Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Mitt Romney in New Hampshire; New Flight 93 Crash Video Surfaces; Mr. Z, the Storyteller; Tropical Storm Lee Drenches Gulf Coast; Oil Rig Crews Ride Out Tropical Storm Lee; Libya Horrors; Gadhafi's Nurse Speaks Out

Aired September 04, 2011 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SUSAN HENDRICKS, CNN ANCHOR: Our top story this hour, Tropical Storm Lee. What it lacks in strong winds it makes up for in heavy rain. This is called the back levee in Plaquemines Parish south of New Orleans. This is not what you want to see. Water over top that levee could cause it to fail. Officials there have issued a voluntary evacuation order as they rushed to get it fixed.

In New Orleans itself, the giant weather system has dumped up to a foot of rain there. Mayor Mitch Landrieu says all 24 of the city's storm pumps are fully operational but he says the city cannot breathe easy just yet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITCH LANDRIEU, MAYOR, NEW ORLEANS: I want to reiterate and put an exclamation point on this, we are not out of the woods yet. This is a very stubborn, persistent, slow-moving, unpredictable event and it will continue to be so at least until tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: Now, CNN meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is out facing the high winds and heavy rain near the eastern edge of the tropical storm warning in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Reynolds, can you hear me? Do you got me? He's talking up a storm. I can tell you that much.

Hey, Reynolds, you got me? It's Susan. I don't know if he can hear me -- braving the elements out there. You see the flag behind him, a red flag warning. He said when there's two flags up, it's the law, you can't go swimming. Not in the water. We'll check back with Reynolds in a few.

Meanwhile, the storm is expected to create lots of problems. Mostly flash flooding as it heads northeast. Jacqui Jeras is at the CNN Weather Center; she can hear me.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

HENDRICKS: Jacqui, a cool, wet Labor Day for a lot of people. Right?

JERAS: We're in same room, so yes it's all good. Yes, I know it is a bummer for a lot of people. And while it might seem kind of like a wimpy storm to some people, there are still a lot of threats that we're going to deal with and unfortunately we're going to be dealing with this for probably at least a good week.

Here is the latest on Tropical Storm Lee. It's a weak tropical storm but it's a slow mover. And so the flood threat is real. We've also seen a lot of water coming up in Louisiana as well as in the Mississippi. And we've seen some rainfall totals as much as a foot in the last two days.

So this is 45 miles-per-hour, it's moving to the north as four miles per hour and it's going to stay moving very slowly over the next couple of days. Here is where we're expecting it to go. Through Mississippi by tomorrow then, heading on up towards Tennessee as we head into Thursday.

So that gives you an idea of just how much this thing is creeping along. We are concerned about widespread flooding here. Especially as this thing gets up into the Appalachians, we could have a threat of mudslides. Now rainfall totals, will be very concentrated where the worst of it will be. And then this purple and red and white area, we're talking about a potential for six to 12 inches, a little bit more widespread here. We'll see as much as four to eight.

Atlanta, for example, we're seeing maybe three to five; also maybe three to five as we head up towards Nashville and into Knoxville. And the northeast will have plenty of rain, too, and this is coming in with a cold front as we speak, one to three inches on top of what you've already had unfortunately from Irene, that includes you and Jersey on up towards Vermont and into upstate New York.

Now, let's talk about some other threats. And that's tornadoes. We've had several little spin-offs. Some warnings today; Rainbow City, Alabama had a tornado that touched down and caused some damage and wiped out power into the city. No one injured, though. So that's the good news. And these watches will stay in effect through tonight. So be aware of that. That is a real threat also as well as the flooding.

Now, take a look at some of these numbers. Very impressive, unofficial in Waveland but it looks like you're up 14 inches now, over a foot in New Orleans at Carrollton and Slidell City around 10 inches, in Gulfport seven inches.

If this thing continues to combine with a cold front along the East Coast, it's going to suck in a whole lot of people for the Labor Day weekend.

And coming up, a little bit later on this hour Susan we will talk about what you can expect for your travel, and for those people trying to you know, maybe get a barbecue in here and there.

SUSAN: Yes. A lot of people's vacation plans out the window. Jacqui Jeras, thank you.

