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Gadhafi's Son Reported Killed in NATO Air Strike
Aired April 30, 2011 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Indeed, it is breaking news. I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
Here's what we know for sure: one of the sons of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has been killed. The Libyan government says Saif Al-Arab Gadhafi died in a NATO airstrike. We're told that Moammar Gadhafi and his wife were in the same house when it happened but both of them are alive.
We want to go straight now to CNN's Frederik Pleitgen. He joins us now from Tripoli.
Frederik, you were told that just a short time ago in a press conference. What else are you hearing? And, also, what are you hearing about the reports of possibly his grandsons, two of them, being killed as well?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Libyan government has confirmed that several of the grandchildren of Moammar Gadhafi have been killed in this airstrike. They said that Saif Al-Arab Gadhafi was playing with his nieces and his children when this, in fact -- or with Moammar Gadhafi's grandchildren, when this airstrike hit.
Now, it appears they may have been in a house that was actually adjacent to the main house that was hit, because what you have on the scene there, we were taken to the scene relatively shortly after the airstrike, I would say about an hour or so after the airstrike happened, is that there was one main complex which was absolutely flattened, where you could see that a bomb had been dropped on it, which seemed to us to maybe the -- some sort of cement bomb, which is just there to penetrate the ceiling, and then a main sort of ordnance had been dropped on the building that then flattened that building.
But there was significant damage to an adjacent house which we believe might have been the house of actually the family was in, and that took some structural damage to one of the walls, that might have been the one where Saif Al-Arab was behind. And, obviously, there were people wounded and, of course, Saif Al-Arab was killed in this airstrike.
So, it seemed to us the main building hit may have been next to the one that Saif Al-Arab was in. But, certainly, yes, we have gotten the confirmation that indeed Saif Al-Arab has been killed in this airstrike and that, of course, Moammar Gadhafi and his wife were also on hand, Don. LEMON: OK. So, listen, I want to bring this in -- and this is from "Reuters," Frederik.
"Reuters" is reporting that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi survived the NATO airstrike on Saturday night that killed his youngest son, Saif Al-Arab. And now, they're reporting three of his grandchildren, according to a Libyan government spokesperson.
And, obviously, Frederik Pleitgen, you're there in Tripoli at that news conference, and this is going to be -- there's going to be some conflicting information coming in until they figure out exactly what happened here. First, there's a report of two of his grandchildren. Now, there's a report of three of his grandchildren and also his youngest son.
Was that press conference called just to announce that? Or was this something that -- is this a planned press conference that happens periodically?
PLEITGEN: No, this was a press conference that was called just for that. Basically, the way all of this unfolded, Don, is that we were here obviously in the hotel that journalists have to stay in, in downtown Tripoli, when sometime during the evening hours, we hear -- heard massive explosion here in Tripoli, just a couple hundred yards actually from the location that we were in. It was really much louder than a lot of the ordnance that we've heard dropped over Tripoli over the next couple of -- over the past couple of weeks.
And then what you had is government officials here, you could tell that they were very, very nervous, that they were sort of returning around the hotel lobby. And then they at some point said that there was a bus trip which was being organized to go to this residence. When we got there, they told us this was, in fact, the residence of Saif Al-Arab Gadhafi that we were going to, and then they showed us the remains of the house that was on that residence.
At that point, they didn't give any information yet as to what had happened, as to who was inside the house, simply saying that this was just a residential compound, that this had no military significance. And then afterward, we were taken back to the hotel, also because they feared that they could still be unexploded ordnance at that site. As I said, there seemed to be one unexploded bomb still in the structure. However, it's unclear whether that bomb had any sort of explosives in it or whether or not that might have been a preliminary device that was thrown on to the house to penetrate the ceiling to then make way for the actual ordnance that would have been dropped.
So, after viewing the destruction at that site, they took us back to the hotel that we're in now, and then gave that press conference -- which seemed to us to be a quite an emotional one, with a lot of people here from the Libyan officials getting up, screaming when they heard the news. Obviously, in a lot of disarray and very upset at the news that they were hearing.
It also began with a long speech by the government spokesperson, Moussa Ibrahim, who was saying the death prayer for Saif Al-Arab. So, it was certainly one very much out of the ordinary than what we usually hear here, at where the journalists stay here in Tripoli, Don.
LEMON: And, Frederik Pleitgen, as news travels and it travels fast, and even in that region, we're also getting reports that, in the rebel capital of Benghazi, rebels are celebrating the reports of Gadhafi's son's death.
