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The Situation Room

U.S. Options to Stop A Massacre; Scores Trapped in Quake Rubble; Ohio Showdown Over Labor Rights; A Closer Look at Moammar Gadhafi; Interview With Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown; U.N.: 'Immediate End' of Libya Violence

Aired February 22, 2011 - 17:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Brooke, thanks very much.

Happening now, Libya's Moammar Gadhafi vows to fight to the death to hold onto power. He's now threatening to execute enemies, as protesters and members of his own government are defying him in huge numbers. The U.S. is condemning violence against Libyan protesters.

But how far would and could the Obama administration go to prevent a full-fledged massacre?

And a powerful earthquake leaves one of New Zealand's largest cities in ruins. Dozens are dead and more may be trapped under crumbled buildings and chunks of concrete.

I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

We begin with a very, very real danger, that anti-government protesters in Libya could be slaughtered in huge numbers. The strongman, Moammar Gadhafi, making it clear today he won't go down without a fight.

Eight days into the demonstrations against Gadhafi's regime, at least one person in the Libyan capital has reported hearing bullets are being fired non-stop.

This is the picture Gadhafi wants the world to see. We're told Libyans were dragged into the street and even offered money to show their support, though, for Gadhafi. And in a rambling speech today, the Libyan leader rejected demands that he step down and he warned that his opponents would pay with their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOAMMAR GADHAFI, LIBYAN LEADER (through translator): Whoever cooperates with foreign countries in order to instigate war -- war against Libya, the punishment will be execution.

Whoever tampered with the country is also punished by execution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Despite Gadhafi's hard line, the opposition forces appear to control some huge parts of Eastern Libya right now. CNN's senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman, is in that part of the country.

Stand by for one of his rare live reports from inside Libya. That's coming up shortly.

Meantime, here in Washington, the secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is calling the bloodshed in Libya unacceptable.

So what would the Obama administration do if the violence gets far worse?

Our foreign affairs correspondent, Jill Dougherty, is over at the White House for us -- all right, Jill, what are the president's options right now?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Wolf, many are calling this genocide. And there asking what the Obama administration plans to do about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOUGHERTY (voice-over): As the world looks on in horror at the bloodshed in Libya --

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: This bloodshed is completely unacceptable.

DOUGHERTY: -- the U.S. secretary of State publicly uses strong words, but little else.

(on camera): Other than words, what is the United States doing to try to help to stop this?

CLINTON: I think that the message today is very clear and unambiguous from the entire international community. There is -- there is no ambivalence. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that the violence must stop.

DOUGHERTY: But the U.S. is stopping short of calling for Colonel Moammar Gadhafi to step down.

P.J. CROWLEY, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: It's not for the United States, you know, to choose the leader of -- of Libya or the leader of any other country. It is for the people of Libya.

DOUGHERTY: Uppermost in U.S. officials' minds, the safety of Americans still in Libya -- several thousand dual nationals, approximately 600 U.S. citizens and 35 embassy personnel and families the department has ordered to leave the country.

CROWLEY: I'm sure there are American citizens at the airport who are -- are attempting to leave. We are -- we are going to do everything in our power to help them.

DOUGHERTY: Meanwhile, the son of the king, who was overthrown by Colonel Gadhafi, says the erratic ruler must be stopped.

EL-SAYYID IDRIS ABDALLAH AL-SENUSSI, CROWN PRINCE OF LIBYA: I think the United States have to act firmly now. They cannot wobble anymore. They should send a strong signal. I think the best thing there should be is a no fly zone lifted all over the space of Libya. He cannot use any aircraft. He cannot use any helicopters, because he will commit genocide if they are allowed.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

DOUGHERTY: The crown prince also says that the international community should do more, including imposing international economic sanctions. And the influential head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry, agrees. Kerry says that military commanders who follow orders by Gadhafi should be charged with war crimes, that American and international oil companies should cease operations in Libya until the violence ends. And Kerry also says the U.N. should also consider protecting Libyan civilian centers and providing emergency civilian assistance -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jill, what are they saying at the State Department and the White House, for that matter, about imposing a so-called no fly zone over Libya, sort of like the U.S. and the international community imposed over Iraq under Saddam Hussein?

DOUGHERTY: Yes. In fact, the crown prince thinks that that should happen. They are not talking about that at this point. And Senator Kerry is not talking about it at this point. But, Wolf, you know things are changing very rapidly. It is not -- it is not looking good. So there's going to be a lot of talk at the United Nations, especially on what to do.

