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American Morning
Battle for Tripoli; Bracing For Irene; East Coast Earthquake; Fighting Continues Inside Gadhafi Compound; Journalists held in Hotel in Tripoli; Libyan Ambassador Interviewed; Life in Libya after Gadhafi; East Coast Earthquake; New Fighting at Gadhafi Compound, Airport
Aired August 24, 2011 - 07:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news. Gadhafi loyalists making a last stand.
I'm Christine Romans.
Reports of new fighting around the Gadhafi compound now controlled by rebels and rocket fire right now at the Tripoli airport.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hurricane Irene tearing a deadly path through Caribbean.
I'm Carol Costello.
Warnings that the United States may be its next target. We're tracking Irene live from our hurricane headquarters.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: East Coast shaken and rattled.
I'm Ali Velshi.
A rare earthquake knocks a nuclear power plant offline not far from the nation's capital, raising concerns about whether we're ready for something bigger on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ROMANS: And good morning, everyone. It is Wednesday, August 24th.
COSTELLO: Lots going on. Let's get to it. We start with this breaking news.
New clashes between rebels and Gadhafi loyalists around Tripoli.
Listen.
(VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: There are reports of rockets landing near the Tripoli airport, as well. NATO jets have been heard overhead and rebels telling CNN's Arwa Damon that they believe Gadhafi loyalists are trying to establish an escape route for him.
VELSHI: There are also reports of new clashes between rebels and pro-Gadhafi forces outside the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli. That's where CNN's Matthew Chance and more than 30 other journalists covering the conflict are holed up, unable to leave. They are virtual hostages of the Gadhafi loyalists.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Just a horrible situation for them there.
Gadhafi has visited that hotel that is under siege before. Here he is back in may at the very hotel we are talking about. Earlier, we spoke to John Burns of "The New York Times."
He said he wouldn't be surprised if Gadhafi popped up out of nowhere in that very hotel again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BURNS, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": We don't know where these radio calls are coming from. But one very dark possibility, I don't want to be alarmist about this, but having stayed for a considerable length of time this summer in the Rixos Hotel where the journalists are, I think we need to bear in mind that Gadhafi has appeared in that hotel before and that it appeared to us, it occurred on one occasion when I was there, to have some sort of secret access to the hotel interior, possibly by tunnels.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Still no sign of Gadhafi, though. But the Libyan leader in hiding delivered that new audio message overnight. You heard John mention it. Gadhafi urging his supporters to cleanse Tripoli of what he calls the criminals, rats and traitors who stormed his compound and have taken control of the city.
VELSHI: CNN's Arwa Damon joins us live from Tripoli and near the airport where we have heard jets overflying low overhead.
Arwa, have you heard the jets and what's the latest at the airport?
ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Ali. Yes, in fact, we had been hearing them until quite recently. There were Grad rockets fired at the airport complex earlier today. The fighting around here has been quite intense and the rebel commander who led the assault on the airport believes that that fighting is directly linked to the whereabouts of Colonel Gadhafi himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The clashes here are fierce because we think that they're trying to secure a route for Gadhafi to escape from Tripoli to other places. There were clashes all day. And then they took advantage of sunset when people were breaking their fast and we spotted a convoy. It's possible that he may have been inside it.
This is my analysis as a military. There has been intense firing from all directions for the last three days. There has been a focus on this airport complex more than other locations even in Tripoli. This is evidence that Gadhafi is in the area but wants to escape from Tripoli through here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: We just lost the signal from Arwa Damon, but she says she has been hearing firing around the airport. And, of course, we don't know anything for sure at this point whether that was Gadhafi trying to escape in a fortified Mercedes. But we'll keep digging for information.
With Gadhafi gone or at least most of the way out the door, it does look there's a chance for a brighter future in Libya. The U.S. role in that is still uncertain right now.
VELSHI: This morning, we have been speaking with Fouad Ajami. He's a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, formally the director of Middle East Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He's a leading authority on the region.
Since we last talked, Fouad, we've spoken to Arwa, we've spoken to Sara Sidner and we spoke to Matthew Chance who's in the Rixos Hotel, who has been hearing these rumors about why that Rixos Hotel where 30, now I guess 35 or so foreign journalists are being holed up possibly as hostages. Although they're not being told they're hostages. They're just being not allowed to leave.
COSTELLO: But they are, right?
VELSHI: What's the problem? What's going on at this Rixos Hotel that's so important?
FOUAD AJAMI, SENIOR FELLOW AT THE HOOVER INSTITUTION: Well, look, I trust reporters. As someone who spends his life reading books and being in the library stacks, I admire that. And reporters have an instinct. They smell something. They have a scent for it.
So, I think what John Burns says, what these reporters are saying, you know, it carries its weight. But I think it's very speculative.
VELSHI: Let's go back to Arwa, who is now reconnected with us on the phone.
Communication is very difficult from where you are, Arwa. Pick up where you left off what -- you had speculation and heard from others, or heard speculation from others about whether or not they are trying to create an escape route possibly for Moammar Gadhafi.