JERAS: Sure. SUSAN: I want to go to New Hampshire now where Mitt Romney is with the Tea Party Express. He is speaking right now. Let's take a listen into what he's saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- political freedom, powerful as that is, their brilliance in seeing that the states should be the servants and the citizens should be the sovereign was groundbreaking and changed the world. But they also gave us another freedom; the freedom to choose our course in life; individual freedom; economic freedom.

Americans can be free do whatever they wanted. And as a result of these freedoms people from all over the world wanted to come to America. Come here to craft for themselves and for their children a better life.

This is the greatest nation in the history of the earth in part because of the brilliance of these founding parents who understand the power of liberty and freedom, and we're going to make sure we keep it.

Now, we did kind of an unusual thing about three years ago as a people. We elected a person who never worked in the private sector, who never had a job in the private sector. Had never really been a leader anywhere. He didn't have a track record. And some people asked what would happen if we chose someone as a President who had no experience. Now we know.

And it's not a very pretty picture, is it? We have -- and you know the numbers. We have today about 25 million people that are out of work, or stopped looking for work, or are in part-time jobs and need full-time work. We had last month zero job creation.

Look, a shutout is ok in baseball. It's not good when you're talking about jobs. We have zero confidence, zero faith in a President who created zero jobs. It's time for someone who knows how to create jobs and get our economy going, and that's something I know. That's in my wheelhouse and I'll get America working again.

Now, I had mentioned that I haven't spent my whole life in politics. As a matter of fact, of the people running for office, and I -- I don't know that there are many who have less years in politics than me. I spent four years as governor. I joke that I didn't inhale. I'm still a citizen. I'm still a business person; a conservative business person.

I started off my career in business. Got my first job and began to work in an enterprise and ultimately became more successful there and then started my own business.

I had the experience of helping start small businesses and in some cases helping larger businesses that were in trouble. I learned from that experience; sometimes successfully, sometimes I wasn't successful. But through that process I learned how the economy worked and how you create jobs and how we lose jobs as a nation. And then I became fortunate enough to be asked to go out and run the Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City. They were in trouble and they wanted somebody who knew something about turnarounds to come out and run the games, and I did, and it was a fabulous experience.

And then from there when that assignment was over I was asked if I come back to Massachusetts and run for Governor. And things were tough in Massachusetts. And I said I'm going to come back, you may know a bit about that state next door. We had -- I see -- somebody's here from Massachusetts. All right. You know, the people -- the people in New Hampshire are concerned about border security. I'm surprised they let you in -- me, too.

But I -- when I came into Massachusetts, we were losing jobs every month. We had about a $3 billion budget shortfall, and we went to work to turn things around. We added jobs. We were able to have three years where out of the four years I was in office, where our unemployment rate was below the national average, we balanced the budget every year. We put --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: That is GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney heading off a Tea Party Express rally there, talking about freedoms. Also a few jabs at President Obama, talking about his lack of experience.

On September 12th, don't miss it. CNN is hosting a Tea Party debate from Tampa, Florida. Again, that's on September 12th.

Ahead, we have new video from 9/11 surfacing ten years after the attack. It is chilling. You will hear the voice of a man narrating what he is seeing as it occurs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HENDRICKS: I want to politics now. And President Obama's primetime speech planned for this Thursday to the nation is all about jobs; how to create more of them, how to get the economy moving again, if it's possible right now. There is a lot at stake for the President when he appears before Congress.

We're starting to get an idea of what he might say. CNN's Athena Jones is standing by for us in Washington. Athena, really, there's a lot of pressure on President Obama. He is a great speaker, no doubt about that, but even Obama supporters want facts here, and specifics.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right.

And so we're beginning to get a look at some of the proposals that might be part of this speech. Of course, they work on this kind of thing until the last day. But some of the things being considered, payroll tax cut, extending that payroll tax cut is set to expire at the end of this year. But if they extend it, that puts more money in worker's pockets so that they can spend it in their local economy and help boost consumer spending, which is a big part of the U.S. economy. Another proposal is tax credits for businesses that hire new workers. And maybe even an additional tax credit for businesses that hire the long-term unemployed. These are people who have been out of work for 27 weeks or more.

Another element would be, possibly, job training for this group of long-term unemployed. This group makes up about six million people. That's just under 42 percent of all of the unemployed. And we know the longer people spend out of the workforce, the harder it is for them to get back in. And so there are some interest in coming up with proposals that would address that group in particular.

