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CNN Saturday Morning News

Reports Indicate Colonel Gadhafi Violating Cease-Fire; U.N. Members Hold Emergency Meeting; French President Announces French Planes Will Soon Fly Over Libya to Protect Civilians; Japanese Continue Attempts to Contain Nuclear Disaster; Oil Prices Continue Rise

Aired March 19, 2011 - 10:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

In Libya, the battle for Benghazi escalates this morning. And as you can see from these dramatic images, a fighter plane controlled by the opposition has gone down in flames. This happening while leader Moammar Gadhafi telling President Obama and the world that men, women, and children are ready to die for him.

Also in Japan, everyone keeping a close eye on those nuclear reactors still too hot and under pressure. We'll tell you about the extreme measures under way to prevent a new tragedy, and also new fears that radiation may have already seeped into the food supply.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING for this March 19th. Good to be back with you. I'm T.J. Holmes.

We do want to start with Libya's civil war. Let me get you up to speed now. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is joining other leader in Paris right now. Today's meetings come in the wake of the United Nations resolution calling for a cease-fire and no-fly zone over Libya. But now member nations have to decide exactly how they're going to enforce it.

Here's what the no-fly zone could possibly look like. It would stop everything except aid flights and no-fly patrols from being in the sky over Libya. Also another map to give you a look at. It shows the latest information we have on who controls the major cities there in Libya. Benghazi -- I apologize not having the other map for you. Benghazi is the second largest city in the country. The government forces are pressing the issue with tanks and artillery.

The picture we can show you this morning out of Libya that we are seeing, that image there showing that fighter plane go down. This is in Benghazi where the fighting continues. This is actually an opposition plane, not from the Libyan air force.

Benghazi, the center of the fight, as I have said this morning, government forces putting on the pressure, trying to force opposition forces from that city. That city has become the heart of the anti- government movement. Arwa Damon is in the Eastern part of Libya right now, not too far outside Benghazi. Arwa, is the fighting continuing right now?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, T.J., as far as we are aware, yes it is. Strikes and firefight are taking place inside that city itself. This, of course, very concerning.

What we saw earlier in the morning while we were still there was a large plume of smoke. We heard artillery being fired and saw a few rounds falling. Then we saw another aircraft, not sure if it's the same one or not, come tumbling out of the sky in a plume of smoke.

We later heard from an opposition fighter that that was one of their own jets, one of a small handful of aircraft they managed to get their hands on and put into the sky. This is all they have to defend themselves from Gadhafi's military machine.

This is exactly what the opposition was warning the international community about, that Gadhafi would continue to push the boundaries. They feel that Gadhafi is challenging the international community, mocking them, daring them to actually take action against him.

People were very worried, realizing that there was going to be a delay in the implementation of this resolution, a resolution that calls for an immediate cease-fire, that calls for a no-fly zone, and that most importantly calls for the use of all necessary mean to protect civilians. Civilians that continue to be under attack here.

HOLMES: Those civilians you mentioned, have they been fleeing the city of Benghazi in large numbers?

DAMON: Well, I wouldn't say it was a massive exodus, T.J., to be quite honest. There was a steady flow of vehicles leaving Benghazi. We spoke to a number of the civilians, and most were from the southern part of the city and that's where Gadhafi's forces began their assault.

We spoke to one woman who says that she woke up to her entire building being sprayed with small arms fire. We spoke to a little girl who said that she evacuated with her family in the middle of the night after intense bombing.

This is a population that we've been talking to that is very afraid. They have all along said that they're willing to die for this, but they had such hopes. They were so reenergized by the fact that the U.N. resolution had passed. They had begun to truly believe that the struggle for freedom and democracy was at least not going to come to an end at least they were going to be given the upper hand or playing field.

People are asking the question wanting know what the international community is waiting for. What they want to see over the skies are foreign fighter jets bombing Gadhafi's positions.

