we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." gunfire, honking horns, celebrations in cities across libya, marking the death of gadhafi. we're following all the breaking news this hour. the man who ruthlessly ruled the country for 42 years was killed today outside his hometown of sirte. he was 69 years old. president obama said his death marks the end of a long and painful chapter for libya. >> one year ago, the notion of a free libya seemed impossible. but then the libyan people rose up. and demanded their rights. and when gadhafi and his forces started going city to city, town by town to brutalize men, women and children, the world refused to stand idly by. faced with the potential of mass atrocities and a call for help from the libyan people, the united states and our friends and allies stopped gadhafi's forces in their tracks. there will be difficult days ahead. but the united states, together with the international community, is committed to the libyan people. you have won your revolution. >> let's go straight to the libyan capital right now where dan rivers is in tripoli for us. dan, we're about to show our viewers of video of a bloody moammar gadhafi after the capture while he's still alive. what do you know about gadhafi's final moments? >> reporter: well, this video does shed some light on it. it's tough to watch. but i think it's important to have a look at this. you can clearly see that gadhafi is alive when you look at this footage. he is being led away. he looks like he's got a lot of blood on his face. but he is clearly alive. at this point. it seems then that at some point between this video being taken and a subsequent video being taken that he clearly died. now, whether he died of his injuries he sustained when shot, some sources have us believe or whether he was literally beaten to death by this mob of ntc troops sort of pistol whipped to death, we don't know. but clearly here, he seems alive. you get a real visceral sense from this footage of just how roughly he was handled here. naturally perhaps one can imagine that the passion is running so high, but also, i have to stop for that shooting there. but also a sense that you know, he clearly had been injured when they got him and at some point between that video being taken and then the subsequent shots of him dead on the ground, he died. we have no results on whether he died from a gun shot wound or beaten to death. >> reuters suggesting that he died from a gun shot wound to his head. we don't know if that's true or not and i suspect, dan, people are going to be taking it very, very close at all of the video, all of the still pictures to try to get a better sense. the bottom line though, he died one way or the other. we don't know if he died in the incident or subsequently execute ed with a gun shot wound to his head, but go ahead. people on the street i assume, they're still celebrating. >> and how they are celebrating. i don't know if you can make out behind me all of those twinkling lights in the background. this is a massive traffic cue people held up people firing their weapons into the air. there are huge crowds in mart r square as they call it now. you can hear is screech of tires as people spin their cars around in celebration and delight. but there is also poignancy and sadne sadness, from some people remembering their loved ones who were killed as part of this revolution. their loved ones who were killed at the hands of gadhafi's regime, but i think no one here will ever forget the 20th of october 2011 in libya. it will be a day of great historical imimportance. they will be naming streets and plazas after this date for many years to come. we haven't gotten the fine detail as to how gadhafi was killed. we're getting word of a nato air strike involving french jets and a predator drone we're told that took a shot at his convoy. saying they believe gadhafi survived that strike. we then see from the footage out of sirte that he was apparently hiding in a concrete tunnel under the road, a drainage ditch, and that's where he was found. apparently found alive according to that footage. we don't know quite how he died or who killed him then or whether he just died f o the injuries he sustained in the gun battle. >> that celebrate gunfire, people are are firing their weapons into the air. what do we know about gadhafi's burial? >> it's going to be incredibly sensitive, wolf. what do they do with that body? they don't want to create a shrine to gadhafi loyalists anywhere in this country, but religious tradition would dictate they have to bury that body within 24 hours of him being killed, so whether they decide to put it in an unmarked grave in the desert or bury it at sea, i don't know. that is going to have to be something they deal with. we understand his body was taken to a mosque in misrata. we have no word on what's happened there since then. there is footage floating around one of the ntc websites, the february 17th website, which apparently shows the body arriving in. >> michele: >> and the sons, there was a picture shown on libyan television showing he was killed in the operation. there are conflicting reports about the other son. very well-known in libya outside of libya. what can you tell us? what hard information can we have about the state? >> well, in short, we have no hard information on whether he's alive or dead. there's lots of swirling rumors. the prime minister talked of his convoy being involved in a fire fight, but we've had no confirming whether he is alived or captured. lots of suggestions that he may have been killed. no word officially yet. we've heard from one defense official confirming that watson was killed in sirte. that's one source. i've got to be cautious on this because of the misinformation given out in the past by members of the ntv. one is the son's national security adviseadviser, a man w helped to lead the final fight in sirte was killed and as well as some sources suggesting that the head of intelligence here was also killed. >> the ambassador in washington, the libyan ambassador saying that yes, this defense minister was also killed. dan, stand by. we're going to get back to you. i