DAMON (via telephone): Yes, Ali, the chief rebel commander here believes the intensity of the fighting is directly linked to Colonel Gadhafi's possible whereabouts. He believes that Gadhafi loyalists are trying to clear an escape route for him from Tripoli to other areas, or that he is possibly is around the airport itself most likely to the east. This, of course, is speculation at this stage.
But they did spot a convoy they said contained an armored Mercedes yesterday at around sunset, dusk, when the rebel fighters would be breaking their fast, their guard perhaps not be that high. They spotted this convoy coming through. The rebel commander tells us they passed this information on to NATO. And so, they most certainly are upping their efforts here as well as passing on those -- this critical information because, of course, rebels most certainly do want to capture Gadhafi. That would be main and top prize at this point.
ROMANS: Right.
You know, Arwa, we know the rebel leadership is really in Benghazi. As you're watching Tripoli and watching the rebels go, sort of, I guess, street-by-street, road-by-road -- how organized are they at this point? How well are they coming together in what is now, I guess, the first full day after the crumbling of that regime? How are they faring?
DAMON: Well, look, they are more organized than they have been in the past. They most certainly have picked up a critical lesson from battlefield experience that they have obtained the last five or six months as they made their way up to Tripoli. But at the end of the day, this is not a fully trained military. This is a civilian who decided to rise up, pick up weapons and literally learn as they go.
So, of course, they face numerous challenges. The commanders at the airport were telling us themselves that after the initial rush into Tripoli, they were forced to pull back from certain locations after it appeared that Gadhafi forces reorganized and managed to launch counterattacks. While the commanders here are telling us that they most certainly have seen many successes, they are not quite saying just yet that they are victorious, because they do realize that the Gadhafi loyalists who are out there could pose a threat. They do realize that they need to be able to structure themselves militarily that they can hold the ground that they have gained so far.
But what they have done is moving into Tripoli, they have managed to set up sleeper cells inside the city when they gave the signal a few days ago, those sleeper cells that had a fairly sophisticated military structure managed to rise up and join in the uprising.
And so, on the one hand, we have seen them gain this experience, gain a certainly level of sophistication. On the other hand, we have seen them act as they are, a ragtag group moving in without paying full attention to the kind of situation and fully militarily analyzing the situation they are getting into.
COSTELLO: Arwa, I know I'm continued to be obsessed about where Moammar Gadhafi is. Is there some organized effort on the part of the opposition to look for him?
DAMON: Well, look -- I mean, the units that are being at the airport most certainly are trying to push out to the east where there are two military complexes located, where the bulk of the incoming fire that has been landing at the Tripoli international airport has been coming from. They have also been trying to clip the route to the north to the main highway that would be from the airport complex to the Bab al-Aziziya compound.
So, they've been trying to push out (INAUDIBLE) to clear the area around. It's been very challenging for them. They are telling us, because, again, of the intensity of fighting that they are encountering and they continue to emphasize it, this has been rather unexpected and that is why they are going so far to say that it has to be because forces around here are trying to protect Gadhafi or clear some sort of an escape route for him.
Now, if he were to escape, the commanders here are speculating that he's likely be trying to go to the south, possibly to Sirte, another stronghold in the east.
COSTELLO: Interesting. You know, the other thing I was wondering if Moammar Gadhafi has all of these chemical weapons inside. Is there a fear that those loyal to him might use them against the opposition?
DAMON: No. I think that sort of a fear always lingers. There's always the fear and the concern and this has also been brought up that he would possibly (INAUDIBLE) some sort of a spectacular last- ditch attack. When we speak with the fighters, that is not really their main concern. What their main concern are is trying to gain full control over the country so that they can then, they say, move into the next phase of trying to rebuild a new Libya.
But most certainly, there is a realization in the back of everyone's mind because this is a man who has proven to be entirely unpredictable. This has also been a man that has on many occasions threatened the individuals and they say it is unexpected of him. They say they fully expect that he is going to try to destroy everything and anything on his way out in trying to defend himself.
ROMANS: All right. Arwa Damon at the Tripoli airport, amazing reporting. Thank you so much, Arwa. Stay safe.
We want to bring in Middle East scholar Fouad Ajami, who has been with us this morning, sort of walking us through what is happening here.
You heard Arwa talk about the quality of the rebels. You talked about these are teachers and professors and economic professors from the United States who come back to -- tell us how about how important it will be for U.S. and international help in the next steps for this country. What it should look like and the U.S. role in particular?
FOUAD AJAMI, MIDDLE EAST SCHOLAR: Well, I think it's interesting. President Obama did not want to really get deep into this Libyan crisis. We have to understand this.
The only reason we went into Libya, the only reason there was this limited American role is because Gadhafi was a fool. He announced that he was going to Benghazi to kill the people of Benghazi. And I think President Obama decided he didn't want to have this on his conscience.
So, we got into this but reluctantly. We led from behind, the famous expression. And, in fact, other people who are more involved in this liberation of Libya. If I were to give the gold medal, if you will, for the man who helped this Libyan rebellion most is Sarkozy.
VELSHI: Right.
AJAMI: It's the French President Sarkozy.
So, other people will help the Libyans and one thing good about Libya, it does not have enemies on its borders, like the region around Iraq wanted Iraq to fail.
VELSHI: Right.
AJAMI: The neighbors that matter for Libya wants Libya to succeed.