HOLMES: Arwa Damon has been reporting for us the past several hours. Arwa, we appreciate you, as always, this morning.

Meanwhile, President Obama is pretty clear about how he sees the U.S. involved in Libya - at arm's length. The president laid out his vision, saying the U.S. would support operations but not necessarily commit warplanes to the actual enforcement of the no-fly zone, more like refueling and radar planes, maybe even drones. What about ground troops? Here tap president's answer to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I also want to be clear about what we will not be doing. The United States is not going to deploy ground troops into Libya, and we are not going to use force to go beyond a well-defined goal, specifically, the protection of civilians in Libya. In the coming weeks, we will continue to help the Libyan people with humanitarian and economic assistance so that they can fulfill their aspirations peacefully.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: President Obama is in Brazil right now, the first stop on his three-country Latin American trip. We'll take you live to Brasilia for more on what he hopes to accomplish there.

Returning to Japan now, and just a week after they got hit with that devastating earthquake and tsunami problems seem to keep adding up. Today we're hearing about abnormally high levels of radiation in spinach and milk closest to the quake's epicenter.

Japan's health ministry has ordered a stop to the sale of all food products from the Fukushima region. This happened as workers at that damaged nuclear plant hoped to start powering the cooling system for four reactors.

There is still a new death toll to bring you now, more than 7,000 dead, 11,000 missing.

We'll get the latest from Japan now from Brian Todd who is in Tokyo. We heard from Gary Tuchman about several aftershocks, as he described them, at least seven from overnight. You there in Tokyo felt a pretty significant earthquake there just a little while ago.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, T.J. just a short time ago, ironically as we were getting ready for an update by Japanese official at the Fukushima plant, we're sitting in a building and it just started shaking.

We have video now that we can talk over here. We're in this room, the portraits on the wall start shaking. It's a significant shake that goes on for 30 seconds. We're looking at each other, saying do we need to get out of here? We held in place and shaking eventually stopped. We were told it was safe in the building but kind of a scary moment.

And of course, just minutes later these officials come in to talk about the updates from the Fukushima plant, and they are significant. What we have to tell you immediately here is the water spraying operation for that most trouble read actor at the Fukushima plant seems to have some success today. First, let's hear from one of the country's top nuclear officials. He's the head of the nuclear and industrial safety agency talking about that water spraying operation at reactor number three.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that the water ingesting operation has been producing some results, lowering the temperature of the plant, but it is, I think, too early to say the exact result of the water injecting operation. But so far no negative sign has been seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Now, we do have an update that we just heard since that gentleman spoke. We just heard that the spraying operation has netted some kind of a result of near zero levels of radiation in that number three reactor, near zero level of radiation emitted from that number three reactor as a result of the spraying operation.

The spraying operation is pumping seawater in there from a crane- like device that's used to spray skyscrapers that are on fire here in Japan, and a separate kind of fire truck that's being used to both spray water in that reactor. So success on that front, and it could be maybe turning a corner for that troubled number three reactor at Fukushima.

HOLMES: You're right, Brian. That is a significant update that you just brought you. We appreciate that. But that number three reactor has been so concerning for so many people, Brian Todd reporting that a spraying operation apparently having some results and they're not being able to measure radiation from that plant -- from that reactor at least, that particular one. So maybe some good news coming from that Fukushima plant. It's still early in that process.

Meanwhile, the president, President Obama is watching all these hot spots, whether it's Libya or Japan. He's doing this while on a tour of Latin America. Here's his itinerary -- Brazil today, Chile and El Salvador to follow.

Our senior White House correspondent Ed Henry live for us in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia. He's traveling with the president.

Good morning to you. What is on his plate on this trip?

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it really is jobs, jobs, jobs. He wants to talk about American exports and how that -- you know, here in Brazil and selling those products here can mean U.S. jobs back home and that basically right now all the various products and services the U.S. is shipping here to Brazil, a very good trading partner, is resulting in about 250,000 U.S. jobs back home. The president wants to push that even further. He will be talking a lot about that today with Brazil's president.

