l. people on the streets chanting "libya is free. gadhafi needs to go." rebel forces say they're now in control of most parts of the capital and the government itself is conceding that parts of the city are no longer under its control. it says also that 1,300 people have been killed over the past 12 hours. what about moammar gadhafi and all of this? there is so much uncertainty surrounding this situation on the ground. where are rebels now? how much of the city have they captured and where is the man who was in charge of libya for 42 years? moammar gadhafi. there was an audiomessawed audi he vowed to fight to the drop of blood. now numerous news reports out of libya security forces are surrendering. perhaps they think it's not worth the fight. the rebel fighters pushed towards tripoli after seizing the oil-rich port town of zawiya. just 30 miles down the road from the libyan capital. our sara sidner has been covering the fight for zawiya and finally it went the way of the rebels. sara, can you hear me? >> reporter: i can. i can hear you. >> where are you now? what is the latest from your vantage point? >> reporter: we're in a neighborhood and for the past few hours seeing lots of celebratory gunfire. you can hear that behind us. more celebratory gunfire. fireworks coming from the city. people yelling, "libya is free." the rebels not only have been able to hold zawiya the past couple of days, they have been able to move in towards tripoli and now say they have made it all the way into the city of tripoli. we were actually turned around on the coastal road. the important supply route into tripoli from zawiya because of the fears of fighting about 25 kilometers outside of the city. about 15 miles. but by tonight, and it is now about 1:00 in the morning here, they have pushed into the city. they say that there is still fierce fighting going on and they have pushed into the city from the west. >> the question is they are in tripoli now. this still could be a terribly, terribly bloody fight, sara? >> reporter: i think that is a very definitely. because no one quite knows what exactly what kind of fire power gadhafi and his regime have in that city. everyone's speculating that he has quite a bit. he said that he has plenty of fire power. that he will use by any means necessary to keep his position, but we do not know for sure what these rebels will be facing and, of course, what civilians will be facing. and one of the things we're hearing from these rebels is has they'll have to be very cautious. they have to deal with civilians in the area trying to keep them from getting caught in the crosshairs but also their whole mission protect civilians. it isn't as it they can tell everyone, move out of the area, we are going to take action. this is a heavily populated capital with civilians, families, people living there. now a lot of those families cannot get out of the city, because the roads are blocked. there is a lot of confusion and gunfire going on, and so this could end up being a really major battle there. but there have been a lot of significant development gadhafi's son arrested. no one expected that to happen so quickly. you just never know what is going to happen in the next few minutes. >> it's important to underline the fact that nato air strikes can be useful in one way on the battlefield, certainly not useful in urban fighting, and in urban fighting scenario, where you're really going street to street, sometimes building to building, sara. >> reporter: right. and it's the most dangerous kind of warfare, because you cannot see around the corner. you have to know this city like the back of your hand, and still yet you won't know who might be around the corner. who might be there. whether it's a friend or a foe. depending on which side you're fighting for. so it can get pretty ugly. not only for the residents kind of stuck in the middle of all this but for the fighters on either side, for the regime and for the rebels themselves. we should also mention, we can tell you a little bit about strategy and what happens with nato and the rebels. they are in very close contact. we know that because we've seen it in sister cities, benghazi, now here in zawiya. what happened here, there were so many snipers in the city center, zawiya, the rebels a couple days before were warned. please, move everybody out of the city center and get yourselves out of the way, because action may be taken by nato and, indeed, 48 hours later, there was air strikes from the air, obviously, by nato and that is what moved the rebel it's forward, because it got rid of the snipers on those buildings and they were able to charge forward and now have finally made it into tripoli from the west. >> sara sidner in western libya in zawiya and our matthew chance at the hotel as we saw there in tripoli. do stay safe, both of you, as our teams continue to work hard and in difficult conditions to bring you the latest on the libya story. let's bring in veteran american diplomat nicholas burns now at the kennedy school at harvard university and joins us now from providence, rhode island. thanks for being with us. as we see the fighting unfold, it seems almost a near certainty rebels at some point, whether today or in a few weeks, will take tripoli. but then what? how do you stabilize politically this country? >> well, i think first we have to see what happens in the next 24 hour. events are moving at night ling speed. i would say whip the two sons arrested, if that is true, and with security forces disappearing in the streets of tripoli, gadhafi's hours might just be numbered, not just his days. it may be we it flee to a military base, but he quickly appears to be losing control. as we look ahead, were that to happen, it's going to be extraordinarily difficult for the transition council, the rebel political body to put the pieces back together again. so many cities in libya have been shattered by the fighting over the last six months. infrastructure, of course, has been destroyed. there are so many poor people and people that don't have access to resources. it's going to be enormously difficult for that government to get its footing, this new government, when it takes power, and to provide services as well as to begin to gain some measure of political control over this very vast and very diverse country. >> what about, there's political control and then there's political credibility, and then there is the trust that they may or -- that they may have or may not have right now with the libyan people to usher this country into a true pluralistic democracy. the challenges are immense. >> they are. as you know very well, gadhafi survived over 40 years because he played one tribe against another. and so in this tribal-based society, it will be difficult for an alliance that has been based in eastern libya and benghazi to have credibility. in parts of the west, in parts of the center of part of the country, where gadhafi comes from. so building some credibility with those tribes and keeping the country quiet is going to be -- is going to be a very, very tall order. there are a lot of scenarios that can play out in the next 24 hour. one, of course, is that gadhafi is finished and loses power, perhaps from an internal coup. the second is he will find to the end, have in our fire power and people with him to do a lot of damage. we'll have to wait and see. but this is not yet at all