Opposition Took over Gadhafi's Compound; Journalists Were Trapped in the Tripoli Hotel; Opposition Fighters Controls the Tripoli Airport; Reuters: Gadhafi Addresses Libyan People
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, ANDERSON COOPER 360: Hey, Candy thanks so much. Good evening, everyone. Major news on two fronts tonight. Breaking news at home, the aftershocks from the totally unexpected east coast earthquake, and a massive hurricane headed our way. In Libya, Moammar Gadhafi speaking out, though he hasn't been seen since this video taken two months ago. According to Reuters, a local Tripoli radio station broadcast a taped message from the dictator. In it, he vowed murder them or victory. He said the retreat from his compound was in his words, a tactical move. Just breaking right now over the computer wires, we're seeing from Reuters, Moussa Ibrahim, who is the government spokesperson, who you know was in the hotel where those journalists was, but fled at some point yesterday. He is making a statement as well. According to Reuters, now the mission is to just liberate Tripoli gradually, honestly, he said our men are assuring me, it will only get easier. He says they are trying to turn Libya into the next Iraq, so fight. He says Central Tripoli under the influence of gangs. "Gangs" is the term that they have been using a lot of times to describe the opposition fighters. He says there are clashes this morning in Tripoli. Some of our men died, but for the rebel side, tens died, 65 just from this morning. He says our armed forces will regain control of the area. He claims that NATO is trying to terrorize and occupy the country. Moussa Ibrahim of course, is the man who has been backing up Gadhafi's statements, which have been basically many of them outright lies for a long time, saying that all of these opposition fighters were influenced by drugs, all high, that they were young people that they were on some sorts of pharmaceutical drugs. So, take what he says with a grain of salt. But that is the statement he's making at this moment. At the compound, at Gadhafi's compound as the sun went down, there was new fighting today. Loyalist gunmen, gunmen loyal to the regime trying to take back the compound which the opposition forces took yesterday. Sara Sidner was there whether it happened.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on, Sarah!</s>SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're having to run out of the compound now, we see gunfire coming from outside of the compound, and it's getting a, it's getting too close, so we're leaving. We're not going to go all into the compound, exactly, now from the outside of the compound, firing towards us.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's go!</s>SIDNER: Yes, go ahead. Just got gunfire incoming over our head.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tracer behind me.</s>SIDNER: We are seeing all of these tracers, hitting the water tank, hitting the area, so we've got to go.</s>COOPER: Doesn't get more front line than that. Sara Sidner, outside of Gadhafi's compound this evening. Contrast to that, we are seeing some earlier today as fighters poured and firing shots I celebration, climbing the statues, carrying out boxes of guns and ammo, some went room to room searching for Gadhafi but found no trace of him. They did manage to shut of a key escape route, taking the airport, possibly paving the way for transitional leaders to fly in from Benghazi. Military instruction telling out that such a move could take place on Thursday, a lot of that of course depends on the fighting. The Thursday date assumes continued progress bringing Tripoli under some sort opposition control. Now, opposition forces say they have driven the majority of government forces back to Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte. But that remains to be seen however, as we know that many of the statements made by opposition forces over the last several days have turned out not to be true. Witnesses last night, when around this time Saif Gadhafi suddenly appeared after the international media. The world have been told that Saif Gadhafi as in the custody of the opposition forces. In a moment, much more on that, a hunt for Gadhafi and who may replace him. We're trying to establish communication with CNN's Matthew Chance. He and his crew and other reporters are trapped inside the hotel, being kept there by Gadhafi loyalists, who were still in control of the area, the situation growing more intense by the minute, all of that ahead. A quick wrap-up of an extraordinarily memorable day.</s>COOPER (voice-over): In the streets of Tripoli today, cries of victory, barely audible over the nonstop rattle of celebratory gunfire. Opposition forces fighting ferociously this morning with remnants of the government army still defending Moammar Gadhafi's compound. After a siege lasting for hours, the opposition forces break through.</s>SIDNER: This is an historic day. Psychologically speaking this is an important day, especially for the rebels who Gadhafi said would never be able to break his spirit, would never be able to take the city. But they have taken Bab al-Aziziya, Gadhafi's compound and you can see now some of the press coming out, so clearly they had it. Clearly they have taken this over and clearly there is extreme excitement here in Tripoli.</s>COOPER: Gadhafi's compound is not only his official residence but a symbol of his regime and defiance to the west. Opposition fighters searched the compound room by room, knocking down walls, confiscating valuable weapons, ammunition and even personal documents and medical records of Gadhafi and his family. But the one thing they want most is nowhere to be found. Moammar Gadhafi has vanished, and with control of the palace, insurgents say they control 85 percent of the city. Today's victory, however, took a turn as residents began looting the come pointed and celebratory gunfire turned into chaos.