Frederik, this all happened, again, just a short time ago. And we are monitoring Libyan television here -- still no reports from Libyan television. I'm sure you're monitoring the situation there.
Do we know what the next move is possibly? Did they give you a forecast? Any sort of information about what they plan to do next on the heels of this?
PLEITGEN: Well, no, they don't seem to have a plan yet as to what they're going to do next. Obviously, they're going to be very worried about the safety of Moammar Gadhafi, and, of course, one of the things they said immediately after this happened and after they broke the news to us is that they view this very much as a direct assassination attempt on Moammar Gadhafi. Of course, we've been talking about this before, that NATO has been saying that it's not directly targeting Moammar Gadhafi, that also the UN. resolution under which, of course, NATO is operating has no mandate for them to directly target the leadership of this country.
And certainly this is one thing where the Libyan government is saying that this was basically an illegal bombing that happened, that this was a direct assassination attempt, not just against Moammar Gadhafi but also, of course, against other family members as well.
As we said, his wife was in that compound apparently, Moammar Gadhafi himself and, of course, Saif Al-Arab as well.
So, the next moves appear to us to be that they're probably going to take us back to this compound in the morning hours to let us survey the place in daylight, basically, to get a better view as to what was actually hit there, as to what actually happened there.
Now, usually, on those visits, what they'll do is they'll let you survey the damage from the outside. They won't actually let you go through the rubble simply because they say there might be things that they would want to keep secret that they want to keep from the public in there. And then they'll have to see whether or not they might do some sort of period of mourning or what other next steps they will take.
But it seems to us at this point that this is so fresh, that they really don't have a plan or an idea how they want to move forward from this, Don.
LEMON: Hey, Frederik, if you can -- I can hear in your microphone as we report this breaking news on one of Gadhafi's sons, we can hear -- I don't know if it's gunfire, I don't know if it's airstrikes, not exactly sure -- but we hear something in the background behind you.
PLEITGEN: It is. LEMON: Are you hearing it now? And if you hear it, quietly -- but explain to us what's going on until you start to hear it again.
PLEITGEN: Yes, we've been hearing it ever since the news broke. Basically, as you said and you're absolutely right, the news travels quickly here, and things like this do get around, because, obviously, Libyan TV is reporting this, as well, Libyan TV was at the press conference as well. So, people --
LEMON: That is CNN's
PLEITGEN: -- know that this is going on. And ever since the gunfire which seems to us to be sort of people firing into the air to, obviously, show their condolences for Saif Al-Arab Gadhafi. It might also be the odd person against Gadhafi here in Tripoli, although it would be someone very brave to start shooting celebratory fire at this point in time.
But, certainly, this is something -- yes, that has been going on ever since the announcement was made. Here in Tripoli, you usually do have -- we just have another salvo going on, we usually hear guns intermittently in the evening hours --
LEMON: Can we hear it, Fred, if it's going on while you're talking?
PLEITGEN: -- a lot more tonight than it would be on other nights, Don.
LEMON: As you said, can we listen to that a little bit?
PLEITGEN: Sure, yes, it's going on right now. It's going on the whole time as I'm talking.
(GUNFIRE)
PLEITGEN: And it's sort of coming from different parts of the city. You can hear it sort of -- some of it seems quite far away. Tripoli is, of course, a fairly large city and also one quite sprawling. It covers a very large area. So, you hear some sort of further in the background. Others will be closer to hear. But, yes, you can hear it quite here clearly from my position, Don.
LEMON: And, Frederik, stand by, as we listen to that. We want to put up the Gadhafi family tree just so people can get an idea of what we're -- of what we're talking about here.
Obviously, Moammar Gadhafi, the patriarch of the family. And then you see his first wife there, which is Fatiha, then the second wife there which is Safia Farkash, and then the sons from those wives.
His son that's believed -- this particular son, Saif Al-Arab, which is to the right of your screen there, third from the right of your screen, if you're going back left, Saif Al-Arab, he is the son who is believed to be killed, according to Libyan government.
And this isn't Saif al Islam, the second one from the left of your screen if you're going left to right. That's the one who has been the spokesperson throughout this conflict and many other times for his father, Moammar Gadhafi.
But again, the reports we have is Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi did survive a NATO airstrike on Saturday night, killed his youngest son on the screen that you see at the bottom, right-hand side of the screen, Saif Al-Arab, and three of his grandchildren.
This all announced at a press conference a short time ago in Tripoli where our Frederik Pleitgen was. Frederik is joining us now live from Tripoli.
