our reporter richard engel is not seeing or hearing much of the gunfire continuing. r, there has been celebratory gunfire going on in the streets. richard was also telling us how there was word of mouth traveling on the streets, rebels running through the city, they were spreading the information on the compound being breached. no word on whether moammar gadhafi was inside the compound or not. we talk more about the money and what libya has in terms of the country. the bank currently holds -- this is the libyan central bank, holds 144 tons of gold worth more than $6.5 billion. if the rebels take control of the transitional council, who has access to that kind of gold, to that type of power, so to speak? >> it is worth remembering that it is an asset only appreciating in value over the last few months as the stock market has been going down and gold is going through the roof. but again, if if transitional council is recognized by other nations, including ours -- we already have, so the presumption is that the transitional council is going to get access to it. the quest

richard engel takes us inside his compound to see what they found. >>> in his own way steve jobs has changed the world, he made computers work for us, he made our music portable and he taught us to play songs by swirling our fingers in a circular motion and to open a book on the web. steve jobs resigned as ceo yesterday because his health won't let him continue. a look at the impact from steve jobs tonight. >> reporter: it's hard to remember what computers, music, phones or movies were like before this college dropout set up shop in his parents garage and invented with his buddy's help, a computer you could run in your house. imagine that. >> we worked hard and in ten years apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage to a $2 billion company with 4,000 employees. >> reporter: steve jobs pioneered home computing years before ibm, upended the music business with the ipod and i-tunes, killing cds. the ipad is changing our way of life and film animation pivots around pixar, the studio he bought from george lucas and is the reason we all know who buzz lightyear is. >> to infinity a

we begin with nbc's richard engel. >> reporter: inside somalia, 3 million are starving. thousands are fleeing famine in the south, desperate to reach camps in mogadishu. but now there's famine here, too. in one filthy camp we see a boy in his father's arms, so weak he can barely keep his head up. we follow kalthum, she wants to show us her neighbor's sick boy. he has a fever, his mother says. he vomits whenever he eats. he's not able to eat? he can't eat? another neighbor aisha has already lost six children. only her 4-year-old daughter survive. as we speak, more women approach with more malnourished children. when you hold these children's hands and you look in their eyes, they truly seem and feel exhausted. they don't squeeze back. they're just listless, so tired. but they're victims not just of drought and famine, but somalia's political divisions. there's been no real government here for 20 years. relief efforts are severely limited by the political instability here. the worst-affected areas are controlled by al shabab, an al qaeda-linked group, and people here say t

nbc's ief foreign correspondent richard engel has made his way into tripoli and joins us tonight from around a very jubilant crowd. richard? >> reporter: good evening, lester. that post-gadhafi era seems to be beginning right now. tripoli is falling. we are now in the center of tripoli. people have come out of their homes to celebrate. we've seen fireworks in the sky after a battle today unlike any other in this conflict. it is a march on tripoli. rebels hope it is a walk to freedom. from 42 years of moammar gadhafi's dictatorship. on the highway to tripoli from the west, some rebels carry flags. others drive in cars and trucks. all armed. all excited. with shouts of "god is greatest." they firmly believe after six months of war, victory is close. thousands of rebels who used to fight in small, disconnected groups are now united. some are driving. but most are just walking to tripoli. on this front line in motion, we find a 29-year-old lab technician. he's already walked 15 miles today and won't stop, he says, until he reaches gadhafi's compound in tripoli. >> i'm one of the people th

nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in tripoli. he joins us now on the phone. richard? >> good morning, chris. i'm now in green square. we're having some communications issues, so i'm joining you on a satellite phone, but even through this phone you should be able to hear a lot of the celebratory gunfire. this celebration has been going on in this square since last night. people are circling around the square honking their horns. last night people were bringing their families here, taking photographs. everyone seemed to be want to be seen holding a gun, firing it in the air on what they were calling their victory day after rebel forces stormed into gadhafi's compound yesterday. and then started to loot it. we have already heard a -- the first statement, it was a radio recording, from gadhafi, in which he is calling on his supporters to take up arms and very ominously he said he wants his supporters, men, women, young people, to cleanse tripoli, and that was the word he used, to cleanse tripoli, of rats. and that is -- he is effectively calling for people to start a civi

