quote, he could be planning for a last stand. another saying it could be -- he could put civilians in the crosshairs. but both officials say they just don't know what form a final offensive might take. recent nato airstrikes are clearly upping the ante. our people there are telling us they are under way again tonight. loud explosions being heard in tripoli within the past hour. opposition forces telling us they're making use of the air attacks to try to make progress on the ground. those forces in zawia, fierce artillery fire could be heard today. opposition fighters telling our reporter they could be moving on the capital within a number of days. that could just be optimistic talk on their part. meantime, the opposition says a former libyan prime minister has defected, fleeing tripoli with his family. no sign his former boss momeamm gadhafi is going anywhere and that's the potential problem, a potentially violent and bloody problem. joining us, sara sidner, and commander wesley clark, and cnn national security adviser fran townse townsend. how close are the forces to tripoli, and how much trouble is gadhafi in right now? >> reporter: anderson, they're just 30 miles from tripoli. we're talking about nothing, basically. but what we are seeing in thezy of zawia, which is strategically important, the rebels gave us a tour of the refinery, it's in perfect condition, it's one of the only functioning refineries left in the country. and for them, it's very important that they're able to cut off that oil supply to tripoli. so they're very happy about that, and they say they have not gotten control of 80%, 80% of the city, but they're still battling it out in 20% of the city. we heard heavy, heavy fire, gunfire and rounds going off in the city. they feel they'll end this thing in the next day or so, and then they plan on pushing forward to tripoli, which is just about a 40-minute drive away. >> so are they in control of zawiya? >> reporter: they're not in complete control. we were in the middle of the firefight today. we got so close and suddenly we found ourselves having to run out of the area because of all of the mortars that were coming in and the shelling that was happening. we made it out safely. the firefight was continuing to go on throughout the day. so 20% of that city is still being battled over. but they did take control of 80% of the city, and you can see that. the city is mostly abandoned, but there are still a few residents around who have decided to stick it out. what you're seeing is rebel tanks, tanks they've taken from gadhafi forces they're now using against gadhafi forces in that city. >> matthew chance, you're in tripoli. what's it like there now? does it feel like a city preparing for the worst? >> reporter: well, it feels like a city which is under pretty intensive airstrikes by the nato warplanes that have been circling the skies above tripoli for the past several hours, particularly, but over the past several days as well. we've seen an intensification of the describistrikes. also when you speak to the residents in the city, there's a sense they're very much under siege. the fact that it's fallen to the rebels and the road to the west out of tripoli into tunisia has been cut off by that military action. it's had a big psychological impact on the people here. their escape route has been cut off, and they really have sort of taken on this siege mentality. it's been compounded by the fact that we're hearing airstrikes every couple of minutes now, perhaps every half an hour or so, in the libyan capital, anderson. >> general clark, if gadhafi does make his last stand in tripoli, doesn't try to escape somewhere else or flee or give up, knowing what we know about him, his military capabilities and the potential for urban fighting, what could a last stand there look like? >> well, if he has disciplined forces and ammunition, it could be ugly. and it could go on for days, just like the fighting in misrata went on for days and days and days. but my guess is that that's unlikely to happen. i think if gadhafi goes into tripoli and pulls in there, an soon as it starts to go against him, they're going to be struggling for a way out. once he goes into tripoli, there's no -- other than just saying, okay, we surrender, we lay down our arms and give some kind of a political solution, he's lost his bargaining position by going into tripoli. so my guess, he's not going in, and, b, if he does, that it's not going to end up in a misrata-like, months-long combat. >> if gadhafi makes a stand in tripoli, what do you think it would look like? do you think he has those loyal organized forces? or do you think as many have hoped for all along, his inner circle might turn on him in the final push? >> yeah. anderson, i think what's most likely is the forces that remain around him will melt away. and in fact, i think something that i learned from a very senior western europe intelligence official is indication that gadhafi is preparing for the last stand. we had heard reports that he was -- had some plan to flee to tunisia and this senior intelligence official with firsthand knowledge said to me, no, that's not right. this is the women and son were seeking permission to land the plane in tunisia. why a plane? because rebel forces have that western border, they couldn't travel by land. tunisia denied permission to bring a plane in with his family. i think he wants his family out because he's prepared to have that last stand, to have that battle there and to die there. he said, you know, he will become a martyr and let his blood flow on libyan soil, and i think that's in his mind if he's got to go, that's his plan. >> sara, in terms of the opposition forces, i mean, for so long they were completely disorganized. we talked about this the other night. you said they have made some improvements, but in terms of -- i mean, how much of a disciplined fighting force do they have? do we know what percentage of the forces are actually -- have actual training, have actual experience? and in a fight in a city would be able to fight effectively if it came to that? >> reporter: yeah, it's a really hard question to answer, but a very good question, anderson. i can tell you from what we have seen over the -- of the few months that we've been in, inside of this country, what