BLITZER: Jill Dougherty is over at the State Department.

Thank you.

And now we have some exclusive video from a reliable eyewitness in Tripoli, Libya. She describes finding a bullet in the balcony of her home and her feelings about the situation in the country right now.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is what the Libyans are doing to us right now. We are civilians. We are at home. We're supposed to be at peace. I just collected this right in front from our balcony. And this is supposed to be a bullet. This is supposed to be killing civilians. This is supposed to be killing peaceful people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We're going to have more of these eyewitness accounts coming up throughout this hour. Egyptians are showing solidarity with the people of Libya. They have set up refugee camps near the eastern border to house thousands and thousands of people fleeing Libya right now and Moammar Gadhafi's threats. Many of those who have escaped have horror stories to tell.

Here's CNN's Diana Magnay.

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, there are thousands of foreign Nationals trying to make their way out of Libya whichever way they can. We're hearing that 12,000 have already crossed the border into Egypt. Only Egyptians or Libyans who have married Egyptians are being allowed through.

And, of course, the airport in Tripoli is absolutely crammed full of people. We've been doing a sweep of the main airports in Europe. And here is what some of those travelers who have just landed from Tripoli have to say about their experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the airport, the situation is very, very tense, tense. It's very crowded -- but thousands of people, maybe a million. There -- there are a lot of Egyptians that -- that are blocking there, that are stopping the entrance gates.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It suddenly happened (INAUDIBLE) in Tripoli, in Tripoli. We saw what was happening in Benghazi and the other places south of Libya. But then we didn't expect these in Tripoli, because we were always were told that Tripoli was the -- the house of the leader of Gadhafi. So we thought we were safe there. But then, you know, it's happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I was sheltered. I was inside a house, so I had nothing to fear. The expats didn't have anything to fear. The real risk was to get involved with the crowd and be taken as a demonstrator, which none of us did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Horrific. Scary. A lot of gunfire last night. Heavy artillery. A lot of deaths that we weren't expecting in Tripoli. Pretty scary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MAGNAY: And, of course, Wolf, European governments are doing everything that they can to try and get their nationals out safely, relying on a mixture of commercial flights. The U.K. trying to send in charter flights. The Germans, the Dutch, the Italians sending in military planes to collect their nationals. The U.K. advising people to go straight to the airport, even if they haven't been able to book online, with enough money, to see if they can buy a ticket there -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Diana Magnay reporting.

Let's check some other hot spots in the region right now. In Bahrain, tens of thousands of people marched in the biggest anti-government protest since unrest erupted there last week. This despite attempts by Bahrain's king to reach out to opposition leaders. At least five protests were reported today in Yemen, including one that turned violent. Student demonstrators overturned a car and set it on fire after discovering weapons inside, apparently brought by government loyalists.

And Egypt's military caretakers went ahead with a controversial move, allowing two Iranian warships to enter the Suez Canal today. That hasn't happened in more than 30 years, since Iran's Islamic Revolution.

Neighboring Israel isn't pleased. Neither is the United States.

Now to that powerful earthquake in New Zealand. Police say significant numbers of people remain trapped in two buildings in Christchurch, where the 6.3 quake struck during the lunchtime rush. At least 65 people are dead, but that number could go higher.

Joining us now on the phone from New Zealand is Tim Manning.

He's a deputy administrator for the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA.

Tim, what were you doing in New Zealand at this time?

TIM MANNING, DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR, FEMA: Hello, Wolf.

I was -- I was in Christchurch as part of a U.S. government delegation working with the New Zealand government on partnership, trade and -- and sharing of information and experiences in -- in disaster response from the earthquake six months ago.

BLITZER: So describe what it was like. You were right in the middle of things.

What did it feel like?

MANNING: I was. I was at the airport when the earthquake struck. It lasted a -- a good while and people handled it fairly well. There wasn't quite as much damage at the airport as there was in the city center. We evacuated. And a number of construction workers who were repairing damage from the quake -- from the previous quake -- had volunteered with a -- a number of us who are former paramedics and EMTs, doctors, nurses, with the police there, commandeered buses and came back to the city center to -- to help provide aid.

BLITZER: So I hear you say you volunteered to help out.

Are you helping now?

Are you going to stay there?

MANNING: I am working right now. And FEMA is in support of the U.S. AID, the Agency for International Development and the State Department. And I happened to be here. And being a former first responder, a former firefighter and -- and a professional emergency manager, I couldn't do anything but whatever I could do to assist.

