head to the airport. from cnn center this is ""cnn sunday morning,"" march 6th, i'm randi kaye. we start in libya. opposition forces tell cnn they're negotiating with the british over eight special forces troops detained in the eastern city of benghazi. britain's foreign secretary confirmed a team is meeting with libya rebels but he offered no other details. he did say troops had been in libya to evacuate british citizens. in other parts of the country we're hearing differing accounts of who's in control. the government is claiming victory but witnesses tell us a very different story. saying the opposition is still in control. within the past hour, i talked with one witness in misratah, who was watching fierce fighting in the street. >> for the last 60 minutes or so i've been in the middle of gunfire, live gunfire between gadhafi militia and opposition, people taken to the streets. it seems like the fighting is taking place in the city center, we describe as the courthouse, the center of operations for the opposition. and we had reports this morning around 10:00 of three military groups, three pro-gadhafi military groups coming from three different angles. and i have seen people confirming the report that tanks have been deployed in this attack. six different is the number that has been mentioned frequently by people. >> let's move now to the capital where our nic robertson is standing by in tripoli. we saw massive celebrations this morning. they seem to believe that the government is still in control, that gadhafi is still in control, which would explain the celebrationings, is that right? >> reporter: that is correct. i think we have two really conflicting views of what's going on here. the people who are actually in the cities, misratah, zawiyah, that the government claimed to take control of. people in those cities say there's still fighting in zawiyah, in misratah. but what the government's been able to do in tripoli is whip up a firestorm of their claims claiming victory in these towns and take position a cut in sales tax to zero on many goods as a celebration for the success in these areas. what we've witnessed over the last three days, if you take zawiyah as an example, government has described rebels as being 30, 40, 50 strong, we've seen several thousand over a week ago and this claim friday to have had victory and claim on saturday to have had victory. what the gadhafi government seems to be doing is building up expectations here at a time when they can't really deliver on what they're claiming and building up expectations they have victory and that they may fall short is what we've seen over the last few days, at least, randi. >> you were supposed to go to zawiyah to see the aftermath of what some call a slaughter. what are the chances the libyan army will let you do that today? >> reporter: i would say pretty limited right now. it's now 3 p.m. in the afternoon. we could be there and back in a couple hours. there's no problem with that. but if they haven't commissioned us by now i don't think they'll give us permission. they told us friday night they would go saturday. saturday on and off again. saturday evening they said for sure it's just -- they held -- this is a sfrent of their vision and view here. not only did they tell us this in off reported briefings and on record statements, they held a press conference last night where they said they were in 99% control of the town, it was mopping up and we should be going in today. it just doesn't sound up what the government says is fact doesn't stand up to the reality and time, randi. >> certainly trying to keep the -- win the pr war, i guess we could call it. our nic robertson in libya. thank you. with the violence spreading the u.s. state department is warning americans not to travel to yemen because of what it calls a high security threat level. citizens already there should consider leaving. antigovernment demonstrators are clashed with security forces in several parts of the country. in addition, we're hearing reports that al qaeda fighters killed four soldiers near the capital of sanaa. back in the u.s., emergency workers are going door to door in rain, louisiana, this morning, checking homes damaged by a tornado that killed a 2 1-year-old woman. the town's mayor says the victim was killed when a tree fell on her house as she was protecting her daughter. the little girl, we're told, was not hurt. the tornado with winds as strong as 135 miles an hour left a five-mile path of damage. earlier this morning i asked a spokeswoman with the sheriff's office about damage to the town some 80 miles west of baton rouge. >> a lot of damage. i would say probably a quarter of the city of rain has been damaged in the storm as of this morning. probably 80% of the power has been restored to the city. the mayor and police are planning to make assessments of each home. for indiana's democratic lawmakers who are missing in action, starting tomorrow it's going to cost them. their republican counterparts approved a $250 fine for every day the democrats are absent from the statehouse. like wisconsin, indiana's democratic lawmakers are stalling the vote for bills that would limit the collective bargaining rights of state employees. well, this next story sure caught our attention. a professor at northwestern university now apologizing for a recent demonstration during his human sexuality class. that demonstration involved a couple and a sex toy. the university's president says it was inappropriate. the professor says he was only trying to engage real people in conversation with, quote, useful examples. the famed iditarod sled dog race gets started today. 