And then also, infrastructure spending, money to help cities and states build or rebuild roads and bridges; money to help schools renovate. We know that a lot of schools in this country are in need of repair.

And so those are some of the ideas. The White House says this would all be paid for. We expect on Thursday to hear the President talk a little bit about some of his own deficit reduction proposals. We're not -- he's not going get into a whole lot of detail. The details on that will come later, but we know this President wants to push that super committee that's looking at deficit reductions to go beyond the $1.5 trillion in deficit reductions and really take advantage of this opportunity to make tough choices, the White House says -- Susan.

HENDRICKS: Yes. Because President Obama said, I do work every day for financial security for your family, and folks at home who don't have a job think, that's fine, but I am still out of work. What should I do? And you mentioned some specifics.

But then, the month of August, zero job growth -- zero. You can't get any worse than that. And when we talk about Obama's latest poll numbers, there are some troubling numbers, right?

JONES: Well exactly. I mean, you mentioned the zero job growth in August. That doesn't look so good. Sure, it's not negative, but it's not positive either. And our latest poll from CNN shows just 34 percent of those polled approve of the President's handling of the economy; 65 percent disapprove, and you can see right there, that's a pretty big number.

Another number is 37 percent of those polled approve of how the President is dealing with unemployment. And so you can tell just by those few numbers -- there are a lot more in our poll -- that the President is dealing with a somber situation, a frustrated public and this is the atmosphere he faces as he prepares for the speech on Thursday night -- Susan.

HENDRICKS: All right, Athena Jones some great stuff. Thank you.

JONES: Thanks.

HENDRICKS: We'll be watching on Thursday, as Athena mentioned, President Obama laying out his job growth plan next week before a joint session of Congress. CNN special live coverage begins Thursday night, 6:00 Eastern followed by the president's address at 7:00.

You have to see this new video into CNN. It is from 9/11. It is now just surfacing ten years later after the fact. It was taken just moments after United Airlines flight 93 crashed into a Pennsylvania field. You will hear the voice of a man calmly narrating what he thinks he's seeing. That man is now deceased. His family wishes to remain anonymous.

Watch and listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The remains of the airplane crash over on Lambertville Road, and probably had a terrorist bomb onboard, it blew up. I don't know anything more than that. That's what I heard on the scanner. I just saw the smoke come up and the explosion shook the house clear over here.

And we are, what, 15 miles from Lambertville and it shook the heck out of the house. I don't know what else is happening. They ran one into the Pentagon, and into the World Trade Center. And we're watching it on TV. And this one happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: It has been said that because of the brave men and women on that plane it did not hit its intended target, speculation was that the target was the Capitol, maybe the White House. But it crashed there in that field. You see it, this is believed to be the first known video that shows that smoke cloud from the crash -- really chilling.

And CNN will bring you special 9/11 coverage beginning next Sunday morning 8:30 Eastern. Anderson Cooper, Candy Crowley are among the many people who will help us remember the events of that day and honor those who were lost. Join us for our coverage of "9/11, TEN YEARS LATER" next Sunday.

Caught in the storm: amazing video of oil workers who refused to abandon their post in the middle of the Gulf when Tropical Storm Lee rolls in.

But first, this -- an estimated 30 million adults in the U.S. lack the basic skills to read a newspaper or fill out an application for a job. In tonight's Perry's Principles, CNN education contributor, Steve Perry sits down with a man who was forced to face his illiteracy head- on and now works in an unlikely place.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZICKEFOSSE, "MR. Z": David's mom always said, "No, David."

STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: John Zickefosse is known as Mr. Z. His mission: to get kids excited about reading.

ZICKEFOSSE: I'm having probably more fun than all of you, and there's a special reason for that. Mr. Z didn't learn to read and write until I was 35 years old. Yes.

PERRY: How did you get out of high school not knowing how to read?

ZICKEFOSSE: Yes. Obviously that still hurts. I will say I was a master at deception.

PERRY: As a young boy, Zickefosse was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD.

ZICKEFOSSE: I'm not trying to jab at the education system. Today, we're so much better equipped at dealing with the learning disabilities.

PERRY: He managed to keep his illiteracy a secret from everyone.

