairs of the u.n. resolution's enforcers but he has pro served it so far and it's still the only serious fighting force in libya. the rebels holding out in the town of misurata say they were shelled even as the cease-fire was being announced. but what moammar qaddafi does with his army now will determine whether he gets to keep it and his job. and the libyans have now invited international observers into the country, they say to verify that they're holding to their cease-fire and also, importantly to help draw where that cease-fire line will be. harry? >> smith: mark phillips in tripoli tonight. thanks. for weeks, libyan rebels in benghazi have been begging nato for help. as mandy clark reports, they're grateful it may finally be coming. >> reporter: demonstrating is now a family affair in benghazi. "libya free, libya free" this mother says. >> the libyans are happy. we don't know what will happen next, but at least somebody supports us. >> reporter: but t

earlier, leader moammar qaddafi closed the country's airspace in a defiant response to a decision to no-fly zone over that country. and qaddafi had promised to respond harshly to any united nations sponsored attack. >>> in other news, nissan is checking vehicles now made in japan for signs of radioactivity. a spokesman says the measure is meant to reassure the public. they say there is no risk of contamination to cars and no health risks to customers. >>> earlier this week, we showed you a pair of dogs who survived the tsunami, one seemed to be sticking close by his injured buddy. and this morning we have learned that those dogs were found by animal rescuers and they say the healthy pooch is at a nearby shelter, the other recovering at a vet clinic. [ foreign language ] >> this is the school we think is the elementary school that we saw in the background of the original footage of the dogs. >> in the past week, animal groups in japan have raised more than $100,000 to help treat injured pets from the tsunami. >>> well, another amazing video is make the rounds on the internet today. >>

to the libyans who support moammar qaddafi, though, attacking him, they say, only makes him stronger. >> reporter: with the u.s. and others providing an effective air cover for the rebels, the pro-qaddafi forces have fallen back, but the still outgunned and disorganized rebel forces have not been able to mount a significant offensive of their own. mark phillips, cbs news, tripoli. >> reporter: the allied air strikes have allowed rebel forces to maintain control of benghazi. today the rebels set out to retake another city, but this time they were stopped-- at least temporarily. mandy clark was there. >> reporter: the burned out vehicles littered the road, from the rebel-held capital benghazi to the front line of ajdabiya a hub miles away. ahmad jiahani is desperate to get back to the embattled city. >> reporter: but this checkpoint is as far as we can go. we're just seven miles from ajdabiya but we're told we can't go further. apparently down the road there are apparently four pro-qaddafi tanks and every time a vehicle goes over the rise they file at it. >> all my life is here, my frie

for weeks opposition forces made significant progress in their fight against libya's moammar qaddafi, seizing key cities in the east. but the tide may be turning. today qaddafi's air force fired on the oil town of ras lanuf dozens, many of them civilians, were wounded in the barrage. president obama spoke by phone with british prime minister david cameron. both agree all options are on the table, including the imposition of a no-fly zone to ground libya's air force.

now turning to libya where moammar qaddafi's hold on power may in face be slipping. allied air strikes tonight reportedly targeted his compound. coalition planes also bombed qaddafi forces today in mizurata to stop them from firing artillery at civilians. defense secretary robert gates says he can't predict how long the operation will last, he did say the u.s. could transfer control of it to allied by saturday. meanwhile, house speaker boehner wrote to president obama today to complain that the mission's goals are not clearly defined. more now from mark phillips in tripoli. >> reporter: day five of the bombing campaign over libya and the combined coalition air forces have declared something like victory. >> their air force no longer exists as a fighting force. to the point that we can operat. >> reporter: control of the skies has led to near control on the ground, as moammar qaddafi's forces have learned. and as the bombing has continued, the brave face of the regime is showing some worry lines. instead of rambling on for hours as he often does, moammar qaddafi's late

