gunfire and explosions rocked the capital today. rebels say they're making substantial gains in their fight to seize the capital. reuters reports thousands of rebels were seen closing in on tripoli today. nato says moammar gadhafi's regime is, quote, crumbling. the libyan government denies the rebels are making any gains. but a government official who asked not to be named concedes that parts of the capital and its suburbs are no longer in government hands. in an audio address broadcast on state tv today, gadhafi vowed to fight until, quote, the last blood drops from every man and woman. a fierce gun battle broke out today near the hotel where many international journalists are staying. cnn's senior international correspondent matthew chance joins us live by phone from tripoli. matthew, you were in that very hotel. tell us more about what's happening around it. >> reporter: fredricka, it's a very bad line. i don't know whether you can hear me right now. it's more than just an outbreak of gunshots that was heard outside the hotel. what we're experiencing here is essentially, you know, a major what appears to be a major battle for control of the libyan capital all over tripoli. there are fierce clashes under way of heavy machine gunfire, rocket-propelled grenades exploding. and that fighting has come very close, indeed, to the hotel where we've all been corralled over the course of the past several months to cover this crisis from the -- from the government's, the gadhafi loyalists' side. up until 24 hours ago, the situation was very stable indeed in tripoli. at the beginning of the crisis, there were some protests. they were put down by gadhafi and his troops. since then for months it's been pretty quiet and stable. all of that has changed. there's utter mayhem in the streets outside in tripoli. governments say they don't have control over large areas of the capital, particularly in the eastern suburbs. we're hearing reports of -- and hearing evidence in terms of gun battles of fierce clashes under way in other parts of the city as well including right in the center of town. so this is very much now a battle for control of the libyan capital, fredricka. >> matthew, you've been tweeting all the while saying a short while ago that international journalists are wearing flag jackets, many don't feel safe, fingers are crossed. is there a plan in place to find kind of a safe spot at that hotel if it comes to that. >> i didn't quite catch you there, fredricka. if you're talking about is there a planning place for snus can you repeat your question? >> yeah. how you and other journalists staying safe? >> yeah. sorry. i can't hear you. look, it's a very dangerous situation. we' what we've done in this hotel is grouped together on the basis of numbers. also coordinating what we'll do in the worst-case scenario. also we're focusing on trying to get whatever information we can from outside on the streets in tripoli. we're still not permitted to go outside. nofk a situation like this when it's so volatile and there are so many armed groups including fwovt loyalists out on the street in a high stake of tension nobody wants to go outside, actually, and see what's going on. we don't have to anyway. because the fighting, it seems, is coming to us. just a few minutes ago, i heard some very loud rpg explosions what must have been very close to the hotel followed by intensive bursts of machine gunfire. it's a pretty scary, pretty dangerous situation. this is happening not just in this hotel, remember, and around it. it's happening all over the libyan capital tonight that this battle rages. >> matthew, i'm going to try one more time on a question. i know it's difficult to hear. on state television there in libya there was an anchor woman who went on the air brandishing a weapon, talking about trying to fight for gadhafi's regime as well. can you elaborate on that? >> yeah. just an indication of just how high the passions are running in this city. i think the channel was called el libya. it's a state-run channel. i think it's owned by colonel a gadha gadhafi's son. on it, you know, as fighting continued outside, there were shots apparently close to the television headquarters. the anchor woman essentially pulled a pistol, waved it at the cameras and said that, you know, everybody in the television station was prepared to fight to the death. they would kill or be killed is what she started shouting at the cameras. it just gives you an indication of the level of emotion, the level of commitment amongst many of those people who are loyal to colonel gadhafi. of course, as we've been witnessing across the whole country, you know, it's by no means, you know, the whole of the country that feels that way. of course, much of the country now, much of the city now, is in uprising against colonel gadhafi and his forces, fredricka. >> matthew chance, thank you, in tripoli. let's move now west of tripoli to the city of zawiya on moammar gadhafi's supply route and where the rebels say they are in complete control after several days of fighting. sarah, are rebels feeling that they have an advantage? >> reporter: absolutely. to answer your question. we do know now that they have now held this city for a couple of days. we are still hearing some ammunition, we are still hearing some small arms fire and hearing some blasts that have just started up in the last day or so. but we were able to travel to the front lines today that have moved significantly farther outside of the city. they are now just 27 kilometers from tripoli. that's about 15 miles from tripoli. they pushed gadhafi forces back way beyond the eastern gate. what you see is a lot of cars and a lot of trucks filled with ammunition. the rebels say they had another victory today. they were able to get a storage center for ammunition from the military, from gadhafi's military. they are now using that ammunition against the gadhafi forces and trying to push them even farther into tripoli, fredricka. >> give me an idea, you know, how important and vital zawiya is that rebels managed to get the upper hand there. >> reporter: this is a really important city for two major reasons. number one, it's very close to tripoli. and it is a supply route to tripoli. number two, it has a large fuel refinery which is the only functioning fuel refinery in the entire country at this point in time. now, the rebels are now using that fuel refinery. there are large storage tanks filled with refined oil. they are starting to use to give gas to some of the people, the rebels that need it to get to and from the fight. so they're using what gadhafi needs the most, which is fuel. because fuel is extremely scarce in the capital. they've cut that supply