I'm currently working in support of the U.S. Embassy country team here, liaising with the New Zealand government in the city of Christchurch and doing what we can to find any U.S. citizens that require assistance and whatever assistance we can offer from the United States in the (INAUDIBLE) of Christchurch.

BLITZER: I understand there are still a lot of people trapped in sort of those collapsed buildings, is that right?

MANNING: -- that's correct. Search and rescue remains the priority. There are still a number of people that are unaccounted for that remain trapped. We are -- the United States is providing assistance to New Zealand and the people of Christchurch with a disaster response team that will be, I expect, leaving today. Search and rescue is the top priority.

BLITZER: Compare this earthquake -- I don't know if you've ever been involved in other earthquakes -- but give us an estimate of -- of how much this one -- how much damage this one has caused.

MANNING: The damage from this earthquake is -- is quite extensive. It is -- we had a lower magnitude than the previous earthquake, but the -- but the damage was far more extensive. And that it happened at the lunchtime rush, during the middle of the week, it was even more tragic.

Our hearts and minds (AUDIO GAP) the people of Christchurch, the disaster victims and the survivors. And we will continue to stand with the people of New Zealand and provide whatever assistance we can.

BLITZER: I agree completely.

Tim Manning, thanks very much.

Thanks for what you're doing.

Appreciate it.

Good luck to all the folks there in Christchurch, New Zealand.

We're going to have more on this story later coming up later in THE SITUATION ROOM.

More on what's going on in the Middle East, in North Africa and Libya coming up, as well.

And there are protests and anger spreading across America's Midwest at the same time. We're taking you to Ohio, the latest battleground over spending and workers' rights.

And it's decision day for the president's former White House chief of staff. Will Rahm Emanuel win his bid to become the next mayor of Chicago? As the voters cast their ballots, I'll be speaking with our own Jessica Yellin. She's in Chicago with the man who wants to be the next mayor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Just go the word that CNN's Ben Wedeman is going to be calling in shortly. He's inside Libya right now, he'll update us on what's going on. Stand by for that.

Meantime, politics very much on Jack Cafferty's mind this hour. Jack is here, want to welcome him back to "The Cafferty File" -- Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you, sir.

A disgruntled former aide to Sarah Palin has written a scathing political tell-all in which he suggests that she is more concerned with her image than she is about the issues. Well that's just shocking.

Former aide Frank Bailey who joined Palin's political team during her 2006 gubernatorial campaign and stayed on through her resignation in 2009 after serving one-half of one term based his memoir on some 60,000 e-mails that he sent to or received from Sarah Palin during that time. The book was leaked to several media outlets in Alaska and Washington over the weekend.

Among the claims in the book, Sarah Palin allegedly sent phony letters to the editor when she was running for governor of Alaska, letters that supported herself but were signed with fake names. She allegedly rigged her staff's computers so they could unfairly influence an Anchorage news station's online poll about her refusal of federal stimulus dollars. And according to Bailey, Sarah Palin refused to appear on any network except for the "F" word network referring to all the rest of us as the bad guys.

Also in the book, Bailey claims that months after the McCain/Palin ticket lost the presidential election, then-Governor Palin seemed focused more on her national image than on what was going on in her state, Alaska, telling Bailey and another colleague in a spring 2009 e-mail, quote, "I hate this damn job," unquote.

Bailey's reportedly been shopping the book around since the fall of 2009. So far he hasn't found a publisher.

No response from the former governor on the book. A spokesman for Palin's political action committee told "The Anchorage Daily News" she didn't expect Palin would have anything to say anything about this, quote, "kind of untruth," unquote.

Here's the question -- Does Sarah Palin care more about her image than the issues? Go to CNN.com/caffertyfile, post a comment on my blog -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jack, get ready to be swamped with e-mail. They will be coming in big time. Thank you. We're following budget and union battles playing out across America's heartland right now. Public workers returned today to Wisconsin's state capitol to oppose a budget-cutting bill they say would bust their union. The Republican governor, Scott Walker, is threatening hundreds of layoffs if that measure isn't passed. Senate Democrats fled the state to hold up the bill.

A similar scenario is playing out in Indiana today. Democratic lawmakers failed to show up at a hearing on a bill that would reduce the rights of union workers in the private sector. That effectively blocks the Republican-backed measure. Indiana's Republican governor, Mitch Daniels, says he won't divert state police to try to find the Democrats.