COSTELLO: So, I know the president talked to the president of France about this. So, what do you -- I don't know, if you could be a fly on the wall --
AJAMI: Sure.
COSTELLO: -- what is the president of the United States asking of Sarkozy?
AJAMI: Well, I think it's not so much what we're asking. There's no kind of international rescue committee to help the Libyans. Interestingly enough, the Arabians have done well. Usually, they try to stay out of the affairs of other despotism. But in the case of Gadhafi, because he has alienated the Arabs, he called himself, by the way, "King of the Kings of Africa."
VELSHI: Right.
AJAMI: He turns his back on the Arabs and went into this whole African thing.
So, I think there is -- Qatar is very involved in helping the Libyans. The United Arab Emirates is very involved. And now, the Egyptians have a tremendous vested interest in the success of Libya because they have probably hundreds of thousands of laborers who want to work in Libya. So it bodes well.
VELSHI: All right. Let's go to Sara Sidner. She joins now us from the Tripoli's Martyr Square.
Last we talked to you, Sara, things were a little heated outside the Gadhafi compound. You've relocated. What's the situation where you are on the ground?
SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are in Green Square now, renamed by the rebels Martyr Square, where there are still celebrations going on today, cars driving around. There was a bit of sporadic shooting, celebratory shooting in the air.
We have to leave Bab al-Aziziya which is where the compound is. I think when you hearing there and what you're seeing in that video there is overnight, we were here as everyone came out on the streets and started blasting away and celebrating and saying that Libya was free and that Moammar Gadhafi's regime was no more. A lot of excitement.
But one thing I want to point out here. There is still a battle going on. When we were still outside Bab al-Aziziya, there was still mortars coming towards that compound. That means still Gadhafi forces in this city that the rebels have not been able to control the entire city.
And one thing we want to mention is that the organization is such that in some areas of the city you're having celebratory gunfire, people going around and doing donuts, and the other part of the city there is a firefight. And you --
VELSHI: Sounds like we lost her.
COSTELLO: You know, the funny thing is we know that NATO planes, reports of NATO planes flying over the airport. And whenever that happens, they sort of block transmission to like jam things for those who are loyal to Moammar Gadhafi, so maybe that's what's happening.
But you heard Sara Sidner say that there are still parts of the city under Gadhafi force control which is to be expected. It's a big city.
AJAMI: Absolutely, absolutely. And think of -- you have to think of the NATO planes as the air force of this rebellion. This is the air force of this rebellion. It leveled the killing field and gave these people a chance against the forces of a man who had four decades to organize his regime such as it is.
VELSHI: You read a message by somebody who said he is 47 years old and he has lived -- he has hated his life for 47 years here.
Here is something that's different from Iraq, different from Egypt -- the infrastructure, when this new group takes over, they don't have the bureaucracy and infrastructure that existed in a lot of other countries. Moammar Gadhafi really ruled this place not with just an iron fist but he decimated what you would think of as normal infrastructure.
AJAMI: Absolutely. The Arabs have a great expression. They said dictators like this, they devour the green and the dry. He ate everything. He left his country denuded of institutions, denuded of bureaucracy, denuded of public life.
And, Ali, you were right -- there was something that moved me deeply yesterday watching this upheaval. People are being interviewed and they delighted in giving their names! They said this is my name! You know? I exist!
It's not just Moammar Gadhafi and Saif Islam Gadhafi and Saadi Gadhafi and his terrible daughter, Aisha Gadhafi. We have to give her also credit in this evil.
VELSHI: Sure. Well, a lot of those people you were talked about were being interviewed with Sara Sidner.
Sara, the world was glued to your conversation with the rebels yesterday. What was your read on them? Because we saw some of them opening up boxes of gun is like they had never seen guns before. We saw you telling some of them be quiet if you can and stop shooting because you were hit by shell casings.
Are they going to be able to finish the job?
SIDNER: I think they will be able to finish the job because there are some very serious fighters here who are very serious about getting the job done.
What you have, though, is a difficulty where you have people from all over the country. A lot of people are not from here that have come into this city. They're from places like Zintan, and Misrata, and Benghazi. They've come into this city because they want to make sure that they really do have a grip on all of the country, and this being the capital, is the most important.
One thing people are very clear about is that they want a Libya that is united. They do not want to divide Libya. They do not want to change where the capital is. We've heard that over and over and again. If there were people in this city which there certainly were and are that supported the Gadhafi regime, but they are going to look at now is how they can include everyone in the next Libya, in the new Libya. We are hearing that over again.
People want to be very clear that they want to include everyone in this process of becoming a different country than they were for 42 years. And you remember that Moammar Gadhafi came into this country as a revolutionary, himself. There's a green book telling them people how they should act and what they should do and how they should, and they saw him as a revolutionary. And I think what you're seeing now is that the young people of Libya, they are now the revolutionaries.
They are the ones who want to form a better nation for all of the people here and that is giving us some real hope that Libya will grow, that it will be a better nation in the coming years, and that people will not live in fear of a regime that really cracked down on anyone who decided to even mention their dislike or their distrust of the regime.
COSTELLO: Sara, I'm just wondering, for those who are not fighting, who don't have a gun in this battle, the women, the children, and the younger men who are not fighting. How are they staying safe?
