sara sidner was there when it all happened. >> let's go. come on, sara. come on, sara. >> having to run out of the compound now. we see gunfire coming from outside o the compound. it's getting too close. so we're leaving. we're not going to go into the compound. there's definitely from the outside of the compound firing towards us. [ gunfire ] >> just got a gunfire incoming over our head. >> it's behind you. >> we're seeing the tracers and hitting the water tank and the area. we got to go. >> sara sidner outside gadhafi's compound this evening. contrast that with scenes from earlier today as fighters poured in firing shots in celebration climbing the statues, carrying out boxes of guns and ammunition. some went room to room searching for gadhafi. of course, they found to trace of him. they managed to shut off a key escape route possibly paving the way for the leaders to fly in from benghazi. military spokesman saying that could take place on thursday. that is assuming that continued progress, they have continued progress. opposition forces have driven the

sara sidner as well as we mentioned. at the top of the program, matthew chance is in a very tough spot tonight. he, his crew, and a number of other foreign correspondents are trapped inside the ruxus hotel, not far from the gadhafi compound or where sara sidner just spoke to us, martyr's square, formerly green squamplt i spoke to matthew in the 8:00 hour. >> what's the situation where you are inside that hotel? >> reporter: well, in terms of we've not got much to report in terms of what's happening outside the perimeter of the hotel in the rest of tripoli. i know you're speaking to sair ra. i've not got any verification of what's going on from our very limited perspective here. we're still very much in the same kind of grim situation, which is where we're in a hotel where the top floor of the hotel, we've corralled ourselves into that top floor while gadhafi loyalists are still very much in control of this hotel and the immediate perimeter around it. beyond that, i can't give you any good indication of what extent gadhaf

sara sidner, thank you so much. gadhafi forces right now are keeping our reporters on lockdown inside of that international hotel. the hotel in tripoli. our matthew chance is there. we're expecting him to call in at any moment during this hour. we'll bring that to you live, of course. one of the final gadhafi strongholds in all of the capital city. coming up, i want to talk about the rebels. what started as a group has become an army. close to taking down moammar gadhafi. but rebels in libya are definitely getting help. we'll explain to you these reports of sleeper cells and which moves broke this battle wide open. plus, we're just getting in this brand new video as i mentioned of president obama, he's on vacation in martha's vineyard. he spoke a short time ago on what's happening. these developments in libya. the president uninterrupted in his own words, next. it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities, so we're helping them with advice from

sara sidner on the ground there, as we see the smoke billows from outside, perhaps inside the compound, and sara side anywhere very close very close -- if you would, we have the international audience joining us. again describe where you are, what you're seeing and what you're hearing. >> reporter: we are in the neighborhood of bab al aziziya. the fighting is very intense. what we're seeing right now, we're on dirt streets -- >> can you hear us, sara? i want to go to general spider marks, if we can. you've been listens to sara as well. it looks like a very tense and dangerous situation at this time, as someone who has a very intense understanding of the military, in your experience, what is taking place? >> suzanne, what you are seeing is first of all, sara is being extremely courageous, and your cautions to her are great. my recommendation is she needs to settle someplace where she can communicate with you guys and give her a good sense, let this thing unplay in front of her, and your cautions are absolutely spot on. so god bless her. i hope she's going to be okay. it's complete kayou

parts of the city that are not safe and gadhafi forces still have some sort of presence in. >> our sara sidnerive out of tripoli doing a absolutely remarkable job for us covering this story. sara, thank you so much. i understand we have been able to connect with our arwa damon who is live. just not far from the airport, is that right, arwa? as you get miked up there, are you still not far from the airport and what can you tell us about the talk about gadhafi possibly hiding out on a farm not far from where you are? okay, looks like -- there we go. we go ahead. >> reporter: i think our signal may have just gone down. >> you're back up, arwa. can you hear me okay? okay. we are still working on that connection with arwa. as you can see, it's a fluid situation. technology doesn't always work in our favor. we are going to try to reconnect with arwa damon just outside the airport in tripoli where there has been talk possibly airplanes on standby for moammar gadhafi, possibly an exit plan and possibly hiding out on a farm there near the airport. arwa damon is working her sources and that part of the