Let's go to Ohio right now, another battleground over the rights of union workers. CNN's Deborah Feyerick is joining us from the state capitol in Columbus with what's going on there.

Looks like you're surrounded by some angry folks. What's going on?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we can tell you, we tried to get into the state capitol just moments ago. Sergeants are blocking the doors. They are now locked. Twelve hundred people were let in, but a number of other people who wanted to get in who wanted to be heard, they have been shut out.

There are hearings going on right now. Republican Senator Shannon Jones saying these -- this bill has to pass in order to get city and town governments greater flexibility, but what it means is that it will take await bargaining rights or severely limit those of all of the unions.

Now, we spoke to the former governor, Democrat Ted Strickland. He says when he was governor, he was able to bargain with the unions, that they took wage freezes, that they took unpaid days. They made concessions and bargained in good faith.

He says that this is nothing more than a Republican power play in order to try to bust these unions. He says if these people, these bus drivers, the teachers, the nurses, the corrections officers, all of them are being portrayed as villains when in fact this deficit was not created by them and it's not going to be fixed by them either -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Deborah Feyerick reporting from Columbus, Ohio, thank you.

He's afraid to fly over water and won't look you in the eye, but he has ruled for decades with an iron fist. Still to come, the long, colorful and the frightful reign of Libya's Moammar Gadhafi.

And up next, could real estate tycoon Donald Trump give President Obama serious run for his money? Stand by.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Get back to Libya in just a few moments, but Lisa Sylvester is monitoring some other top stories in "THE SITUATION ROOM" right now including news making some serious headlines on our Political Ticker.

What's going on?

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this relates to 2012. The potential Republican presidential field has shrunk by one. Senator John Thune of South Dakota announced today that he will not seek the 2012 GOP nomination. Thune has been labeled a Republican rising star and his White House aspirations have been the subject of speculation for months. He announced his decision in a joint statement with his wife on Facebook.

And the race in Indiana is on fro GOP Senator Richard Lugar's state. Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdack formally announced his primary challenge to Lugar calling him Barack Obama's favorite Republican. Mourdack says he has the support of almost of the three- fourths of the state's GOP leadership. Lugar is the Senate's most senior Republican member, he will seek his seventh term next year.

Congressman Ron Paul appears to be laying groundwork for his third presidential bid. Aides say the Texas Republican will visit New Hampshire in late March to headline a GOP gathering. Paul placed last in the New Hampshire primary back in 2008. He'll also travel early next month to Iowa where caucuses traditionally kickoff the presidential primary season.

And my favorite story -- President Donald Trump? Well, if you buy into a new survey from "Newsweek" and "The Daily Beast," it's not out of the realm of possibility. The survey places President Barack Obama ahead of the real estate magnate by only two points, well within the sampling error. Trump has often expressed an interest in running. The new survey ranks him fourth in the GOP field behind Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin. And then we're seeing all of these headlines coming out like, "Trumping the President" and so forth; "Obama Gets Trumped" and the like.

BLITZER: Donald Trump, can you imagine? I know Donald Trump, I'm not sure he's going to run, but if he's thinking about it would be a lively Republican field. There's no doubt about it.

SYLVESTER: I bet he's just eating all of this up too.

BLITZER: We'll see what happens. I'll be surprised in the end if he runs, but we'll see. He's surprised me before.

Thank you.

Moammar Gadhafi's rambling, defiant speech to his people today was certainly true to form. We're taking a closer look at the Libyan's strong man's frightening words and actions now and in the past.

And why is Senator Scott Brown just now speaking out about the abuse that he faced as a child? My interview with the senator, that's coming up this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Eight days into the anti-government demonstrations and violent retaliations, Libya right now is in turmoil -- oil prices are rising, the Arab League has suspended Libya, high-level diplomats have defected. Yet, in a rambling, lengthy speech the Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi is vowing to stay in power to execute, execute all of those people who would defy him.

CNN's Brian Todd is here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

Brian, I guess we shouldn't be surprised by anything that Moammar Gadhafi does.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not at this point, Wolf. Not surprising at all. We have spoken to people who have analyzed the Gadhafi regime for years, one former official who has met with Moammar Gadhafi. Not one of them was shocked by this speech which fits Gadhafi's pattern of defiance and delusion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOAMMAR GADHAFI, PRESIDENT OF LIBYA (through translator): I am supported by millions and by god.