ZICKEFOSSE: Including my wife; she didn't even have any idea until our son busted me; sitting with my -- both my boys Shawn and Adam me, reading simple children's books. My son Shawn would actually fix the words that I got wrong and say, "No, dad, that's not what it says."

PERRY: Then Zickefosse had back surgery, which made returning to his restoration job impossible.

ZICKEFOSSE: At that same time, my wife saw an article in it for the literacy program here at the Cornell Library and called them. They said, come in. It wasn't easy.

PERRY: Not only did Zickefosse learn to read and write, he's now the outreach coordinator for the library.

ZICKEFOSSE: I know in my heart of hearts that when I do that and share my story, there's a child out there who's going through the exact same thing that I went through, that says you know, wow, if Mr. Z can do it, maybe I shouldn't give up on myself.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HENDRICKS: Tropical Storm Lee is spoiling a lot of Labor Day holiday plans. So far the giant weather system has dumped about a foot of rain on New Orleans and surrounding areas. Mayor Mitch Landrieu says despite flooding all 24 of the city storm pumps are working. He said only about 200 homes in the city are without power tonight but he did warn residents it will be at least another day before they can breathe easy, that is, if you can.

CNN meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is in Gulf Shores, Alabama. And Reynolds, the beach behind normally this time of year, Labor Day weekend would be packed but because of Lee, not so much.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. We spoke with the mayor of Gulf Shores earlier today. And he said that hotels normally at a great weekend would be at least 80 percent full and at this point and he thinks at this point it's just slightly under 50 percent but the thing that's been so frustrating is that we have had moments of sunshine. Last couple of days, it's supposedly as you see it now, with the cloudy skies and it's gray.

I've had 7 inches of rainfall the last 30 to 36 hours. We did have a couple of windows today where things were pretty bright; a lot of sunshine, things were great. It caused a lot of people to head out to the water and enjoy it; or at least try to. Problem is we got a double flag warning that's in effect that basically means people should not get in the water whatsoever. The big risk happens to be the rip currents.

One of the interesting things about the system is although it's caused very little damage here, a lot of the damage is farther off in Louisiana, parts of Alabama and into Mississippi.

The best case scenario for this to have been with this system would have been to stay out in the Gulf of Mexico and eventually die out. The second great scenario would have been for it to make landfall and just move up north, very quickly to the north and just die out altogether.

This area that we have right now is a very interesting one. A lot of times these tropical systems will come on shore to become extra tropical and it will get absorbed by a frontal boundary and then pull far away to the north eventually out to the Atlantic. But with this one -- this one kind of like meandered through parts of the southeast along the Gulf Coast. It has the potential of bringing a great deal of rainfall some places well in excess of a foot of rain. And as you might imagine, Susan, that means massive flooding.

Widespread flooding, of course, is the worst thing, worst scenario that we want to deal with. But that is certainly a potential that could play out over the next several days especially in places across the states I've mentioned, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and perhaps even into parts of Georgia and Tennessee before all is said and done. Back to you.

HENDRICKS: We saw the lone beachgoer that you were zooming in on walking near the water. Something you don't want to do because of the undertow. It's pretty bad there, right?

WOLF: Well, you're absolutely right. The thing that's so weird about it is you could step out there and have water get up just maybe to your knees, or what not. You might think it's relatively simple. But the undertow is so incredibly strong. And it's created because of the great deal of water that's being forced towards the shoreline because of the winds that begin to build up.

In that scenario, again, you get caught in the undertow, you get pulled out. And in this situation, we don't have any lifeguards out there, you're basically at the mercy of the Gulf of Mexico. Back to you.

HENRICKS: Reynolds will have to jump in and save them. It's a double flag warning. Stay out of the water. Reynolds thanks.

Ahead, when the call came for workers on the oil platform to evacuate because of Lee, some chose not to do so, to stay put. We'll show you what it looked like there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HENDRICKS: Welcome back.

The northeast is cleaning up from Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, meanwhile, is headed that way. Tonight we're getting our first look at Lee as it blows past oil rigs out of control, really, in the Gulf of Mexico.