we've seen is there was continuing, and is continuing to be training. and so there is something like a boot camp, i guess you could say, in places like benghazi and here in the western mountains where people who have never held a gun before will go, get intensive training over, for example, a week or two weeks' time. but because the force isn't that big, what you're seeing is sometimes people coming in that have very little knowledge of how to deal with this. never mind strategically trying to figure out what the right thing to do is. just like you mention, when you talk about urban warfare, you really need to be trained. it's one of the most dangerous kinds of warfare that there is. because something could be just around the corner, and you really have to be trained for these things and have the right equipment. and i can't say that they do, but i can tell you this. when we asked them, look, are you planning to push into tripoli, and if so, what is the plan? is there a plan that has been set out for coordination for all of these different groups and brigades that are coming in. and the answer was, well, with he have a plan, and i said what is it? he said, well, we have a plan, sort of. so if that is what's going on, this will be a very difficult fight. if gadhafi decides he really wants to make a last stand, this could get really, really bloody, anderson. >> the other question is, how many forces loyal to the opposition may still be in tripoli laying low in the event that opposition forces did enter tripoli, whether they would be joined by people who are actually living there. a lot we don't know. matthew chance, appreciate it. stay safe. sara sidner as well. fran townsend, wesley clark. what do you think? i'll be tweeting tonight as well. next, a deadly day on the streets of syria. how many days have we said this now? but it has been another deadly day. top syrian diplomat telling us, no, no, they're actually protecting protesters. we're keeping them honest. later, three young men convicted of killing three second graders, the west memphis three they've been known as, all three men are out of prison today. one was on death row. were they wrongly convicted or wrongly freed? crime and punishment, the west memphis three. isha? you have to see it to believe it, and even then, a baby in a stroller in the back of a pickup. and wait until you hear what the babysitter said about it. that and much more when "360" continues. every time a local business opens its doors or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business -- it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities, so we're helping them with advice from local business experts and extending $18 billion in credit last year. that's how we're helping set opportunity in motion. whether it can be done safely and responsibly. at exxonmobil we know the answer is yes. when we design any well, the groundwater's protected by multiple layers of steel and cement. most wells are over a mile and a half deep so there's a tremendous amount of protective rock between the fracking operation and the groundwater. natural gas is critical to our future. at exxonmobil we recognize the challenges and how important it is to do this right. ♪ let me make you smile ♪ let me do a few tricks ♪ some old and then some new tricks ♪ ♪ i'm very versatile ♪ so let me entertain you ♪ and we'll have a real good time ♪ [ male announcer ] the new hp touchpad starting at $399.99. ♪ what's vanishing deductible all about ? 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[speaking in a foreign language] >> the experience just as you see it here, wave after wave of gunfire directed at people chanting god is great. syrian state tv tells another story clearly ad at odds with the video. the standard story. protesters are armed sunni muslim fanatics, say the government. the people look to be ordinary syrians and the protesters themselves say that's what they are. the only weapons you see and you rarely see them anywhere are stones. the weaponry you hear belongs to syrian authorities. in other new video also posted today taken today shows where the so-called protecters are actually doing to people. the beating, not unusual. we've seen people clubbed, people stuffed into the trunks of cars. we've seen victims of all ages gunned down, murdered, some of them only children. like this little girl, 2 years old, shot through the eye, shot down as she and her family were reportedly trying to flee a neighborhood under attack by government forces. as always what you see here cannot be independently verified. every day, though, fresh evidence arrives, posted on youtube by people risking their freedom and their lives to document what they are seeing, what they are experiencing. again, the syrian government has a very different explanation for what you just saw and what we've all been seeing for months now. last night we played a portion of my interview with an ambassador to the united nations. more now of that conversation. >> a government allowed peaceful demonstrations to take to the street and they are protected by the police. >> sir, that's not true. you know that's not true. you're a very educated man. you simply know that is not true. >> no, no, no, no, no. >> when people are asking for children to be released, you're telling me they weren't fired upon? they weren't killed? >> you don't know all the facts of the story. >> first of all, because you're not allowing us in. you're not allowing reporters to actually go to the front lines and see this. you're restricting reporters. so it's a little disingenuous to say you don't know the truth when you're not allowing the international community to see the truth. >> anderson, this is wrong too, we've allowed three delegations, big delegations of journalists and reporters. >> oh, come on. >> into the country. >> and you control them very carefully. >> we don't control anybody. we are there to protect them from the armed groups. >> sir, i reported in damascus and i had a minder with me who watched everything i did and every person i talked to. so to say you're allowing free rein for reporters is simply not true. >> anderson, you are biased and taking side and you shouldn't do that because you are a -- >> i've got to say, i just think what you're saying, you have not offered