center of that city. reports out of zawia and getting accurate information is very difficult, but we understand there were heavy casualties taken by the rebels. they called some of the foreign journalists who are under government control in tripoli and said that they were under the most fierce attack they have seen yet. a few hours later, though, the rebels were claiming victory, saying they had driven the gadhafi army back to the outskirts of zawia, although it was not clear whether the army units voluntarily withdrawn to mass for the second attack. the only thing that s clear is that the rebels are basically holed up in a few blocks of that city center. clearly colonel gadhafi is making the fight for zawia his most urgent priority. he does not want to lose that town. the west is part of the country he has held on to. zawia is the gateway to the west. what happens there will affect what happens in the coming days and months. but the bottom line tonight is
following for you at this hour. troops loyal to muammar khadafy breaking through rebel lines in libya, fighting to retake a city near tripoli. earthquake ravaged christ church new zealand, no one died in the rubble of the cathedral. tornado touching down in southwest louisiana injuring nine people and leveling several homes. gregg: police say a 12-year terror spree stretching from virginia to rhode island is finally over. the man suspected of being the so-called east coast rapist captured. police arresting 39-year-old aaron thomas in connecticut. they say they are absolutely sure he is the man behind the sexual assaults on at least 17 women in four states. assaults from 1997 to 2009. 12 cases have been linked by dna to the same offender. julie banderas is following
celebrations. adam is live in new orleans. describe what is happening there? yeah, gregg, the sky is dark here. in fact the last half an hour, pretty significant cell moved through. i e-mailed a picture from my fox iphone. you can get an idea of the city park that was flooded back in katrina. this is not hurricane season but the band that came through here, the guys i was standing with, and know like myself, it was one of the strongest i ve ever seen. it came through 15 minutes of significant downpour. it flooded the city parks, a lot of streets around town are pretty well inundated with water. tornado came down in the western part of the state, the watch in the city itself, temperatures are expected to drop with the warm weather that is here now. the warm rain that is here now, of course, would be having more severe weather. i would say, we re right smack dab in the middle of mardi gras.
it s on a launch pad and nasa is hoping to put it into orbit as the shuttle fleet approaches retirement. gregg: major developments in the battlefield in libya. rebels in ziwia in a fierce fight with forces loyal to moammar gadhafi who launch add predawn attack using tanks and artillery to retake the town near tripoli. the pro-government forces are on the outskirts of that city, regroup and preparing for another thrust into the city. victory or defeat for both sides, very much up in the air this hour. jonathan hunt streaming live near the front lines near the tunisia-libya battle. the battle is raging on two fronts. iwia and the eastern port city. there there seems to be a more clear cut victory for the anti-gadhafi rebels. they have taken that town, having moved there and before
that, from benghazi. it contains more of their control of the eastern half of the country. they appear to have almost or completely routed gadhafi s forces in the east and what is key here now is that from there, they are likely to move toward the city of surt. it is incredibly significant because surt is the hometown of colonel gadhafi. that s a symbolic city that he can not possibly afford to lose and one assumes he will mass all the force that he can to insure that his hometown is not taken over by the rebels. but the fiercest fighting today so far has been in the western city of zawia, just 30 miles west of tripoli. we hear that at 6:00 a.m. local time, the pro-gadhafi force, the armies and militias moved in enmass, driving the rebels into just a very small part of the