meanwhile, our sara sidner has made her way into tripoli. are we connected? t know if you were able to hear arwa and what she was telling us where it was calm about 45 minutes ago, then you heard the fighting that has broken out. what's your sense of the activity from where you are? >> reporter: well, my sense is more and more people are coming out of the city. this is one of the things we've been reporting and seeing, there just isn't anywhere that's actually safe. i know the rebels are saying that there's a certain section of the city under their control, and one minute it's quiet, then you find yourselves caught in a firefight. you don't know how many forces are out there. it is a very intense situation show of course for the rebels and those fighting for gadhafi, but for the orders, the correspondents, the crews, the photographers, the teams that go in, we don't have a real grip on which street is controlled by whom. so a very intense situation here, and we're all feeling, to be perfectly honest a little unsettled, we're not quite sure what's coming from w

sara sidner is with us from the outskirts of tripoli. ey were at green square but pulled back for security. sara, do you see evidence of westerners aiding the rebels as they move towards tripoli? >> reporter: we are not seeing evidence of that. we drove quite a bit around. we went directly to green square to the city from the west. we didn't see anyone in the vicinity of the square. all we saw were rebel checkpoints and then rebels in the square. that was about it. now, to be fair it's about 4:30 in the morning our time. it's not a time when people would normally be out. if we were to see anything such as, you know, certain kinds of security forces, we are not seeing that anywhere near the square. >> general, do you have a question for sara sidner who is on the scene? >> i do. sara, can you talk to people and find out whether they have pushed the gadhafi forces back into this so-called district that's controlled by gadhafi? >> reporter: i'm sorry. you will have to ask me that again. >> apparently gadhafi's forces control one small distric

sara sidner in green square.th the latest on the airport and matthew chance trapped in tripoli in his hotel. all ahead on "360." tracers hitting the water tank >>> that very rare thing in the republican thing, a moderate. jon huntsman believes in global warming, is a moderate. and was once in a rock band. i'm joined by his extremely glamorous wife of 29 years, mary kay. when did you first meet him. >> careful. >> i met him in high school. i grew up in florida, he grew up in california. i was a sally girl in a restaurant, he was a dish washer, and i fell in love with a rock and roll guy. what can i say. >> did you think you were marrying the next freddy mercury. >> oh, yeah. >> he still has that in him today. he is probably the most colorful guy i know. rock and roll, motocross, harley, he -- >> harley? you ride a harley? you ride harley-davidsons, wanted to be awe ro rock star. why should he be president? >> he's been there, done that, and taken a state to number one right there. i think that the confidence is th

drive sober, or get pulled over. >> sara sidner has been in the thick of the battles in tripoli. ins me now. sara, great to see you again. on the show last night, pretty frantic scenes. you expressed a concern at one stage about what your family might be thinking. have you had a chance to talk to your mother yet? >> yes, i did. thanks for asking, piers. i did give her a call, because we're having difficult times trying to communicate, even with cnn, it's been very, very hard. our phones drop constantly, even though they're satellite phones. every time nato flies over, we lose all communication. but i did get ahold of mom, and first she said great job. then she said, what the heck are you doing. not exactly like that. but close. you know how family is. they see you in these situations and they're wondering, why would you go there? what are you doing? why are you in the middle of that? can't you find somewhere safer to be? but you know this, as a journalist yourself, you know it's important for us to be able to see and hear and tell the story from the perspective, and be there in th

we'll ask cnn's sara sidner, what's it like to be in the middle of the chaos. >> more guns. >> this is "piers morgan tonight." tonight's breaking news. steve jobs stepping down as ceo of apple. joe knows sara. joe, is this a surprise? obviously, lots of speculation about steve jobs' future because of his health? what's your view? >> the only real surprise is that it happened tonight, really. he's been sick for a long time. he has not looked well, obviously, in appearances recently he's had a liver transplant, a tumor on his pancreas. he's had various other ailments. so his health, one assumes has been deteriorating, and there is a certain kind of sad inevitability to this moment. >> obviously apple's become this extraordinary global business. one of the biggest market caps of any american company in history. what impact will steve jobs standing down as the chief executive officer have on the company, do you think, if any? >> well, steve jobs is one of the great innovators in the history of modern capitalism. he's also one of the genius marketers. with ways of getting people to get inte