He also wants to make the point that the economy here is growing very rapidly, about six percent right now, very low unemployment here. And that means they've got a growing middle class. The president wants to sell more U.S. goods and services, already selling high tech energy equipment here to Brazil from American companies.

The U.S. also aiming to try to get some of Brazil's infrastructure needs to be filled by the U.S. and U.S. companies. You know, you've got Brazil hosting the World Cup in 2014, the Olympics in 2016. That is a massive amount of growth, explosion of growth that's going to happen here in term of what they're going to need, in term of infrastructure. And the U.S. wants to be a key trading partner to make sure they're creating more jobs.

HOLMES: Ed, the president will never be too far away from Libya or the story developing there. Do we expect that to be on the agenda, and do you probably expect the president to make any comments to the like of you, reporters, on this trip as well about Libya?

HENRY: We certainly hope so, because the bottom line is that this military action among the U.S. and its allies -- we stress could - start as early as this weekend against the Libyan government. You would think the president would want to address that as it's playing out here while he's on Brazilian soil.

It's interesting because Brazil is a nonpermanent member of the U.N. Security Council. They actually obtained from that key vote that authorized a military force. That's a little bit of a division between the U.S. and Brazil. The U.S. led that coalition to push the resolution through.

And they're having a news event, the two presidents, in a short time. It was originally set to be a news conference. It is now shrunken down to statements from the two presidents. We're pressing to see if they don't want to bet into these divisions or not. We were told by U.S. officials it was the Brazilian side that does not want to take questions. The U.S. wants to take questions. So maybe the president will take questions from us in some separate forum.

Ed Henry for us from Brazil. We'll check in again.

We'll turn back in just a moment to what's happening in Japan. It seems like it's been crisis on top of crisis. Certainly one they're trying to keep from happening is a nuclear crisis. That's the challenge right now in Japan. We'll be talking about the challenges now and also the new update we just got from our own reporter there saying that maybe some of this water spraying, trying to cool down one of those reactors, may be seeing some possible positive result. It's 13 minutes past the hour. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's 16 minutes past the hour on this CNN Saturday morning. Keeping a close eye on Japan, some major developments happening there including our reporters reporting several -- like seven aftershocks that were felt in Japan overnight. Also there a 5.9 magnitude earthquake just outside of -- about 40 plus mile or so outside of Tokyo felt by our reporters as well.

And also we have new safety concerns about the food there. There was some contamination, word that radiation levels of some food has been detected now. Also word that radiation levels in reactor number three, that the Fukushima nuclear plant are near zero.

A lot going on here, and we are happy to have Jim Walsh here in studio with us now. You'll recognize him in international security and research and associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Give me the good news.

JIM WALSH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think there's a lot of good news here in the earl hour. They seem to be narrowing the problem. We seem to have made progress at reactors one and two, not completely, but made progress. Reactors five and six seem to be stabilizing. And then today the news they're not getting much in the way of radioactive emissions from reactor three.

The more they can focus it on the number area, which is number four. It's also important for the workers. They need a victory. It has been day after day after day of bad news. I think if they can have a victory, that's important for them, too.

HOLMES: Having a victory going forward, but I asked you about the good news. Is there bad news as well?

WALSH: Yes - yes and no. The nuclear waste being stored at number four, that is an ongoing problem. There's a dispute between American officials and Japanese official about what the state of that is. And there's a suspicion that that tank that's holding that spent nuclear waste may have a hole in it which is why they're having problems keeping it filled with water. If that's the case that is a complicating factor. That's the biggest challenge at this point. Things can change at any minute.

There's another challenge, you mentioned the food. This day would come where something would pop up in the environment. That was inevitable. But the tendency is to overreact to that. There's universal consensus in the medical world and the nuclear world that the amount of radiation showing up in the spinach and milk is not a physical health danger, but understandably psychologically people will not react to it that way.