SIDNER: Yes. We are first seeing people fleeing the city yesterday. Today and last night, a big difference. We actually saw a few people coming into the city. There were children waving. The rebel flag which is the flag that existed before Moammar Gadhafi took over Libya. There were mothers in the street, and I do want to mention your gentleman guest there, I'm not sure he is speaking to me because I couldn't hear, but he did say something that is very poignant.
Throughout the reporting that we've done, all of us, CNN correspondents and crews, no one wants (INAUDIBLE) if they had family because they were terrified that if there faces were shown, that their family would be harmed. Now, people are willing to show their faces. They're willing to say their names. They feel like their family are safe because they've seen that the rebels have pushed through a place that they just could not believe -- so, yes, people feel like this is over in a sense, although, Moammar Gadhafi and his family have not been found.
ROMANS: Speaking with the Middle East scholar, Fouad Ajami to fill you in. It is very poignant. You're right, a very poignant anecdote about all this. I'm wondering what people think about these messages, these audio messages from Moammar Gadhafi if, you know, he called them traitors and rats and scum, the people who are, you know, threatening his regime. Do they just dismiss it? They're not afraid of him any more?
SIDNER: When he first started saying that he was going to go corner-to-corner and was going to rout out like rats, it really hit people in their hearts. It made them very angry. It made them fiercely, fiercely angry, but now, they're basically laughing at him. They're basically saying, OK, well, you said you were going to do this. You don't have the gun power. We are here. We're in your compound.
We're in your personal space and you can say whatever you want, but we've taken over the capital and we've taken over the country. So, I think there's a little bit of -- they're almost sort of laughing at him saying, you know, wherever you are, you're one in hiding, not us.
VELSHI: Hey, Sara, we are hearing gunfire about you constantly. And again, everyone who's been glued to your reporting has been hearing this with you. Obviously, you got a very still soul about you. Who's shooting?
COSTELLO: We lost her!
ROMANS: I really wanted the answer to that one.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: To some degree, she was saying, some of it is celebratory fire, but some of it is real. They're still fighting going on.
FOUAD AJAMI, SENIOR FELLOW AT THE HOOVER INSTITUTION: There is something very interesting, Ali, about this upheaval. Gadhafi kept calling his people rats. The Syrian dictator about who we may come in a couple of months and we'll talk about him. He called his people germs because he's, of course, an eye doctor. And someone carried the placard in Syria saying the germs of Syria salute the rats of Libya.
(LAUGHTER)
AJAMI: It was this moment. And, you know when regimes fold is when these death spots become material for jokes.
VELSHI: Yes.
COSTELLO: It's interesting in watching what's happening in Egypt. It's been a rocky road there to democracy if that's what, in the end, that form of government will be. The young people in Egypt are still upset because they don't have jobs with the change in the leadership and that's certainly going to be the case in Libya.
AJAMI: Absolutely, but Libya has something unique, of course, this 1.6 million barrels of oil a day.
VELSHI: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Don't forget the gold. $8.6 billion in gold.
AJAMI: Tons of money. And there are very few -- I mean, when you think of 6 million Libyans, a vast country, a rich country, close to Europe, think of Egypt as 85 million people.
VELSHI: Right.
AJAMI: It's a different burden. And Libya, really, is privileged and blessed. It's the luck of the draw that the young man virtually illiterate. Moammar Gadhafi seized power in 1969, the first year of the Nixon presidency.
VELSHI: Wow.
AJAMI: And held it with terror and farce. You know, the four voluptuous Ukrainian nurses, quote/unquote "who traveled with him everywhere." The tent he carried into other places. It became kind of like it's a combination of terror and farce. And this was the Gadhafi regime, the (INAUDIBLE) and fear.
ROMANS: Is he crazy?
AJAMI: I think so. I think he was a psychopath. I also think there is something which we know he had -- we had a sort of a half successful hair transplant, right? And then, I think we believe, and I think this possibly true, that he attempted a massive surgery and massive plastic surgery and it failed, because if you see the difference --
VELSHI: Yes. He looks very different, yes.
AJAMI: Very different. And I think this even added to his psychosis.
VELSHI: It is really watching history in the making. What we've been seeing in the last 72 hours, we may not see in the world again. Hopefully, we do, but in other places. This is something else.
AJAMI: Absolutely. I mean, actually, to paraphrase the great words with blessened that day to be alive, I said, but to be middle age is very heaven. And if you are out of my generation watching the fold of this terrible death spots and watching one after the other, and they are frauds, because they talk about dying on my soil, of my country, and fighting, and then, they make a run for it. Guess what Saddam did?
He said all this, and then, when we found him in the spider hole, it was amazing. He didn't know any English, but he knew this much. Guess what he said? He said I'm Saddam Hussein. I'm the president of Iraq, and I want to negotiate.
(LAUGHTER)
AJAMI: This is the man who said he was going to torch the world with a weapon. So, not only do they rule, not only do they terrorize, but then, they run away.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: All right.
COSTELLO: Which is what Moammar Gadhafi has done. So, we'll see if he turns up any time soon. Thank you so much for joining us.
AJAMI: Pleasure.