lost you -- >> richard engel live in tripoli. is emerging in the u.s. intelligence community. the associates press. that and more when "morning joe" returns. ♪ [ country ] [ man ] ♪ gone, like my last paycheck ♪ gone, gone away ♪ gone, like my landlord's smile ♪ ♪ gone, gone away ♪ my baby's gone away with dedicated claims specialists... and around-the-clock service, travelers can help make things better quicker. will your auto and home insurer... be there when you need them most? for an agent or quote, call 800-my-coverage... or visit travelers.com. but think about your heart. 2% has over half the saturated fat of whole milk. want to cut back on fat and not compromise on taste? try smart balance fat free milk. it's what you'd expect from the folks at smart balance. ♪ >>> welcome back to "morning joe." 7:33 here in the morning on the east coast. taking new steps toward forming a national council. the mistrust are preventing them from a unified front. comes as the united states top envoy defied the syrian government and making an

by the way, richard engel is inside the complex now.ecial 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 n

let's go on the ground to nbc's richard engel live for us. richard, what's going on right now?

i talked to richard engel far too frequently when there's gunfire that near him. nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel reporting from green square, as richard said, now renamed martyr square by anti-gadhafi forces that have taken over that country and that city. in terms of the gadhafi regime, you will see the color green referenced over and over again. and things called green by the gadhafi regime are the first things to go as gadhafi is ousted from pourer, as richard described, and as you can see here, the aforementioned green square in the former capital libyan capital tripoli renamed martyr's square. that happened rebel after rebel. don't change your tv. in addition to changing green squashgs they are replacing that gadhafi-era all-green flag, the pre-gadhafi flag you've been seeing out of this revolution. so long green square, so long green flag. this is libyan state-run television. for months they've been broadcasting gadhafi's haranging speeches against the forces and, yes, that is one of their news anchors brandishing a gun on television. warn

our chief foreign correspondent richard engel from kabul. richard, good evening, and what have we learned about today's mission to strike back? >> reporter: it was definitely designed to strike back and right after that attack on that chinook helicopter, u.s. forces began a manhunt for the taliban responsible. on monday night, they tracked down at least some of the militants. once they were identified in a woody area in the wardak province, apparently some were trying to escape the country. an air strike was called in, f-16s, eight taliban members were killed, including according to the u.s. military, the fighter that fired that rp zbrks. >> you mentioned some poignant information about how did the military set out to notify the families here sn >> as you know, brian, the u.s. military doesn't give out this kind of information to the families by phone or e-mail, they go in person. but this time there were so many american families involved, the notification process was its own operation, i was told by a senior u.s. military official that noti

i talk to richard engel far too frequently when there's gunfire that near him. richard engel reporting from what used to be called green square but has been renamed martyr square by the anti-gadhafi forces that have taken over that country and that city. in terms of symbols of the gadhafi regime you'll see the color green referenced over and over again and things called green by the gadhafi regime are among the first things to go as gadhafi is ousted from power, as richard just described and as you can see here. the aforementioned green square in the capital of tripoli had been renamed martyr square. you can see on google maps, the white writing where we put the label, that happened hours after rebels took control of the capital. do not adjust your screen, it's just a green flag. so in addition to renaming green's square in tripoli, they are also replacing that all-green flag with this, the pre-gadhafi flag that you have been seeing in the news footage out of libya in this revolution. so long green square, so long green flag. this is libyan state-run television.

we have two reports beginning with nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel in kabul tonight. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. today, the u.s. military released new information about the mission, but there are also now new questions. was it really necessary? before dawn on saturday, a senior u.s. military official says elite american army ranger: launch an operation to target a taliban leader. it is around midnight, witnesses say, when the rangers arrive by helicopter in the tangi valley, about 60 miles southwest of kabul. they fight hard, a gunfight lasts 30 to 40 minutes, taliban say, before a twin rotor chinook helicopter is called in, full of reinforcements. on board are mostly navy s.e.a.l.s, among america's most highly trained, lethal and secretive troops. nato officials say as the reinforcements arrive at the target, the helicopter is hit by a rocket propelled grenade. witnesses say the helicopter crashes near a riverbed. after it crashed, it caught cc1: fire, a huge fire. we were not able to come out during the night because the americans were ar