62 teams taking part this year. the mushers and their dog teams will travel more than 1,000 miles in the competition. what do they win if they win? well, around $50,000 and a brand new truck. i think the dogs also get a little bit of kibble as well. that's their reward for all that hard work. you could call this next race a triple threat. a man in a wheelchair is tackling a triathlon with a little help from his brothers. later, a restaurant worker comes to the aid of a customer in distress and it is all caught on tape. my diet? well yesterday i had an apple turnover. i always keep it in the house. that and boston crème pie, white chocolate strawberries. 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[ male announcer ] america's beverage companies are working together to put more information right up front. adding new calorie labels to every single can, bottle and pack they produce. so you can make the choice that's right for you. ♪ welcome back. ten minutes past the hour. want to take you over to bonnie schneider watching some severe storms to the southeast. >> that's right. randi, we're tracking several tornados that worked their way through southwest louisiana yet. one was an ef2 tornado with winds between 100 miles an hour, unfortunately, one person was killed in that storm. now we have more extreme weather in another part of the world. you can see pictures of the debris and damage as that storm really just tore off roofs and lifted homes from their foundation, a devastating storm across the southern parishes of louisiana. i'm glad to tell you that severe weather threat has passed, but in a whole other part of the world we're tracking an earthquake that just occurred. let's zoom in to the red dot. that shows you where the earthquake was in northern ch e chile. magnitude is 6.2, it's important to know the preliminary reports coming in is saying this earthquake was very deep in depth, over 5 3 miles deep. that is a good thing. when the earthquakes are deep, they tend to absorb more shock and we see less shaky. reports of slight shaking. this is the northern mountains of chile. let's get back to the u.s. mainland. we're watching for a flood threat across many states, all the way from tennessee up into maine and certainly through new york and new jersey and boston, massachusetts, you're under a flood watch. the warnings still persist for parts of south carolina into areas of north carolina as well, so this is going to be a messy situation as we go through the day. you can see the steady rain sweeping from the carolinas up into washington, d.c. and then where the colder air is wrapping in behind the system, we have snow. it is snowing right now in western pennsylvania and in parts of west virginia. heavy snow expected for parts of new england and upstate new york. we could see a foot or more of snow. that's why all these winter weather advisories are posted for tonight and into tomorrow. randi? >> all right, bonnie, thanks so much. hln sports anchor ray here with a wart-warming story out of atlanta. in is such a nice story. good morning. >> yeah. three brothers about to share in the experience of a lifetime. i am not ashamed to admit, i'm a softy. >> did you cry? >> i got a little mic mist mist with this one. talking about the brothers. coming in may they'll be taking part in the 40-mile tampa triathlon. kyle, who was two years younger than his twin brothers was born with cerebral palsy. however, he has not let his physical limitations stop him from pursuing his dream in the triathlon. >> he's going to do this? >> he's going to do this. he got the idea watching his brother compete in an iron man triathlon. he asked, what was the physical limitations, challenges? he said it's a lot like the daily challenges you face and you move past them. kyle says, do you think part i could take part in a triathlon? he says, absolutely. how it's going to work, since brent has the experience in the triathlons, he's actually going to be doing most of the legwork during the biking and swimmer portion, pulling kyle during the swim portion, he'll be riding in a boat. then once in the bike portion they'll pull him in a special joggers like you see, like a joggers, strollers almost, and evan will join them for the running portion of it. they're being told this is the first time three brothers will try to complete a triathlon of any distance. >> they're really doing it together. i mean, this gives a whole new meaning to brotherhood. >> absolutely. speaking of races, somebody that -- she's already, you know, made her mark in indy car racing and now she's turning some heads in nascar. danica patrick making history yesterday by playing -- placing fourth in the nationwide series race. >> that's pretty impressive. >> she'll take part in 12 to 13 races. she's slowlily making her transition to stockcars. she looked phenomenal yesterday. i'm going do make a prediction here, there's a very good chance danica will win a nationwide event this year. >> all right. i'm holding you to that. >> she has some of the best equipment underneath her as far as the car goes. so, i really think she could do it this year by taking the checkered flag zhou heard it here, folks, the fact there will be no nfl lockout from you. you told us that yesterday. >> i'm going on record with that. >> keep track at home whatever ray is saying. >> remain