. >> now, when libyan rebels stormed moammar gadhafi's compound on tuesday, cnn's sara sidner and her team the were there to cover it. they followed the rebels right into the complex. within minutes there was more gunfire and they had to retreat. i spoke with sara. >> reporter: we had to complete the compound because we literally heard bullets flying past our heads. we looked behind us and saw tracer rounds coming from a fairly large weapon that were coming directly into the compound. so we got out of there as fast as we could. everyone was running. rebels themselves holding all that ammunition in their guns, their first reaction was to gun and then to turn around and start firing back. what we do understand at this point is that was not coming from within the compound. that was actually coming from a neighborhood to the east that was outside of the compound. so what the rebels are saying is it is gadhafi's forces and they are now attacking the compound which is something no one ever would have thought would happen. this is a compound that is really gadhafi's personal space. the rebel

there are guns all around. >> sara sidner, thank you. we'll have much more from our teams on the ground in libya as soon as it's safe for them to pause and give us a call here at cnn. >>> still ahead, let's take a look at the pictures of live radar here. it's large, it's powerful and aiming for the u.s. we're tracking hurricane irene. now a category 3 storm as churns through the atlantic and the bahamas. folks battening down hatches as they brace for a direct hit in a matter of hours. but then ha? where in the u.s. will, could irene strike people in north carolina? not taking any chances. >> there are few evacuation options. the island is 40 kilometers long. outrunning the storm isn't an option. >> some of the predictions here have the tar heel state as irene's bull's-eye. we'll check in with meteorologist chad myers next. [ male announcer ] they'll see you...before you see them. cops are cracking down on drinking and riding. drive sober, or get pulled over. [ mrs. davis ] i want to find a way to break through. to make science as excitin

our sara sidner has been covering the fight for zawiya and finally it went the way of the rebels. sara, can you hear me? >> reporter: i can. i can hear you. >> where are you now? what is the latest from your vantage point? >> reporter: we're in a neighborhood and for the past few hours seeing lots of celebratory gunfire. you can hear that behind us. more celebratory gunfire. fireworks coming from the city. people yelling, "libya is free." the rebels not only have been able to hold zawiya the past couple of days, they have been able to move in towards tripoli and now say they have made it all the way into the city of tripoli. we were actually turned around on the coastal road. the important supply route into tripoli from zawiya because of the fears of fighting about 25 kilometers outside of the city. about 15 miles. but by tonight, and it is now about 1:00 in the morning here, they have pushed into the city. they say that there is still fierce fighting going on and they have pushed into the city from the west. >> the question is they are in tripoli now. this still could be a terribl

and you just heard in sara sidner's report how chaotic things are on the ground there. hopefully some kind of a smoother transition from the gadhafi areregime to a post-gadi period. >> ivan watson from turkey wrapping up the events in that conference between the turkish foreign minister and also thent. >> a lot going on. we'll keep you fully abreast of all developments from wall street and jackson heole and le i can't. that's it for us. thanks for joining us. >> you're watching cnn, the world's news leader. coffee doesn't have vitamins... unless you want it to. new splenda® essentials™ no calorie sweetener with b vitamins, the first and only one to help support a healthy metabolism. three smart new ways to sweeten. same great taste. new splenda® essentials™. >>> events continue to unfold in libya's capital. we take a special look at the future path for the north african country. just nine months ago, the so-called arab spring dawned in tunisia and changed the face of the arab world. egypt followed. and more dramatic events in will i be libya. now the national transition

sara sidner was there moving in with the rebels.pound, a tremendous day for these rebels. watch this. >> reporter: we are walking into gadhafi's compound. the rebels have taken the compound. we're going in to see what we can see. we can see some the blasts. all of these men armed to the teeth. they're yelling "god is great." this is baba al jazia. they now have people standing at security. okay, they're telling us okay, okay. we can go inside. to the compound. [ horns honking [ [ speaking in foreign language ] [ gunfire ] >> reporter: celebratory gunfire going off. you can tell they feel very, very excited, very excited. we're going to go now a little bit further. if you look over here to the right, you are seeing the fire inside gadhafi's compound. >> allah akbah. >> reporter: we are told the whole place has been secured by rebels and there are cars driving in, not easily but there is still quite a bit of gunfire, that gunfire sell bratory gunfire. we see another fire inside of the compound but this is, this is a historic day. psyc