moammar qaddafi's latest offensive was a colossal failure and tonight he's more isolated than ever. troops loyal to qaddafi tried to retake three cities overnight but they were repelled by rebel forces. today in one of those cities, zawiyah, there were celebrations in the streets. the people are firmly in charge and demanding qaddafi go. secretary of state hillary clinton warned that unless he does, libya is at risk of a long civil war. at the u.n., the general assembly voted to suspend libya from the human rights council. and while diplomatic efforts to end the violence continue, david martin reports the obama administration is carefully weighing military options. >> reporter: later tonight, two amphibious assault ships carrying helicopters and 800 marines will pass through the suez canal into the mediterranean. but defense secretary gates said they would be used in libya only for emergency evacuations or to deliver relief supplies. he raised a host of reservations about military intervention. no authorization from either the u.n. or nato, reluctance to tie up forces which is might

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however, the real goal in libya is the downfall, death, or departure of moammar qaddafi. it's what the europeans want, what most arab countries want, and what the president wants. >> i also have stated that it is u.s. policy that qaddafi needs to go. >> reporter: all of which means america is fighting in yet another muslim country. but this time with the unusual support of most of the arab world. >> the arab public for the first time is open to american intervention. >> reporter: university of maryland professor shibley telhami takes opinion polls in arab countries. because qaddafi threatens and embarrasses most arabs, telhami calls this a one-of-a-kind moment for the president to build arab good-will. how important is success in libya? >> very important. success in libya is essential and it does mean in the end seeing the qaddafi regime change. >> reporter: regime change in libya is also important to the protest marchers on every arab street. after peaceful protests took down two dictators-- first in tunisia then egypt-- qaddafi changed tactics and made war on the crowds.

must stop, moammar qaddafi has lost legitimacy to lead and he must leave. those who perpetrate violence against the libyan people will be held accountable. >> couric: the president did not rule out military action, but his immediate concern is the humanitarian crisis. tens of thousands of foreign workers have fled libya and are stranded in tunisia. mr. obama has authorized airlifts to transport refugees back to their home countries. meanwhile qaddafi's crackdown on anti-government protestors is being investigated by the international criminal court in the netherlands. the top prosecutor said today the dictator's inner circle, including some of his sons, could be charged with crimes against humanity. qaddafi's warplanes dropped bombs for a second day on a key oil town held by opposition forces. mandy clark is there. ( gunshots ) >> reporter: the town of el brega has seen some of the fiercest fighting in libya's uprising. pro-government forces have held the town briefly yesterday but they have now been pushed down the road to the west. but this morning the go

french, british and american forces are again taking aim at moammar qaddafi's air defenses. ound, but qaddafi shows no sign of backing down and has ordered his military to distribute weapons to more than a million civilians. for more let's go now to mark phillips in tripoli. >> reporter: the focus has shifted from the initial cruise missile attacks to air-to -ground attacks from jets on qaddafi's land forces. the french appear to be concentrating in the east around benghazi with the u.s. attacking qaddafi's troops around the rebel enclave closer here to tripoli. colonel qaddafi himself appeared or at least was heard on libyan tv again today saying he would arm the libyan people and promising a long war, as he put it, against the crusader attackers. charlie. >> osgood: correspondent mark phillips in tripoli. thank you. and before we take our leave we check in now with bob schieffer in washington for a look at what's ahead on face the nation. good morning, bob. >> schieffer: good morning, charles. well, we'll talk to admiral mike mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staf

productions >> ifill: rebel troops clashed with libyan forces, as they took the battle west toward moammar qaddafi's home town of sirte. good evening. i'm gwen ifill. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, we get the latest on the allied air power assisting the opposition and the new momentum of the rebel advance, retaking key towns along the northern coast. >> ifill: and in a speech to the nation tonight, president obama defends u.s. involvement. >> brown: plus, we update the spiraling nuclear crisis in japan, where new radiation levels have been found in the air, seawater, and soil around the fukushima plant. >> ifill: and ray suarez talks to marcia coyle about today's supreme court free speech arguments involving a campaign finance law in arizona. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: having the security of a strong financial partner certainly lets you breathe easier. for more than 140 years, pacific life has helped millions of americans build a secure financial future. wouldn't it be nice to take a deep breat