positive. >> good to see you. thanks. chaos grows wider in libya this weekend. first, we saw large crowds of antigovernment demonstrators. now take a look at this. thousands of moammar gadhafi supporters appear to fill the streets have streets of tripoli. sorting it out for us, retired colonel robert begins live in one minute. that's why i like fidelity. they give me tools and research i can't get anywhere else. their stock screener lets me search for stocks with more than 140 criteria. i can see what their experts are thinking and even call them to bounce an idea off of one of their investment professionals. a good strategy relies on good insight. if you wanted to learn more about a company, i think you'd actually have to be there. as we told you earlier, we're getting two different images coming out of libya dh morning. on one side of the screen a sea of green in tripoli's green square, you see it there. gadhafi supporters celebrate when told by state tv government forces had taken control of several cities. on the other side of your screen, images out of zawiyah where antigovernment protesters were celebrating yesterday. the government says it's in control. let's bring in retired army officer and columnist robert mcginnis joining us from washington. good morning, bob. i want to talk about next steps for libya with you. seems to be heading in a very different direction from egypt and tunisia before it. our ben wedeman says this isn't a protest, this is war. both sides are claiming victory. so, do you see how this is all going to play out? >> no, it's hard to tell, randi, at this point. clearly, not having people on the ground, other than some reporters that are, you know, watching the every movement of the gadhafi regime and, of course, the opposition, it's hard to predict exactly how this is going to transition. are we going to go to a full out civil war? is this a revolution that will topple gadhafi? is gadhafi going to listen to president obama and leave the country with some welts and then allow this transitional council to take over? clearly, we would like to see a transition like in cairo or tunisia, but at this point it's hard to know. >> it also seems like the u.s. is laying low. the u.s. seems unclear as to what really it should talk to, who the opposition even is. is it possible that if gadhafi does go, the opposition, whoever comes into power, could be worse? >> well, of course, that is possible. the opposition right now appears to be former gadhafi ministers, some of the army. clear the pro-democracy demonstrators and perhaps some other groups that are kind of cobbled together, forming the opposition and some of the fighters out there. but, you know, i think it's wise to be cautious at this juncture. especially to threaten u.s. intervention. you know, i think the secretary of state, hillary clinton, is doing the right thing by using our humanitarian assistance with tunisia and egyptians, trying to persuade the regime there in tripoli to step down. but at the same time, you know, if we go in there, you know, we will have dreams of back to kosovo, back to somalia and even iraq. i'm not sure we're prepared for that. >> and when we were watching the revolution in egypt, there were a lot of names -- you know, a short list, i should say, of names being tossed out as to who might take over if and when mubarak would step down. we're not getting a sense of who might step into control in libya, are we? >> not at all. you have an autocratic regime there that suppressed any opposition whatsoever, especially islamic opposition. gadhafi was always making them the enemy of the state. so, you know, for someone to have had their head above the horizon would have jeopardized their own lives and their own future. i'm not surprised by this. but, in the coming weeks, perhaps, if this continues past the almost three weeks it's been going on now, that we will begin to hear about some opposition leaders. in fact, there will be people that will try to return to libya and try to cobble together opposition groups. perhaps an optimistically we'll see something like what we're seeing in cairo, where opposition groups getting ready for a political referendum are coming to fruition. that would be nice. but i'm not sure this is going to happen in libya. >> all right, bob, we'll have to leave it there. bob mcginnis, thank you. appreciate it. interesting discussion this morning. thank you. we will of course watch the developments in libya as they unfold. we'll take a quick break. think s is spending too much money on printing. i'd like to put you in charge of cutting costs. calm down. i know that it is not your job. what i'm saying... excuse me? 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>> first came the tears because hi to leave my mother, and that was pretty upsetting. >> reporter: her mom had to stay behind for essential work. even as american diplomatic families got only eight hours' notice to leave. the violence was right at their door step. >> we saw all the protesters walking by our house. that was really freaky. and once we had a tank roll by, which i was scared. >> reporter: forced to depart with just a single suitcase per person, they have already been here more than a month. has it been tough for you not knowing when yir going to go home? >> yeah. >> reporter: are you counting the days? >> i'm trying not to count the days because then i'll feel sad and upset. >> reporter: but her father jim tries to make their life as normal as possible. even though it's