sara sidner live from tripoli.nd sara, give us a sense of what is taking place on the ground where you are. >> reporter: it's been a combination of calm and unsettling. people start celebrating again, and off goes the gunfire, and they're using heavy arms fire. you can hear some of it going off now. the cars are going around and around what is now being called martyr square by these -- by the opposition. and what we're seeing is fewer and fewer residents. i did see somebody break down in tears. there was a mother walking along the street and all the gunfire began to just overwhelm her. she says she was afraid and one of her brothers came and picked her up and took her home. she started crying because it was too much for her. the whole ground shakes when some of these -- like that -- i'm not even sure what that is. all right. i want to give you this picture. can we -- let's turn the camera. we are seeing them break down buildings now. we are seeing them break down buildings here in martyr square. if you'll look stra

let's bring in sara sidner right now. all of us were watching your reports today as you went in with the rebels, went in with the opposition to the presidential compound in tripoli. we were scared, i must say, i was frightened, i was worried about you, worried about our producers, our camera crews. >> reporter: yes. >> give us a flavor of what it was like when you went with them and they went in to see where gadhafi was, they thought he was ho holed up in there. >> reporter: yes, i think one of the extraordinary things was that you can hear in the neighborhoods people celebrating but you weren't quite sure because we were still hearing blasts and booms from bab al ziziyah, the ga zdhafi compound. we decided we're going to see it for ourselves. all of us agreed we'd go in together as a team, check out the team and if it was safe we'd go further in and ended up going right through the eastern gate, walking right in with rebels first stopping us saying hold on, who are you? we said cnn. they said come on in, we've been watchi

lobby, the loyalists, have they indicated knowledge of the fact that it seems like according to sara sidner, the area they control now is relatively small? sara close by in green square, the gadhafi compound has fallen. it would seem that the area that loyalists control have considerably shrunk in the last 24 hours. >> reporter: yeah, i mean, we've certainly been hearing that as well. and i'm sure that, you know, the people down stairs in the hotel have been hearing the same reports. they will know what the reality is. they are not saying anything like that to us, though. they are potentially either in denial or denying it to us, saying everything is safe outside, that the government is in control outside. and that there are no nato warplanes flying in the sky outside. basically trying to give thus idea that the government is fully in control still. even though we know from our other sources and our other reporting that the gadhafi compound has fallen to the rebels, and i've not heard anybody here sort of talk about that, acknowledge that fact. only that one instance which i mentioned to yo

the answer was, we're trying to control the situation, but we can't control everything, john. >> sara sidneramid what we hope is just the celebration in libya tonight, sara, thank you. >>> let's get some important context from experts nick burns is the former undersecretary of state and cnn national contributor fran townsend is 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'v

. >> cnn's sara sidner was right in the middle of all the the chaos at that gadhafi compound.ebels invited her in as they swept through the complex. the latest she and her crew had to leave as bullets fired from outside the compound flew over their heads. we're going to show you some of the dramatic video right now. >> let's go. sara, come on, sara. >> reporter: we're having to run out of the compound now. we see gunfire coming from outside the compound in. and it's getting -- it's getting too close. so we're leaving. we're not going to go all the way into the compound. it's definitely now from the outside of the compound firing towards us. >> let's go. let's go. >> go ahead. we just got a gunfire incoming overhead. just saw gunfire. we're seeing all these tracers hitting the water tank, hitting the area. so we've got to go. >> such courage displayed by sara and all our cnn teams on the ground in libya today. a little bit earlier i was able to speak with sara about following the rebels into the compound and the dangerous situation that sent her team running out. >> reporter: w