TODD (voice-over): From his house that was bombed by the Americans in the '80s next to a monument of a golden fist crushing a U.S. warplane, he waxed paranoiac for more than an hour. Said Libya's young protesters have been poisoned by enemies who gave them hallucination pills and alcohol. Said he'd become a martyr before he ever left power. It was vintage Moammar Gadhafi

GADHAFI: This march cannot be stopped, stopped by those agents, those rats, those cats who move in the dark.

TODD: U.S. security officials say the speech came as Gadhafi had effectively lost control of the city of Benghazi and other areas of eastern Libya.

(on camera): Gadhafi's apparent disconnect doesn't surprise Noureddine Jebnoun, professor at Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. He's with me right now.

Professor, does this man comprehend at all what's going on in his country?

PROF. NOUREDDINE JEBNOUN, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY'S CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ARAB STUDIES: Not at all. He's out of touch, he's off base, and for the simple reason he didn't understand people are rejecting his regime completely.

TODD: Why do you think they are rejecting him at this point?

JEBNOUN: They're rejecting his regime because he didn't offer to them anything. He offered to them nepotism, corruption, terror, and a kind of tribalism.

TODD (voice-over): This is a man who has ruled over Libya with a culture of fear since taking power in 1969 at the age of 27. Diplomats say he's afraid to fly over water, afraid to stay on upper floors of hotels, and doesn't look people in the eye.

He travels with a team of female bodyguards, prefers to bring with him a ceremonial Bedouin tent, and a voluptuous blonde Ukrainian nurse, all according to U.S. diplomatic cables posted on WikiLeaks. During the height of his conflicts with the U.S. in the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan made it personal.

RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This mad dog of the Middle East --

TODD: That was the period when Gadhafi was linked to the bombing of a Berlin disco that killed two U.S. servicemen, and later the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland.

(on camera): Why did he sponsor so much terrorism in the '80s?

JEBNOUN: That's my importantism (ph) and by ideology. He was behind, like, the Irish Republican Army. He hasn't any common ground with the Irish Republican Army.

TODD (voice-over): By 2003, Gadhafi had given up his weapons of mass destruction, started helping the U.S. in the war on terror, and began paying reparations to Lockerbie victims' relatives. Now his sons are in the spotlight. He has at least five.

One, as his national security adviser, has met with Hillary Clinton. Mideast experts say another son, Hannibal, has had a string of violent incidents. In Switzerland, he was once arrested for assaulting his staff, and his mug shot ended up in the papers. The Libyan government responded by briefly holding Swiss businessmen hostage.

His most trusted son is Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, Western-educated, charming, but who has also come out and shamelessly defended this crackdown.

SEIF AL-ISLAM GADHAFI, MOAMMAR GADHAFI'S SON (through translator): We're not Egypt. We're not Tunisia.

TODD: CNN contributor Fran Townsend has met Seif Gadhafi.

(on camera): Do you think he has backing of some of the tribes and some of the other security apparatus that his father did? Though that's really where the rubber hits the road, right?

FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: That's exactly right. And that's the real question.

It's not -- you know, Colonel Gadhafi, the leader there, has very much controlled that himself, the relationships with the tribes, and that sort of -- and the security services. And the question is, is Seif strong enough? Are his relationships in those areas strong enough to transfer from his father? And I think we don't know the answer to that yet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: That answer may hinge on the son's abilities to curry favor with some tribes and drive wedges between other tribes. Analysts say Moammar Gadhafi was a master at that, and at keeping the security and business elite on his side, despite coming from one of the smaller tribes in Libya -- Wolf.

BLITZER: If he were to do what he says he would never do, actually leave the country, is there some sort of government structure in place to take charge?

TODD: The short answer is no. There's no constitution. There's no legislature. This is a country ruled by one man's whim, and as one analyst says, unfortunately it's man who acts a lot like Tony Soprano, the character in the old HBO series.

BLITZER: Except I don't think Tony Soprano wants to die as a martyr. Gadhafi says he wants to die as a martyr, he's not leaving Libya, they will have to kill him if he's going to be forced out. We'll see what happens eight days into this revolution in Libya.

Thanks, Brian, very much.

He shook up Washington when he won his U.S. Senate seat, the Massachusetts Republican. Scott Brown has written a powerful new book about a childhood punctuated by abuse. Why share his story now? We'll speak to the senator. That's coming up.