know there's a lot more to get into. some additional details about the role that nato and the united states may have played in the actual death of gadhafi. barbara starr is working this part of the story for us, so what are you learning about how this went down? >> well, let me pick up on what dan rivers was talking about. u.s. and nato officials are saying this began to unfold earlier today on the ground in sirte when nato warplanes struck a convoy. multiple vehicles moving through the area that they said posed a military threat. now, what we know subsequently is they have confirmed that a french warplane and a u.s. predator drone, french and u.s., both fired weapons against that convoy. gadhafi was in that convoy. he did not die by all accounts as a result of that air strike, but as you saw, somehow, excited the vehicle and then died with the rebels and other fighters in sirte. how he died still remains to be absolutely confirmed. did he die at the hands of the rebels in in some fire fight as the fighting was going on around sirte? but we know that the u.s. military fired a missile from a predator drone as well as a french mirage warplane, so there was heavy action against the convoy, but it turned out he was traveling in. >> is the nato mission about to wind down? >> by all accounts. the secretary general putting out a statement indicating that. what we expect to happen in the next couple of day ss there will be a recommendation to nato ministers from the military side of nato. that they can terminate. they can essentially end this military operation nato has been conducting since march. that they will find that essentially, the now emerging government forces, the transitional national council has sufficient powers, authority, that they can control the security situation in the country. there still will be fire fights from loyalists. holdouts in certain areas, make no mistake, but that basically, the finding will be that the job of nato is now down and you should expect to see a special session of nato's north atlantic counsel convened in the next few days to take that vote to end this, wolf. >> we'll see if this does serve as a precedent. maybe syria will have more on this story. thanks very much. other new details are coming out about gadhafi's death. several media reports suggesting that he was carrying his so-called golden gun with him when he was captured and that a young libyan man used the gun to kill gadhafi. cnn has not been able to confirm these reports, but we're continuing to dig deeper. we'll bring you any new details as soon as we get them. there, you see the golden gun that according to a lot of reports, was used. gadhafi's own golden gun to actually kill him. more coming up on that. as you know, president obama spoke out directly about gadhafi's death. just a little while ago, two hours or so ago, brianna keilar is at the white house with more. president spent about five minutes in the rose garden at the white house making his statement. >> he did, wolf. and now, white house officials are facing a lot of questions about whether the death of moammar gadhafi justifies the u.s. military involvement in the operation in libya. this is something the president addressed a little bit, but the white house line, the line from president obama is that this is a victory for the libyan people, although listen to what he said and you'll notice he's taking some cautious credit. >> without putting a single u.s. service member on the ground, we achieved our objectives and our nato mission will soon come to an end. >> so now the question is what about u.s. involvement perhaps in other nations that have faced similar transitions or uprisings. for instance, syria. in libya, we saw more u.s. direct involvement initially in the no fly zone. eventually as u.s. officials would pit, they took more of a support role, more of a financial contributions came from the u.s. and you'll hear the white house and president obama tout over and over that there were no u.s. service members on the ground in libya. what about this approach somewhere else, wolf? you mentioned it perhaps in syria, where the u.n. is now estimating that 3,000 civilians have been killed in clashes with government forces. the answer to that question is very unclear, but it was joe biden who really spoke most in a specific way. here's what he said earlier this morning. >> america spent $2 billion total and didn't lose a single life. this is more of the prescription for how to deal with the world. >> i asked jay carney if the president agrees with that and he basically said that this was the right strategy for libya, but largely stuck to the white house line, wolf, that we've heard, which is that each of these countries where there had been uprisings must be dealt with in a case by case basis and when it comes to syria, he really didn't go there. >> other officials are speaking out. we'll have more on this part of the story. thanks very much. senator john mccain is congratulating britain and france for their role in the revolution, but he's still critical of the obama administration. >> if we had declared a no fly zone early on, we would have never had gadhafi would have fallen at the beginning. >> here's a question. does the president deserve any credit? 