her first time attending an american school. her friends, her hobbies are all in cairo. many displaced diplomatic families are staying in the same apartment complex. sharing a unique bond. >> of course, we all kind of go up and down, as to be expected and say, we can do this. even now, although things have calmed down, we still don't know when we're going back. >> reporter: for now beverly clings to the comforts and memories of her distant home. >> i want to go back really badly. but, doesn't mean i don't want to be here pip just want to be able to say good-bye. >> reporter: many families like the dempseys are just waiting for official word as to when they can return to their homes in egypt. but right now, the country is under transition and the uncertainty lingers. new concern this morning about weapons in the mid east. weapons that could end up in the wrong hands during the conflict in libya. we'll have more. es a chocolate so smooth and creamy, you don't just taste it, you feel it. ♪ do you believe in magic? 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[ male announcer ] werther's original caramel chocolate. what comfort tastes like. the one time of year red lobster creates so many irresistible ways to treat yourself to lobster. like our new lobster-and-shrimp trio with a parmesan lobster bake, our decadent lobster lover's dream with both sweet maine and buttery rock lobster tails and eleven more choices, each served with a salad and unlimited cheddar bay biscuits. come celebrate lobsterfest right now at red lobster. but now, to get it really cooking, you need a little website development. some transparent reporting, so you know it's working. online ads and 1-on-1 marketing consultation. yellowbook's got all that. yellowbook360 has a whole spectrum of tools. the perfect recipe for success. visit yellowbook360.com and go beyond yellow. basic. preferred. at meineke i have options on oil changes. and now i get free roadside assistance with preferred or supreme. my money. my choice. my meineke. welcome back. i'm randi kaykaye. checking top stories. emergency workers in rain, louisiana, going door to door this morning to check on homes damaged in a tornado. the storm killed a 21-year-old woman. she died protecting her little girl from that storm. 11 others were injured. utility companies are working to get everybody's power back on this morning. the man suspected of being the east coast rapist has tried to commit suicide while in custody. police in new haven, connecticut, say aaron thomas tried to hang himself in his cell yesterday. thomas was arrested friday. investigators believe he's responsible foz ar as many as 16 17 sexual assaults in four states dating back to the 1990s. british foreign secretary says negotiations are under way with opposition leaders in libya to secure the release of eight british special forces troops detained in the eastern part of the country. meanwhile, the violence in libya intensifying. both the government and opposition forces claim to be in control of various key cities. both sides in the libyan battles are well armed. they've got tanks, missiles, antiaircraft guns. a u.s. official tells cnn the balance could lead to a prolonged fight but it could also lead to a security nightmare outside of libya. cnn's brian todd shows us why. >> reporter: watch how they fire them. many of them recoil or drift around these lethal tools as if they've never been around them before. the rebels opposing moammar gadhafi have made key battlefield gains partially with weapons taken from libyan armories or brought over by defecting soldiers. those loose weapons pose long-term security threats. i'm with matthew schroeder. we've got a picture here of what appears to be a libyan rebel launching a shoulder-fired missile toward a libyan jet. are these kinds of weapons just floating around libya for the taking now? >> yes, those weapons are outside of state control now. and our big concern is that they will be diverted to the black market and acquired by terrorists outside of libya. >> reporter: there's no evidence that libyan rebels have sold weapons to terrorists or that they intend to, but experts say arms traffickers could see the libyan fight as a chance to stock up. one of their most popular weapons, shoulder-fired missiles, move at high speed, right toward the heat emitted by airplanes. most civilian aircraft don't have countermeasures against them. militants are well versed at acquiring and using weapons like this. november 2003, shortly after taking off from baghdad, a dhl cargo plane is hit by a surface-to-air missle. militant video claiming to show the incident. the plane loses hydraulics but the plane lands safely. the previous year, two missile just miss an israeli plane in kenya. unfortunately, the attraction is they're fairly easy to work, right? >> yes, they're fairly easy to use and teach. the missile is boosted out of the launch tube and then after it's a safe distance from the operator, a sustainer motor will kick in and the missile guides itself to the target. >> reporter: libyan rebels also have their hands on antitank missiles, larinspect pe say neir terrorists or rebels are likely to use those but smaller arms like rocket propelled grenades and machine guns could easily get to the black market. >> we expect that to happen. they will circulate and circulate for years. >> reporter: experts say what may fuel that is if this conflict drags on, both sides could bring in more weapons like this from outside libya. then