We're told that one of the spokesperson says -- the spokesperson is Moussa Ibrahim. And he said that Saif Al-Arab was a civilian and a student who has studied in Germany. He was 29 years old.
And according to Frederik and other journalists, they were taken to the house which had been hit by at least three missiles. And according to Fred -- I let you weigh on this in a second -- you said one of them appeared to be unexploded. The roof had completely caved in, in some areas, leaving strings of re-enforcing steel hanging down among chunks of concrete. And it says a table football machine -- this is just a little here, stood outside in the garden of the house, which was a wealthy residential -- in a wealthy residential area of Tripoli.
This is according to a "Reuters" report. Our own reporting from our Frederik Pleitgen confirms this, being announced just a short time ago. We have salvos going on, according to Frederik, in the background. You can hear, as he is speaking there.
Fred, continue, please.
PLEITGEN: Yes. And, of course, that's one of the things that the Libyan government here keeps emphasizing, is the fact that they say that Saif Al-Arab had absolutely no military significance whatsoever here in this country.
Of course, there are other sons of Moammar Gadhafi who have much higher significance. Saif al Islam, as you said, one of the most prominent figures here in this country and one who many believe is actually indeed the one who is running the day-to-day operations of this country.
And then, of course, there is Khamis Gadhafi who commands one of the best-trained and best best-equipped military brigades known as the "Khamis Brigade," the 32nd brigade here in this country, which is actually doing a lot of the fighting in Misrata as well as in eastern Libya. Those would be the kind of people that the government here would acknowledge have military significance in the fight that they're waging with NATO and the rebels.
However, they say that Saif Al-Arab had no significance whatsoever. As you said, he was a student. He spent a lot of time in Munich, Germany, studying there. They say he had not completed studies, but certainly, that he had absolutely nothing to do with the military campaign that's going on against the rebellion in the east, as well as, of course, Misrata and the western mountains here of this country.
And that's why they keep saying that this is an act which is illegal under the U.N. resolution to enforce no-fly zone here in this country, and, of course, to protect civilians, they keep using the phrase, how has this -- as they say, quote, "assassination," how is this assassination protecting civilians here in this country, is the question that the Gadhafi government keeps throwing out there -- of course, signaling that they believe that this was in fact nothing more than a political assassination that had nothing to do with the military campaign here in Libya, Don.
LEMON: Frederik Pleitgen joining us live from Tripoli. Frederik, stand by. Much, much more of this.
I want to tell our viewers. We're not going to go far away from this story. We're being told that one of Moammar Gadhafi's sons, his youngest son, killed in NATO airstrikes on his home just a short time ago. That announced in a press conference in Tripoli, which CNN was there for.
You're looking at the Gadhafi family tree, the son, Saif Al-Arab, third from the right of your screen, if you're looking left to right, he is the third one there, and is believed to be the son of Moammar Gadhafi's second wife.
Again, he killed -- he was killed in an airstrike, three of Gadhafi's grandchildren as well.
The breaking news continues here on CNN. We're back in just seconds.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
This is breaking news, and I want to welcome our international viewers from around the world and also welcome here to our domestic desk here in the U.S.
Ralitsa Vassileva from CNN International.
The breaking news, of course, involves Moammar Gadhafi.
RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN INTERNATIONAL: That's right. And his son, his youngest son, whose name is Saif Al-Arab al Gadhafi who has been killed, according to Libyan spokesperson -- killed in a NATO airstrike.
This is not the Saif Gadhafi we are used to seeing on TV.
LEMON: That's Saif al Islam, this is Saif Al-Arab. VASSILEVA: Yes. He is the spokesperson for his -- he is the spokesperson for his father's regime, defending his actions. We also heard of him before as a reformer. But since the Libyan crackdown began on the rebels, he has appeared on television numerous times to defend his father's actions.
LEMON: And, Ralitsa, as you can see, we -- obviously, the resources of CNN, you have joined us from our international unit.
We also have Frederik Pleitgen in Tripoli. Frederik was at the press conference when it was announced.
And also, we have a Libyan-American journalist Fadel Al-Ameen joining us as well.
I'm going to bring in Fadel first.
Fidel, what do you make of this? We're wondering about the political situation, if this changes at all. Gadhafi and his people have been saying that they believe that they are a target of this, while NATO coalition has been saying not so.
What does this change, if anything?
FADEL AL-AMEEN, LIBYAN-AMERICAN JOURNALIST (via telephone): I don't know if it's going to change anything. It's the fact that he was in -- just outside Tripoli, which one of the houses, big farm, horse farm, I think that's the report that it was hit, that they expected the number of military officers were also at that location when the hit took place.