VELSHI: Great analysis.
COSTELLO: This just in to CNN, too. Hurricane Irene strength is to a major Category 3 storm as it steams towards the United States. When and where is it expected to hit? We've got a live update for you from our hurricane headquarters next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Just in to CNN. Hurricane Irene is strengthening again, and it's now a Category 3 storm. Its winds are topping 115 miles per hour. Here's a look at the sheer size of this hurricane as seen from the International Space Station.
COSTELLO: Yes. Let's bring in Jacqui Jeras right away. Jacqui, bring us up to date. When will this thing hit the East Coast of the United States?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, not until this weekend, guys. We've got to get through the Bahamas first, and this storm is really barreling through there. Now, you mentioned that it's a Category 3 now. Winds 115 miles per hour. And take a look at the satellite picture here. You can really see that eye. This thing is tightening up. It's intensifying.
The pressure has dropped by another couple of millibars, and whenever we watch that pressure drop, then in turn, it takes a little while, but we'll start to see those winds begin to increase. So, we're expecting more intensification as we head throughout the day today. Now, the hurricane hunters are currently flying into this thing right now, and they took a sampling of the environment and that's how they got that 115. So, they were just estimating it earlier this morning by satellite, and now, we've got that truth to go along with it.
Our forecast remains the same, though, we've been seeing the shifts eastward. This eastward trend has been going on since Friday, believe it or not. And the latest models taking it through the Bahamas. It's going to take through tomorrow. You know, this is a long way to go as a major hurricane. Look at how huge this cone of uncertainty is. It stretches from South Carolina all the way up into New England.
So, everyone needs to be on high alert and even if we miss a landfall here and stays offshore, we are still going to have major impacts all across the northeast with heavy rain, strong winds, and power outages. Look at this, guys. This map right here showing you anywhere between six and 12 inches of rainfall over the next five days as Irene makes its way up towards the north.
VELSHI: All right. Jacqui, we will stay on top of it with you. Thanks so much. Jacqui Jeras in our hurricane center.
And boy, we have a lot of stories today, and this one is still being talked about across the country the day the East Coast shook. There are reports that it was felt in 22 states from Maine to Georgia to Illinois. It was even felt in Canada. The 5.8 magnitude earthquake collapsed some homes near the epicenter in Virginia and caught millions of people off-guard in the middle of the work day.
Places like New York City, people working dozens of storeys above ground felt the floors move. This morning, the Washington Monument remains closed. Structural engineers will evaluate cracks found at the top of the 126-year-old landmark. Powers now been restored at a nuclear power plant about 80 miles from the capital. It was knocked offline during the earthquake.
ROMANS: All right. True, it was the biggest in 100 years, is that right, in the East Coast (ph)? Unbelievable. Small earthquake also shook the bay area late last night. The U.S. Geological Service says a magnitude 3.6 earthquake was centered about six miles southeast of Oakland and was also felt by people across the bay in San Francisco, but they do not expect any serious damage there. We don't want to leave the West Coast out of the earthquake story.
COSTELLO: No, we don't, although, the West Coast is making fun of the East Coast this morning, and that brings us to this. It's your chance to talk back on one of the stories of the day. The question today, it's got to be about the earthquake. Never has a shaking of the earth jolted so many people, at least, on the East Coast. Many in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York and D.C. were terrified. And comedians, they were terrified, too. They had to joke about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN: A lot of people react differently to an earthquake. Like, down at the city hall, Mayor Bloomberg, they felt the earthquake, and he ran and looking for cover. And they found Mayor Bloomberg during the earthquake standing under his desk.
(LAUGHTER)
LETTERMAN: They traced the epicenter of the earthquake to Governor Chris Christie's aerobics class.
(LAUGHTER)
LETTERMAN: They traced the epicenter of the earthquake and to Kim Kardashian's honeymoon suite.
(LAUGHTER)
LETTERMAN: You can tell the earthquake. I mean, Donald Trump, you could see the ripples going through his hair, the undulations.
(LAUGHTER)
LETTERMAN: Awesome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Oh, that is so awesome.
So the West Coast watched the East Coast in what -- how should we put it? The West Coast watched us in puzzled amazement. Listen to these tweets. This from CR Fan. He writes "The East Coast if just full of earthquake wimps. Get over it. Join us West Coasters next time for the real thing. And this from Peter Lamont. He wriets, "Hey, East Coast, calm down. You're embarrassing us in front of California."
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Some of these are really harsh. West Coast friends, please understand, we are not as courageous as you. So be gentle. We must ask this question of our East Coast friends this morning. So the question is where were you when the earthquake struck? Facebook.com/AmericanMorning, Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. I'll read your comments later this hour.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Best one I heard is California is so broke even the earthquakes are moving to the East Coast!
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Ouch! Payback, West Coast friends! ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: All right, still ahead, how does Libya avoid complete chaos after Gadhafi's fall? Coming up next, the chief operations officer of Libya's stabilization team. That's part of the opposition. The rebel movement joins us live. It's 32 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.
ROMANS: Breaking news this hour, new gunfire reported this morning at the Gadhafi compound in Tripoli a day after it was captured by rebel fighters. And there's still no sign of Moammar Gadhafi. CNN's Arwa Damon says there is intense fighting now at Tripoli's international airport. She says rebels believe Gadhafi supporters are trying to secure an escape route for Moammar Gadhafi.