whenever this ends, those weapons could be sold off. brian todd, cnn, washington. the body of a wyoming father of five will be sealed in the abandoned nevada mine shaft he fell into on wednesday. the shaft was declared too dangerous to enter for a recovery effort. the 28-year-old man from evanston, wyoming, fell 185 feed down the shaft, suffering a broken jaw and shoulders and puncturing one of his lungs. he had been working on a nearby oil rig when he and two others went exploring. a camera was lowered into the shaft on thursday. >> the fact that he put his hands up when the camera found him, you have to wonder how much hope that gave him. >> he was expecting somebody to come get him. >> you have to be believe he was expecting to be rescued. and it didn't happen. >> the man died friday. he had been engaged to be married. investigating homegrown terrorism and the focus, the radicalization of muslim americans. one congressman holding hearings this week on that very divisive issue. candy crowley talks to him on "state the union." only yoplait original has twice the calcium of the leading yogurt. that's 50% of the daily value to help close the calcium gap, we're giving away a million free cups at yoplait dot com. >> woman: good night, gluttony-- a farewell long awaited. good night, stuffy. >> ( yawning ) >> good night, outdated. >> ( click ) >> good night, old luxury and all of your wares. good night, bygones everywhere. >> ( engine revs ) >> good morning, illumination. good morning, innovation. good morning, unequaled inspiration. >> ( heartbeats ) coming up at 9 a.m. eastern, state of the union with host candy crowley joining us from washington with a preview. new york republican peter king planning to hold these controversial hearings this week. on the radicalization of muslims. a very divisive. i know you'll be speaking with him this morning. what do you expect he'll tell you? >> listen, he knows that he is taking a lot of hits for this. there are many in civil rights community and in the american muslim community who say he really is unfairly singling out american muslims. so, based on faith, is he doing an investigation into what's going on in that community. his belief comes -- he believes inside that community there is not enough done by americans to help law enforcement search out some of the homegrown terrori s terrorists, which is a very difficult law enforcement problem because they tend to be, you know, by themselves or small groups. they don't move around a lot. they stay inside their communities. and king has been very critical saying, listen, the american muslim community is not being good enough at helping law enforcement. there are some facts and figures that bring that into question, but basically he says, judge me by the outcome of the hearings rather than going into it. so, he's created quite a stir. i will tell you we also have on keith ellison, congressman from minnesota and the first american muslim sworn into congress to also talk about how he feels about it. he's the lead-off witness for king. so whatever else, it's making quite a stir. we'll see what the hearings bring up on thursday. it's an interesting conversation. >> it sure is. he's taken a lot of heat because he's criticized there were homegrown terrorists before 9/11 so why are you doing this? but if we could talk about this big forum in iowa tomorrow. a lot of the presidential candidates or potential presidential contenders are going to be there. this is getting pretty interesting pretty early. >> it is except for, believe it or not, i hate to tell you this, it's later than it has been. republicans, and that's where the race will be, no one expects at this point that president obama will have any serious opposition in the primaries. so, the focus will be on the republicans. as usual, at this point, do you have a lot of people going, well, i'm looking at it. everyone from donald trump to mitt romney. and they do begin to gather, where? iowa and new hampshire those first all-important states. we have on the show two people who have been there and done that lamar alexander, a senator, and bill new mexico. they both ran for president. we want to look at the current slate and what they go through when they make these decisions. but you're right, the 2012 presidential election season has opened and certainly in iowa it is well under way. >> certainly seems so. candy crowley, thanks so much. great to speak with you. sounds like you have an interesting show on tap. so, do keep it here for "state of the union" with candy crowley, starts at 9 a.m. eastern, 6 a.m. pacific on cnn and it sounz like a very interesting show this morning. skateboarding, chasing girls and playing video games, three things we know teenage boys love to do. we have a fourth option this morning. meet 13-year-old conner brantley. there he is. he's trying to start his own political party at 13. he's going to tell us why. welcome back. 43 minutes past the hour. establishing a third political party is not exactly a new concept here in america. over the years, we've seen the libertarian party, the green party and now the tea party. but the one we're about to tell you about is the first ever started by a 12-year-old. it is called united now. they haven't filed any paperwork with the federal elections commission yet but they have started a fund-raising campaign and created a political action committee. the purpose of the developing party, to ensure bipartisanship in washington. now, keep in mind, the official