Maddie Garrett of affiliate KATC reports many crew, though, chose to ride it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MADDIE GARRETT, REPORTER, KATEC: This video was taken yesterday at 10:00 a.m., 40 miles south of Houma area. Just today, two other works showing just how windy it is out there on the rigs, this video taken 85 miles south of Cameron. At the peak of the storm, winds are reaching 65 miles-per-hour and seas up to 13 feet.

There are roughly 3,500 platforms and 97 rigs out in the Gulf right now and most just stayed in operation. Lee has forced some evacuations, as of this afternoon energy companies removed personnel from 237 production platforms and 23 drilling rigs. Production has temporarily stopped as well. Federal officials say Lee has shut down about 60 percent of oil production in the Gulf, and about 55 percent of natural gas production.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: You can really see how strong it is when he's standing out there on the rig. Energy companies meanwhile say they can restart production very fast once the storm goes through.

As Lee moves inland and combines with the cold front, it could rain out a lot of holiday plans tomorrow, not to mention if you're traveling a lot of delays ahead for you, sorry to say. Let's go to meteorologist Jacqui Jeras who has the latest for us at the CNN Weather Center -- hi, Jacqui.

JACQUIE JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Susan, there're going to be a lot of problems; the airways and roadways both because of Lee. We've got tornado watches in effect along the coast. We've got coastal flooding and we've got inland flooding; lots of roads are cut off here. Visibility is going to be reduced.

This is not a good weekend for travel as Lee continues to move very slowly across the lower Mississippi River Valley. We do have airport delays as we speak as that cold front approaches. And we also have some volume issues already.

Newark, looking at ground delays around an hour and a half; Philadelphia around an hour; also an hour at Washington Dulles and JFK looking at ground delays around 30 minutes. Most of the East Coast is going to get wet tomorrow. Some of these storms could be severe across the southeast especially with tornadoes from what's left of Lee. And then we could see some stronger thunderstorms with wind damage into the northeast.

So all the big airports; Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, D.C., stretching down towards Charlotte, Atlanta, the world's busiest airport, all expecting delays here because of Lee.

Now, take a look at the fire threat. We want to tell you about a situation that's going on right now in Texas. There are multiple fires that are burning. This is the radar here out of Fort Hood in central Texas. Take a look at this. This is a fire actually picking up on Doppler radar; looks like we might have another one up to the north here and another one over here. The smoke and the ashes are so thick and so dense, that you can actually see it.

The worst fire that's burning right now in Bastrop County, about 190 homes have been evacuated there. We're also getting word this hasn't been confirmed yet by CNN but it's sounding like parts of I-45 could be closed near Houston and I-20 also just outside of the Dallas area. So make sure you call ahead. Check out some of the Web sites. Almost every state has the Department of Transportation where you can click on and find out what roads are closed.

It's a developing situation, Susan. The winds are so strong, they literally have about a half a dozen to a dozen fires that have just started, that, you know, are a couple hundred to 1,000-plus acres.

HENDRICKS: Yes, the wind shifting like that, as it normally does. Jacqui, thanks for the update on that breaking news regarding the fires out of Texas.

Coming up, as we take you inside Libya in the next half hour, on the frontline where the battle is on to rid country of Moammar Gadhafi and his loyalists. We show you some of the amazing reporting from our team of journalists on the ground. Secret underground cities to tales of horror and conflict.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HENDRICKS: For the next half hour we invite you to go behind the front lines in Libya and the ongoing civil war. Our crews have had extraordinary access and witness to what's going on there. From Sara Sidner's brave report amid a hail of bullets to Dan Rivers' uncovering atrocities and Nic Robertson finding the Lockerbie bomber.

But first we start with this, what is happening right now in Libya. Rebel forces surrounding one of Moammar Gadhafi's last strongholds -- the city of Bani Walid. Gadhafi's forces have been given until next Saturday to surrender. But there are indications that rebels could storm Bani Walid any moment after negotiations for a ceasefire fell apart. Our Ben Wedeman in standing by live northwest of Bani Walid, in the capital of Tripoli. And Ben, what have you heard? Why is there talk of rebels invading that area before the deadline?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Susan, because basically the negotiations have fallen apart, really now the negotiators are saying it's up to the military commanders to make a final decision on the fate of Bani Walid. But it's a very sensitive situation. It really underscores the delicate dynamics of tribal politics in a rapidly changing Libya.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): The colors have changed at this checkpoint on the road to Bani Walid. The rebel's banner is unfurled with a kiss, while a budding artist dabs the new colors on the wall. A sign old tribal loyalties are shifting dramatically. Bani Walid and the area around it are the heartland of the Warfala (ph), Libya's biggest tribe and traditionally a close ally of the Gadhafi regime. These Warfala (ph) fighters say they were always opposed to Gadhafi and tried to explain away those old loyalties.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Gadhafi bought off some young men with money and weapons and cars, claims (INAUDIBLE).