VELSHI: The situation is growing more serious at a hotel in Tripoli, the Rixos hotel, where our senior international correspondent Matthew Chance and his crew and about 30 other reports are trapped.
COSTELLO: Just within the last half hour, we have learned more reporters entered that hotel. They wanted to go in and do a story. They entered the hotel and they were not allowed to leave. They are now being held by Moammar Gadhafi loyalists.
ROMANS: Earlier we spoke to Matthew Chance about what is taking place inside the Rixos hotel. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): We had one journalist come through. He managed to find a way through from outside from Tripoli into the Rixos hotel. He negotiated with the guards, came through on the basis that he would be allowed -- he is an international journalist -- he would be allowed to take one of the journalists who are inside the Rixos holed up here because it is controlled by the government.
One wondered on what was termed a shopping trip. You're going to take them out, take out that one person out and basically take him away. But what happened when got outside with this journalist who was leaving with him, there was a gunfight and the driver of the car who was waiting for them fled in a hurry and left them stranded in the hotel. Then shortly afterwards, some more journalists arrived at the hotel.
They fled into the hotel. An additional four people came inside. The past 30 minutes we have had five additional international journalists, most of them American citizens as far as we can make out, who have come into this hotel. Perhaps there's a chance to do some reporting on what is going on here. Obviously they have found themselves now the same situation we are in.
VELSHI: What is your sense of why the government is treating this location as so important? CHANCE: I have absolutely no idea. I really don't know the answer to that question. Yes, there is all sorts of rumors about how this place is some strategic significance to the Gadhafi regime. But we scoured this hotel from top-to-bottom and we can't see any other reason that it would be valuable to the remnants of the Gadhafi regime except the fact the international media is inside it. And perhaps that is what is happening now. Maybe there's a sense in which -- but we are not allowed to leave. We want to leave, but we feel we are in danger and we feel we are victims.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: All right, we are trying to stay in as close touch with Matthew, with Sara Sidner and her team, with Arwa Damon and their teams. Communications is a bit of an issue right now. We've seen this before, a dictator who ruled for decades suddenly gone, his and palace looted, the government, the police, the military disappearing. That was a scenario when Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was toppled.
But is there a plan in place for a smoother transition in Libya? Joining me now from Dubai is Dr. Aref Ali Nayed. He is the new Libyan ambassador to the UAE and chief operations officer of the Libya stabilization team. This is a subgroup of the National Transitional Council. Ambassador Nayed, thank you for joining us. First of all, what is your latest information? We are hearing NATO planes flying low over the airport and hearing still fighting going on. What is the latest information you're getting about the status of Tripoli?
DR. AREF ALI NAYED, LIBRAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UAE: Well, the situation is volatile and one needs to keep following. I've been on the move for the last couple of hours, so I'm not completely updated. The last updates I have is that we liberation of all of Tripoli. there are some pockets of Gadhafi thugs who are -- who are trying to harm civilians. And our young fighters are trying to secure those areas.
But as for the last report I have is about 95 percent of the city is under control and is secure and we now have a unified command and control structure for all of the security forces in Tripoli since the prime minister forming a unified supreme security room or operation center that's actually tracking and synchronizing and commanding the forces on the ground in greater Tripoli and synchronizing their efforts.
So this committee just started work yesterday formally. There was synchronization and harmonization during the liberation. But this is a stabilization synchronization at the security level, and it has been up since the decree was issued yesterday.
VELSHI: This is an issue. Yesterday we spoke to Mahmoud Shamam, the minister of information under the new traditional council. And he was saying, look, this has happened very quickly, and there are issues of what you do with a police force with securing weapons, including weapons of mass destruction, larger weapons, protecting the infrastructure, dealing with prisoners, and what you do when you find Moammar Gadhafi. So where do you stand on those particular issues? NAYED: Well, Mr. Shamam was referring to the rapid erosion of Gadhafi forces in Tripoli, and that was -- that was unexpected to some extent.
However, it was planned for in that the uprising of the Tripoli population was synchronized with the coming NATO forces from the western mountain, military command and from Misrata and from Zawiyah. And yes they had to rush in faster than expected. However, these things happen in any situation of conflict as far as war. Things do happen that are not expected.
However, the plan for the -- did work and now that -- that is -- in terms of implementation and what is the stabilization plan, which has been in the works for several months now and which is already in its third day of implementation since we declared day one three days ago. This implementation plan includes stabilization of all sectors and all dimensions of life from security to food security to medical and emergency services to communication infrastructure.
VELSHI: Let me ask you this then. You declared that as day one of the liberation of Tripoli. But the fact is you don't have Moammar Gadhafi in hand. At what point -- you've been recognized by various governments as the legitimate government of Libya, but at what point does the flag get raised and at what point are you in charge and you start staffing ministries and you start doing that?
NAYED: We are in charge and our ministers are arriving in Tripoli as we speak. There are already three in town. Our members of the National Transitional Council are ready, traveling to Tripoli. And six of them are already in town. Our stabilization team is fully deployed in Tripoli and in Zawiyah and other towns and cities and already closely coordinating with the local council.