any proof. >> this is not the truth. this is not the truth. i'm afraid this is not the truth. you are reporting what somebody told you. this shouldn't be done on cnn. >> sir, i'm reporting what i've seen with my own ieyes and i've seen children with their penises cut off, broken, battered bodies, people trying to get the bodies of their wounded families and complete strange engineers and i've seen people getting shot at while they're trying to retrieve bodies. >> you wouldn't be more sorry than us seeing these victims. they are our own people. >> is there anything that you would say that your government has done wrong in the last five months in terms of how they have dealt with your own citizens? >> you know what? in all military and police operations, all over the world, it happens that sometimes there are some mistakes. and the president himself acknowledged that there were some mistakes at the beginning. because we were not prepared, i mean our forces of police, were not prepared for such an unexpected situation. so some people may have made some mistakes, anderson, we're not talking about the peaceful demonstrators. the peaceful demonstrations according to the law. >> sir, that's not true. that's not true. >> this is your opinion. this is your opinion. >> i talked -- i've talked to many -- i've talked to protesters. i've talked to protesters and human rights activists inside syria who say this is not true. a woman whose husband was arrested and kidnapped, taken away, and held for weeks and weeks without her having any knowledge of what happened to him. i talked to these people. >> you may have talked to one or three or ten or 100. but syria is 23 millions. you would have to be more objective, more genuine in your approach and analyzing what's going on in syria. the syrian official point of view also. i'm not saying you shouldn't listen to the other side. continue listening to the other id so, but please reflect the syrian official point of view and here i'm telling you, we have had 500 officers and soldiers killed so far. plus, of course, almost 1,000 civilians lives gunned. >> the u.n. says actually about 2,000 civilians have been killed by your government. about 2,000 and thousands more have been -- are being held in detention. >> this is wrong, anderson. this is wrong. the same way i am denying here with categorically unequivocally that our warships shelled the palestinian -- our tanks -- >> would you allow the international red cross to examine your prisons to go into your prisons? i've heard many protesters whose loved ones get injured or shot, they can't go to hospitals because your security forces are inside the hospitals and will arrest anybody who's taken in. >> this is another lie, anderson. this is wrong. >> well, if that's a lie, it means virtually everyone, except the assad regime itself is lying. the u.n. is lying. amnesty international, lying. human rights watchers, lying. u.s., france, britain, saudi arabia, turkey, is it possible? anything's possible. is it likely? you can ask yourself that. then having seen what you have seen tonight and night after night, ask yourself if your own eyes are lying too. are they lying about this? while the ambassador enjoys his diplomatic posting in new york and distent who we're calling alexander to protect his identity, was in these crowds today as security forces opened fire. we spoke shortly afterward. so alexander, what happened today after you attended friday prayers? what did you see? >> we were in central damascus and protests actually erupted inside the mosque, which is in the area, at least 2,000 to 2,500 people took part in the protests that left the mosque. just as we were coming out of the mosque and pouring into the main street, suddenly the gunfire started. it was coming from different directions, really, but we did see the shooting coming from a certain direction where there was security forces, and basically armed men in plain clothes. they were taking cover behind some transport buses. and the protesters actually defied them. what we did the second it started was we started running away, but then we realized some people stood still and actually got in a rock fight with the people who were armed and shooting at them. >> the syrian ambassador to the united nations told me that the government of syria, the regime in syria is actually protecting peaceful protesters, that they're not shooting at them, they're not killing them, they're protecting them. have you -- was that the case today? has that ever been the case in any protest you have seen? >> that wasn't the case today, and that's not -- that's never been the case. that's just total nonsense. what the government is actually doing to these people protesters is they're cracking down on them. they're chasing them down in the streets, hunting them like animals. they're detaining them and then torturing them for days on end. these people leave the security branches, frightened to death, not able to take to the street again because of what they've done to them. they've humiliated them. they've killed people in the streets. they've killed women. they've killed children. just to stop the protest movement. and everything that's happening now in it syria is obvious. anyone who comes and sees can see for themselves. they're basically slaughtering are the protest movement and not allowing anyone to take part in these protests. >> alexander, why is it that you are doing this? why is it so important for you to go out in the streets, to stand up, to use your voice, and to call for change? why is it important for you to risk your life to demonstrate and also to talk to us? >> well, it's been 41 years that syria has witnessed this fascist regime that just treats people like dirt. and the syrian people want change. the syrian people want a different sort of life. a democratic life. where people respect each other. and that's what happened on the 15th of march in syria, when people took to the streets, they decided that they will not take this anymore. and that's why this has happened. and i actually do my part by talking international media. these are simple people that just want their universal right to have a democratic country where all civilians respect each other. >> alexander, stay safe. thank you for talking to us. >> thank you. than