and from there we now go to libya, our chief foreign correspondent richard engel has just arrived there for us. richard, you heard jim use the critical word, unpredictable, gadhafi is famous for that. what will you look for and will there, could there be any signs on the ground that this kind of movement is coming? >> reporter: well, brian, after months of deadlock, we are definitely seeing signs that things are developing very quickly. rebel forces have managed to surround and cut off the city of tripoli, there is intermittent power in the city, people are starting to leave tripoli, on our way in from tunisia, there were many cars going in the opposite direction, families from tripoli leaving the country itself. the rebels' strategy at this stage appears to be to try and strangle the capital city cutting it off from supplies and fuel in particular hoping that will trigger a collapse. >> richard engel who has arrived in libya, jim miklaszewski before that at the pentagon, thanks to you both. >>> now to another active front in that region, syria and the embattled leader there, after mont

for the latest we turn to nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel. he joins us live from kabul. good to see you this morning, richard. what's the latest on the investigation there? what do we know about what happened over the weekend? >> reporter: the u.s. military is saying little about exactly what happened which is somewhat understandable. you had elite special forces carrying out an operation. the army rangers, then navy s.e.a.l.s and some other special operation forces were brought in as reinforcements and then the operation went terribly badly. terribly wrong when that chinook helicopter was shot down according to the taliban definitely shot down. what we heard from a nato spokesman today is that the site where this crash took place is secure. it's been sealed off. that the recovery and cleanup operation is still under way. but that not all of the remains have yet to be identified. the u.s. military has not put out a specific sequence of events, how this actually took place, but speaking to witnesses to members of the taliban, we've been able to

. >>> when "nightly news" continues this saturday, our own richard engel in africa on the ground for what could be a turning point in the effort to feed the starving. >>> and later -- decay, now of urban cc1: a bright spot in the neighborhood, and going for top dollar. cc1:cc1:cc1:cc1:cc1:cc1:: : cc1: >>> we want to show you dramatic pictures out of london where hundreds of people have gathered to protest the death of a young father reportedly killed by police. the march through the streets urned violent with protesterscc setting storefronts and1: bus on ce cars and acc1: fire. >>> for millions of people starving in the heart of africa, a stunning development today in the first ray of hope in months. islamist rebels who had been blocking desperately needed aid deliveries appear to have pulled out of the somali capital of mogadishu. could be a turning point. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel is there. >> reporter: at a health clinic in mogadishu, it's hard to see how malnourished miriam is until takes off her cc1: shirt. she weighs only 9 pounds. little more than when she

we have a team on the ground in libya tonight, chief foreign correspondent richard engel and our own stephanie gosk who got there late this afternoon. we'll begin with richard in central tripoli. richard? >> reporter: good evening, lester. libyans are now offering a reward for gadhafi, nearly $2 million for him dead or alive in addition to amnesty for anyone who turns him in. as fighting continues near gadhafi's compound, libya's long-time leader himself is now in hiding. in a radio address, his first statement since he was forced from power, gadhafi calls on his remaining supporters to rise up. go cleanse all of tripoli, go out and clear it of all the rats, he said. the tables have turned dramatically on gadhafi. now he's the rebel on the run trying to foment resistance. the rebels have taken tripoli, but not secured it. today they set up check points. and fired on suspected gadhafi loyalists. but the rebels have no central command and their political leadership is hundreds of miles to the east. in benghazi. a degree of chaos has set in here, there are simply too many gunmen and no c

our chief foreign correspondent richard engel has the report. >> reporter: around 3:45 a.m., pakistani police say as many as eight heavily armed men kidnapped american contractor warren wine steinfrom his home in pakistan. weinstein, who just turned 70 last month, was highly experienced in international aid work. he had been taking precautions. he lived in an upscale neighborhood in a villa surrounded by walls with a metal gate and guards. it wasn't enough. just last week, the u.s. state department issued a warning that said kidnapping in pakistan usually for ransom. continues to increase dramatically nationwide. the gunmen entered the home apparently without a fight. his guards say they were overpowered. pakistani police have taken several of them into custody suspecting the kidnappers may have had inside help. weinstein, who speaks six languages, was reportedly working for a virginia-based company to improve pakistan's economic development. pakistani journalist has known weinstein sfor three years. >> he's the type of person is for all such eventualities and i wish that he comes back