president obama's warning to libyan leader moammar qaddafi today. good evening. i'm jeffrey brown. >> suarez: and i'm ray suarez. on the newshour tonight, we have on-the-ground reports from libya's capitol, tripoli, and the rebel stronghold of benghazi, and a news maker interview with u.s. ambassador to the u.n., susan rice. >> brown: then, we get the latest on the radiation containment efforts in japan as the government there raises the alert level. >> suarez: plus jeffrey kaye, in beijing, has chinese reaction to the japanese nuclear crisis. >> the nation is in the process of building 37 new nuclear pourpts, and is now reexamining safety. >> brown: mars and david brooks provide their weekly analysis. >> suarez: and fred de sam lazaro gets a rare look inside syria, where the government is just beginning to be challenged by protesters. >> brown: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> okay, listen. somebody has got to get serious. >> i think... >> we need renewable energy. >> ...renewable energy is vital

misrata say they have been terrorized from shelling attacks from forces loyal to libyan leader moammar qaddafi. last night qaddafi spoke to supporters outside his compound in tripoli, the first time he has been seen in nearly a week saying he is not afraid of u.s.- european coalition efforts to enforce a no-fly zone. >>> day three of the barry bonds trial, federal investigators jeff novitzky is expected to continue on the witnes stand. he said yesterday went through the trash in balco during an investigation into drug sales. that's where he said he found evidence linking bonds to steroids. >>> a man hundred dollars this morning for the person who shot and killed two men and a dog. police found them on harmon avenue at 8:00 last night. they died at the hospital. two dogs were also shot. one survived. witnesses say they saw two men running from the scene. so far, though, police don't have any suspects or motive. >>> and everything back to normal at sfo this morning after someone phoned in a bomb threat. passengers were flying from manila to san francisco on a philippines airline flight when the

meanwhile, moammar qaddafi warns thousands of libyans will die if the u.s. ornate tow interfere in his country. two u.s. warships are headed to the country. we are joined with reporter toula vlahou. good morning, you're in nalud, is that right? >> that is, where the border is controlled by qaddafi troops but the town apparently is with the rebels. >> we understand there are evacuation going on right now. this is happening now? >> there are evacuations going on, yes, and there's going to be an evacuation going on tomorrow. the british are sending in a plane to airlift stranded refugees who are stranded on the other border with libya and tunisia. that will take place to remember because thousands of migrant workers are continuing to stream into tunisia and are unable to get out for various reasons among them the egyptian government hasn't been able to send in enough to planes to transport them back to egypt. >> when was the last time we heard from moammar qaddafi and is there a feeling that war is imminent there right now? >> there is a feeling, there is defin

forces loyal to moammar qaddafi used tanks and sniper fire to prs their assault zawiyah, outside tripolictors reported at least 40 people killed in the latest fighting. meanwhile, qaddafi again rejected any attempt at outside intervention. we have two reports from "independent television news," beginning with jonathan rugman, in tripoli. >> reporter: this was state television's sanitized version of zawiyah's outskirts today. peace and tranquility are returning after zawiyah was freed from al qaedalinked gangs, the channel said. a reporter interviewed qaddafi's fighters, all dressed in the green of his 1969 revolution. "i'm a volunteer" said one. "i came to liberate the city from gangs and al qaeda and the army is 90% in control. the presenter then told libyans that masses of people were flowing into zawiyah's streets in support of moammar qaddafi a message echoed by supposedly ordinary residents. >> ( translated ): there was no shelling, to no air strikes, some people had weapons but we didn't see any destruction like al jazeera said. it's all lies. >> reporter:. >> ( translated ): the s