</s>SIDNER: That's the eastern, the first part of the eastern gate. There are large blast holes in that gate. The sun is setting in this area just behind us, so it's starting to become darker. Over here, you're seeing these are cars that belong to the Gadhafi regime. They are sitting on them. They are blowing out rounds on top of them, that are obvious way of security, close security. I'm going to try not to get hit by any of those rounds and then if you go just over here, you see the people streaming through the main gate. Now, that's all the way into the compound. So, you see streaming into the main gate of the compound, a lot of smoke coming from the compound. You see these huge walls, these were supposed to be protective walls. This also gives you a sense of the power of the Gadhafi regime. This honestly is the nicest part of the city. You're seeing these large, very nicely - let's pull back a little bit. Let's just pull back. I'm getting hit by some of the shells.</s>COOPER: Other parts of Tripoli continued to see fighting on the streets. Journalists held by government forces at the Rixos Hotel report explosions and gunfire. CNN's Matthew Chance is trapped there.</s>MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're pretty frightened to be honest, Michael. You know, we're all kind of like in this sort of silence that's come over us. We're upstairs, very hot in the hotel. We've all got our body armor on. We don't really know what to expect to the sense that we feel we've kind of been used. We're stuck here, not able to go out. We don't want to be here. We want to get out of here, but we're not being permitted to do that. And so, you know it's almost like a situation where we feel we're being kept here against our will. But the government says they are taking care of us, Gadhafi loyalists say they are here to protect us, but it just doesn't feel like that up here sometimes.</s>COOPER: It's up clear how many Gadhafi loyalists remain in Tripoli, and despite of week of sweep victory by the opposition, it's also unclear if this is just the beginning of a prolonged urban battle.</s>COOPER: Here is what's great concern with the situation with Matthew Chance and other journalist in that hotel we have no way of actually contacting him. We have to wait until he tries to checks in with us. The situation there we believe to be deteriorating, deteriorating rapidly. We are waiting for word from Matthew as you can imagine, all of us are very anxious to hear from him and the other reporters there. The situation seems to be changing, really by the minute, very tenuous. We're not sure what the latest situation is. If he does call in while we're on the air at this hour, we'll, of course, put him on the air and get the latest. Sara Sidner has been - well she has seen remarkable things today. She joins us from Tripoli's Green Square which has been now renamed Martyr's Square. What's the situation where you are right now?</s>SIDNER: Again, there is a lot of celebratory gunfire. Sometimes it's from fraud cannon truck and sometimes tracer fire overhead. But the situation here is that, there are about 200 people, most of them rebel fighters who have come into green square. And I can tell you from the last time I was in Green Square a little early, 48 hours ago, when the rebels first got here, this was a whole different scene. Before, people were much more afraid. They were much more afraid to come out and celebrate. They were in fighting mode. Now, totally different, everyone celebrating, they are going around the square, screaming "Gadhafi needs to go", screaming "Libya is free." They are waving the flag. That rebel flag is actual the flag that was in place before the Gadhafi regime came. They are also handing out, they are handing out these keys with Moammar rotor, and giving, he was say a person who was a very well beloved leader. They are handing out chocolates to people. They are getting all sorts of things and just going absolutely nuts blasting in the air, people from all over the country are here, celebrating, Anderson.</s>COOPER: Sara, you were at that remarkable scene at Moammar Gadhafi's compound today when opposition fighters fought their way in. We saw a lot of people basically kind of looting taking weaponry out. Was anyone in control? Once the opposition fighters won at the compound, at Gadhafi's compound, was anyone kind of overseeing it or taking charge? Or are these fighters just kind of on their own and kind of taking orders on their own?</s>SIDNER: It's very difficult to hear you, but I think you're asking if anyone was in the control of the situation in Bab al-Aziziya. Certainly they were at the beginning. Certainly, there was a plan to break through the walls that were there. This is a heavily fortified compound. It has as much security they thought as anywhere in the city. So they believed they would have a massive fight to get into what is basically the equivalent of the White House here in Tripoli. They were able to get in, that part I think was well coordinated. What wasn't expected, they would be able to get in so quickly. Go through the building, it's a very large compound and then we started hearing this gunfire as we were standing there, realizing all of a sudden that it was not celebratory, that it was coming right at us, that there were tracer fire over our heads, suddenly pandemonium, people were running out of that area, they were trying to get to cover, nobody knew what to do, they weren't sure where the fire was coming from, and then we realized that the fire was coming from outside of the compound to the east. We talked to the rebel sources of ours and they were telling us that yes, Gadhafi forces are still there, and the headline at that point was, Gadhafi forces are actually shooting into this compound, which was really the home of Moammar Gadhafi. And unprecedented move, everyone surprised. But again the rebels say they are doing that because we now control of Bab al-Aziziya, Gadhafi's compound, Anderson.