richard engel, nbc news. >>> still ahead as we continue on a friday night, the fight back, that's what they calling the recovery, the citizen's uprising against thuggery in london and throughout the british countryside tonight. >>> nbc news can confirm tonight after a week of raging fires, riots, looting in the streets of london and beyond, bill bratton, former chief of police in new york and l.a. and boston has been asked by the british prime minister to come on board as a consultant to work with the british government to control this kind of out of control mob violence. >>> meanwhile there's some uplifting news tonight from the ashes of this week. a lot of regular folks, friends, neighbors are taking a stand for their own streets. nbc's jim maceda has our report tonight from london. >> reporter: it was not a week for the proud or patriotic here. >> i don't know why people do this. >> reporter: moments of senseless violence, hatred and desperation shocked the nation and those beyond. now the cleanup has started, but so has the fight back. >> we will do whatever it takes to restore law

richard engel, nbc news, mogadishu. >>> there is more to tell you about tonight when we come back. tom brokaw with a story of an emotional struggle for many of america's returning heroes. they did their jobs on the front lines, but now they can't find jobs here at home. >>> and later, an american legend, no wonder we loved her, and 100 years later, we still do. >>> our incredible servicemen and women need to know that america values them, not simply for what they can do in uniform, but for what they can do when they come home. >> even as a nation got the latest news about jobs, president obama announced a big new push to find jobs for america's men and women in uniform who often find themselves coming home from the front lines, only to wind up on the unemployment line. one such veteran is part of an extraordinary documentary by tom brokaw that airs this weekend called "the road back." tom has been reporting on this man for nine years now and tonight shares a soldier's story. >> reporter: four months before the war began, i first met staff sergeant charles weaver at his army base at

richard engel has the latest from deep inside gadhafi's compound in tripoli. >> reporter: hundreds of rebels battled gadhafi loyalists today. as they advance with all the firepower they had. they took away their injured and arrested a suspected mercenary. nearby for the first time, we were able to visit deep inside gadhafi's compound. it was from this balcony that gadhafi used to come to address large, cheering crowds. what a different perspective he would have today. it's ransacked. but hints survive of how he lived and how his glory faded. this is one of gadhafi's bathrooms, jacuzzi tub. all the lights are out. and in here is the bedroom. the ceiling has come down but under the debris was gadhafi's bed. and 20 feet below, an extensive network of bunkers. people here say that gadhafi used these tunnels to move across the city and that he may have used them to escape during the assault. there's a full command and control center here. these are lists of media organizations. cnn, and others. there is an exit here, a small little porthole that leads to the outside. the network of tunnels

the situation in libya is changing in the moment and richard engel is in tripoli and filed this report just hours ago. >> reporter: post-era gadhafi is ending. people have come out of their homes to celebrate. we've seen fireworks in the sky after a battle today unlike any other in this conflict. it is a march on tripoli. rebels hope it is a walk to freedom from 42 years of moammar gadhafi's dictatorship. on the highway to tripoli from the west, some rebels carry flags. others drive in cars and trucks all armed, all excited. the rebels fan out look for the snipers in a nearby orchard and buildings. they don't find them. with a front line this fluid, this uncertain the rooted are just patched up by the roadside or rushed back to hospitals miles away. but today we also saw victories as the rebels capture new territory they rescue some of their own. these men were prisoners taken by gadhafi's troops. disoriented and bedraggeled freed moments ago after dark days and dark cells. gadhafi says he's still in tripoli and urgently calls on his supporters to defend him. and a libyan state tv anch

richard engel was the first to report from inside the compound.tory of a revolution 42 years in the making. it was truly must-see tv. so if you were at work or out to lunch and you missed it, here's your chance to see history. lean forward. >> i am inside gadhafi's compound, this compound was designed as a last-stand facility. it was full of weapons, it was full of food, it was full of fuel, and some of that fuel, apparently was burning. we are seeing rebels storming in. they have just found the bodies of some foreign fighters. this area had been filled at one stage with mercenaries, most of them from saharan african countries. they are looting the complex, they have gotten into a weapons depot, a man right in front of me has two machine guns, one in each hand, another two automatic rifles, one over his shoulder. there is another truck in front of him full of rebels, all of them carrying new weapons taken from inside. we saw people carrying television sets, towing out vehicles, so they are taking away an incredible amount of weaponry from inside t

