as security forces try to quiet the streets, libya has banned journalists in the region. but information and video is leaking out from social media sites. these shots from tripoli were uploaded today on youtube, scenes of chaos in the streets, people setting fires. cnn can confirm the uprising in benghazi. although cnn doesn't confirm post, we cannot -- >> moammar gadhafi has spoken since these protests erupted and did appear on state run tv but we don't know when this was taped. a few hours ago, his son hit the air waves to defend his father's government. he accused outside forces with interfering with libya's affairs. i want you to play a part of that and take a listen. >> translator: many people living abroad have decided to use this to start a campaign in order for the country to reach the state that happened in tunisia and egypt. this is all over the internet and facebook and media campaigns. so the government here and the security apparatus were aware of all this, so they did pre-emptive action before the 17th of february, and they arrested a few people who were involved. this developed into small demonstrations, then there were conflicts between different citizens, and then there was shooting. a few people died. there was violence against the police. the police became targets and police units as well as military campus in misrati, this developed, so angry people tried to attack and invade these places, the army and police tried to defend themselves. this caused deaths, there were funerals, people attacked, there was more so this is in brief what happened in benghazi and developed. >> as is this case with the moammar gadhafi video, we don't know when that was taken, as well. >> exactly, it was prerecorded any time in the last day or so we imagine but reuters quotes a u.s. official as saying the u.s. is weighing all appropriate actions in response to all of this and the u.s. state department sent out a statement which read in part we have raised to a number of libyan officials our strong objections to the use of lethal force against peaceful demonstrators. bahrain officials have stated their commitment to protecting and safeguarding the right of peaceful demonstrators and call upon the libyan government to uphold that commit many. >> so far strongman moammar gadhafi himself has been silent on this issue but his son is calling to enforce security at any price and warning of a civil war if the uprising doesn't end. >> he told the libyan people in that address. cnn's fionnuala sweeney is joining me from cairo and fionnuala, if you listen to that speech by saif gadhafi, it's straight out of the playbook of dictators clinging to power, blaming foreign forces and blaming journalists. it wasn't very reassuring if this was meant to calm the nation. >> reporter: well, he was essentially holding out the specter of civil war. one kept wondering what he was going to offer in terms of a carrot as opposed to the stick went on for nearly 40 minutes and perhaps a third of the way through he began to talk about the need to come around the table and spoke of the country being at a national crossroads. it was a crisis and said the country needed to be reformed in the next 48 hours. he did speak of injecting money into the system. he did talk about restructuring the municipality, but essentially what he's saying is the structure remains in place from the ground up, these various revolutionary committees going all the way to the leadership. no mention at all about his father's position except to say that his father would fight to the end, therefore, what i am seeing and reading from here in cairo is that essentially the structure remains the same. will it answer the questions of the people who have been out demonstrating, those who will negotiate with them, who are they? they'll have to be members of the revolutionary committee because as we saw in benghazi, libya's second largest city, tens of thousands of people took to the street, these are the people that he was calling essentially who were involved in the clashes as drunks, as drug addicts, as children, as extremists so it really is back to the demonstrators to see how they will react to this and as we've been reporting and it's very difficult to report with any degree of clarity or confirmation of what's happening in libya, this unrest has now spread to tripoli. people we spoke to on the phone and managed to reach telling us that they're dismissing what saif gadhafi had to say as lie, that the people of libya are united. they are unified, they will not go into civil war if they continue these clashes, but we're talking about demonstrators on one side and the gadhafi regime which he claims is fully supported by the army. several times he referred to libya not being like tunisia and not being like egypt whereas he sees it, the army stood by. so we'll have to see what plays out in the next 48 hours and also just see how susceptible or otherwise this regime is to international