sara sidner takes us inside the maze of tunnels and bunkers.look at part of libya and tripoli and gadhafi's rule we have never seen before. be right back. >>> the latest advisories on hurricane bearing. we're still dealing with a category 2 storm, 105 miles to the south of cape lookout and north carolina. we want to pull up the radar because when you're dealing with the landfall or the approaching tropical system, you get spin in the atmosphere. i only do we have to deal with tropical storm force winds, hurricane force winds eventually, now we are dealing with the fact that we have spent in the atmosphere and the potential for genetic activity. we talk about when the systems approach land. tyrrell and beaufort counties in north carolina, reports of damage not from the bands from the system here but actual tornado touched down. we have a tornado watch box is in effect for the region. 6:25, that is the imam of time before the eye wall makes land fall across north carolina as we take you into the air early morning hours. that is what we will be ta

cnn's sara sidner takes us inside the maze of tunls and bunkers. fascinating look at part of libya, part of tripoli and gadhafi's rule we've never seen before. be right back. aptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business -- it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities, so we're helping them with advice from local business experts and extending $18 billion in credit last year. that's how we're helping set opportunity in motion. aflac! oh, i've just got major medical... major medical. ...but it helps pay the doctors. pays the doctors, boyyy! [ quack ] oh yeah? what about your family? ♪ we added aflac, so we get cash! it's like our safety net... ♪ to help with the mortgage or whatever we need! so my family doesn't feel the pain too. ha! [ male announcer ] help protect your family at aflac.com. [ pigeons ] heyyy! hooo!!! [ ifyou don't have facetimene,t your famion your phone,m. which makes it this easy to talk face-to-face with another iphone. this easy to ta

sara sidner takes us inside the maze of tunnels and bunkers.fascinating look at part of libya and tripoli and gadhafi's rule we have never seen before. be right back. [ woman ] welcome back, jogging stroller. you've been stuck in the garage, while my sneezing and my itchy eyes took refuge from the dust in here and the pollen outside. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. it's the brand allergists recommend most. ♪ lily and i are back on the road again. where we belong. with zyrtec®, i can love the air®. >>> well, you've already seen our reporters in north carolina. south carolina's coast is already feeling the power of hurricane irene. debbie charred is on pauley's island covering the storm for our affiliate wscs. how bad is it where your right now? >> reporter: it's actually not bad at all. in fact a couple of hours ago the gusts were really the worst. i brought a little wind meter with me and i clocked them at 42 miles per hour a couple of hours ago. but now we're only getting minor gusts

sara sidner doing heroic work in libya.n our national security reporter fran townsend who serves on the external and homeland security advisory board 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 captu

a leader tells sara sidner that they are days away from moving in.s unlikely unless gadhafi decides to fight to the end. >> discipline forces and ammunition. it could be ugly there. it could go on for days just like the fighting in misrata that went on for days. my guess is that is unlikely to happen. i think if gadhafi goes into tripoli and pulls in there and it goes against him, he will struggle for a way out. once he goes into tripoli, there is no other than just saying okay, we surrender. we lay down our arms. give us a political solution. he has lost his bargaining position by going into tripoli. my guess is he is not going in and if he does, it is not going to end up in a misrata-like combat. >> rebel leaders say a former libyan prime minister has joined the opposition. >>> checking our top stories. 29 people are reported dead in syria after a day of chaos and violence. all part of what protesters say is the continual crackdown on dissent by the government. this after the u.s. imposed stiff economic sanctions against syria. >>> north korea lead

cnn's sara sidner is there this evening. sara, what are you seeing and experiencing there in zawiyah? >> reporter: it's interesting to note here. because we've spent quite a bit of time in misratah when there were battles going on near that city. we are hearing the same chant now, and you can hear it behind me, from the mosques, the mosques all over this city, just 30 miles west of tripoli. it's a call that was going out when the battle was most fierce. a call for victory saying god is great. that went on and on and on in misratah until the battle was pushed far out of that city. it gives you some idea of what is happening now. we are hearing lots of small arms fire and also some -- what sounds like artillery fire. you hear that there. some more fire coming from the western part of the city. but they are now pushing east, and that's where they've been going because that is towards tripoli. they were able to push the gadhafi forces farther and farther back. they say that they've been able to push them actually almost all the w

we'll ask sara sidner, she describes what she witnessed in that rpdly changing city. >> we heard a lot of blasts, a lot of dpun gunfire. >> the rebels said no, that is celebratory gunfire. they have been celebrating again in the city. sometimes, frankly, it's hard to tell the difference. because they're using heavy, heavy artillery to celebrate. we're talking about cannons, anti-aircraft missiles, talking about mortars they're blowing off and we saw lots of tracer fire coming just over our heads further into the city than we've seen it before which gave us pause. i want to also speak to something that we're hearing from rebels now. they have been told to clear out of the area, where the gadhafi compound is. saying that they're in coordination with nato and that they may have some action from nato and they've been told to clear out of that area. we've heard that before. we heard that about 48 hours ago when rebels told us we know that we need to get out and get the residents out of the middle of za a and then nato struck the area and it ended the battle there because it got rid of the s