. >> couric: now turning to libya where oil is the life blood of moammar qaddafi's regime. d in a major offensive today, he tried to retake a key oil terminal captured by rebels in the eastern city of brega. qaddafi's warplanes dropped bombs but the opposition beat back the attack. meanwhile, two u.s. warships passed through the suez canal today heading closer to libya. defense secretary robert gates says they could be used to evacuate civilians. the libyan border is overwhelmed with refugees. 30,000 are waiting to get into tunisia. and some foreign workers were able to get out on ships bound for egypt. but back to today's major development, qaddafi's failed offensive in brega. mandy clark was there and reports tonight from benghazi. >> reporter: this is the excitement of victory in the town near today's major battle, cars bearing rebel fighters braced the front line. their comrades splashed water on them and cheered. when word came in of an apparent rebel victory down road, this was a scene of wild celebration. but now these fighters are rushing to get a new shipment of wea

and moammar qaddafi issued a defiant statement after two of his key advisors resigned. good evening. i'm jeffrey brown. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, we have the latest on the fighting, the defections and what c.i.a. teams are doing now on the ground in libya. >> brown: then, will the budget showdown in congress result in a government shutdown? we ask senator benjamin cardin, democrat of maryland and indiana republican representative mike pence. >> woodruff: spencer michels looks at the science behind tsunamis and whether japan's crisis is a wake-up call for the united states. >> government scientists here in seattle say their tsunami warning systems saved a lot of lives but they're not sure what would happen if the big one hits the pacific northwest. >> brown: and margaret warner updates the political chaos and escalating violence in the african nation of ivory coast. that all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> you can't manufacture pride, but pride builds great cars. and you'll fi

this while international leaders convened in london, looking for a way to end moammar qaddafi's days in power. >> woodruff: more than 40 top diplomats turned out for the london conference, the u.s., the u.n., nato, the arab league and others had one goal: help move libya toward a post qaddafi government without taking direct action to remove him. secretary of state hillary clinton. >> we cannot and must not attempt to impo our will on the people of libya, but we can and must stand with them as they determine their own destiny. and we have to speak with one voice in support of a transition that leads to that time. we agree with the arab league that qaddafi has lost the legitimacy to lead. >> woodruff: the italian foreign minister offered a proposal that included a cease-fire and exile for qaddafi. but british foreign secretary william hague said the meeting was not meant to choose colonel qaddafi's retirement home. in the end, the diplomats agreed to establish a steering group on libya and to consider further sanctions. they did not discuss arming the libyan opposition forces. represen

still, libyan leader moammar qaddafi vows not to give up. his first appearance since at assault began, qaddafi called his enemies, crazed fascists who will go down in the dust bin of history. end quote. forces loyal to qaddafi are bolstering up their assault on the ground trying to retake the last major city in western liby that's still in rebel hands. leaders are closer to an agreement that would put nato in charge of running that no- fly zone. the alliance has sent warships to the waters off the libyan coast joining u.s. vessels on patrol there. >> new troubles in japan. one concern is with the tap water now. and another with the crippled nuclear power plant. black smoke is rising out of one of the reactors prompting crews to evacuate once again. work is suspended at the plant until morning. this problem comes after workers got a major step closer though to ending the crisis. they restored electricity to the nuclear plant. but they have to check now all the equipment before turning on the cooling system. meanwhile, authorities are telling

home. >> woodruff: as the libyan drama continued, there was word from the netherlands today-- moammar qaddafi is now under investigation by the international criminal court. jonathan miller has that story. >> reporter: just four days after the u.n. security council voted unanimously to refer colonel qaddafi and his henchmen to the i.c.c., its prosecutor pledged that anyone found to have committed crimes against humanity in libya would be held to account. >> we'd like to use this opportunity to put them on notice. if forces under their command and control commit crimes, they could be criminally responsible. >> reporter: the prosetor's investigation will center on events in eight key towns and cities, in the last two weeks of february. in tripoli, he will investigate more than 300 alleged killings of protestors. in benghazi, to the east, 257 killing, and in zawiyah, west of the capital, 124 demonstrators allegedly gunned down. he will also look into other alleged crimes in misratah, ajdabya, al-bayada and derna. today the libyan government dismissed the investigation as "close to a joke." one m