The point is now that Gadhafi used this, as he's he's been saying -- or his spokesman has been saying that this is a civilian person. He will use that to play on the issue of the civilian person -- this is a civilian person also that he is (INAUDIBLE). I think he may use this and try to get some mileage out of this -- something that he mentioned yesterday and last night in his speech.
LEMON: If it is true, as the government is reporting, three of his grandchildren also killed in this -- that is something that Moammar Gadhafi will use as well.
Hang on, before you answer that, we're looking -- these are file pictures. I thought it was live up on Libyan television, from Libyan television. You can see Moammar Gadhafi there, obviously revving up his supporters during this whole conflict as he has been doing.
VASSILEVA: Yes. And we did hear from Moammar Gadhafi just a few hours before he appeared on state television, and he called on NATO to negotiate with him, to end the NATO airstrikes. It was just a few hours ago and NATO refused, saying that it was not a genuine offer, what they needed to see was action, not words.
So, it's interesting that he appeared -- Gadhafi appeared just a few hours ago on TV to call for negotiating.
LEMON: Fadel, are you -- are you in a position to see CNN air right now? Can you see what we're airing? Because I want to put up --
AL-AMEEN: Unfortunately, I can't.
LEMON: OK. Well, here's what we'll do. Can we put up Libyan television to see how they're covering this? Since we're monitoring the situation there -- to see how Libyan television is covering this particular incident. What you're looking at, obviously, is not -- it's not live breaking news here, but they were, according to our Frederik Pleitgen, at that press release.
Go ahead, Ralitsa.
VASSILEVA: The person on the right side of the screen you're seeing in this photograph is a very famous French intellectual who has been trying to establish links with the rebel leadership and he has been calling for the West to support the rebel leadership. I believe that is the same person, the name escapes me at this point, at this time, but this is Libyan television, obviously they're talking about him. This is, it appears he's meeting there with rebel leaders, obviously not a person who was on the side of the Gadhafi regime, if this is indeed Libyan state TV at this point.
It is also interesting that we are hearing that Colonel Gadhafi and his wife were in that house, which was targeted, but they escaped unharmed. And again, we're hearing this from a -- the Libyan side. We have not yet received any confirmation or any reaction from NATO itself.
And what we were hearing is from the United States, from the European, and Western powers was that Colonel Gadhafi was not a target. However, if you remember last weekend, there were two very senior U.S. legislators, including John McCain, who were calling for more action, including another call for action to be taken to target Colonel Gadhafi himself.
However, the Obama administration has not agreed to that. They said that they would continue to focus on the policy allowed by the U.N. resolution.
LEMON: John McCain and both Joe Lieberman went over to the area and were speaking about what you were saying.
I want Fadel to stand by. We're going to get back to you in just a moment.
And as we're saying, we're just showing Libyan television live just a moment ago. It's very interesting that in Washington right now, they are preparing, including the president, for a big event they have every year, the White House Correspondents' dinner -- and I'm wondering if that changes how the president addresses that and how he speaks to that this evening, because usually it's fun and games. It's jokes.
VASSILEVA: Yes.
LEMON: And you're looking at live pictures now at the White House. Obviously, the president is preparing to get ready for the White House Correspondents' dinner. It will be interesting to see if he releases a statement before heading off to the White House Correspondents' dinner or if he indeed talks about it.
But again, this is usually comedy, Seth Myers of "SNL" also going to be there tonight -- all fun and games a bit. But this is serious news and, especially when we're involved in that.
Let's bring in Frederik Pleitgen real quick, Ralitsa, and see if he has any more information. He's live in Tripoli for us.
Fred, there were volleys going back-and-forth, and I think these are believed to be celebratory that you're hearing in Tripoli and then in many other regions throughout Libya.
PLEITGEN: Well, probably commemorative at this point in time after this news, Don, came on the air on Libyan TV that Saif Al-Arab Gadhafi had been killed in that airstrike. Certainly, the gunfire in Tripoli continues and does not seem to be abating whatsoever. We're hearing some of it actually might be anti-aircraft fire that's going into the air, obviously completely randomly because the anti-aircraft weapons Gadhafi forces have in Tripoli by no means would be able to bring down a NATO jet.
But, yes, that's what's going on at this time. It seems as though the city here is not up in arms, but still certainly very much taken aback by what has happened today. Certainly, the Gadhafi supporters are. So, it still is a feeling that people are very nervous and very itchy at this point in time after this airstrike happened.