founder of this party was just 12. there he is, when he started the process. now he's 13. conner brantley joining us to chat about his new party from dallas this morning. good morning. you're just 13 years old. you can't even vote, so why get involved in politics already? >> well, i mean, i don't think you necessarily have to vote to make a difference. this just goes to show that, you know, you can spread the word, tell people, you know, about what you think is best. you don't have to cast a ballot to, you know, make a difference. this is just a great way, it's a great way to learn and a great way to talk to people. >> and i know the focus of your party, or the purpose of your party, is to ensure bipartisanship. do you see a problem with that in washington and a need for it? >> absolutely. i mean, politicians in washington focus more on scoring political points than serving us. you know, they work for us. we hire them. and they should stay true to their word and do what they think is best. that's the main focus of united now. >> i know you're early in the process but have you to have some supporters now, maybe besides your father, so what kind of support are you getting out there? >> well, we're -- we have -- most of our support comes on a local level. we have some people who are willing to donate and some people who have contacted us through our website willing to volunteer. so, i mean, we really -- we do have some support on the local level. right now we're just trying to expand and tell people about what we're trying to do. >> and do you want a career in politics one day? >> absolutely. i would love to go into politics and do whatever's there. >> all right. conor brantley with a new party he's working on, united now. i'm excited to see where you take this. thanks for joining us. great to talk with you. >> thank you. now, more on the fierce gun fight in misratah, libya, a city under control of opposition supporters but gadhafi is fighting to take it back. in the middle of this, a witness joining us live. we won't reveal his name. sir, can you tell us, as you're there in misratah, what are you seeing there on the ground? >> hi. i just arrived at courthouse, which was the center of the assault by the gadhafi loyal militias on the city of misratah. and i'm literally in the middle of a -- what seems to be or what is battlefield, intense battlefield. something i only saw on tv. i can't believe it. we're talking about rockets on the ground, we're talking about blood everywhere. talking about -- talking about vehicles, all, all. i tell you what, i'm in the courthouse in the city of misratah. i'm facing now another big building, opposite the city court in misratah. the first three or four floors seems like have just been through the equivalent attack. six, seven story building burned. i mean, on the ground it's jubilation. people are celebrating a victory. i counted four tanks walking out of the city center. apparently that's the militia, gadhafi militia forces have just took out of the city -- >> and -- >> i'm sorry, the people of misratah are just gathering back at the courthouse in defiance of the gadhafi regime. >> so, if you can hear me, just tell me -- i know earlier you told us there were several tanks there and the gadhafi regime that was firing on these rebel forces there. does it look as though the gadhafi regime and the army there, the libyan army has pulled back and pulled out? are they gone from that area? >> what happened is -- as i was doing that report early on, i was a block away from the courthouse where the operation was taking place. and because i couldn't get any closer, i was not seeing what's going on from all sides of the courthouse. i was only having -- had access to only two sides of the courthouse, what i saw, the fire between rebel groups, the opposition, and the militia of gadhafi. now as i came in, and i was witnessing people as they were running into the courthouse, i was seeing all the vehicles that were -- that were based at the courthouse fleeing from one side of the city and four tanks. i counted four tanks. i'm walking out. some people told me there was six. i only counted four. >> but those tanks have left? >> hello? >> have the tanks left? has the army pulled out? has the opposition won this battle? >> yes, they have. they have pulled out from the city center at the courthouse. [ inaudible ] >> and are you seeing any victims there? were there any injuries? how -- >> i can tell you that i'm seeing blood spots and blood stains here and there. i haven't seen any bodies. i have seen one person being rushed out on a car to the hospital. as you can see the ambulance is coming in. we don't know how many people are injured, how many people are killed inside the courthouse because we only came about to see what's out of the courthouse. the operatives on the ground the militia groups were actually based on the first and second floors of the courthouse so there could be casualties up there as well. >> and were any of these opposition forces, as far as you could tell, were they well armed? i mean, armed enough to force these tanks and the libyan army to go away? >> absolutely. absolutely. i mean, i can tell you this myself, i'm not a weapons expert, but the last few days and weeks, obviously, i became acquainted with the military terms and terminologies used in battle. we're talking about what we call -- it's an armory, heavy machine gun. we're talking about antitank missile, we're talking about tanks, we're talking about obviously