</s>COOPER: Sara, how far are you from the hotel where Matthew Chance and other reporters are trapped right now, basically in the custody of allegedly under the so-called protection of Libyan government troops?</s>SIDNER: We're in walking distance, Anderson, we are in walking distance. And I have to tell you, we feel very nervous for our colleagues. We feel very nervous for our colleagues. There is a lot of honking. I hope that you can hear me. We have been watching the situation here and that nobody really wants to be in the situation where they are under the protection of Gadhafi forces, because clearly in this city, the rebels have it. We have driven through here today, and each and every checkpoint has gotten much more strict, there are more checkpoints. They clearly control much of the city, and I think right now, any Gadhafi forces in and around the area would be fearful and they would be thinking that they would be fighting for their lives and that's certainly what we've seen in pockets, but even if these forces know that the Gadhafi regime was broken and cannot regain power, now it's a situation where there are literally fighting for their lives. They are backed against a corner, and it's really a very nerve-wracking situation for our colleagues in that hotel. All of the journalists who have been so brave to stay there, because they are not allowed out, Anderson.</s>COOPER: Do you know how much territory, how many blocks, how many neighborhoods, the Gadhafi loyalists still control?</s>SIDNER: That's very hard to tell. What we can tell you, it's a definitely a different scene in the neighborhoods that we've seen so far, it's a definitely a different scene than it was even just ten hours ago. The rebels are moving through the city "sweep the city" of Gadhafi forces. And so I think what's happening, Anderson is that they really are being backed into a corner in pockets of the city where they are trying to fight their way out. But rebels are coming at them and this is one of those situations you don't want to be caught in the middle of that.</s>COOPER: If there were Gadhafi forces or Gadhafi former volunteers, loyalists who wanted to escape and go to Sirte, which is Gadhafi's hometown, are there roads that would still allow them to get there?</s>SIDNER: Not that I know of. The rebels have closed off most of the roads. We couldn't get anywhere near Tripoli without going through at least 20 checkpoints and they've done that around the city from the east and the west. So it would be very difficult for someone to get out without, without at least having to go through a bunch of checkpoints. Now, whether or not while they are looking through the checkpoints they are able to as err taken exactly who you are, that's another question. I can tell you most of the people at the checkpoints are very young, very inexperienced. They are really looking in to the window so there's tearing and say, are you OK? If you flash the victory sign, they sort of say, OK, come through. So, whether or not they know who they are dealing with, that's a different matter, Anderson.</s>COOPER: Sara, I've just - something just come across my computer. A statement from Moussa Ibrahim, he is claiming that the tribes which traditionally been loyal to Gadhafi, he said they are "organizing and heading to the capital in order to rescue it from gangs." Do you buy that?</s>SIDNER: It's hard to say, it's hard to say, Anderson, but this is the same line we've been hearing over and over and over from the regime. That suddenly thousands of people are going to rise up against these rebels. Why are they here in green square? Why were they able to bust in to the Bab al-Aziziya, the Gadhafi compound? A place that nobody could get into, unless they were close friends or allies of Moammar Gadhafi, the question is if all of these people are lies rising up against this regime, excuse me, against the rebels then where are they? Why didn't they stop them from getting in the Gadhafi compound? Why didn't they stop them from getting to the middle of the square? Why didn't they stop them from being able to cut off all the roads? Where are they? And I think that's the questions that rebels have in mind. And they believe they are not coming.</s>COOPER: Sara, just hold on. I've told we just now have contact with Matthew Chance. Matthew, I believe you're on the line, what is the situation where are you inside that hotel?</s>CHANCE (via telephone): Well, in terms of not much to report in terms of what is happening outside the perimeter outside of the hotel in the rest of Tripoli, I know you're speaking to Sara. I don't have 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 that you know we're in a hotel. We're on the top floor of the hotel. We've corralled ourselves into the top floor. Gadhafi's 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 Gadhafi's forces, to what extent they have control over this area, but we are very close to Colonel Gadhafi's compound. Obviously, we were very close to the fighting that was going on, as the rebel wrestled control of that compound from the Gadhafi forces. The concern we have now, Anderson is that, you know, we seem to be one of the few remaining patches of territory in Libya which is still controlled by Gadhafi's forces and so we're kind of very anxious about what might happen at this hotel in the hours ahead.