And I can tell you when we came on to the scene of that airstrike, the people there who were supposed to guard that compound and they were still sort of around there with their AK-47 assault rifles, they were very, very nervous. They were very nervous to see us -- to see the foreign press come there as we were going there to survey the damage.
And then, of course, we went inside and we saw that compound that was just absolutely flattened by those bombs, which is not on the outskirts of Tripoli, it's actually right inside Tripoli. At least the building that they took us to, seems to be a residential sort of compound that has three buildings on it in total.
Now, we're told that one of the buildings, one of the structures on that compound is actually an office building, and we were able to go inside there. There was blood on the floor inside that building, but it didn't seem to have very much in the way of structural damage. There was certainly a lot of furniture that was destroyed in there -- as you see a massive sort of salvo go off right behind me. You might be able to hear that right now here in downtown Tripoli.
LEMON: Yes, just let us hear it. Let us hear it, Fred.
PLEITGEN: well, it seems to be sort of --
(GUNFIRE)
PLEITGEN: Yes, right there.
LEMON: So, Fred, listen, we want you to stand by and we're going to get back to you shortly.
And I want to say again to our viewers -- this is breaking news here on CNN. I'm Don Lemon, I want to welcome our interviewers from around the world, joined here by Ralitsa Vassileva.
VASSILEVA: That's right. We're covering this breaking news that Fred was just telling us from Tripoli, that Libyan spokesperson has told us that the youngest son of Colonel Gadhafi, Saif Al-Arab al Gadhafi, was killed in a NATO airstrike targeting a house in which the colonel himself and his wife were. Also, it appears that three of Gadhafi's grandchildren were also in the house and they have also been killed.
We will take a short break, Don. We will back with more on this breaking news. Fred will also join us from Tripoli with more details on this and also the impact on what this is expected to be.
LEMON: We're back in a moment.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
VASSILEVA: Hello, everybody. We're covering breaking news. I'm Ralitsa Vassileva from CNN International.
LEMON: And I welcome our viewers from around the world. I'm Don Lemon from CNN domestic here in America.
The breaking news is that Moammar Gadhafi's youngest son killed in an airstrike on his compound, also, three of his grandchildren as well. Moammar Gadhafi was there. His wife was there as well. And we're told Moammar Gadhafi did survive.
We want to bring you now -- take you now to Washington and Tripoli. We have live coverage from both. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is in Tripoli at the conference when it was announced. Our Barbara Starr is in Washington, when just by chance there is a White House Correspondents' dinner going on she was attending.
And you see the White House there. The president has left the White House. He has arrived now at the Washington Hilton.
Barbara, to you first. Let's talk strategy in this bombing over the last couple of weeks, what has happened over the past couple of weeks, and will this change in the future.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, what we know is we have followed this campaign by NATO. This strategy over the last couple of weeks has been to step up airstrikes against Gadhafi -- Colonel Gadhafi's command and control facilities, which are mainly located in Tripoli. Now, what's important to understand are these bunkers, these facilities, are places, where places where Colonel Gadhafi and his family are known to frequent. NATO says, the U.S. says, the European allies all say they are not targeting Gadhafi or his family in particular.
But make no mistake, over the last several days, as they have stepped up airstrikes, you know, if Gadhafi's family happens to be inside one of those buildings at the time, so be it. We have talked to very senior NATO officials in recent days, and they are well aware that they could have wound up striking Gadhafi, even though technically they say that's not their goal. Their goal in these air strikes has been to bring down Gadhafi's command and control, but those are the very facilities that he and his family often frequent -- Don.
LEMON: Hey, Barbara, more on that in a moment, but I have to ask you, since you're there at the White House Correspondents dinner -- obviously, we can hear the noise around you -- this is not -- this was unexpected. The president is there, and I'm sure this is going to change at least a bit of what he is going to say tonight. He has to address this.
STARR: Well, we will see shortly. You are correct, Don, the president will be here tonight addressing the Pentagon -- the White House -- sorry, Pentagon correspondent -- the White House press corps. This event, you know, is one of the biggest events of the year in Washington. The president often makes very humorous remarks, teasing himself, teasing the press corps. But word in the last several minutes has slowly begun to circulate here about this event in Tripoli, so it will remain to be seen how much the president will have to say about it.
You know, Gadhafi over the last several days has stepped up his own rhetoric. He has made threats against NATO, threats against Italy. He has threatened, and there is some evidence he is mining the port of Misrata to keep humanitarian relief out of there. It's a very ugly situation in Libya, so we're -- you know, we will see where this goes tonight. Very unexpected development here tonight in Washington.
RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN ANCHOR: Barbara, this is Ralitsa. I was wondering whether you have received confirmation because we're getting this information only from a Libyan regime spokesperson. Has the White House confirmed that this has actually occurred?
STARR: Well, I have to tell you, most of the White House senior staff is here tonight. I'm assuming their BlackBerries are going off, the same way mine did just a short time ago. I have to tell you, as I got word about this, a general that I was speaking to suddenly was called away by his aides. I don't know what that means. I don't know if he was suddenly getting the word. But it is beginning to spread. We will see, I think.
But if the confirmation officially comes, my suspicion is it will come from NATO, not from the White House, because this is very much a NATO operation being run out of Italy, and the Obama administration wants to keep that NATO face on it. They do not want this to be the president of the United States versus Moammar Gadhafi. They want this to continue to be a NATO operation. So my suspicion is, keep all eyes peeled on the NATO headquarters in Italy tonight that is running this operation.
VASSILEVA: Barbara Starr, Pentagon correspondent, thank you very much. She's there at the White House at the correspondents dinner.
LEMON: Barbara, and I want to say, please stand by because Barbara is at an event in Washington, the White House Correspondents dinner, where the president has arrived. It's at the Washington Hilton. And Barbara, if you get any information, please get back to us. We're wanting to see if the president is going to respond.
Obviously, someone in the administration has to respond this evening. Nothing officially from the White House. And you bring up a very good point, that this is only from the Gadhafi government that these reports are coming from, from this press conference. We've got our Barbara Starr standing by, who's our Pentagon correspondent.
Also Frederik Pleitgen is in Tripoli and then also a Libyan-American journalist we have been speaking to this evening. Let's go to Frederik Pleitgen, who's live in Tripoli, where this press conference took place just a short time ago. Frederik, you said they gathered the journalists up, the brought you to this press conference, and this was announced. The reaction in the room, and then take us through it, please.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, before the press conference, what they did is they put us all on a bus and actually brought us to the actual compound because what they were telling us was that the press conference was actually going to happen at the site of the air strike. That's something that they've been doing the past couple of weeks, really, where after they've had air strikes, they've taken the journalists out there and held their press conferences there.
By the way, there's more gunfire reverberating around Tripoli here around us that hasn't abated a single bit since we began our broadcast a couple of minutes ago.
Now, they took us to that compound. They allowed us to basically walk throughout that compound as much as we wanted. They said, Film as much as you like, film as much as you can here at this place, and then we're going to hold the press conference there.
However, it appeared to them then at some point that it might be too dangerous to hold the press conference there because there might have still been unexploded ordnance inside that building that was obviously flattened. And also, the whole area seemed quite unsafe, where there were still parts of sort of concrete steel everywhere.
And so they decided to then bring the journalists back into the hotel, hold the press conference there, where the spokesperson for the Libyan government, Moussa Ibrahim, then began with a prayer at the press conference, where he did his statement first in Arabic announcing this. And then when he announced the name of the person who had been killed, Seif al-Arab Gadhafi, many people in that -- in that room obviously burst out, started yelling, were obviously very much in distress. And these were all people who were sort of affiliated with the Libyan government. We have government translators here, government minders here, obviously, intelligence people here, people from the information ministry of Libya here, as well, who were on hand to witness all this.
So then they went through the press conference, essentially told us what they say had happened, that the compound there had been hit by an air strike, that Moammar Gadhafi himself and his wife had been at that compound, as well. Both of them had apparently escaped unscathed and that they said that Gadhafi was now in a safe location and was still very much in charge of the affairs of this country, Don.
VASSILEVA: Fred, we're going to take a short break. Please stay with us. We will continue to discuss and to talk about the story. Basically, the breaking news is that the youngest son of Colonel Gadhafi, Seif al-Arab al-Gadhafi, who has kept a relatively low profile -- we have not seen him talk about or discuss anything about the crackdown on the rebels or talk about his father's policy -- in fact, we don't even have a picture of him right now -- has been killed in what appears to be a NATO attack on a house where he was. We're getting this from a Libyan spokesperson. So far, we have not been able to hear from NATO or from the White House confirming this.
LEMON: Yes, I want to say that we are getting new information from our State Department, which we're going to report in just a second. We're going to go through it. Also, we're getting pictures again from this strike, new pictures coming in, and new information from our State Department, from the U.S. State Department, and from our senior State Department producer, Elise Labott, on the other side of the break. But as you heard Ralitsa say, one of Moammar Gadhafi's son, his youngest son, killed in an air strike, three of his grandchildren. Back with the breaking news on CNN in just moments.