WEDEMAN: In many ways the Bani Walid stand off is a tribal affair and the men here planned to keep it that way.

SALEH (PH) (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We're all Warfalas (ph) says Saleh (ph), there's no one else here.

WEDEMAN: I asked, "You won't allow anyone in who isn't from the Warfala (ph)?" "Perhaps,: he responds "but only if they're providing logistical support. Or they stay in the rear."

The national transitional council is trying to talk Bani Walid into a peaceful solution.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are (INAUDIBLE) and we are waiting for an answer in several hours. I can't say more than that.

WEDEMAN (on camera): You're waiting for the answer to what exactly?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To be able, to be able to surrender. Be able with us, those population from Bani Walid are with us, but (INAUDIBLE) they are frightened for their lives.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): Contacts proceeds, the days are long and slow for the fighters. They have little to do but sit around, goof for the cameras, or snooze. The high point in these long days and in this stifling desert heat is when the food truck arrives. Rice and meat, bananas and cold water.

(on camera): The opposition fighters don't seem to be in a great hurry to rush into Bani Walid. In fact, one rebel commander told us, he hopes not to shed a single drop of blood or shoot a single bullet before going in. They're hoping to resolve this standoff through negotiation.

(voice-over): But they are ready with other options if talks fail. If that happens, warns Commander Saleh (ph), we'll enter Bani Walid with the force and determination of revolutionaries, just as we entered Tripoli, Misrata (INAUDIBLE) and other areas. This is certain, god-willing. Hoping for a Zawiyah. This is certain, god willing. Hopes for a peaceful solution, however, faded Sunday evening. The talks with Bani Walid's elders had collapsed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For me as chief negotiator, I don't have anything to offer right now.

WEDEMAN: Blessed may be the peacemakers, but the warriors may have the last word here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN: And, of course, some of those warriors, in fact, are rather hesitant to go into battle, because so many of them are from Bani Walid itself. One of the fighters telling me that what's he going to go? He's going to go in there, he may end up fighting, shooting at his brother, his uncle or his cousins. So it's a very delicate situation in Bani Walid right now.

HENDRICKS: Ben Wedeman, great job from Tripoli for us. Thanks so much.

And of all the horrors that occurred in Moammar Gadhafi's Libya, one that stands out is what happened to a nanny employed by one of Gadhafi's sons when she couldn't stop a child from crying, Moammar Gadhafi's daughter in law apparently burned her with water. She is recovering now. Here is CNN's Dan Rivers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shweyga is slowly regaining her dignity. Now being cared for in Tripoli's burn hospital. She is weak but able to give a gesture a greeting to those who helped her and express her profound gratitude.

SHWEYGA MULLAH, HANNIBAL GADHAFI'S NANNY (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I want to say thank you very much, because all the people have helped me. Thank you very, very much.

RIVERS: She's overcome with emotion, but these are tears of relief, not pain. Shweyga is Christian, and her faith has been crucially in coming to terms with what's happened.

MULLAH (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Thank you very much. I want god to heal me. And return me back to my family.

RIVERS: The national transitional council's new health minister also visited her and summed up the horror of her ordeal.

DR. NAJI BARAKAT, LIBYAN HEALTH MINISTER: I think it's a crime against humanities. So we'll ask the Minister of Justice to send someone who can (INAUDIBLE) as well as forensic evidences to document it and then we document everything and then after that (INAUDIBLE) top stay in Libya. We'd be happy to treat her. If she wants to go, that's all right at well.

RIVERS (on camera): So this is Hannibal's Gadhafi's office? (voice-over): This man who worked with Shweyga is too scared to reveal his identity but showed me another of Hannibal Gadhafi's properties where he says more horrible abuse was meted out to staff by Hannibal's wife, Aline.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Shweyga is not the only one. There's (INAUDIBLE) man who Aline burned him twice. She boiled water and she burned him from here to down.