We have already achieved great success by restoring the operations and re-operating the Internet so people can have Internet service, also sending early messages of harmonization and comfort and advice to the fighters to keep calm and to respect due process and the law and to treat prisoners in a proper manner.
So things are being synchronized and the stabilization team is already in Tripoli. So there is governance in Tripoli by the National Transitional Council. And of course things do take a bit of time, but we are already on the ground. The only reason I'm still in Dubai is because I was coordinating with our international departments on security dimensions. And now I'm off to talk about the release of frozen funds so we can have the urgent help we need for buying of food and fuel and other supplies. But already medical and food supplies are coming from Jordan --
VELSHI: Ambassador, let's talk about those funds. The U.S. says it's working to free up $1 billion or more in frozen Libyan assets. What kind of access to money do you have? What kind of access to money do you need? And what are you going to be talking? What are you asking for?
NAYED: We don't have much access to anything right now. What has been given doesn't even begin to cover the needs. For example, the stabilization team has been doing all of its work on voluntary basis with zero budget, and that's only one dimension of life. So we are in dire need of funds. We did receive some donations of food and fuel and so on, but it's not nearly enough.
What we are asking for is no less than $5 billion of the frozen assets which are the assets of the Libyan people and which should be paid to address the urgent needs of the Libyan people. And that is what we will be discussing. And we will reach consensus with our partners so we can get on with life. Stabilization does cost money. We need to pay salaries. Shops have to reopen. Medicine has to be flown in. You know, we need -- we need the money for the comfort of the Libyan people.
VELSHI: Ambassador, let me ask you about oil. Two percent of the world's comes from Libya. It was and pumping 1.6 million barrels per day. I don't know what the status is of your refineries. Apparently you have got control of the Zawiyah oil refinery. We do have reporting this morning that at least one refinery burning. That will of course help your cash flow if you can get oil going into world supply. Where do we stand with oil?
NAYED: Well, with oil -- all oil production has ceased and we are trying to restore production as soon as possible. The liberation of Zawiya and -- and which gives access to the -- to the pipelines bringing oil from the western fields and the liberation of Brega and Ras Lanuf which will under -- which will bring -- give us the opportunity to export from the -- from the eastern -- the eastern area are significant.
And assessment, the damage assessment is ongoing. Our engineers are working very, very hard on trying to get production going again. We are also working very hard on fuel supply and distribution and -- and also on the legal -- the legal complications of trying to get the offshore oil platforms to begin exporting again.
So we -- we are trying to get production going as soon as we can and it's hundreds of young Libyan engineers who are risking their lives and -- and working very hard at no pay who are trying to -- to do this. And we salute all of them because it is through their hard work and the hard work of the communications team and the power team that we have been able to restore here some services, Internet services and the Tripoli (INAUDIBLE) other services up and running again for the most part.
And these are for young people who are on the ground --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Yes. Yes.
NAYED: -- being coordinated through the stabilization team.
VELSHI: Dr. Aref Ali Nayed, thank you for joining us. Ambassador Nayed is the Libyan Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates on the phone with us from Dubai. NAYED: Thank you.
VELSHI: He's on his way to Doha to try and free up this international money because at this point they don't have the money as he is saying. But --
ROMANS: When, you think of those people working for no pay in the telecom industry and the oil fields and the engineers --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: -- and all the people trying to get the infrastructure of the country up so that they can move on to the next level.
COSTELLO: Well, the fighting is not even over yet.
ROMANS: I know -- a different kind of fighting I guess.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: All right, pro-Gadhafi forces saying the battle is not over and they will continue fighting, of course. But the rebels of Libya are claiming control of 90 percent of the country now. Saying they are days away from quote, "A new Libya" and they are planning to move key ministries into Tripoli. Already talking about getting the infrastructure up and running again.
VELSHI: Wow.
ROMANS: The morning's opinions pages looking at the difficulties in setting up a new government. A "Washington Post" op-ed says, "The best way to a smooth transition is to let Libya take charge of its own revolution. The U.S. should keep silent." Quote, "If we make ourselves too visible in Libya with troops on the ground or too many advisers in dark glasses we will instantly become another enemy."
But Max Boot from the council on foreign relations, he writes in the "Los Angeles Times" that "there is a real danger of catastrophe if Libya doesn't get outside help". At a minimum he says a stabilization force should be put in place. Quote, "If NATO refuses to send a peace keeping force and if the U.N. doesn't step up there is a real risk of Libya becoming a failed state."
COSTELLO: There you go.
ROMANS: We'll continue to stay on top of all the breaking developments from Libya.
COSTELLO: Also ahead, did you feel it? A rare earthquake hits the East Coast rattling air traffic, train lines and, boy, did it rattle people's nerves. We've got a live report for you.
Its 48 minutes past the hour.
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ROMANS: Good morning Washington, D.C., mostly cloudy, right now at 73 degrees. It will be mostly sunny later and 89. No forecast for earthquakes today.
COSTELLO: That's right the earth will remain still, at least we hope so. Officials say, we could still feel more aftershocks though from Tuesday's 5.8 magnitude earthquake in Virginia. There are reports it was felt in 22 states from Maine to Georgia to Illinois and it was even felt in parts of Canada.