the light machine weapons that were used. so, the type of weaponry you not use against civilians but other armory in battle. the people i'm seeing at the moment here are all describing the operation as the most -- what can i say? the most severe battle so far in misratah. i don't know the number dead. i did listen to a report by the medical officer on the ground about two hours ago confirming three people dead and 13 injured, but that was two hours ago. i mean, since then heavy, heavy exchanges took place at the courthouse area. >> are you close -- are you close enough to speak to any of the rebel forces that are there? >> no. the rebel forces are far away from me now at the moment. because i'm now -- i'll continue listening. we're talking about thousands of people have just gathered, arrived at the courthouse. i can just show you -- sorry. i can come closer to the people -- >> are they still celebrating? >> they are celebrating, exactly. i'm seeing people distributing juice and water and people putting hands up and singing songs. listen to this. they're saying -- which means be patient, gadhafi be patient, in misratah we'll take your prize. they are chanting this kind of slogan at the moment in front of the courthouse in the city of misratah. >> if you could, just -- i know you've had a chance to follow some of these rebel forces and see what's happening there. can you speak to their level of confidence that they are going to win this and that gadhafi will step down? >> like i said earlier in my earlier report, the will and the determination and dedication the people are showing here on the ground, it just makes you speechless. i can't -- i can't describe it more than, you know, a giant will of the people. driving people to actually face these militias, heavy armed militias, with nearly nothing. we're talking about a couple of machine guns here and there. we're talking about hunting equipment. we're talking about people who are managed to get some petro in grass bottles to create missiles. we're talking about that kind of very, very primitive army that people are using. obviously, when they come to seize what could be described as weapons and heavy machinery and armory, the gadhafi militias, they end up using it as well. so, it's just -- it's just the will of the people that will win this battle. >> can you please, if you will, describe the crowd there. i mean, who are these rebel forces? what -- who are these people that you're seeing? >> i mean, it's a mix of people. people in civilian clothes, what seems to me like the average chap on the street. other people -- you know, the people you wouldn't expect to see in such a crowd. you know, like teachers, like, you know, religious cleric and community leaders. but also you see the people who have actually been in military, people who are ex-military, people who started -- i'm hugging a couple of them as well at the moment. you can't say -- you can't categorize the protesters and the rebels just as, you know, the community of misratah. this is the simplest way of describing it, the people of misratah. >> did you say you were hugging a couple of them. >> yes, i hugged a couple of them that just came to -- everyone is hugging everyone at the moment, by the way. you don't need to know people to hug, you know, in this circumstance in particular. but near to me is one of the leaders on the ground. >> can he tell you about the battle there or he can tell us about the battle? [ speaking foreign language ] >> what is he telling you? [ speaking foreign language ] >> he's getting the details there for us. we'll have him back on the foeb in a moment and let you know what he's saying. [ speaking foreign language ] >> he said, very briefly, that the battle took place -- by the way, the name of the person who was just talking to is salah, he's the operative lead other ground. >> what did he tell you that happened? >> the battle started at 8:00 this morning when militia groups came from three different points into the city. and they are all in -- in a trial with. objective of seizing control of the city. what seems to be, as he described, that the rebels have actually brought them into the city in a trick to make them go into the city center and then to seize them. this is exactly what happened according to the account of mr. salah, the operative leader of this operation. >> so you say the rebels tricked them to come into the city and then what? >> and then they didn't show resistance in the way they wanted them to believe this is it, or that there is a sense of resistan resistance. in a way, they only resisted them to actually make them think that they will be easily placing themselves in the city center. so it was -- they came exactly into the trap and this is where they surrounded them in the courthouse. the heavy battle took place. >> all right. you know what, we're going to leave it there with you. we really appreciate your time speaking with us. i know that you put yourself in a lot of danger there during that live gunfire earlier and then again now back at that courthouse in misratah. we really appreciate it. stay safe. there we were, just speaking with an eyewitness to this gun fight, this gun battle in misrat misratah, libya, this morning, telling us the libyan army came into the city from three different points into the city for this battle. the rebels apparently brought them in there, making them think they were weaker than they were and then showed them what force they actually did have. he told uhe