. >> sara sidner. sara, while you were talking, we were seeing video, some of your amazing work today. thank you, as always, from your colleagues. be careful. and thanks for your reporting. >>> we'll have more on libya later this hour, we'll speak to a former cia director about how the nation's upheaval affects security here in the u.s. >>> but up next a powerful 5.8 earthquake hits the east coast. we'll have the latest on the massive evacuations and the gridlo gridlock. who cuddle up with your soreness and give out polar bear hugs. technology. [ male announcer ] new bengay cold therapy. the same technology used by physical therapists. go to bengay.com for a 5-dollar coupon. i don't always have time to eat like i should. that's why i like glucerna shakes. they have slowly digestible carbs to help minimize blood sugar spikes, which can help lower a1c. [ male announcer ] glucerna. helping people with diabetes find balance. [ male announcer ] they'll see you...before you see them. cops are cracking down on

i want to go to sara sidner. she's doing a terrific job reporting for us. very courageous journalist. sara, where are you now and what's going on? >> reporter: we are in green square, that the rebels are now calling martyr square. they are here, driving around the square. it is 3:05 in the morning. they are screaming god is great. they are screaming die, die, mr. moammar gadhafi. they are screaming libya is free. what we saw about a half an hour ago, a crowd of about 200 people, blowing off every single -- anything that would basically fire. they were shooting into the air here. this square looked very differently 48 hours ago when the rebels first made it into the city. they were really in fight mode. they were looking around for snipers, now a very different scene. people just celebrating. not fighting, not thinking about fighting. literally just celebrating here in the middle of town. wolf. >> do they have any instinct or any hints at all where gadhafi may be hiding out? do they think he's still in tripoli, someplace else in libya? do they believe he may

let's go straight to sara sidner. sara, if you can hear me, what is the latest there right now? >> reporter: we were hearing loud booms, loud blasts, a lot of rapid gunfire. we saw tracer rounds coming over our heads very, very close to us, literally right over us. we had to take cover. so we started to wonder what exactly was going on, if there was some sort of fight that started up again in this town, which is just about 30 miles from tripoli. as it turned out as the night went on, even though that went on about an hour and a half, we finally got in touch with rebel sources who told us, no, actually they are celebrating. yes, they're blowing off things like mortars but they are celebrating still. what we do know, there were gun battles in the city of tripoli today. we drove into the main drag from the west. that is where a lot of businesses normally are, a lot of commerce takes place and some neighborhoods. we drove straight down towards green square and we were stopped in the evening because they were telling us that we couldn't go any further. we could hear gunfire. the rebe

sara sidner is in zawiya right now. and sara, what is happening where you are on the ground right now? >> reporter: right now we are hearing many loud blasts, but they are much further outside the city than when we were here yesterday. we've been able to go all the way into the city center and we're seeing extensive damage to all of the buildings, and it's basically the commercial district zawiya. and rebels were told in the last couple of days to move out of the center of the town, to evacuate the residents, and there was definitely some nato action here overnight according to the rebels that we've been speaking to inside of zawiya, but they do now say they have control of the city, but there is still fighting just outside the city, where they're close enough to send in, for example, shells and mortars into the city. >> cnn's sara sidner. i know you've come under gunfire there, so please stay safe as you continue your reporting. live for us from libya. thank you very much. and with rebel forces closing in, the big quest