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[ male announcer ] we're making people the tomorrows they always dreamed of. what can we make with you? transamerica. transform tomorrow. the celebration continuing on the streets of libya. throughout the country. we're following the breaking news this hour. the death of the libyan dictator, moammar gadhafi. i talked about it earlier with john mccain, the ranking member of the senate armed services committee and i asked whether the obama administration deserves any credit. >> i congratulate the british and french for their leadership and their effort and so, it's been a significant success and we should celebrate today. >> but the u.s. played a significant role in this nato operation. not just the british and the french, senator mccain. the first two weeks in particular, u.s. tom hawk cruise missiles. the obama administration from your perspective deserves a lot of credit for this, don't they? >> i think they deserve credit. if we had declared a no fly zone early on, gadhafi would have fallen at the beginning. the second thing is that if we had used our capabilities, the a10, this would have been over a long time ago, but i think the administration deserves credit, but i especially appreciate the leadership of the british and french in carrying out this success. >> what do you think the u.s. should do with the 30 or $33 billion in frozen libyan assets that have been held over these past several months? >> well, the libyans obviously, they are going to reimburse us and our allies for the expenditures that were entailed in this operation. they obviously are going to be a very wealthy country and again, if we send a hospital ship to tripoli to help them with their wounded, they have 30,000 wounded, wolf. we could send some of their wounded to our hospital in land. right now, this is one of their key requirements. we, senator rubio, kirk and graham and i went to the hospital there in tripoli. they don't know how to care for these kinds of wounds and people harmed in conflict and we could be of enormous help and generate enormous good will by helping out in that respect. >> are you saying that you have when you were in libya, received official confirmation from the transitional authority there, the interim government, that they will reimburse taxpayers approximately $1 billion that have been spent? >> they said they would seriously consider it. they did not make a commitment to me and nor should they have, but they certainly have showed a willingness to do so. >> i asked the question -- >> after desert storm. >> i remember when the kuwaitees basically paid for the liberation of their country. i asked the question, because there's been some suggestion before the u.s. were to transfer back that $33 billion in frozen assets, it deduct a billion dollars for u.s. expenses and deduct other expenses that other nato allies like france, britain, italy may have had. would that be smart, legal, to simply deduct? >> i don't think it's illegal or smart. there are some nations that now have a government that's recognized basically throughout the world and i think it would gener generate enormous ill will if we carried out such activity. i don't know who would suggest such a thing. >> well, there have been those suggestions. among others, i've written about it myself, but that's just me. >> okay. >> so, for what it's worth on our blog. but that's just -- >> not a matter of money, wolf. it's their money that's been frozen. it's not our money. >> and the obama administration -- by the way, the obama administration takes the same position you're taking, that the u.s. shouldn't simply unilaterally eliminate or deduct some of the funds that have been spend, but let's get out to the bigger picture. >> could i just point out quickly, libyans right now are very grateful to us and there's enormous good will there and if we can help them succeed getting these weapons under control, helping them organize their government, with their wounded, there will be a lot of further good will here and that's important especially in that part of the world. >> you make an excellent point and if you look at the sweep of changes, it's breathtaking. you think a year ago what was going on over there and you take a look at how it's changed over these many months now. it's dramatic and no one has been more closely associated in watching what's going on than you, senator. thanks very much. any final point you want to make? zpl i think it's a great day. the administration deserves great credit. i had different ideas. the world is a better place and the libyan people now have a chance, but this is just the beginning. we know how hard democracy is. they're going to need a lot of assistance. not in money, but in other ways and i think we're should be eager to provide. >> we just heard from senator john mccain and let's now hear from gloria borger. has been praise for the president and administration. >> it was and look, he had different ways of doing this. he wanted us to go in unilaterally. but still, john mccain was a lot more generous than the other republicans we've heard from, the presidential candidates, wolf. instead, none of them said i give barack obama credit, which john mccain said. instead, they're talking about what happens in the future in libya, how do you deal with gadhafi's remaining stockpiles? how do you make sure they're on their way to democracy? but it was only john mccain who said he deserves credit. >> listen to joe biden because he seemed to suggest this could be a template for future u.s. and nato missions. >> in this terrible beauty, this all changed world, what happened? nato got it right. and guess what? libya, gadhafi, one way or another, is gone. whether he's alive or dead. he's gone. the people of libya have gotten rid of a dictator of 40 years who i personally knew. this is one tough not so nice guy. and guess what? they got a chance now, but what happened? in this case, america spent $2 billion total and didn't lose a single life. this is more the prescription for how to deal with the world as we go forward. >> he's, i guess taking some credit for this, implicitly criticizing the previous bush administration. >> they don't want to come out and brag about it, but they do see that the alliance worked, that the united states provided the strategic support, which was considerable that it needed to provide and that this is the way you need to think of these actions in the future, wolf, as we look at the reductions we need to see in the military budget. what's even more interesting though, wolf, is the way the republican party is split on this. the democrats are united, but it's the republicans who are split. john mccain really is the last, one of the last remaining hawks in the republican party. of the presidential candidates. ron paul, jon huntsman and michele bachmann, all of them said we should not have been in libya in the first place, which is why they're not about congratulating barack obama. >> so, the president of the united states on his watch, bin laden killed, anwa