nbc's richard engel is in somalia.ere are reports on the wires of a deadly clash today where government troops opened fire on aid workers trying to distribute some corn rations from the world food program. can you help me out on that. >> reporter: that happened about a mile from where we are right now. we are on an african peacekeepers base many the center of the town. one of the on places under the control of the very, very weak government in somalia. this government only controls about half the city. only half this country. today there was an attempt by the mayor to distribute some food. and some gunmen that may have been related to the mayor were stealing some of this food, another group of gunmen arrived. a gunfight broke out between seven and ten people were killed. so it wasn't an attack by the shabaab militia as far as we can tell, it was a gunfight between rival armed factions. that is the kind of thing that happens a lot in this country with lawlessness. many people have guns and people are desperate, stealing

. >> nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in tripoli right now. he's on the phone with us. where do we stand in terms of the rebels taking control of every part of government there? >> reporter: we just returned a few hundred yards away from gadhafi's compound. there is the still an active battle going on in that area. gadhafi's loyalists, it's unclear how many there are are firing out of his compound with mortars and tanks. we heard small arm fire. the rebels in the area are very fully equipped. some of them were carrying knives. we saw one rebel carrying a spear gun, another with an ax. they have some small weapons plus artillery or rockets that we've seen some rebels with in other places. so the fighting does continue. it seems to be mostly isolated in tripoli around gadhafi's compound. it seems that gadhafi's compound is still quite well fortified and being attacked by rebels who are no match for the the tanks inside. >> richard, we have the reports of gadhafi's sons being in custody. do you know of what the plans are for them? >> reporter: th

richard engel, nbc news, tripoli. >> unbelievable. >>> when we come back here tonight.hat colin powell is saying about dick cheney, who appears to hold nothing back in his new book. we will hear from both men after this. people refer to jill as "that woman with the great smile." as a researcher, i refer to her as "that woman with the great gums." because great gums are a foundation of a healthy smile. so she uses crest pro-health clinical gum protection toothpaste. it helps eliminate plaque at the gum line, helping prevent gingivitis. it's even clinically proven to help reverse it in just 4 weeks. and it protects these other areas dentists check most. crest pro-health clinical gum protection. because healthy smiles are built on healthy gums. life opens up when you do. [ male announcer ] every day, thousands of people are choosing advil. here's one story. my name is lacey calvert and i train professional athletes with yoga. i know how my body should feel. if i have any soreness, i'm not going to be able to do my job. but once i take advil, i'm able to finish my day and f

richard engel is the expert. >>> and i wish a man who led back to greatness, bringing peace to northern ireland and taught us a lot about fiscal responsibility. we start with the president's address earlier forward and got to hear his reaction to the s&p's downgrades last friday night. was he able to inspire confidence and prove he's still in charge? we'll ask that now. former pennsylvania governor el rendell and michael steele former republican chairman. we need details. governor, thank you for coming on and i have the question before us. you watched the president today. you know the fix we're all in right now. the market is down 2,000 points in less than two weeks and it may not stop going down. how did he do today as the leader of the country? >> i thought he just gave us words. he's got to give specifics, details and lead. do exactly has you say. he's got to be able to convince the country first, yes, we've got to reduce the debt and deficit and we've got to make -- cuts to entitlements, defense and in fact races revenue from the sources you indicated. at the same time, we've got to

. >> richard engel, please try to take care of yourself. thank you very much you and your team. and with us here washington bureau chef of the al-aribiya television network. your network has done so much of the on the ground reporting. and you have sop information. what is your sense of the ability of the tnc to try to gain control because time is critical? >> the next few days in tripoli are going to be crucial because they will tell us a lot about the shape of things to come just as the shape of things in april in baghdad in 2003 told us the shape of things to come in iraq. the mayhem and looting colored the development of iraq. they should avoid a situation like that. the transitional council should send some senior people to tripoli quickly to try to establish a degree of law and order there. >> they said they were, but some of their promises have not been fulfilled such as the arrest of saif al-islam. it's chaos. >> i know this partly is lack of communication. it deflereflects the nature of rebel groups. you have people from the east, rebels from the west, local people are