</s>COOPER: Earlier we heard from you, and you said that the mood was grim, that you were al basic until this room, obviously very hot. You're all in your body armor. Do you have communication with the, the Libyan forces which are inside the hotel? Not allowing you to leave?</s>CHANCE: Well, I mean I don't know if we can describe it as communication. But certainly, we have contact with them. You know, they are walking around the hotel, patrolling the lobby floor. They are in the basement as well. Within the past few hours, a number of them have come up to the journalist floor as well and gone into some of the rooms which something we're a little concerned about. But in general, you know we don't have much communication with them, having said that, about two hours ago, leaning on the balcony, overlooking the interior courtyard of the hotel, and one of them shouted to me and said, you know I suppose you're happy now, aren't you journalists? And I asked him what he meant. And he said he was referring to that the rebels have made all of these gains and obviously taking control of Gadhafi's compound. And so, you know, there is still that sort of little bit of hostility toward us, a little bit in which tense in which Gadhafi loyalists were dragged along in this conflict and regarded the international media being on the rebels side in this complex even though that's obviously that's not the case which is, we're trying to report that governance Gadhafi's side of things on this. But you know we're doing that and that you know very restricted circumstances. We've asked of course to get out of the hotel. We're not happy being here anymore for our own security. But that's not something that the authorities in control of this hotel are prepared to this point to let us do. We hope that will change soon.</s>COOPER: I heard you say earlier on the air you felt like had you been used. How so?</s>CHANCE: In lots of different ways, I suppose. Obviously, we're here so that the government thinks that you know feels that they've got the ears, the eyes of the international media, to put across their point of view and whenever they want. And a good example of that last night, when Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, Colonel Gadhafi's oldest son, they knows he was reported to have been captured by the rebels as they advanced a day earlier, but made this surprise appearance in the lobby of the Rixos hotel as you just saw it. He wasn't the lobby at all. He was in the front door, in that car outside the hotel. I managed to speak to him. You may remember that. And so, in that sense, we, you know we feel and they feel that we're valuable if you like at the moment, so we want to try and continue that. We will try to continue reflecting the government position as much as we can, Anderson.</s>COOPER: Matthew, have - you have - obviously, you have asked to leave, and what do they say? What is the reason for not letting you leave?</s>CHANCE: Well, we have confirmed over the past several you know minutes, past half hour there is a boat from Malta that stopped in a port in Libya, near Tripoli, and the Maltese government spokesperson, who I've been in contact with, has told us here that the space on that boat to take us all out to Malta and to safety obviously. But the trouble is that, we've not managed to negotiate an exit from the hotel, and what the people here is say, the Gadhafi loyalist who's are controlling the hotel say, is that It's not safe for us to do that. They say that they are here for one reason only and that's to protect us. And so at the moment, that means that we're not being permitted to move outside the hotel, even though we made the point that we believe it's our right to move outside the hotel if we choose to do that. That's not something they've agreed to yet.</s>COOPER: Have they indicated any knowledge, the men who are in the 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 is very close by in green square, the Gadhafi compound obviously has fallen. So, it would seem that the areas that loyalists control have considerably shrunk in the last 24 hours.</s>CHANCE: Yes, 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. I mean, 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 more NATO warplanes flying in the sky outside, basically trying to give thus idea that the government is fully in control still. And so, even though that 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 you earlier, where the loyalists shouted up to me, I suppose you're happy now aren't you journalists? And that was an indication that he was aware of what was going on outside and was a little bit you know angry with us for that, for that having happened. Anderson.</s>COOPER: Matthew, we wish you and your crew well. Please stay as safe as you can and Sara Sidner as well. Let us know what you think. We're on facebook. You can follow us on twitter @andersoncooper. I'll try to tweet some tonight. Up next, the battle at the airport. We are going to talk with our Arwa Damon who is there now. We are trying as many correspondents to as many areas in and around Tripoli as possible to give you a full sense of what's happening in real time. We'll talk to Arwa live who was there as the airport fell in to opposition hands. Also, we heard from him tonight, the question is, where from and how can he be found and captured, tracking Moammar Gadhafi? Let's check in also with Isha Sesay. Isha?</s>ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, it hasn't happened in more than a century. Most couldn't believe what it was, an earthquake on the east coast and a pretty big one. We've got all the details on what may have it caused, the after aftershocks and a big hurricane coming right behind it, that, and much more, when "360" continues.