let's go. >> cnn's sara sidner with libyan rebels in zawiya and we will continue to follow the developing we won't go far from it. we will get to you as we get new developments. >>> and going to teheran, state media say two american hikers have been convicted of spying and sentenced to eight years in prison. shane bower and his friend were convicted of trespassing and a third hiker sarah shourd was freed last year because of medical reasons. >>> and in the city of oms, pro democracy activists say that tankers rolled into the city and they are now afraid to leave their homes because of the fighting. and one calls this a real war. cnn is not currently allowed into the country to cover the unrest, so we are unable to independently confirm the reports. a television interview with president bashar al assad said he would not step down. >>> and seen here, the strikes in israel are striking tunnels used by militants to launch attacks on israel, aed on theday is the third straight day of violence between the two sides. >>> tropical storm irene is swirling right now in the atlantic and those living

let's he get the late frst from libya and sara sidner. first tell me what's going on there in zawiya. >> reporter: we were hearing a lot of loud booms, a lot of what sounded like mortar fire. there was definitely small arms fire. it sounded like this was a firefight and we went and checked it out. and we think that we have confirmed, we've only talked to one of the rebels who has not been down at the square, but we think that it is again celebratory fire. but what they're using are things like anti-aircraft missiles. so it is very loud. it's hard to tell what exactly is going on. then we started hearing ambulances. we know zawiya has been under the control of rebels for about three days and we know that this has been a place that has been relatively rid of gadhafi forces for that period of time. and they've pushed all the way into tripoli from here. but it is disconcerting when you start seeing tracer fire coming over your head and harnlg large amounts over and over and over again for several hours. >> particularly when you know there are

sara sidner as well, general clark thank you. 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 thar

sara sidner as well. 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

we'll talk with sara sidner with the opposition pors forces.gadhafi's hands as is the area in red. the rebels, the opposition forces now control regions to the east, the south and west of contributely, the area in green. nato says they're making advances in the city of zlitan and the rebels say they control parts of the key city of zawiya. the fighting there has been bloody. zawiya is a strategic supply route to libya. a commander said gadhafi's reports are staging fierce resistance. a government spokesman dismissed talk of rebel control of zowiya and said the supply route is secure. sara snidener, you talked to people coming out of zowiya today. what's the latest from there? >> certainly the families are quite scared because they were mentioning there was heavy shelling early in the morning that. had continued throughout the day. they were scared for their families and the safety of their children. we did see car loads literally of families leaving zowiya because they were afraid number one for being hit but also afraid of the reaction gadhafi

sara sidner as well, general clark thank you. 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 ha

former ktvu reporter sara sidner is reporting for cnn about what she's seeing and what rebels told her this morning. >> reporter: you see the people streaming through the main gate. that's all the way into the compound. so you see -- they were telling us that this was the end. what you are seeing in front of you right now are cars coming out of the gadhafi compound. they are loaded with men holding guns, holding ammunition. people are celebrating. >> the heavily-fortified complex has been heavily damaged by nato air strikes the last several months. it's not clear if gadhafi and his family were inside the compound during the battle or where he is now. >>> a new york judge has dismissed the sexual assault charges against dominique strauss-kahn. the former director of the international monetary fund. prosecutors say they no longer believe the hotel maid who believes strauss-kahn sexually assaulted her when she cleaned his room in may. there's dna that she had sexual contact with him but there's no he evidence of a sexual assault. so the charges are officially dismissed. >>> a football leg

. >> sara sidner amid what we hope is just a celebration in libya tonight. sara, thank you.our experts. nick burns and fran townsend is with us. i want to go to the map, fran and nick. first let's start with 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 th

so it bodes well. >> let's go to sara sidner. she joins us from the square in tripoli.ou are on the ground? >> reporter: we are in green square now, renamed by the rebels martar square, where there are still celebrations going on today. cars driving around. there was a bit of sporadic shooting in the air. i think when you hearing there and seeing in that video there is overnight we were here as everyone came out on the streets and started blasting away and celebrating and saying that libya was free and that moammar gadhafi's regime was no more. a lot of excitement, but one thing i want to point out here. there is still a battle going on. when we were still outside bab al aziziya, mortars were still coming toward that compound. that means still gadhafi forces in this city that the rebels have not been able to control the entire city and one thing we want to mention is that the organization is such that in some areas of the city you're having celebratory gunfire and people going around and doing doughnuts and the other part of the city there is a firefight. and you -- >>

