situation room starts now. thanks very much, brooke. happening now, republicans pouncing on president obama and a horrible new unemployment report. this hour, the numbers and the politics and what it all means for millions of americans who need a job now. plus, i ll talk to a republican congressman who plans to boycott the president s big jobs speech before a joint session of congress next week. also, a new worldwide travel alert as we approach the tenth anniversary of 9/11. national security insiders tell us what they know about the risk of a terror attack. revenge, as far as al qaeda is concerned on that momentous day. and a statue honoring one of the most important figures in american history, made in china. controversy surrounding the dr. martin luther king memorial. i m wolf blitzer, you re in the situation room. it s a big fat zero, and it s a bright red circle around the unemployment mess in this country right now. the government reports today that no new jobs we
say this is what is happening. these rebels are these people, these gadhafi forces are doing this. and this at a time when as lynsey says, it s gone geopolitical. this is a time when governments are about to commit lives and hundreds of millions of dollars into a conflict. and we re trying to say, if that s the resources you re going to be putting into this conflict, if you re going to choose to interfere in this, this is the situation on the ground. and it is the same you risk you take that gets that journalistic information that puts people in mortal peril. it is the same risk. if it works for you, it comes off. if it doesn t work for you, you get the blame. that s the way the job is. is it hard being back? i know obviously you want to come home after a situation like this. that s completely normal and understandable. it s got to be strange to still see this stuff going on. is it i always find it hard going from one world to another. all of a sudden you re on a
the military vehicles, and then almost i mean, almost instantly you realized you were at a government checkpoint and we had pretty much no options. that s got to be the worst feeling to realize there s a level of organization here, these guys aren t the opposition forces, this is gadhafi s people. and you can t go back because they ll open fire, you would assume they would open fire. you look more suspicious if you try to run away. we just sort of we made a decision to go forward. at some point, you know, it s so chaotic. you don t know what the best option is. tyler was saying, don t stop, don t stop, because we wanted to coast through and hope they didn t recognize we were foreigners. at the same time, they knew they were. they saw tyler in the front seat. and the risk is if you don t stop they ll open fire. right. it s a no-win situation. and our driver stopped the car and jumped out and said journalist, and then it was all hell broke loose. yes. you were yanke
and i think, why do i do this? why do i torture myself? it s simply because i think it s really important for people to see what they don t want to see. and for people to see the reality of people s lives outside of their little box. do you think this is going to go on a long time in libya, short of gadhafi being killed? one thing that was clear to me, as we went from ajdabiya to tripoli, this is absolutely not going to be anything like egypt or tunisia. it s going to be messy and last a long time. i think a generation is going to be haunted by this reckoning that is going to have to be made of what gadhafi s rule is representative of more than four decades. i really admire all of you. so thank you very much for talking. thank you. [ male announcer ] at quicken loans, we re obsessed with finding a better way for our clients to get a mortgage. maybe that s why j.d. power and associates ranked us highest in customer satisfaction
taking out tanks in heavy weaponry and artillery in open areas, open highways, which is what the situation is on the ground here in eastern libya. it s very different in western libya, where you have machine tanks and heavy weaponry in heavily populated civilian areas, the regime is using human shields, placing these tanks and troops next to homes, next to places of worship even. obviously these types of tactics are extremely difficult. sometimes impossible for warplanes to tackle from way up in the air. and when the options are limited, the options right now appear to be air strikes, there s not much you can do in an urban area like misrata. in benghazi for us tonight. thanks, appreciate it. frederick pikan is in tripoli tonight keeping an eye on what gadhafi s forces are up to. another country that would give