RIVERS (voice-over): He says the foreign staff were targeted the most.

(on camera): A picture is emerging of horrendous abuse at Hannibal Gadhafi's houses. I've been contacted by another nanny who describes ailing Gadhafi as psychologically sick and a sadist, and this room seems to bear out her testimony. What kind of family has their own private jail cell at one of their properties?

Now Shweyga is now facing months of recuperation and surgery. CNN is working with a number of organizations to ensure she gets the best care available, and that she can get home to Ethiopia after her nightmare at the hands of the Gadhafi family.

Dan Rivers, CNN, Tripoli.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HENDRICKS: Since airing Shweyga Mullah's story, we've received a huge outpouring of support for the nanny. Donations to a fund-raising page set up by anti-slavery international in conjunction with CNN have now topped $16,000. If you would like to help, logon to cnn.com/impact to find out how you can donate and to get the latest details on how Shweyga is doing. Her recovery.

One of the Gadhafi family employees has a completely different story to tell. Twenty five year old Oksana Balinskaya was paid to watch Moammar Gadhafi's health as one of his nurses. She fled Libya in February as war broke out and returned to her native Ukraine.

She described the ousted leader as a healthy man who gave her a good life, and she said she feels pity for the country's turmoil. In her conversation with CNN, Balinskaya talks about Gadhafi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OKSANA BALINSKAYA, GADHAFI'S FORMER NURSE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Gadhafi was quite considerate. I don't know much about how the nannies were treated in his family, but as for us, he treated us very well. He never shouted at us. Was always calm and friendly. Every year on September 1st Gadhafi presented us with souvenirs, like this medallion and his watch with his picture too. He gave these kind of presents not only to his nurses but to everyone who worked in his inner circle. Instead of saying, "Gadhafi, Gadhafi," all the time. Especially to avoid attracting attention from local Libyans, between ourselves, we called him daddy. Daddy gave us jobs, money, a good life. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: Details there. Meanwhile, we are taking you inside Tripoli during the moments the capital fell to rebels.

That is gunshots. One of our own reporters risking her life to bring you the story as it's happening.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HENDRICKS: Welcome back. We are bringing you the very best of CNN reporting this weekend out of Libya. This story from our own Nic Robertson as he found the Lockerbie bomber. The country's national transitional council has announced it will not extradite Abdul Basit al Megrahi, the man convicted of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103. NTC justice minister quoted here saying "We will not give any Libyan citizen to the west." Megrahi may be the last man alive. And precisely who in the Libyan government authorized that bombing? CNN's Nic Robertson managed to track him down. Here is that exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We found Abdul-Basit al Megrahi's villa in a up market part of town. At least six security cameras and flood lights outside.

(on camera): This is Megrahi's house. This is where he's been living for the last couple of years. We're going to knock on the door. See if we can get any answer.

Hello. For 15 minutes or so, nothing. I'm not sure if they've heard me. Let's try the last-ditch means which is just shout over the wall. Hello! Hello, hello! Then, all of a sudden someone comes. Nothing prepares me for what I see. Megrahi apparently in a coma, his aging mother at his side.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you see, his body is weak. (INAUDIBLE) food by injection.

ROBERTSON: He'd been expected to die almost two years ago, but convicted Pan Am 103 bomber Abdul-Basit al Megrahi lives. This wasn't the way he looked when he was released from a Scottish jail two years ago. He came home to a hero's welcome, freed on compassionate grounds, because doctors said he would be dead in three months. Almost immediately, he began renovating this palatial house. Money, no object. It doesn't take long walking around this building before you begin to realize, and looking at the marble here, these expensive fittings, to realize that it appears Megrahi was being paid off handsomely for all those years that he spent in jail.

(voice-over): In the two decades since the bomb exploded onboard Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie killing 270 passengers, crew and townspeople, it seemed the secrets of the attack would die with the bombers. Megrahi always maintained he was innocent. Just a month ago in a rare public citing, Moammar Gadhafi had him literally wheeled out for a pro- government rally. I'm seeing him now for the first time in two years. He appears to be just a shell of the man he was, far sicker than he appeared before.

(on camera): Has he been able to see doctor?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. There is no doctor, and there is nobody to ask, and we don't have any phone line to call anybody.