And Chicago voters go to the polls to pick a mayor. Could the former White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, win in this, the first round?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: He certainly grew up under some of the harsher circumstances that life could dish out. Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts has now gone public about his rise of childhood abuse in a new memoir entitled "Against All Odds: My Life of Hardships, Fast Breaks and Second Chances."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Let's talk about the book, "Against All Odds." Why did you write this book, and why did you write it now, Senator?

SEN. SCOTT BROWN (R), MASSACHUSETTS: Well, obviously when I won the election, I had many groups coming to me to write a book. So I wrote it. I worked on it. It's done. It's being released pursuant to the appropriate schedule that Harper Collins wanted to do. And I wrote it because once they came to me, I felt it would be important to talk not only about the good things -- and I didn't want it to be like a typical political book -- but I wanted to not gloss over the tough things as well, and hopefully help people understand that, hey, listen, if you have tough circumstances, like many of us do, you can still have success if you have good people around you.

BLITZER: And you were amazingly blunt in discussing the physical and sexual abuse you suffered as a young kid. Tell our viewers why you decided to go out and explain all of that stuff in such specific detail.

BROWN: Well, as you know in the book, it's about eight pages in the whole book out of --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: But it's a powerful eight pages, Senator. Anybody who reads it is really moved by what you've described.

BROWN: Well, certainly it's something I've wrestled with for 42 years. And I said to myself, well, I can write just a regular old political book, or really try to make a difference and let people know that even those types of things shouldn't keep you down, and that if you fight back like I did, and then eventually wrestle with the -- you know, just kind of talking about it, it will bring it to the forefront. And if I can help other people, I'm very excited about that.

BLITZER: I tweeted that you were coming on the show on Twitter, Senator Brown. A lot of folks said, why not go after that camp counselor who molested you? You've decided you didn't want to do that. Tell us why.

BROWN: Well, it's pretty simple. It took me 42 years to actually really talk about it, number one.

You know, dealing with all the legal stuff, whether there's statute of limitations issues or not, I've always been a forward thinker, Wolf. I'm resolved and balanced about where I am in my life and focusing on my own family. And I'm not out to settle any scores or sue anybody. But if I can help people, other people understand what happens in situations like that work through their own problems, then I'm very content with that.

BLITZER: What advice do you have for some other young people who may be going through right now what you went through a few decades ago?

BROWN: Well, it's easy. Do what I didn't, and that's tell somebody. Trust somebody and tell them.

I was -- at that point in my life I was the perfect candidate, Wolf. I was 10 years old. I had very little family support. And I was, you know, the perfect target.

And I remember very clearly, he said, "If you tell anybody, I'll kill you. And no one is going to believe you. I'll make sure no one believes you."

And he was a popular guy, and everyone loved him. And I was just a 10-year-old kid, you know, lost. So what do you do?

And I remember my mom, as we've worked this thing through since, said, "Honey, is that the summer that you were calling all the time to come home?" I said, "Yes, mom, I was." And she felt terrible.

But I didn't expect anything because I wasn't going to tell. I was already threatened not only with my safety and security, but my family's. And that's what happens. You believe that stuff, and it's not true. And I know that now, but I would encourage people to fight back and tell somebody, period.

BLITZER: And as far as you know, that camp counselor is still alive today, still out there some place?

BROWN: Oh, he would be -- he would be at least 70, I would think at this point. And I have no facts to base, you know, where he is or if he's alive or not.

BLITZER: Have you ever really gotten over all of that -- over all of those experiences?

BROWN: Well, I don't think you get over them, but you certainly learn to -- you know, you learn and you grow, and you become the person that you are, whether it's through determination or resiliency or, you know, preparing your own family for those types of things and saying to your own kids, hey, stranger, danger, stranger, danger. And what does that mean for people who don't have kids? Well, it's when your kids go to camp and they go and they deal with these issues, you kind of talk to them, and they understand better.

And as a matter of fact, Wolf, my daughter Ayla read the book as she was flying out to a performance. And she called up and she said, "Dad, I get it now. I understand why you were so prospective, and thank you."

So, like I said, if it helps people, I'm so excited and thankful about that.

BLITZER: Well, I applaud you for writing that, because if it does help even one person out there, I think you will have done an extremely important, good deed.

BROWN: Well, it already has.

BLITZER: I hope so.

BROWN: It already has, yes.

BLITZER: Give us the example of how you know that this book has already helped someone.

BROWN: I've received hundreds and hundreds of e-mails, phone calls, letters from people from all walks of life saying, "It happened to me," "It happened to my brother," "It happened to my sister." And "I just told my son after 45 years." But as I've said, listen, I'm not the only one in these circumstances, and there are people with way more difficult circumstances. But -- and that was a part of my life, but it's not the only part of my life.