thank you. >> brown: moammar qaddafi showed no sign of backing down today, even as u.s. and british submarines fired another 20 cruise missiles at targets in libya. he appeared for the first time since the coalition attacks began on saturday. earlier tanks and troops local to qaddafi blasted a town near the tunisian border and the city of misrata east of tripoli. the u.s. task force commander, admiral samuel locklear, said the coalition was "considering all options" on how to respond. we have a series of reports from independent television news, beginning with john ray in tripoli. >> reporter: coalition air strikes are hitting home. the evidence showed forth by the libyans themselves destroying targets with precision. the twisted and charred is what remains after six tomahawk cruise missiles smashed into a naval base punching deep into concrete, leaving gaping craters. and long after last night's attack fire still burns and the ruins smolder. these are the remains of a multi-barrel rocket launcher. although the libyan authorities have talked repeatedly about civilian cas

as the white house continues to weigh its options, moammar qaddafi's forces keep pounding the opposition from the air and on the ground. 30 miles from tripoli, government troops retook most of zawiyah today after almost a week of bitter fighting. hospital officials report dozens of deaths on both sides. in the east, where the rebels control almost all the big cities there were new bombing raids by the libyan air force. the opposition fired back with anti-aircraft, guns. in addition to being held by the rebels, that part of libya is the backbone of the country's petroleum industry. many of the oil fields are there as well as five big terminals where tankers are loaded for export. there are also three refineries, a natural gas plant, and an important pipeline that runs up the coast. today, as mandy clark reports, oil production became a target. >> reporter: it was a spectacular attack on a target both sides have avoided so far-- libya's oil infrastructure. these columns of black smoke are rising from the oil terminal at sidr, which was right on today's front lines. the rebels say qaddafi's

learned that the united nations has opened an investigation into allegations of torture by leader moammar qaddafi's forces. this comes as qaddafi is issuing a new warning. he says libyans will fight back if western nations impose a no- fly zone to keep his regime from using its air force to bomb anti-government rebels. qaddafi's threat came in a threat with turkish television. he blamed the up rising in libya on youths misled and drugged by al qaeda. >>> later this morning, president obama will meet with his national security advisors to talk about libya and how to get qaddafi to step down. the administration insists that if there is a no-fly zone, it would be authorized by the united nations and not the united states. >>> meantime in libya, pro- qaddafi forces have stopped rebels from advancing towards the capital of tripoli. >>> 4:34. possible police misconduct in san francisco means more than 40 criminal cases are expected to be dropped today. those cases are linked to eight police officers accused of misconduct and perjury from drug busts caught on tape in residential hotels. at least 13 other

the stage appears to be set for a bloody showdown as rebels inch closer to moammar qaddafi's home town. rebels have regained control over hundreds of miles of libyan coast as coalition forces have struck qaddafi's forces. leaders of the international efforts say the offensive is meant to protect civilians. outside qaddafi's compound today, a crowd mobbed a car said to be with the libyan leader inside as he refuses to step down. much more on the situation in libya coming up on the "cbs evening news with katie couric" right after this newscast. >>> some potentially damaging testimony today in the barry bonds trial from his former girlfriend. simon perez is at the courthouse in san francisco, where kimberly bell also faced tough cross-examination about her motives. simon. >> reporter: elizabeth, kimberly bell is easily the most anticipated witness in the trial and her testimony did not disappoint. there were tears, death threats, sexual infidelity and even a mention of richard gere. the witness with the most salacious details took the stand, kim bell. for the prosecution, one person who c