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VASSILEVA: Welcome back. I'm Ralitsa Vassileva from CNN International, along with my colleague, Don Lemon.
LEMON: Yes, the breaking news is one of Moammar Gadhafi's sons, his youngest son, three of his grandchildren killed in an air strike on his grandson's (SIC) compound. This just in to CNN, pictures of the air strike and the damage on Seif al-Arab Gadhafi's compound. And as you can see from the pictures there, obviously, a computer keyboard and broken glass.
VASSILEVA: We see the damage, also blood stains, from what appears to be a NATO air strike. This is what we're hearing from Libyan spokesperson Moussa Ibrahim, that this compound was attacked while Colonel Gadhafi and his wife were also there. They escaped unharmed. However, his youngest son, Seif al-Arab al-Gadhafi, was killed. Also three of his grandchildren were killed in this air strike.
We see quite a massive destruction there on the compound from what the Libyan regime says is a NATO air strike. We have not received any information on confirmation at this point from NATO itself. We've been talking to Barbara Starr, our Pentagon correspondent, who says that there is no official word from the White House, as well. But we are receiving some information.
LEMON: Yes, we are, but we're waiting to get this information checked, and it's from our Elise Labott. But before we report that, we want to make sure that we have our facts in order here and make sure that, you know, everything is correct because, as you know, in these situations, the information comes so fast. And without confirmation, from NATO or from the U.S. president, the White House -- which, by the way, the U.S. president is in Washington tonight at a hotel, White House Correspondents dinner, which is an annual event. And it is, you know, this sort of jockeying, fun event between the journalists in Washington who cover politics and cover the president, with the president of the United States.
And if we can get some live pictures of it, we'll just show you. That's where our Barbara Starr joined us from just moments ago, and this is at the Washington Hilton. The president, the U.S. president, Barack Obama, has arrived at that event, and we're awaiting word from the president. Again, that's one of our correspondents there stepping there in front of the camera.
VASSILEVA: Yes, and also Barbara was telling us that if there is reaction, the White House expects it to come from NATO, and all the air strikes are coming in from Italy, and that NATO is now in charge since the United States stepped back in a supporting role. So basically, NATO is directing the air strikes, presumably also the one that the Libyan government is claiming killed Gadhafi's youngest son, Seif al-Arab al-Gadhafi, and three of his grandchildren.
LEMON: And I want to say, Ralitsa, that as we're awaiting word from someone at NATO or the White House, we'll put up again -- this is the family tree, the Gadhafi family tree. Obviously, Moammar Gadhafi at the top of that tree, and then if you look to the right of your screen, the right of your screen, at the bottom, Seif al-Arab -- that's where he falls in the family tree, believed to be the son of Moammar Gadhafi's second wife. And this is not the son that we have seen so much of during this conflict, which is Seif Al-Islam.
VASSILEVA: Yes. And he is the second from left to right, Seif Al- Islam. You might remember. You've probably seen him. He's one of the most visible faces of this regime, appearing in numerous press conferences to defend his father.
LEMON: Breaking news here on CNN. One of Moammar Gadhafi's sons, three of his grandchildren killed in a strike on his son's compound in Libya. Breaking news. Back in a moment here on CNN.
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LEMON: And the breaking news here on CNN, one of Moammar Gadhafi's sons, the youngest son, Seif al-Arab, and three of his grandchildren killed in an air strike on his compound. Again, that's the breaking news here on CNN. The worldwide resources of CNN on top of this story. We have live reports coming from Washington, D.C., where the U.S. president is at an event tonight, and also from Tripoli, from our Frederik Pleitgen, who is in the region and at the press conference when this was announced.
I'm Don Lemon, along with Ralitsa Vassileva from CNN International. The breaking news continues here on CNN in a moment.
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LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, joined here by my colleague from CNN International, Ralitsa Vassileva. And Ralitsa, as we look at the new pictures coming in from the son of Moammar Gadhafi's compound -- this is the one that was hit -- and according to the Moammar Gadhafi official there, the compound was struck. Moammar Gadhafi's youngest son, Seif al-Arab Gadhafi, was killed and three of his grandchildren killed, as well. And we do have some video which will be coming in shortly which is from our Frederik Pleitgen.
We'll get to Frederik in a minute, but Ralitsa, I just want to say this. When we talked about State Department, our State Department producer, senior State Department producer, Elise Labott -- interesting information here. And this information doesn't say who -- who might have been killed, but this is just to let you know what's going on.