BLITZER: No.

BROWN: And it's not the only part of the book. And to take that one situation and add the building blocks to everything else that's happened in my life, you get who I am. And that's somebody who tries to, when it comes to issues of crime and punishment, deal and come down on the side of victims, and try to strengthen our sex offender laws and protect children. It's just how I've always been. Now people understand a little bit better why.

BLITZER: How have your daughters reacted -- I'm sure they didn't know about it. Your wife didn't know about the details. Your mom didn't know about the details.

How have they all reacted?

BROWN: Well, they have obviously -- my wife cried and gave me a hug, and we've been talking about it for the last couple of weeks. And we've got full circle, and it's very comfortable.

My mom and dad, we obviously worked it through. And they were very sad that I didn't have the courage to tell them, as I was, and they apologized. And certainly I accepted their apology.

But my family, like everybody else's family, is a work in progress and will always be, I think, until the day I die. But bottom line is we love each other through thick and thin. We would still go through that wall for them and each other. So, you know, you learn and grow and you try to just kind of move on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We'll have much more of this interview coming up Saturday in THE SITUATION ROOM, 6:00 p.m. Eastern. A remarkable interview with Senator Scott Brown.

He quit his White House job to run for mayor of Chicago. Now Rahm Emanuel is a few hours away from finding out if he gets the job. He's talking to our own Jessica Yellin.

Plus, a rare report from inside Libya. We're going there. You'll see it only -- only here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Just getting in two mug shots of the accused Tucson shooter Jared Loughner.

Susan Candiotti has been working this story for us.

Susan, we're going to show our viewers the pictures. Tell us how you got them and what we're seeing basically.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf.

It was a long and involved process. We actually filed a Freedom of Information Act request for these last month, right after the shooting occurred.

These photographs were taken on the very same day that Jared Loughner, the Arizona shooting suspect, made his very first court appearance in federal court, and they were taken just three days after the Pima County Sheriff's Office, where the shooting occurred, had taken its mug shots. He's still smiling, as you can see, but these are two new photos.

One of them is a profile shot. Another one shows him looking head on. And it appears in this one that his left eye is slightly bruised. Now, again, this happened before he made his very first court appearance, but as you can see, he still has that very eerie smile on his face as he did the last time.

BLITZER: He's accused of shooting and injuring a lot of people, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and killing others.

It looks like at the top of the right hand of his head over there it looks like a little injury as well. Is that what that is, that bump over there?

CANDIOTTI: Yes. I do recall that at the time that they said that when -- remember, he was wrestled to the ground. It is possible that he got those bruises at that time. Hard to say. We'll be making inquiries about that to find out more about that.

BLITZER: All right. That's it. We're going to leave it over there. Susan Candiotti reporting for us.

Thank you.

Adventure on the high seas ends in the worst possible way. Four Americans killed by pirates in the shadow of a U.S. warship. We're piecing together what happened. Details still sketchy.

And Americans in the middle of Libya's internal storm, what the U.S. is doing to get them out of there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Let's get back to our top story, the turmoil in Libya. Now the United Nations Security Council taking action.

Let's go straight to Richard Roth. He's in New York for us.

Richard, what happened?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the U.N. Security Council has just passed a statement against the Libyan regime. It says the council expresses its grave concern at the situation there, condemns the violence and the use of force against civilians, deploring the repression against peaceful demonstrators and expressed deep regret at the deaths of thousands of people. The members of the Council called on the government of Libya to meet its responsibility to protect itself population.

This is the first U.N. meeting, the Security Council meeting, on Libya or on any of the North African turmoil regions. A significant statement.

And just before the statement was read to the press, the deputy Libyan ambassador came to the microphone and denounced the Gadhafi regime, said he had just had reports that following Gadhafi's tough aggressive speech today in Libya, that there was aircraft attacks against some people in Libya. He said he couldn't confirm the reports.

Asked for his reaction to this firm, tough statement by the Security Council, he says he wishes it was tougher, but it's pretty good. It does send a message.

It was not the full Libyan ambassador at the microphone. Still some tension there perhaps as to who is going to be the public face of Libya.

So, once again, Wolf, Security Council, after a day of meetings here, rather quickly by U.N. standards, adopting a firm, tough statement against the regime of Colonel Gadhafi, calling for international humanitarian assistance to be allowed in and criticizing the grave violence carried out against the citizens in Libya -- Wolf.