pressure. >> okay, fionnuala sweeney live for us there. she's been monitoring that speech in neighboring cairo, just recovering from the fall of hosni mubarak there and once again celebrations in cairo, unrest libya. the situation has been extremely chaotic in the capital city of tripoli. it has spread to the -- >> that is significant. we're hearing of burning and gunfire. wean speaking to a gentleman that we won't identify for his own safety. what is the situation like now? we know you have been to the protest yesterday. it's early morning there. what's it like now? >> caller: kind of quiet. once in a while, you can hear some fire shooting and gun. you can hear them clearly because it's too quiet now, 5:00 a.m. hello. >> yeah, we're still here. we're listening. keep going. >> caller: yeah. the situation was bloody this night. a lot of people wounded, a lot of people being killed, and a lot of people are trying to invade and occupy the green square. the last thing i heard about an hour ago was all protests, they were coming from many neighborhoods, many cities around tripoli are trying to invade the green square. >> is there any indication that you're getting that there's a call for more protests to come, if not today there where you are, later on in the week? >> caller: again, please, sorry. >> are there any calls for more protests, even after saif gadhafi spoke today, are you going to continue the protests? >> caller: yeah, there were. and they were all angry and they didn't believe in him. what's going on is kind of bloody because a lot of african troops are here now. they are killing people everywhere. there are talks about 30,000 ones comes here. >> are you saying there are 30,000 protesters in tripoli or 30,000 soldiers in tripoli? >> caller: 30,000 african soldiers in tripoli now. >> so 30,000 soldiers from outside the country? >> yeah, they're -- >> loyal to the regime of gadhafi. >> sorry? >> and they are loyal to the regime and they are firing on the protesters? >> yeah, they are paid by the regime. >> what are you doing to protect yourself? are you setting up some sort of watch? >> a lot of people are walking on the streets, trying to protect the homes -- the houses here. people feel that -- people feel that they're responsible for their own safety and there is no any police now trying to protect them. >> all right, sir, thank you and please get back in touch with us and please be safe. >> yeah, a long night there in tripoli for many people. >> it certainly will be. 30,000 soldiers. >> essentially mercenaries from outside the country. >> the question is how is the country reacting. we'll see how the president is reacting. and in libya, already saying that gadhafi's time as libya's leader is over. yeah, i'm always reading about how this market is so tough, ya know. i tell people, go to e-trade. [ sneezes ] bless you peppers. ya know, no matter what the market does e-trade can help. they've got strategies, screeners... [ sneezes ] ...24-- 24/7 customer support. anyway, they have pretty much every investment... [ sneezes ] ...you need. [ sneezes ] you know peppers, i told you to get a flu shot. [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] e-trade. investing unleashed. host: could switching to geico really save you 15% more on car insurance? host: does it take two to tango? ♪ ♪ anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% omore on car insuranc basic. preferred. at meineke i have options on oil changes. and now i get free roadside assistance with preferred or supreme. my money. my choice. my meineke. >> translator: there was a mistake by the army because the citizens were trying to fight the military and the police, so they felt very nervous and stressed. particularly the army are not trained to restrain people and oppress people, so they ended up shooting. and i heard this, that in libya they say to us many people who attacked us were drinking. some of them were on drugs. >> john, moammar gadhafi's son speaking out. today -- at least it ran today. we don't know when it shot. he's on television today and his dad. >> interesting contrast, the father being hailed and applauded by all those supporters while his son was giving the speech. >> yeah, let's talk about what happens here in the u.s. the u.s. state department said today it is gravely concerned about the disturbing reports and images coming out of libya. >> yeah, the question has got to be asked, though, how much leverage does the u.s. really have over moammar gadhafi? cnn's jill dougherty is now if washington. she joins us live and i guess, jill, the answer to that has to be practically none. >> you said it, john. actually that is really what u.s. officials are telling us. they have very little leverage and very little influence. relations between the united states and libya have been very tense. and you also have, you know, moammar gadhafi himself, who has cultivated this image of being kind of an outlier and essentially