>>> good evening from new york. i'm melissa harris-perry in for lawrence o'donnell. colonel moammar gadhafi 's whereabouts are still unknown, but moments ago he addressed the libyan people in a radio address, he vowed martyrdom or victory. it was a tactical move after his compound was rebelled to the ground by 64 nato air strikes . that proceeded the invasion of rebel allies into the compound earlier today. some looted the compound. outside, rebel fighters climbed on a bronze statue of a fist clutching a u.s. f-16 fighter jet , a sculpture gadhafi commissioned. inside the compound and throughout tripoli , pockets of loyalist forces continue to resist rebel advances. rebels say battle in tripoli have left more than 400 dead. last night, gadhafi 's son spoke with reports where fighting continued outside and pro- gadhafi gunmen in the lobby refused to let the journalists inside leave. saif said his father is in a secure location in tripoli and claimed the loyalists are winning the battle and said "to held with the icc." the international court with a warrant for his arrest. a nato spokesman urged caution in italy today.
>> we have to remain vigilant and to continue to protect the civilian population . most notably, tripoli is still the site of nervous clashes between pro- and anti- gadhafi forces. this is very, very dynamic and complex.
>> according to a rebel official, the national transitional council in libya will move operations from benghazi to tripoli within two days, then begin to build a democratic government . speaking in benghazi yesterday, he said my role after the fall of gadhafi will continue unless i lose control . joining me now, nbc news corporate and host of " andrea mitchell reports," andrea mitchell , thank you for joining me.
>> it's great to be with you. what a day, what developments here in libya and at home. but most importantly, in libya .
>> it's stunning, what is your reaction to gadhafi 's continued defiance tonight?
>> that was somewhat predictable, but it certainly does not bode well. if he continues to be defiant, is a fugitive, and leading some pockets of resistance, this means more violence and it will be that much more harder for this council to exert real control. they say they are going to move to tripoli , but first they have to quiet the storm there. they've managed to get his found compound, but he has other places to hide. his son and heir is moving around tripoli so openly, brazenly, inviting journalists to follow him in his car and go to night spots and shouting to supporters is certainly not a good sign either.
>> i think this brings me to how many are feeling in the newsrooms, this is a good news and bad news situation. around noon we are watching all of these amazing reports with richard engle, getting goose bumps about the notion of liberation, you told us some of the bad news, what is other bad news about the possibility of this dictatorship being over?
>> it's weaponry, it's the hidden stocks, they think they have a good handle, the u.s. does and nato , on where the chemical weapons are and those sites have not been plundered, but that said, there's a lot of dangerous siren gas and mustard gas and other nuclear weapons and nuclear components. he gave up most of his nuclear components in 2006 , but whether or not he has other weapons stockpiled remains to be seen. then there are the shoulder-fired missiles and rocket-propelled grenades, the other weapons he can use, particularly the weapons he can use to bring down civilian aircraft and whether or not they've been plundered and moved outside of libya to other terror nations or terror groups.
>> let me follow up on the question of the control of the weapons, because even if everything goes at the very best, if tomorrow gadhafi were captured and this were over, the fact is although dictators are horrible, they can be good at keeping control at fractured countries, so what happens in a country where it doesn't -- it's at least seemed to me completely clear the n.t.c. is in control of this situation, i mean, you have named for us some real dangers. what should we be looking for in terms of the transition?
>> well, nato and the u.n. and state department have been working closely with the t.n.c. for several months now and believe they are committed to trying to exert control and control the weapons and create civil society , it's going to be tough, no question about that, these are tribal factions and a lot of internal bickering, but they have said the right things, made the right moves, we have interviewed people with them, spent several days with them, there's an arab league meeting in doha today and in paris after that, so the international community is working very closely with them, but can they exert control, is this a week-long process, a matter of 72 hours , there's a real danger point here until they can either find gadhafi or quell the resistance. he could be on the lam the way sudan hussein was. when he was insighting more violence from his loyalists.
>> particularly with that comparison, what are the white house and nato thinking about how long this is going to take. i mean, is there any possibility here the u.s. is going to end up with a higher level of involvement?
>> i don't think you will see boots on the ground , as it were, i think you'll see a larger intelligence force, covert force, special ops trying to help, but there have been nato and british and french on the ground already. we've had a supportive role on the air strikes , which were critical in helping the rebel group advance finally on tripoli . i think success is fairly predictable in a military context, but civil disorder is certainly something that is almost -- almost likely to happen.
>> now, again on this question of civil disorder , there is a sort of moment of the son being out and about almost challenging, obviously, international law , challenging the journalists. is this sort of par for the course , or is this an extraordinary moment?
>> well, that was pretty extraordinary. he is an interesting character to say the least, because he was british educated. he was always welcome in foreign capitals. he was the advance man for his father with the west and in advancing the normalization of relations with the u.s. with the bush administration , which was supported by the obama administration as well, because they decided based on representations from him, and he has met, you know, he goes to davos and meets with foreign journalists and think tank people, so he was pretty acceptable, until the arab spring, until he repeated his father's bloody threats against the people of benghazi when the protests erupted, so up until that point he was considered the good guy and he was blamed by hard liners within the regime because he persuaded his father to give up the nuclear equipment that could have led to nuclear weapons , and so they basically gave up their bargaining chips, and the message some fear this is going to deliver to iran, to north korea , to syria, if syria can hold on, is don't give up your weapons, because that's your last bargaining chip to prevent nato air strikes .
>> nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent and survivor of the east coast earthquake today andrea mitchell . thank you for joining me tonight.
>> great to be with you.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44253487/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/
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