route off. not only can fuel -- has fuel been stopped, but so has things like food and other supplies to get into tripoli. so they really feel this is a major victory and they are ready to push forward. we saw them pushing forward further and further and further into the vicinity of tripoli. and, of course, they say that they do know that there are rebels who are inside of tripoli who have been there waiting and watching and getting ready for the call to rise up. and now they've heard that call and that is exactly what's going on inside the capital. fredricka? >> sara sidner thanks so much. on the phone with me general wesley clark. here's the former supreme allied commander in europe and retired nato military commander. general clark, you've talked to your sources on the ground in libya. what are they saying to you about this latest spate of gun battle? general clark? you able to hear me okay? i know it's very windy where you are. what are your sources saying on the ground in libya? >> they're saying it's extremely dangerous. they're saying there's lots of armed men out there running around. and that no one's in control. and this is the second day of this. and so the idea that gadhafi could sort of fall back into tripoli and make a last stand there, this is not fortress stalingrad. he doesn't have adhesive forces. he doesn't have a lot of mercenaries fighting for him. he can't control the infiltration of arms, ammunition and more fighter. if he is in tripoli he's going to be driven down into a very small corner and we're -- we're approaching the end game in this battle. >> so you do believe that it's imminent that moammar gadhafi is going to lose power there? >> i think he's going to be forced -- i think he's approaching a decision point. where he's reaching his last opportunities to bargain effectively for his survival. and the survival of his family. and if he doesn't decide to do that, he's going to end up fleeing for his life. >> there's so much gunfire going on. you said that no one is really in control. isn't it very difficult to kind of find that demarcation between rebels versus gadhafi supporters. and that could be a big problem, too, especially as it pertains to nato forces being involved? >> yes. i don't think you could expect to find very effective support for nato other than when the lines stabilize in some way and they've got telephone communications on the ground. until that time, what you're going to have is you're going to have nato aircraft. you're going to have them striking fixed targets. if they see heavy equipment that's clearly gadhafi's, maybe that can be targeted. but it is greatly adding to the stress felt by the gadhafi forces. >> other than that, what other signals might nato be looking for before it were to intensify its role? >> well, i think there's a limit as to what nato does intend to do. it's not going to put ground troops in. at least not to engage in an active fight. so far as we know, we don't have any forward air controllers on the ground. so we're not able to vekter strikes in with precision from one building to the next. and what nato is going to be looking for is either the shrinking of a perimeter of gadhafi supporters, as the opposition coalesces and reports neighborhood by neighborhood that there's no more resistance, or they're going to be looking for some kind of signal from gadhafi that he wants out. >> general wesley clark, thank you so much for your input. we'll keep you updated on all this in libya, as it pertains to the lebl fighting as well as the fighting of the supporters of moammar gadhafi there. in this country forecasters say the southeastern u.s. should be on alert in the week ahead. tropical storm irene is moving through the caribbean. we'll check in with jacqui jeras for the latest forecast. hey can i play with the toys ? sure, but let me get a little information first. for broccoli, say one. for toys, say two. toys ! the system can't process your response at this time. what ? please call back between 8 and 5 central standard time. he's in control. goodbye. even kids know it's wrong to give someone the run around. at ally bank you never have to deal with an endless automated system. you can talk to a real person 24/7. it's just the right thing to do. forecasters are keeping a close watch on now tropical storm irene in the southeastern u.s. they should be on the alert in the week ahead. jacqui jeras tracking all that for us. it could turn into a tropical storm and here it is. >> it very likely will turn into a hurricane, too. we want to give people a big heads up and a big reminder that the uncertainty as to where the storm is going and where it's going to be impacting the u.s. still a bit of a question mark. models have been trending a little farther off to the east. you really need to stay tuned. the national hurricane center is going to have an updated advisory at 5:00 eastern time. we could see a shift in the track. in the meantime, here's where we're at right now with irene. this is really becoming a very large storm. the tropical storm force winds extend out 150 miles from the center of the storm. that's each side. this thing is pushing 300 miles. great outflow out ahead of the center of the storm. winds are very light. we do expect this to continue to intensify. 50 mile per hour the maximum winds. you've got to get up to 74 for this thing to become a hurricane. let's talk about the forecast track. these are the computer models. take a note, this white line in the middle, that's the official track for the national hurricane center. notice all of these models, sorry about that, all over here. so we cannot rule out an east coast potential either. this is down the line. keep in mind. the immediate concerns, what's been going on into the u.s. virgin islands as well as puerto rico, we've already been seeing a lot of heavy showers and thundershowers. take a look at this. radar of puerto rico. tropical storm force winds expected with this. a good 4 to 7 inches of rainfall as well. intensification, as long as it stays over water, the more it interacts with the land here, the more it could weaken. we don't know if we're going to be talking about a tropical storm or maybe a stronger hurricane, especially if it takes this more of a northerly track. stay tuned. we're talking about the u.s. impact outside the u.s. virgin islands and puerto rico, fredricka, that won't happen until thursday. a couple tays to prepare. nhc.noaa.com. if you're not ready, go there. three days of food and water, at least. >> thank you, jacqui. up next, how to get your boss to notice you. we will answer this question. does the squeaky wheel always get the grease? 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