HOLMES: These workers literally putting their lives on the line over there working nonstop. They need a victory. But when we hear words of a little victory, maybe that the levels at that one reactor are near zero, will the public buy it? People might not believe what they're hearing because of some of the missteps early.

WALSH: Absolutely, and especially on the issue of food and when are things going to be safe again? In a crisis, the most important commodity a government can have is credibility. Once you lose your credibility, it's hard to get it back.

And there have been missteps in this first week, understandably. God knows I wouldn't want to be a Japanese official right now. But if you lose that credibility, then it's hard to convince people. This is OK. You can move back because they'll be suspicious.

HOLMES: I know we have to wrap here. But they're talking about trying to get power back on. When that happens and we hear power is back on and those cooling systems are working again, crisis averted?

WALSH: Still problems at reactor four, but a huge improvement, a big, big improvement.

HOLMES: Jim Walsh, we appreciate you. He'll be here with us at CNN giving us advice on these developments we'll see throughout the day.

Coming up, turning off your car's air conditioner, does that really save you any gas? There are a lot of myths out there. We'll get you the answer to that question and check out other popular gas saving tips.

It's 20 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's 22 minute past the hour now.

You heard this before, when oil prices go up, so did the price of gasoline. Duh. Lately, the Mideast jacks up the price of oil and that hits us in the gas tank.

Here's what we're looking at right now. Despite a slight drop in gas prices this week, the average price of a gallon of regular is $3.54. Last month it was 3.13. Last year it was 2.79. You are paying about 75 cents more a gallon of gas than this time last year.

But look back ten year ago. Average price of a gallon is 1.70. Hawaii right now has it worst. Drivers paying 4.03 for a gallon of regular while Wyoming is paying the average $3.96 (ph) right now.

Naturally, as prices rise, we look for ways to save money. You hear of all kinds of trick. But it turns out many just aren't truth. We'll go through these myths and sort this out with our senior petroleum analyst with gasbuddy.com Patrick Dehaan.

Sir, we appreciate you being here.

The average price of gasoline, we saw that a moment ago, 3.54. Where is that going to go?

PATRICK DEHAAN, SENIOR PETROLEUM ANALYST, GASBUDDY.COM: The sky's the limit here. We're entering summer. Prices certainly look to continue to rise.

HOLMES: The sky's the limit. Nobody wanted to hear that, appreciate your honesty this morning.

(LAUGHTER)

Some of these myths -- here is first one. Turning off the air conditioning when you're driving will actually save you on your -- save you some on your gas mileage. Is that true or false?

DEHAAN: T.J., that's certainly true. Car manufacturers have come a long way in making compressors more efficient, but bottom line is if you turn the AC on, you will lose some fuel economy. However, that's a small cost to pay for a lot of people, especially those in Florida and warm climates. We're talking one to three mile a gallon. There have been studies that have proven this time after time.

HOLMES: Number two, filling up when it's cold outside saves money.

DEHAAN: Well, you know -- and let's not overhype this. We do save money, but just a little bit. When gas is colder, there's more volume to it. And so believe it or not stations in colder climates have ways to adjust their pumps so they're not pumping out more volume even though the gas is colder.

For stations in warm climates there's not devices that measure the volume as closely related to temperature. So if you're in a colder climate or in a warmer climate, filling up at a cooler time of day, it's negligible. But you'll get a little more.

HOLMES: That's interesting. Number three, increasing the tire pressure will save you on your gas mileage, is that true?

DEHAAN: It certainly is, to a point. A lot of us run around with low pressure in our tires, so many of us that the government mandated that cars now have to have tire pressure monitoring systems, and so those are there to tell us when our tires are low.

But unfortunately for folk in cars made earlier this century, we're talking about no devices. And so it's always a good idea to check your tire pressure, make sure it's right around where the manufacturer suggests. Many times that's close to 30 psi or higher. A lot of us, 25 pounds or pressure in our tires or less, that could eat up 10 percent of our fuel economy.