richard engel, nbc news, tripoli. >> richard, thanks very much. and bobby ghosh joins me now live in the studio. he is "time" magazine's deputy international editor. bobby, it's good to see this morning. it's amazing to watch, as i said at the top of the hour, it's history unfolding right before our eyes after 42 years of gadhafi's rule. where do you think he is right now, and do you suspect that it is just a matter of time of following the money to figure it out? >> well, it may be -- we may be able to get there quicker than that. i think it's quite clear where he's not. he couldn't have gone west. he couldn't have gone east because both those areas were already taken by rebel forces. he would not be able to go north through the sea because there's no place to go. if he went to europe, he'd be arrested immediately and taken off to the icc. so south was the only way he could go. unless he's holed up in a spidey hole somewhere in tripoli itself. the south is where instinctively he would want to go. that's where the desert is. that's where the best

>> richard engel on post in kabul. thank you so much. we look forward to your reporting throughout the day and tonight on "nightly news." former defense secretary bill cohen these are questions that are going to be asked. this doesn't mitigate the tragedy. you've lost 22 members of a team. we're talking about 7% of abunit. this is the most elite, the most valued if you can ascribe value of extraordinarily well prepared men? >> i think there's time enough to question the mission and tactics today. we have to pause long enough to pay tribute to them and their values who are going through great pain. these are a very small band of brothers who obviously have worked together for five, six, ten years. they are a family. this is an enormous loss to them as well as to their personal families who lost a father, son, brother, husband. so we have to pause long enough to take that into account. let's look at the mission. overall why are we there? >> the pace of withdrawal, does this change that at all? >> i think short-term it won't change that. i

we'll talk to richard engel live in tripoli. coming up, ed rendell joins the table plus a look at politico's top stories of the morning. the first atlantic hurricane of the season. >> if you live from florida up to new england, this is the week to pay attention to the forecast. hurricane irene is going to cause problems. now, the hurricane is almost over the top of puerto rico. the island lost power widespread. the storm pulls away today. we no longer think the dominican republic is going to weaken the storm. it will remain a category one for wednesday. it goes over the warm waters, intensifies, up to 90 miles per hour. to florida thursday and friday. winds up to 100 to 110 miles per hour as it goes near or over the top of florida. it looks to keep its eye on the southeast. too early to tell you who is going to get the worst of it in the land fall. you get the gist from florida to south carolina. now is the time to prepare. the hurricane should be near florida on thursday. then a major rainstorm up through new england. you are w

always richa also richard engel.erman returned to his sew f show for the first time since he received a i didnjihadis threat. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] we've got all you need for back to school with low prices every day on everything. backed by our ad match guarantee. save money. live better. walmart. [ male announcer ] get ready for the left lane. the volkswagen autobahn for all event is back. right now, get a great deal on new volkswagen models, including the cc. and every volkswagen includes scheduled carefree maintenance. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease the volkswagen cc sport for just $289 a month. ♪ visit vwdealer.com today. but think about your heart. 2% has over half the saturated fat of whole milk. want to cut back on fat and not compromise on taste? try smart balance fat free milk. it's what you'd expect from the folks at smart balance. >>> time for a little news you can't use. great stuff. vice president joe biden closing the book on his china trip and now traveling yesterday, he m

nbc's richard engel in tripoli. thank you for joining me tonight. >> >>> joining me, washington bureau chief for al jazeera, thank you for joining me tonight. let me ask you, how smooth account transition be, given that the rebels are not totally cohesive false? >> looking back over the last six months and all the predictions that have been made about their capabilities to actually make it to tripoli in any shape or form and to see what they have done over the last 24 hours actually in reaching tripoli, i think a lot of libyans would be willing to give the rebels the credit that if they did reach tripoli the way they have done, then perhaps they can pull together in a post gadhafi period and lead the country, obviously no one expects it to be easy, gadhafi did not leave any institutions. there is no civil society in libya. no political parties. so, the challenges will be obviously huge and libya is a very tribal place. but if they have done it so far, i think there is some hope that they can pull together and do it