The senior administration official -- a senior administration official tells CNN's Elise Labott that members of Gadhafi's inner circle have been calling members of the Obama administration in the last hour or so, saying someone important -- someone important -- in the regime was killed. They didn't say who was killed, but stressed that it wasn't the leader. That's what they say. So the official really didn't know why these people were calling.
And it's interesting because the U.S. president, Barack Obama, is at an event tonight in Washington, D.C. And we will see if he is going to speak about this. But as our Barbara Starr said, the administration probably wants this to come from NATO.
VASSILEVA: From NATO, which is conducting those air strikes since the United States stepped into more of a supportive role. It's still supporting the operation of the NATO air strikes, but they are being directed by NATO itself.
We'd like to go now to Tripoli and Fred Pleitgen, who is our correspondent there, who was at the press conference where the spokesperson, Moussa Ibrahim, announced that NATO had targeted a compound in which Colonel Gadhafi himself and his wife, grandchildren and his youngest son were. His son was killed. Three grandchildren were killed. That according to Moussa Ibrahim, a spokesman for the Libyan regime, for Moammar Gadhafi, saying that the youngest son was killed, also the three grandchildren were killed in that air strike. Moammar Gadhafi and his wife escaped unharmed.
LEMON: And I'm being told from the producer this is the information we're get from Frederik. We'll get to him in just a moment. Obviously, there are a lot of balls up in the air here, but there seems to be a large demonstration at Gadhafi's compound.
VASSILEVA: That's right.
LEMON: Frederik Pleitgen is in Tripoli. I want to go now to a Libyan journalist -- Libyan journalist who has been covering this. His name is Fadel al Ameen. And he joins us now.
What information -- the U.S. president now is at an event tonight, and you've heard our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, saying that most likely, he wants the first announcement to come from NATO. He doesn't want to speak about this first. Do you believe that to be true? What can you add to this, sir?
FADEL AL AMEEN, LIBYAN-AMERICAN JOURNALIST (via telephone): I think that would be true. I think the -- as we all know, that the U.S. is taking a back role. They will never, in my opinion, will never come out and will be the first to announce it. They probably confirmed that somebody senior, as you just mentioned, by the official at the State Department.
I think one thing that we have to understand. I doubt so much that Gadhafi himself was in that building. All the information that I'm getting from all the sources that I'm getting from Tripoli that he stays in apartments and he stays in residential neighborhoods throughout Tripoli. He moves from one place to another. And he would never be in a place that might be a possible target, like this compound (INAUDIBLE)
The other thing we have to keep in mind, that the possibility of these grandchildren, that they were killed, also, we have to be very, very concerned about the (INAUDIBLE) of this and we have to see a real proof because he -- the regime in the last few months specially, they have been manufacturing propaganda about civilians, and so on and so forth.
So I think the fact that somebody senior is dead -- I think it's very important, and I think it will be so devastating to Gadhafi because they operate as a family. And I think even if one -- somebody within the family itself may not be assuming tat responsibility, military responsibility, but they have been responsible in command and control in terms of political and decision-making of what they should go after and how they manage the conflict in Libya.
LEMON: All right, Fadel al Ameen, who is a Libyan-American journalist, thank you for joining us. Stand by. We'll be counting on you for the rest of the evening until we get some confirmation from NATO, besides confirmation from the Libyan government.
VASSILEVA: Yes, and he's casting doubt on whether this is even true. So we're still waiting. It's quite strange that we still haven't had any reaction from NATO at this time. True, it is very late in the evening, but no reaction has been coming.
LEMON: Ralitsa Vassileva, I want to thank you for joining us up here and helping me with this breaking news. She's got to get back to her duties at CNN International, but don't be surprised if you see her again this evening come up and join me because this is -- this is big breaking news, especially when it involves the son of this leader who has been, you know, resistant to change, any sort of change, resistant to stepping down, and who has been striking and firing and killing his own people.
Now one of his sons dead in this process. We have some developing news coming from Tripoli, from our Frederik Pleitgen, which involves huge demonstrations at Moammar Gadhafi's compound. More of that after this break.
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LEMON: All right, you're looking at live pictures now. Listen to this. This is what Libyan state television is broadcasting live, and they're saying that these are large demonstrations going on at Moammar Gadhafi's compound now because of the breaking news, because of the breaking news we're hearing that Moammar Gadhafi's son -- one of his sons, his youngest son, killed in an air strike on his compound, along with three of his grandchildren.
We have a live report from Tripoli, and we'll talk about this coming up right after the break. More breaking news here on CNN.
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