HOLMES: Here's one more and this is one we'll end on. I think there's a product out there. But you can do damage to your car by pouring additive into your tank helps gasoline last longer. Is that true or false?

DEHAAN: It doesn't really help, no. So it's false. But there's an old adage, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. There's a lot of additives out there that promise so much but deliver so little. In fact, some of the claims checked out by the FTC.

Believe it or not, gasoline already contains a lot of additives and detergents. Those are required by the government that your gasoline contain some of those. So adding extra additives, a lot of times you're not getting as much out of it as you should.

HOLMES: You're a wealth of information. This story will be going on through the summer. As you say, the sky is the limit on these prices as we get into the summer driving season. Thanks so much. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday.

DEHAAN: Thanks, T.J. HOLMES: Our CNN crews around the world right now working on a number of developing stories including in Libya, Japan, and Brazil. We will get the latest on all of them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's 32 minutes past the hour now.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Paris this morning for critical meetings on Libya. Leaders are trying to map out how to enforce that United Nations resolution that calls for a cease-fire and a no-fly zone.

Our foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty is traveling with Secretary Clinton. She joins me now on the phone. Jill, has the meeting there wrapped up?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, not totally, although they did have what they call the class photo. And that is all of the people who are here. It is, of course, Secretary Clinton, European representatives here representatives from Arab countries, and they are here -- there's really a sense, I would say, of drama as these leaders are sitting here discussing what's going on in Libya.

They're aware of the news reports that are coming out. In fact one senior state department official came in to give us his fill on what was happening, and he said there was no indication that Moammar Gadhafi is following through on his promised cease-fire. In fact, he said, quite the contrary.

So this meeting actually was held pretty much at the last minute. It was called by President Sarkozy, and we're told that there's minute by minute consultation between the United States and the militaries of other countries that could give their support under this U.N. resolution for the use of force. And that everyone recognizes the urgency. T.J.?

HOLMES: Jill, you talk about that urgency there. How quickly could they act, if you will, whether that is some kind of a military action or actually imposing that no-fly zone? How quickly could they actually put a plan into place?

DOUGHERTY: It's believed that they could act very quickly because after all, the military planning has been going on for quite a long time among the individual nations that are participating in this. And also NATO has been planning as well.

So one of the questions was what would be the participation of the Arab countries, countries like Qatar and the UAE? And that is what they've been discussing here. It's not a military planning meeting, but they are talking, as you said, about participation, next steps, what's happening on the ground right now.

HOLMES: Jill Dougherty, stay close to us. I know you're getting constant updates there in Paris. We'll try to check in with you as the updates warrant. Thank you so much.

I want to talk more about what this actually means, what they eventually do put in place. I want to join Stuart Holiday. He is a former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. and he's joining me this morning to talk about this possible cease-fire and no-fly zone.

Sir, thank you for your time this morning.

Are you seeing it play out exactly what some people feared it would play out, that there's going to be a delay in acting by the U.N. and then Gadhafi would have time to do what it appears he's doing right now in Benghazi?

STUART HOLIDAY, PRESIDENT, MERIDIAN INTERNATIONAL CENTER: I think there is a risk that Gadhafi is able to kind of secure his position on the ground outside Benghazi, push in. But I do think it is a good sign that the military planning has been underway, and it appears that the final brush strokes on, in effect, a political consensus to include the Arab League and others to take action in Libya is moving forward.

HOLMES: Can we get to a point -- and what point would it be -- where any U.N. action would be too late?

HOLIDAY: If you're talking about real estate and control of territory, there's already a danger that the action would not be as effective today as it would have been perhaps a day ago.

That said, this movement is a political movement. And what we want to have happen is the space, number one, to protect civilian population, number two, as the president has said, ultimately Gadhafi's credibility as a leader who has the duty to protect his people has completely gone out the window.