we'll talk with sara sidner with the opposition pors forces.poli still in gadhafi's hands as is the area in red. the rebels, the opposition forces now control regions to the east, the south and west of contributely, the area in green. nato says they're making advances in the city of zlitan and the rebels say they control parts of the key city of zawiya. the fighting there has been bloody. zawiya is a strategic supply route to libya. a commander said gadhafi's reports are staging fierce resistance. a government spokesman dismissed talk of rebel control of zowiya and said the supply route is secure. sara snidener, you talked to people coming out of zowiya today. what's the latest from there? >> certainly the families are quite scared because they were mentioning there was heavy shelling early in the morning that. had continued throughout the day. they were scared for their families and the safety of their children. we did see car loads literally of families leaving zowiya because they were afraid number one for being hit but also afraid of the re

our sara sidner has more. >> reporter: just a 40-minute drive from tripoli, rebels battled their way closer to the capital. this is the city to have zawiyah. on this day, even if you couldn't see the firefight close up, you could hear its deafening sounds reverberating from the eastern part of the city. [ gunfire ] so is this getting too close? there are snipers on the tops of buildings, there's loud bangs, there's artillery fire, there's mortars, so we've got to get out of here. despite the major battle going on around him, a rebel fighter who did not want to be identified to protect his family, was confident of victory. considering the fighting is so fierce here in zawia, how long before you can push into tripoli? >> hopefully in a couple of days. >> reporter: a couple of days? >> a couple of days or one week, maybe. >> reporter: you think it's going to be that soon? >> i think so, because we are in control in 80% of zawiya. >> reporter: but to push forward, they need to secure the whole city, where gadhafi's army is doing everything it can to keep hold of this strategically import

that coming to us from sara sidner, who just called in.t they may attempt a last-ditch attack against the rebels there. reps there should be sitting down about now, in the ethiopian capital. we'll follow all those angles for you. plus, barbara starr at the pentagon on what the u.s. military role could look like. barbara, i'm sure you've seen the interviews with general marks and various other military leaders we've been talking to, everybody speculating about what could happen. what are you getting from the pentagon? >> well, kyra, pentagon officials say don't count on any involvement by u.s. forces, president obama, defense secretary leon panetta have long said this will not involve u.s. forces on the ground. this is a nato coalition-led operation. that's how they want to keep it and they want to work with whatever new government emerges in libya. let me go back to what you were saying a minute ago. last-ditch attack. that is a major concern by nato. i just got off the phone with senior nato officials. they say that is something they're w

. >> the ever intrepid sara sidner discovers the passageways under the city of trip low. show you what she found, coming up next. >>> we'll continue to follow hurricane irene. but moammar gadhafi still at large. 300 miles from tripoli, has been attacked by british warplanes. not clear why. in the libyan castle, three main pockets of fighting are reported. one near the port, one south of gadhafi's former compound and one near the airport. ten or so miles to the south. these pockets of combat appear to be getting smaller and smaller. in other parts of the city, calm enough, traffic has returned. there are even uniformed police. there's some optimism afoot there. >> i am -- >> when did you come to the street? today? >> today, yes. today. today, yes, today. in the new libya. >> good to see smiling faces. a new libya. today rebels mark the regime's collapse by toppling a famous sculpture that many of us have seen outside the gadhafi compound. graffiti artists got to it first. >>> you have heard about that network of tunnels through which gadhafi may have escaped. turns out the

. >> she is unbelievable, our sara sidner. she will join us live in the next hour to talk about more of what she found. our "cnn newsroom" continues now with fredricka whitfield. hello, fred. >> see you later and throughout the weekend. it's a busy one. 1:00 p.m. in the east coast. 60 million people are awaiting their encounter with hurricane irene. hurricane warnings are in effect from coastal north carolina to south of new york city. gusty winds and choppy seas already are being felt on the outer banks, and worse is on the way, much worse. president obama is watching irene from martha's vineyard, but not for long because he is heading back to washington, d.c. a day ahead of schedule. earlier he called irene a historic storm. >> i cannot stress this highly enough. if you are in the projected path of the hurricane, you have to take precautions now. don't wait. don't delay. we all hope for the best but have to be prepared for the worst. >> irene is on track to follow the northeast corridor right up to new england and beyond. cn