richard engel had is in libya with the very latest. >> reporter: at the center of the city of zawiya,30 miles from downtown tripoli, many moving at a high speed up and down this road. rebels control about 75% and the reason that they are driving so quickly, all day gadhafi forces still hold a pocket of the city and the positions around sdplchlt zawiya, we've been hearing for the first time of zawiya, it gives rebels an extra push as rebels say that they are making their final advances on tripoli. craig? >> richard engel there for us in libya. >>> meanwhile, egypt plans to recall its ambassador to protest the death of at least three egyptian troops between izzy soldiers and palestinian militants. put in place after hosni mubarak accused israel of violating the peace treaty of 1979 and and demanded an apology. the izzy defense force insists there had been no intention to harm egyptian security personnel. >>> a government-owned bashar al-assad step down and european leaders urged assad to step down and kill anti-government protesters coming out of mosques. but that says that it is all pa

richard engel is chief foreign affairs correspondent and he joins us on the phone from tripoli, libya. welcome richard, glad you could join us. >> reporter: thank you very much. communications have been complicated today. but i am now in green square which ch is in the center of tripoli. there are some rebels here, perhaps a hundred or more. they brought their heavy weapons. i think in the course of our conversation you will hear them fire them in the air. they are still celebrating. there have been celebrations in the city all day. at the same time there is also fighting going on in this city. rebels hold about maybe 90% but that 10% they do not hold is gadhafi's compound. and don't think of gadhafi's compound like some sort of i havecation villa. this is a military base. gadhafi list lives on a military base. inside of it he has tanks and artillery and he is firing the tanks and artillery rounds into civilian areas here in tripoli obviously making people very nervous and they want to storm the complex but the rebels don't seem to have the firepower to get inside this military comple

>> richard engel in libya for us.the search for a missing utah woman has led police to an abandoned mine shaft along the eastern mountains of nevada. susan powell, a mother of two young boys disappeared in 2009 after failing to show up for work. her husband, josh powell, is a person of interest and police won't say what led to the mine shafts. a criminalogist gave us his take on this. >> her 4-year-old son when questioned allegedly said, mommy is looking for crystals in a mine. and then law enforcement came up with a witness who said that at a christmas party susan's husband josh had allegedly said the best place to get rid of a body is in a minor a mine shaft. i think you couple those two together and that would give most investigators reason to be searching a mine and i think what you'd have to do, the night she disappeared, you'd have to take that time line and say, could josh have driven that distance in a worst case scenario to dispose of susan's body and report her missing. all of this has to come together to ma

richard engel has more now from tripoli. >> reporter: people are still here in green square celebrating. many of them celebrating firing weapons in the air from the first time we heard from gadhafi himself, he shished a radio station in which he called on his supporters to take up arms. he called on people in tripoli to rise up and to cleanse the city that was the word he used, to cleanse the city of rats. by rats he's referring to members of the opposition who took up arms against him six months ago. there is no sign that anyone has done that thus far. but gadhafi is effectively calling on libyans to fight each other. he's calling for a civil war. >> we continue hearing threats from gadhafi and some of the remnants of his regime. we also see some attacks not massive attacks, but still there's been shelling in some parts of libya. >> reporter: richard engel, nbc news, in green square, libya. >>> texas governor rick perry's quickly rising to the top of the republican presidential field despite his team of so-called eggheads or maybe because of them. >>> plus, a mother is charged with pou

melissa. >> that is nbc news chief correspondent richard engel in tripoli. joining me now for more on the politics surrounding the issues. thanks for joining us. >> nice to be with you, malisse sa. >> i think anyone who saw me in the first segment knows this is not my area of expertise. foreign policy. that said, i do know a little bit about american domestic politics around foreign policy. i have to say that statement from john mccain and lindsey graham was frankly pretty shocking to me. this statement about americans can be proud of the defeat but regretting that the success was so long in coming due to our failure. what are we to make of a statement like that from the out party, from the republican party. >> well, it shows that they were wrong, because they assume that unless we put, you know, troops on the ground or unless we did all of the bombing that, you know, we couldn't succeed. this did succeed because we were patient, and they don't want to admit that they were wrong. you know, they should have looked at benghazi today. there were banners that sa

for most of the past year rachel has been working with nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engele decade after, how 9/11 has changed the country, what we've done and what we've done different now because of it. here now is a short clip from the piece, take a look. >> the combination of cia units, u.s. special forces, afghan militias, and american air strikes is devastating. the taliban start to run and abandon al qaeda. >> you know, all the taliban they leave us and they say we are sorry. >> in november 2001, kabul falls just two months after 9/11. girls are free to go to school. the repressive regime that hosted bin laden is defeated. a month later, even kandahar, the taliban's hometown, is overthrown. >> when kandahar fell, that was the last urban stronghold of the taliban and al qaeda, less than 90 days after nooimpb 9/11 there were only 410 americans on the ground in afghanistan, about 110 cia and approximately 300 special forces. >> 400 americans. >> right. >> on the ground and they toppled the government of the taliban? >> 400 americans that were in partnership with our afg