So this is a process, probably, the opening stages of a process which we'll see the no-fly zone implemented and then probably beyond that, effort to push the regime out.

HOLMES: What kind of support would the U.S. give after the president clearly -- he said in no uncertain terms, wanted to be sure that there was not going to be U.S. troops on the ground there in Libya. He was clear about that. But also talk of supporting a no-fly zone. What do you see the role of the U.S. being?

HOLIDAY: The United States has very sophisticated command and control technology capability. I think overall coordination capability would be one role. Intelligence, obviously, to counteract the air defenses on the coast and inside Libya. There's electronic warfare capability. There's a lot the United States can do.

And obviously we do have the most recent experience in terms of these kinds of operations. So whether it's the naval force, we've got tomahawk capable forces in the Mediterranean. There's a lot the United States can do short of deploying ground forces into Libya.

HOLMES: We talk about this no-fly zone. That sounds like simple patrols going on. But in order to protect some of the planes in the air for the no-fly zone, are targets going to have to be taken out to fly those U.N. planes?

HOLIDAY: That's correct. You saw the photo of the apparently rebel Libyan aircraft getting shot down. There's a lot of surface-to- air capability. That would have to be suppressed. There would also have to be fighter protection for the overall effort so that the Libyan air force either stays on the ground or is destroyed.

HOLMES: All right, Stuart Holiday for us this morning. We appreciate your time and your analysis this morning. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday.

HOLIDAY: Thank you, T.J.

HOLMES: We're getting reports in that apparently French fighter jets are now flying over Libya. This is according to a military source. We are working to confirm it here at CNN. We've been talking a lot about this no-fly zone and when it would actually be put into place.

But we don't -- we're getting reports out that there are some French planes now flying over Libya. This all comes right now as a meeting is taking place among some U.N. member nations and representatives including French President Nikolas Sarkozy. He's been in those meetings today with other leaders, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. We expect him to come out at any moment and make a statement. You see activity behind the scenes or to the sides. We're expecting an update about the meeting that's taken place.

Our Jill Dougherty reported to us a moment ago, that the meetings were still going on, they're in and out, and they haven't wrapped up. But still, they have had some military planning going on for days already. It is not like they're starting fresh. They're just trying to figure out essentially how to implement a no-fly zone and what military action could be taken. We will monitor the French president's comments and bring them to you as we get them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's 41 minutes past the hour.

I want you to know what we're keeping an eye on right now. There's a meeting happening right now in Paris, member of the United Nations, leaders there, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton participating as well.

This podium you're seeing we're waiting for the French president to come out and give us some kind of an update on what these member nations have come up with. Some kind of a plan to implement that U.N. resolution passed Thursday night in which they voted to implement a no-fly zone over Libya and also authorized military action if they deemed that necessary.

Meanwhile, we have confirmed here at CNN that French fighter jets have been flying over Libya. We could be seeing the first signs of this no-fly zone being implemented. We have confirmed here, CNN here, through a French official that, in fact, they do have fighter jets flying over Libya. When the French president steps out, we'll monitor that closely, bring you any updates that we need to.

Meanwhile we do want to move on to another story here. The U.S. airline passengers' bill of rights could soon be getting an upgrade. Passengers out there might be excited to hear that. Our Stephanie Elam explains what you soon may expect in "On the Go."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The revolution to make it easier for passengers to deal with airlines is continuing in Congress and at the Department of Transportation.

MARK ORWOLL, TRAVEL AND LEISURE: There's a new rule being proposed that would give passengers a 24-hour grace period to either cancel the purchase of their airfare or to change the details of their airfare without any penalties.

ELAM: Airlines may also have to change their "customer no" service.

ORWOLL: If you've ever sent a letter of complaint to an airline, then you know the definition of a black hole. But a new rule being proposed would require that airline to respond to a written complaint within 30 days and give a substantive response within 60 days. In t new rules would increase the compensation to passengers who were bumped against their will and require airlines to update passengers every 30 minutes about delays.