ROBERTSON: What's his situation right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He stop eating and he sometimes is come in coma.

ROBERTSON: Coma. He goes unconscious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. We just sit next to him.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): All that's keeping him alive, they say, oxygen and a fluid strip. I ask about demands he return to jail in Scotland.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My dad, he's still - if you send him to Scotland, he will die by the way, here or there.

ROBERTSON (on camera): Do you know how long he has left?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody can know how long he'll still be alive. Nobody know.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): It seems I've arrived too late. He's apparently in no state to talk. Whatever secrets he has may soon be gone.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Tripoli, Libya.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HENDRICKS: Our thanks to Nic Robertson for that report. Up next -- this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No security -

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HENDRICKS: Yes, that is gunfire. Sara Sidner takes us to Tripoli's Green Square where she braved a hail of gunfire to bring us the story of how rebels took control of the capital city.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HENDRICKS: The day that rebels stormed Moammar Gadhafi's compound in Libya is unforgettable. A ragtag group of fighters toppled a four- decade old leadership. Their leadership is frail and Gadhafi loyalists fight in some cities but the turning of the tide in Tripoli was no doubt an incredible moment. Many of our reporters in Libya have risked their lives to bring you the story, as our own Sara Sidner dodged bullets to report from Tripoli two weeks ago as the city fell.

Here Sara takes you inside Tripoli's Green Square as rebels take control of the capital. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: (INAUDIBLE) what's happening is everyone started running. We are here in the middle of Tripoli. What we're see is rebels all over the square. There are really no other civilians. Mostly men with guns in the square but we're also seeing people running. There is a lot of gunfire. They say there are snipers. We all had to pull back. The situation very tense here. But there is a lot of celebrating going on. Some of this is just gunfire in the air but people are very, very concerned because they say there were snipers posted on the top of some of these buildings.

They're not sure exactly where some of this gunfire is coming from so every now and then we see people just running trying to get out of the way. But right now the rebels have Green Square and it is a historic moment here in Tripoli, in the capital. The real stronghold of Moammar Gadhafi has now been taken over by the rebels.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Tripoli.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HENDRICKS: Certainly a historic moment as you just saw. After Sara made it to safety, she reflected on the dangers of reporting inside a war zone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: You're acutely aware that this is reality. I mean you're surrounded by people that remind you that this is happening, but with all of the gunfire, with the loud booms - I mean these aren't just small arms that they're using. These are rocket launchers and I mean things that you just - they're completely out of place on the ground.

So as you're going through the compound and you're listening to all those gunfire, you do feel as if you're sort of living a second life, living in another world. But the rebels reminded you of how important it was for them, this moment, constantly, not just with the gunfire but with the things that they would say to you as you're coming in. They would say this is history, we've broken the back of the Gadhafi regime, this is history, repeated over and over and over again.

You're very much aware of the dangers when you walk by the dead bodies that were inside and there were still, after two days, bodies just there lying in the compound. Clearly they were Gadhafi loyalists and both sides obviously suffered quite a bit during this conflict. But you're also aware that very few people have been where you are, and that is one of those times when you realize, wow, this is an incredible experience, really incredible.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HENDRICKS: It truly is. Sara Sidner's entire revealing graphic debrief on her access and reporting in Libya will air next weekend right here on CNN. Join us as CNN journalists brave the battle to take you behind the front lines in a special half-hour documentary called "Witness to Libya." We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HENDRICKS: Since the war began, Libya has faced critical shortages of food, fuel and water as well. The U.N. described the humanitarian situation as fragile with so many in need of food and water. You can imagine how many animals have fared and what they've done, the desperate situation they are in. We had no idea how bad it was until Nic Robertson visited the zoo there in Tripoli. The lions were starving. The hippos were dying of thirst and suffering from scorching heat, another aspect of that.

As Libya strives to rebuild and create a new society, the question remains where is Moammar Gadhafi and will his family and supporters be brought to justice for their crimes? CNN will remain in Libya and is dedicated to bringing you the developments on this evolving story as it happens.

I'm Susan Hendricks at the CNN Center. Thanks so much for joining us, for this special half hour report on the civil war in Libya. CNN Presents the Dr. Sanjay Gupta Special "THE LAST HEART ATTACK" is next.