>> nbc's richard engel in libya for us. richard, thanks so much. >>> well, earlier this morning, i spoke to the manage director of the washington institute for near east policy and former senior director for the middle east at the national security council, and i asked what he could tell us about the situation that's happening right now in libya. >> well, indeed, the noose is tightening around moammar gadhafi in tripoli. the rebels have taken towns now on the east, west and south of tripoli, and it remains to be seen exactly what they'll do now. they're sending in reinforcements. and my expectation, frankly, is that they're going to lay siege to tripoli, essentially, hoping that there will be further uprisings inside the city or there will be further high-level defections and the gadhafi regime will essentially crumble from within. it's important to remember, thomas, that this is a city of 1.7 million people in a country that only has 6.4 million people. so, this is a big, big target for the rebels. >> and as i understand it

nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel with us tonight from kabul. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. there's been so much talk recently about navy s.e.a.l.s, but today it was army soldiers who were killed in what appears to be a spike in the violence. >> reporter: this is where the single deadliest attack in the afghan war took place, a remote valley southwest of kabul. a crater and pieces of a chinook transport helicopter are the only traces of the 30 americans who lost their lives here. and just before 9:00 a.m. today, 300 miles to the south, five more american troops were killed by a roadside bomb and small arms fire. all week and across the nation, americans have been mourning. long embraces in nebraska, wooden crosses by a road in dover, delaware. and in virginia beach, friends lined up to honor navy s.e.a.l. kevin houston who was laid to rest today, one of at least 41 american troops killed so far this week. but why? >> if our objective was to have a centrally governed afghanistan, we have lost the war. >> reporter: the wh

richard engel is in tripoli where he toured gadhafi's former compound. >> reporter: hundreds of rebelswith all the power they have. take away the injured and arrest a mercenary. nearby, for the first time, we were able to visit deep inside gadhafi's compound. it was from this balcony he addressed crowds. what a different perspective he would have today. it's ransacked. a peek at how he lived and how his glory faded. >> this is one of his bathrooms, jacuzzi tub, all the lights are out. in here is the bedroom. under the debris was gadhafi's bed. 20 feet below, an extensive network of bunkers. he says gadhafi used the tunnels to go across the city and maybe used them to escape during the assault. there's a control center here. here is a list of media organizations, cnn, abdhabi, there's an exit here. a small porthole that goes to the outside. the network of tunnels extends for miles. our colleague, stephanie gosk saw many. >> it's wide enough for gulf carts. it's not clear if he used this one. he won't be using it anytime soon. these stairs lead up from the tunnels. must have been back up

our own richard engel saw a banner going up in libya and sent us the picture of it. "please stop shooting fire in the air it risks people's lives." it's signed by the rebel government, one no arabic and one in english to show the world they're aware of it and trying to stop the problem. >>> in this country, controversial michael vick has been richly rewarded for playing football. the eagles will pay him $100 million over six years, making him third best-paid quarterback in the nfl behind peyton manning and tom brady. vick, you'll recall, went to prison in '07 after pleading guilty to charges of being involved in an illegal dog-fighting operation. >>> david honeyboy edwards has died. the last of the original "delta bluesmen." he was born to sharecroppers in shaw, mississippi, in 1915. traveled and played with all the greats. muddy and little walter and the king of all of them, robert johnson. and he retired just last month from playing music. he died at his home in chicago yesterday. he was 96 years old. >>> up next here tonight, news about chocolate and the new data

the very latest on the battle for tripoli from nbc's richard engel, who is live on the ground there. >>> and former punky brewster stars talks to the adventures of motherhood in her book "happy chaos." keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today" your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. today" your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com