ELAM: And Orwoll says these rules could be announced as early as next month.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: I want to take you back to what we were waiting for, French president Nicolas Sarkozy talking about Libya.

NICOLAS SARKOZY, FRENCH PRESIDENT (via translator): Together we have decided to install the application of the Security Council resolution cease-fire an end to the violence against civil populations in Libya.

Participants agreed to use all the necessary means, in particular military means, to enforce the Security Council decisions. This is why an agreement our efforts against any aggression by Colonel Gadhafi against the population of Benghazi.

As of now, our aircraft are preventing planes from attacking the town. As of now, other French aircraft are ready to intervene against tanks, armored vehicles, threatened unarmed civilians.

As of yesterday, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and Arab countries sent Colonel Gadhafi and the forces he's using the following warning. If there is not an immediate cease-fire and withdrawal of the forces that have been attacking civilian populations in the last few weeks, our countries will resort to means.

This warning was endorsed by all participants at the summit that has just concluded. Colonel Gadhafi has totally ignored this warning. In the last few hours, his forces have stepped up their deadly offensives.

Arab peoples have chosen to free themselves from the enslavement in which they have felt trapped for too long. These revolts have given rice to great hopes in the hearts of all those who share the values of democracy and human rights.

But they're not without risk. The future of these Arab peoples belongs to them. Amidst the many different difficulties and ordeals they must confront, these Arab peoples need our help and support, and it is our duty to provide it.

In Libya, a peaceful civilian population demanding nothing more than the right to choose its own destiny is in mortal danger. It is our duty to respond to their anguished appeal.

The future of Libya belongs to the Libyans. We do not seek to decide for them. Their fight for freedom is theirs. Our intervention alongside Arab peoples is not with a view to imposing any specific outcome on them but in the name of the universal conscience that will not tolerate such crimes.

Today we are intervening in Libya under a United Nations Security Council mandate alongside our partners, in particular, our Arab partners. We're doing this in order to protect the civilian populations from the murderous madness of a regime that, by killing its own people, has forfeited all legitimacy.

We are intervening in order to enable the Libyan people to choose its own destiny. It must not be deprived of it rights by violence and terror. There is still time for Colonel Gadhafi to avoid the worst by complying immediately and unreservedly with all the demands of the international community. The doors of diplomacy will open once again when the aggression stops.

Our determination is total. I say this with all solemnity -- all those concerned must face up to their responsibilities. This is a grave decision that we have come to take. Alongside its Arab partners, European partners, North American partners, France is resolved to shoulder its role before history. Thank you.

HOLMES: French President Nicolas Sarkozy confirming for us what we're about to see in the skies over Libya.

The French president stepping out after have a there with other members of U.N. nations, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, an emergency meeting put together here to talk about what the next steps are, what action can be taken place to stop what's happening in Libya. You heard the French president there. He says now confirming that French aircraft are in the skies above Libya right now. They're there to prevent attacks on civilian. He said other planes standing by ready to intervene if any tanks on the ground or any other parts of the Libyan military do attack members of the civilian population there.

This all comes as we have been watching over the past several hours and getting from reports on the ground from our own CNN reporter that in fact, an assault is taking place on the second largest city there in Libya, Benghazi. That has been the rebel strong hold in that country. That's been the center of that movement, if you will.

Fighting has been going on there throughout the past several hours that we have been watching. French president stepping out now saying that he, in fact, his country, the French planes are in the air right now and are standing by to continue to protect citizens there.

Other comments that he did in fact make saying that this is a warning that was totally ignored by Gadhafi, but also left room for Gadhafi to make good, if you will, and if he immediately, immediately meets the demands of the international community that he, in fact, can come back to the diplomatic table, saying here, quote, "that the doors of diplomacy will open up once again."

It's been a day of fast moving developments in Libya after we saw that U.N. Security Council did pass a resolution, that was on Thursday night, calling for a no-fly zone, calling for the possibility of military action.