he doesn't care what anybody in the outside world thinks about him. and a u.s. official we spoke with this evening said gadhafi has been in power, as you know, for 42 years. he is still in power. at least that is what they still believe and that he is not losing his grip on power at all. so the united states at this point, about all it can do is to make very strong urgings to the government of libya to stop violence. and there's grave concern because as that statement by the state department points out, they really don't even know -- there's very little information. the media are not allowed in there. human rights organizations are not allowed in. so they believe that there are hundreds killed and injured, but they don't even know. and one other thing, just a few minutes ago, a senior administration official saying that the white house, of course, is watching this very carefully and that they are analyzing that speech by the son of moammar gadhafi to look for any possibility for meaningful reform. and then they also say that the u.s. is considering any appropriate action and is also trying ing ting to clarify froe libyan government what exactly is going on. the overall message is stop the violence. >> and, jill, we saw several reports come out. let's talk about americans living and working in libya. there is a warning, a travel warning from the state department. >> right, obviously, and, boy, we've been seeing these travel warnings almost daily as violence is spreading throughout that entire region and this is another one for americans to avoid that region and as you can imagine, things are very unpredictable, because of the lack of clarity what is going on inside, it can be quite dangerous. >> jill dougherty. thank you. >> there's also a growing spat between the u.s. and britain, because britain was seen as bringing libya out of the realms of the rogue nations and tony blair did a deal seven years ago and accusations that weapons may be used in this bloodbath of libya. even before the fall of egypt, protests were hitting libya because of low quality housing and high unemployment. >> yeah, but you know it was hosni mubarak's ouster on february 11th that lit the fuse for demonstrators who seemed to grow more intense and determined as each day has passed. february 14th, peaceful demonstrations fueled through facebook are planned against libya, who supported mubarak before his exit. february 16th, about 200 demonstrators hit the streets in the coastal city of benghazi to rally for human rights activists. police make few arrests. february 17th, state-run media outlets report 110 political prisoners are released but the mood doesn't stop calls for a day of rage meant for the fifth anniversary of a bloody protest that left 12 dead. medical sources say seven die on this day after clashes between demonstrators and security forces. february 18th, gadhafi's supporters rally back in tripoli. but on the coast in benghazi security forces reportedly attack anti-government backers, numbering in the tens of thousands, medical sources report 20 die and 200 are hurt. february 19th, benghazi gets worse, reports leak out of tear gas and bullets. a doctor says his hospital has seen at least 30 body, and human rights watch tally 84 dead over the last five days. february 20th, benghazi boils over, violence surges and protesters strike demanding change. eyewitnesses say demonstrators have taken the city and much of tripoli. a ban on foreign reporters makes the claim difficult to confirm. but gadhafi's son saif al islam says the protesters must stop or blood will flow, rivers of blood in all the cities of libya. >> it's very interesting. we haven't seen anything like this, you know, in the mideast and north africa where we're sitting here two weeks ago and it was egypt and now it's happening in egypt. >> two weeks ago we were saying hosni mubarak probably won't fall. he's a strong man. now we're saying gadhafi, a strong man, probably won't fall. we just don't know. why should anyone care what's taking place in libya and the other question is what might be the next move in all this. >> former homeland security adviser frances townsend was in libya recently and will answer the questions we have ourselves here after the break. [ male announcer ] surprisingly priced at $15,995, the all-new 2011 jetta has arrived. discover german engineering and premium style on the jetta s with best-in-class rear legroom, as well as no-charge scheduled carefree maintenance, all standard. that's great for the price of good. during the presidents day event, lease the all-new 2011 jetta s for $179 a month. ♪ and welcome back, everyone, to our continuing coverage of the unrest in libya. let's take a look now at some of the inner workings of the libya regime. >> i want to bring in someone who knows a lot about the libyan government, including moammar gadhafi. fran townsend served as homeland security advisor for george w. bush and is a cnn contributor, a member