BLITZER: As you know, Richard, the world of diplomacy at the United Nations Security Council, a statement is one thing, a resolution with a former roll call is another thing.

Why no former resolution which would have been so much more powerful than a simple statement?

ROTH: I think the U.S. and Britain and others would be moving towards this, would run into interference from China and Russia. And they wanted to get something quickly out to -- there was really a lot of anger among some Council diplomats after Gadhafi's speech which they felt threatened with. We heard Chancellor Merkel in Germany say that maybe sanctions should be imposed. That always, as you just pointed out, takes much more time at the U.N. to adopt, much more significant language, much more ramifications.

So, for now, the Council president said they could return to this issue further.

BLITZER: Because if I'm Gadhafi right now, and it's a simple statement with no significance as far as punishment or anything is concerned -- a resolution, you can implement it, you can impose sanctions. A statement is just a statement. It's just a bunch of words.

Why aren't I happy if I'm Moammar Gadhafi?

ROTH: Well, he's also dealt with dozens of statements and even sanctions. He held firm against the U.N. even with resolutions imposing sanctions after Lockerbie. Some of it began to bite a little bit, so he's held on.

The deputy Libyan ambassador spoke earlier, as I mentioned. Let's listen to some of his comments following the Council's adoption of a statement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no idea really. I cannot confirm that there are -- that there are aerial attacks, but now the attack is on the ground. I want to be accurate. I want to set the reality. And once again, I call on the regime to stop killing the Libyan people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: It is an incredible, unique scene, Wolf. You have the ambassador from a country who has just been attacked by the Council with a tough statement agreeing with the statement, which normally doesn't happen when it comes to Libya, and the full-time Libyan ambassador left the premises a couple hours ago.

The deputy says he does support the people of Libya, but he still has some connections to Colonel Gadhafi, can't publicly come out and condemn him. So, in a way, a topsy-turvy diplomatic scene outside the Council, pretty formal inside the Security Council with that statement against the Libyan regime. As you said, it may not have any bite at the moment, but the world is lining up against the Gadhafi regime.

BLITZER: But I just want to be precise, Richard, because this is very important. Are you saying that you're hearing that China and Russia refused to go along with a formal resolution condemning Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi?

ROTH: We know from our experiences here that to get something accomplished, that would take days and possibly weeks. The Council has never been able to agree on resolutions regarding places such as Zimbabwe and Myanmar. There's no maybe opposition publicly expressed, but it's just a given. And to work toward that, I'm afraid the situation in Libya would have to deteriorate even further.

BLITZER: All right, Richard. Stay on top of this. We're going to get back to you.

Significant breaking news though. A statement released by the United Nations Security Council, not a resolution, but just a statement condemning what's going on. It could have been so much more powerful, but as you heard Richard just report, that would have taken not just days, but maybe weeks to get something through. So they settled on this diplomatic statement.

Much more on Libya, the turmoil going on, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Let's go right to Jack for "The Cafferty File" -- Jack.

CAFFERTY: The question this hour is: Does Sarah Palin care more about her image than she does about the issues? A disgruntled former colleague of hers has written a rather nasty book suggesting she's preoccupied with the former as opposed to the latter.

Carla (ph) writes, "Obviously the woman doesn't care about either. If she cared about the issues, she would educate herself. If she cared about her image, she would avoid the media altogether until she acquired the education and stops demonstrating her appalling ignorance at every turn."

Bonnie in New Jersey writes, "I don't think you can pin this one on her exclusively. What politician cares about the issues? Their image and/or how much money they can collect for their next election campaign is what they think about, not the issues."

Dee writes, "I would normally consider this question to be a no- brainer. Pardon the pun. Of course, image is more important than those testy, fact-filled issues, but given her recent responses from the Arizona shootings, to the State of the Union, to her relative silence during the unprecedented events in the Middle East, I'm beginning to think perhaps she doesn't care much anymore about her image either."

Tim in Clinton, Oklahoma, writes, "Get off Palin, Jack. You're becoming more boring than she is. Talk about something important."

Roger says, "Are you kidding? Oh, sure, she cares about the issues -- her hair, her TV show, her celebrity status. She has the depth of a paper towel."

And Cathy says, "Jack, does a bear" -- well, you know the rest.

If you want to read more on this -- and it's fairly entertaining e-mail -- you'll find it on my blog, CNN.com/CaffertyFile -- Wolf.