decided. >> well, what about nato, and these western powers and nato powers, other countries who have participated in this air strike campaign. they pitched in militarily to help the rebels, even though they're mandate was to protect civilians, in many ways they were militarily helping the rebels. what can they do? >> you know, i think nato has really done what it can be. it's been in essence the air army of the rebel alliance over the last six months. it's made very big impact over the last several days and weeks, intensified air strikeses against gadhafi's forces outside of tripoli. but if the fighting now is in the center of the capital city, if it's street to street, nato air power is going to be rather limited. they won't have the confidence that they can protect civilian lives by firing into that city. it may be now we're witnessing the final battle. the rebel alliance against gadhafi's dwindling forces inside of tripo. >> former secretary of state, thanks, joining us from providence, rhode island with his analysis on this fast-moving story in libya. extremely significant developments in that country, and in tripoli, particularly, with rebels advancing into the capital. we can only imagine what it's like right now inside of libya. a resident joins me with his perspective. he joins us now from benghazi. you are in benghazi, correct, in eastern libya? >> yes, ma'am. hello. how are you? >> hi there. great. thanks for being with us. what is it like in benghazi right now? >> it's like new year's celebrations. literally. yeah. we're getting reports coming in right now that -- that under directive for the media and directions for the council, and i'm getting reports right now that gadhafi is being captured, on his way out to tunisia. i still have to confirm this, but i'm getting this right now from my forces. that he has been captured. >> all right. just to -- i need to underline one thing to viewers. we have not been able to confirm that. we've seen those reports as well, that moammar gadhafi has been captured and have in no way confirmed that. we have heard from the revolutionary groups and from the opposition that saif islam gadhafi has been captured including his brother and assurances they will be treated well. is that something that the opposition, that the rebel movement can guarantee? >> surely. we've been -- we've been, you know, telling all the fighters all along from the very beginning that they're to respect all human rights regarding the capture of any prisoners, and even the mercenaries. certainly the inner circle of gadhafi and his family will both, will all receive due process of law, and will receive their full rights. we don't want any additional bloodshed unnecessarily. certainly they will all face legal charges sooner or later, but they will have judicial rights. this is part of what -- you know, aspiring to have in a democratic society. free and fair trial. so this, they will receive their due process. >> tell us more about the celebrations in benghazi. what are people saying tonight in eastern libya? it was a much harder fight in eastern libya. i mean, it was certainly longer. it went lightning speed during a capture. g give me a sense of the mood in benghazi. >> right now, celebratory mood. everybody is now celebrating the crowning of the liberation, if you will. that is the liberation of the capital. now, i imagine most of the areas that are still to be liberated will soon just -- the gadhafi regime, will -- >> all right. mr. shamsiddin, i think that connection just froze up on us. speaking to us from benghazi. the director for media relations i believe is his title for the transitional national council, the revolutionary, the opposition movement in libya. these rebels who seem to have captured so many neighborhoods in tripoli, the capital of libya. their big prize that they've been fighting for months for, with the help of nato air strikes there and we're hearing reports of celebrations in the main square in tripoli. this, of course, the main square where moammar gadhafi himself was addressing supporters. parts of tripoli where moammar gadhafi was brandishing his green book. this is a man who's ruled libya for 42 years. this very well could be the last few hours of his reign in libya. we're going to take a short break. had we come back, a lot more on our breaking news story. we'll be right back. no, it's just for new people. hey ! chocolate, vanilla or strawberry ? 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[ carrie ] you're studying how to be an effective leader. [ cherie ] you're dealing with professionals, teaching things that they were doing every day. [ kimberly ] i manage a network of over a thousand nurses. [ carrie ] i helped turn an at-risk school into an award-winning school. [ cherie ] i'm responsible for the largest urban renewal project in utah. [ kimberly ] and university of phoenix made it possible. learn more at phoenix.edu. welcome back to our breaking news out of libya. rebel forces are poring into tripoli now. the rebels claim two of moammar gadhafi's sons have been captured. [ chanting ] >> get back. get back. get back. >> this is sky news video from tripoli. people chanting on the streets that gadhafi needs to go. libya is free. a short time ago a spokesman for the libyan government called for immediate negotiations and a lawsuit to the rebel assault. we are hearing reports that have been confirmed now that the rebels have taken over green square. this is them on the way to tripoli, in western libya. rebel forces say they are now in control of most parts of the capital. this could be the end of the road for the rebels who fought very hard over the last few months to make it into tripoli. the government itself is conceding that parts of the city are no longer under control and also a deadly battle overnight and says that 1,300 people have been killed over the past 12 hours, and you're seeing this rebel army with this mismatched clothing and mismatched vehicle convoys barreling into tripoli, and today celebrating symbolically in the middle of green square in the libyan capital. now, nato says gadhafi's regime is crumbling. libyan leader gabrielle giffords moammar gadhafi is -- it doesn't seem as though at this stage many are listening to moammar gadhafi, and what he has to say. my colleague ben wedeman reported extensively from inside libya and is in cairo, egypt now. one country there to the east. so, ben, i've got to ask you about moammar gadhafi. we're not sure where he is. we're hearing from the rebels two of his sons have been arrested, and we're just hearing of celebrations in central tripoli. >> reporter: well, it appears he's keeping a very low profile. we are just a little while ago -- he was making some sort of intermittent broadcast addressed to the nation on libyan tv, but right now i'm watching libyan state tv, and it seems to be experiencing some sort of interference with the signal. now, we've seen various reports that he's gone to algeria. that he's been captured. it's not at all clear where he is. of course, there are still areas of the country where he might be welcomed. for instance, in the town of cert, to the east of tripoli. that's his hometown. that's traditionally been a very loyalist town. the city in the southern central sahara region of tripoli as well has been sympathetic to gadhafi. not at all clear where he's going to go, but he really doesn't have a lot