of the u.s. department of homeland security external advisory committee and we should also note that she visited libya last year at the government's invitation. fran, good evening to you. you met a lot of high ranking libyan officials. what can you tell us about how the libyan government operates? >> well, the reason you heard jill dougherty say the state department is carefully scrutinizing saif's statement is that he's very close to his father, the leader moammar gadhafi and he speaks with the authority of his father. after all, saif when i was there made it clear to me he was the person his father used to negotiate the release of al megrahi for the pan am 103 bombing. he's incredibly influential and incredibly powerful. if he's saying the streets will run with blood, he's saying it because it's in his power to make that happen. >> fran, it's john here. you just said have testify gadhafi speaks with authority and very close to his authority. but he is not his father. so the question is, where is moammar gadhafi tonight, why did he not give that speech to the nation? >> well, you know what's interesting, my -- i suspect what's going on here is, you know, gadhafi understands very well the battle for public opinion and public relations. while they have not allowed journalists to report from there, they know very well the influence of journalists around the world in reporting this story. saif gadhafi was wearing a western suit, he speaks perfectly good english, he was educated -- he spent time in the uk. he was going to make -- if there was anyone in the senior ranks of the libyan government who could most persuasively make the libyan case, if you will, to the world, it's saif and i suspect that's why they had him speak. >> fran, i would imagine, you were once homeland security adviser but in this situation with what we're seeing going on in these nations now, you have to admit this is interesting and maybe beyond the scope of what we've seen before. >> no, don, absolutely, and, you know as you were both talking earlier, it's almost impossible to predict how this will turn out. the one thing i would say that i think is key here, we saw in both tunisia and egypt, the militaries, security forces in those countries abandoned their regimes and ultimately the regimes fell. in cases where the military and security forces support these oppressive regime, think algeria, think libya, think bahrain, the regimes seem to be able to withstand the opposition. >> and, fran, i'm just curious. if we look at libya, what we're hearing from the son of gadhafi is that this could actually fall into some kind of civil war because you have benghazi in the east. tripoli in the west and benghazi we understand is now in control of the anti-government protesters and the military isn't abandoning the government in tripoli. so there could really be this very real prospect of a bloodbath here, of a real civil war. >> i do think that you could see a string of real violence between the protesters and security forces. i question whether or not you're really talking about a civil war. i mean, what we're seeing is wide-scale protests on the part of the libyan people seeking freedoms and democracy, frankly, and a new constitution. it's not clear to me you will see sort of libyan on libyan violence, that is, among the people. i don't think we've seen evidence of that yet, although as we've noted here on cnn, it's very difficult to get accurate reporting and the facts on the ground there. >> yeah, indeed, it is. fran townsend, thanks so much for joining us from washington. great insight what's going on. we're trying to piece this together. because we're just not allowed in there. no one's allowed in. >> yes, again, when we talk about the picture, right, we talk about the son and the dad. we see them on television today but we don't know if that video was taken today. so where is the person who is in charge? he's known for his connection to the bombing of pan am flight 103 in scotland that killed 273 people but how much do we know about libyan leader moammar gadhafi. we'll examine his background next, john. >> we'll talk live to a former member of the military. said idress. and he will tell us why he thinks moammar gadhafi time as libya's leader is over. nds? gr. nds? gr. fixed-income specialist. and he will tell us why he thinks moammar gadhafi time as libya's leader is over. ne [ manager ] you know... i've been looking at the numbers, and i think our campus is spending too much money on printing. i'd like to put you in charge of cutting costs. calm down. i know that it is not your job. what i'm saying... excuse me? alright, fine. no, you don't have to do it. ok? [ male announcer ] notre dame knows it's better for xerox to control its printing costs. so they can focus on winning on and off the field. [ manager ] are you sure i can't talk -- ok, no, i get it. [ male announcer ] with xerox, you're ready for real business. mary? what are you doing her