The next day on Friday, we did see Moammar Gadhafi come out and say that there had been a cease-fire, that his forces called a cease- fire. But that's not been the case at all after what we've been seeing over the past several hours and day in Libya.

We're going to take a quick break, but again, the headline is that in fact this no-fly zone seems to have been put in place. The French military has planes over the skies and vowing to do what they must to protect citizens of Libya. We'll be right back.

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HOLMES: Welcome back to the CNN SATURDAY MORNING where we're seeing developments out of Libya today. Let me reset for you.

Several hours ago our reporter on the ground, Arwa Damon, started reporting that the town of Benghazi was under attack by Gadhafi forces. This has been the rebel stronghold. The center of the movement has been there in the Eastern city of Benghazi. But she said it was essentially under attack.

We even saw dramatic images of a fighter plane under control of the rebel forces coming down in flames from the sky. This gives you an idea of the type of dramatic images and the dramatic action that is taking place or has been taking place in Benghazi. Then just minutes ago, we knew that a meeting was taking place in Paris among some members of the U.N. member nations including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the French president Nicolas Sarkozy was there as well. He stepped out a moment ago, and you may have seen that live, telling us, yes, French fighter planes are now in the skies over Libya.

He said they will take action to protect the people on the ground, the citizens there. He said, in fact, they will use force if they have to, to take out tanks or others that are attacking -- the Gadhafi forces that are attacking on the ground.

Of course, this comes after the U.N. security council passed a resolution on Thursday night calling for that no-fly zone and essentially authorizing military action if they so -- if they saw that to be necessary.

We're going to be checking in with our Jill Dougherty. She's on the line with us. She was traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Paris. We also have with General Wesley Clark from Little Rock this morning. General, thank you for being here, and I do want to start with you. Is this the right thing to do, and is it coming a little late?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Once the authorization came, we had to take action, and we, the west, the people who supported the U.N. Security Council resolution. And it's late. Those airplanes should have been in the air yesterday.

Now, we'll hear a lot in the aftermath of how coordination wasn't quite ready and so forth, but the simple fact is Gadhafi has broken international law. The U.N. Security Council resolution had the force of international law. He's defied it.

So yes, we're taking action now. I'm very glad to see the French planes overhead. But it's probably going to be very difficult for them to actually prevent the Libyan tanks from moving through the streets of Benghazi according to the reports I've read in the press.

HOLMES: My next question, how effective can a no-fly zone be? Can it be effective in keeping Libyan planes out of the skies? But it sounds like you're saying it can't be that effective, necessarily, in keeping those ground forces from attacking Libyan people.

CLARK: According to the press reports, tanks and snipers are already in Benghazi supporting Moammar Gadhafi. And if that's the case, it's going to be very hard for the French aircraft to take those out without French spotters on the ground with laser designators or some other technology to enable the tanks to be pinpoint located and pinpoint targeted by the French aircraft.

HOLMES: General, what was kind of that turning point for you? And by that I mean there were a lot of people watching this situation and didn't necessarily think U.N. action or U.S. action was necessary something that should happen. What was the turning point for you where you thought, OK, it's time to go? CLARK: Well, first of all, I laid out the conditions required, which were the U.N. Security Council resolution and Arab League support. And I saw them being taken. And then I thought about what the consequences were if Gadhafi was allowed to continue to use force in defiance of international opinion. And so Gadhafi looks like he'll have to be dealt with anyway.

But this is the slippery slope of intervention, that many of us had been warning about for some weeks is the chorus of cries was out there, let's go intervene, let's go do something. Once you start this, it has to be finished. It's going to be very hard now to admit and say to -- to Gadhafi, OK, well, you got away with it, OK, well, now you're the leader of Libya, we'll buy your oil.

It -- so now we've got a state which is at least in appearances it seems to be an outlaw state.

HOLMES: All right, General Clark, stand by.