VELSHI: And now this earthquake is bringing attention to a nuclear power plant that sits about 85 miles from the nation's capital. Brian Todd is live from Mineral, Virginia. Brian, tell me what the situation is there.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, a short time ago, we found out that power from the main grid was restored to this facility here. This is the North Anna Nuclear Plant very close to the epicenter. The power from that grid fuels the cooling systems for the nuclear reactor and for the spent fuel pools. So that's a crucial thing to get restored. It was running on generator power.
But the two main reactors remain shut-down today and we're told that they may not be back up, at least until the end of the day. As people here run through security checks and other safety measures just to make sure everything is solid. This is just one part of how an entire region is recovering from this earthquake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There may be an aftershock but you're allowed to go back in the building at this time.
TODD (voice-over): To millions of people on the East Coast this was the big one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you believe that you just witnessed an earthquake in Washington, D.C.
TODD: It's the strongest quake to hit the Virginia area since 1897. A 5.8, rattling nerves and shaking buildings in the nation's capital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really and truly thought it was some kind of bomb because I've never felt nothing like that before in Washington.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was on the bus. And the bus did a shimmy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't know what was happening and I thought the building was about to collapse.
TODD: The quake was centered near Mineral, Virginia about 40 miles from Richmond and 83 miles from D.C. but could be felt all the way in Martha's Vineyard where the President is on vacation. Shaking was felt in more than a dozen states in all, even into Canada. NBC's cameras focused on the White House caught the shaking as it happened. Some of the masonry of the National Cathedral fell off. In the National Park Services, engineers found a crack near the top of the Washington Monument. It will be closed indefinitely to keep visitors safe.
Many government buildings including the Pentagon were evacuated but no major damage was reported. Further north in New York City people ran from skyscrapers down flight of stairs as they swayed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The building is so back and forth, it actually rocked.
TODD: Near the epicenter of the quake the North Anna Nuclear Power Station, the earthquake triggering an automatic shutdown there. Diesel generators kicked in to keep the reactor course cool. But I spoke to a plant executive who wanted to make sure we knew everything was under control.
(on camera): What do you want to say to the public as far as right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the power plant is safe. And the operators responded well. Both units are shutdown, maintaining a safe shutdown condition. There was no release of radioactivity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: And those two reactors as we said remain shut down at least through the end of today. While the power was restored to the main -- from the main grid here to the areas that cool the spent fuel pools and the nuclear reactor.
So that's positive news. But they are still monitoring all the safety systems around here because there could be more aftershocks. The USGS tells us there have been a total of four aftershocks after the initial earthquake.
Back to you guys.
VELSHI: We are -- yes, I think we care more about them making sure that's entirely safe than we do about the rapid restoration of the power generation from there. I guess that's a lesson we've all learned after Japan.
Thanks very much, Brian.
COSTELLO: Yes. We asked you -- we had to ask the question because where you when the earthquake struck? I mean nobody was hurt. It was just such a bizarre thing so we -- where were you when the earthquake struck.
This is from Scott. "I was just putting a stethoscope on a patient's heart when I felt my feet moving out from under me. I'm a cardiologist in Sea Girt on the Jersey Shore. At first I thought it was me. Within minutes the entire office was evacuated. The scene was somewhat humorous. Every person was on their cell phone calling a loved one."
This from Sharon, "I was outside jogging. When the earthquake hit, I just fell down like somebody tripped me. I couldn't balance my body at all. It was frightening."
And this from Deanna, "I live in Ocean City, Maryland, four hours from the epicenter and I was in line at the grocery store. The man ahead of me was telling the cashier about the earthquake he just felt. I thought he was crazy. I guess I'm the only person on the East Coast who didn't feel it and now we have a hurricane heading here this weekend. Oy."
VELSHI: Get out of denial, Deanna. Get out of denial.
All right. We're going to take a break. We'll be right back. We're going to bring you the latest on what's going on in Libya.
It's 56 minutes after the hour.
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VELSHI: A quick update on the breaking news we have been following. Action all over Tripoli this morning. New gunfire reported at the Gadhafi compound in Tripoli a day after it was captured by rebel fighters. Still no sign of Moammar Gadhafi, himself.
ROMANS: CNN's Arwa Damon says there's been intense fighting at Tripoli's international airport. She's at the airport. She spoke to a rebel fighter who says Gadhafi supporters are trying to clear a path for him, a path out of Libya.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The clashes here are fierce because we think that they are trying to secure a route for Gadhafi to escape from Tripoli to other places. There were clashes all day. And then they took advantage of sunset when people were breaking their fast and we spotted an official convoy. It's possible that he may have been inside it.
This is my analysis as a military man. There has been intense firing from all directions for the last three days. There has been a focus on this airport complex more than other locations even in Tripoli. This is evidence that Gadhafi is in the area but wants to escape from Tripoli through here.
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COSTELLO: We will see. Also reports of shots being fired around the Rixos Hotel where Matthew Chance is held up.
We're going to throw it over to Atlanta and let Kyra Phillips take over. She'll have much more on the situation in Libya. Take it away Kyra.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": All right guys. Thanks so much.
