on the day and the battle over about 150 or 200-mile area. there is currently fighting still going on in brega, that important oil port, and even though the rebels have put up their best fighting force, it still looks like it s moving into gadhafi force s favor. they have created a crisis team. it s something they want to use, a group of individuals who will be reaching out and trying to consolidate and govern the parts of the country now that they control. and it is about a third of the country in the east. meanwhile, gadhafi forces have been pounding away at that last rebel stronghold here in the west called misrata. again, more killed, more wounded. the latest figures from doctors inside misrata is at least 240 people have been killed from attacks by gadhafi tanks and artilleries since the six weeks
might be treated at a hospital. we don t know what that treatment would be for. in east tripoli 37 one of my own sources, chris, is saying or told me this morning my time that gadhafi was confirmed according to her sources to be still in tripoli. but this is a very fluid situation. and the short answer is that no one including the rebels seem to know where he is at this time. and the rebels are claiming they control 90% of the city. richard engel says it may be about 80%. but in either case, does it still mean there are pockets of fighting going on? reporter: oh, it s clearly not over yet. there are large and dangerous pockets of resistance, especially in the center of the capital. one rebel was quoted as saying that there was still gunfire going on everywhere. gadhafi tanks have taken up positions outside that presidential compound. and we understand at the port of tripoli as well that they re firing indiscriminately. there are reports of mortars
gadhafi s last stronghold, reaching the heart of tripoli, celebrating on his turf and cnn was on the back of the truck to witness it all. amazing. i m carol costello. president obama telling moammar gadhafi to face the facts and give it up. the white house already hoping the rebels are ready to lead out on this american morning. all right. good morning, carol. good morning, everyone. it is monday, august 22nd. this is american morning. i m christine romans. i m carol costello. thank you for joining us. ali has the morning off. a lot going on. let s get to it. that s right. up first, breaking news, new explosions overnight coming from moammar gadhafi s tripoli compound. three of his sons are in custody but gadhafi s whereabouts are still unknown as history continues to unfold in libya this morning. quite a sight. rebel forces say they control most of the capital and gadhafi s forces in one tripoli neighborhood are negotiating their surrender. listen. talk about
the union met with gadhafi over the weekend, no word yet on details of that proposed cease-fire but the african leaders are now in benghazi meeting with the remembers. this morning, they said any cease-fire must be credible and verifiable. today, rebels gained control of ajdabiya after air strikes targeted gadhafi tanks. and nbc sat down with the prince alpha sad and asked if moammar gadhafi would be welcome in his country. take a look at the response. one of the dilemmas for the united states and the west is we don t have a place for gadhafi to go. would he be welcome in saudi arabia if he would decide to leave power? i think the united states much have a place for him somewhere. not here? yes, you heard that
terrifying reports from the libyan city of misrata where the united nations says gadhafi s snipers are actually targeting children. no word on how many kids may have died there, but hundreds of residents have been killed and wounded in the assault on libya s third largest city. nato says its air strikes hit rebels used seized gadhafi tanks. as for the potential of u.s. boots on the ground i suspect there might be some consideration of that. my personal view at this point would be that that s probably not the ideal circumstance, again, for the regional reactions that having american boots on the ground would entail. general ham there, that is the u.s. military commander who handed over libyan operations to nato last week. colonel jack jacobs is an msnbc political analyst and recipient of the congressional medal of honor. we re hearing from the general