here in the u.s. who are in touch with the protesters. >> woodruff: then, we examine the state of the states with two governors-- indiana republican mitch daniels and montana democrat brian schweitzer. >> lehrer: and mark shields and david brooks offer their weekly analysis. that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> okay, listen. somebody has got to get serious. >> i think... >> we need renewable energy. >> ...renewable energy is vital to our planet. >> you hear about alternatives, right? wind, solar, algae. >> i think it's going to work an a big scale. only, i think it's going to be affordable. >> so, where are they? >> it has to work in the real world. at chevron, we're investing millions in solar and biofuel technology to make it work. >> we've got to get on this now. >> right now. ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. and with the ongoing support of and the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> lehrer: it was a day of confrontation and more killing in tripoli, libya. pro-government militias opened fire as protesters poured out of friday prayers. witnesses reported at least four people were killed. by evening, moammar qaddafi was seen again on state tv, urging followers to defend the nation. we begin with a report from john ray of "independent television news," in tunisia. >> reporter: after days of protests and bloody reprisals, colonel qaddafi conjured up crowds of supporters in the center of his capitol. "the time is coming when i will arm you all," he told them. "libya will become a red flame." all this just a few miles from the suburbs where opponents crying "god is great" set out to bring down the leader who symbolizes to so many the very devil himself. there followed the lethal and familiar response. but this was just one of several demonstrations getting ever closer to the heart of the regime. whether he is kidding or really is this confident, the wink from qaddafi's son speaks of a ruling family now certain there can be no escape. >> plan "a" is to live and die in libya. plan "b" is to live and die in libya. plan "c" is to live and die in libya. >> reporter: the past 24 hours have seen rebellions that encircle the capitol. in misrata, they hung a noose around a poster of qaddafi and trampled his image underfoot. to the south, in gharyan, they chanted libya's free and qaddafi's out though nighttime saw his forces counterattack. the same story at tajura to the east, more gunfire and clashes that have claimed an unknown number of lives. among them, scores dead in az zawiyah where they tended their injured in a mosque that withstood an onslaught by qaddafi's troops. at the border, thousands of foreign workers queue to leave the green flag of qaddafi far behind. but we met one libyan heading the other way, desperate to get home. >> ( translated ): they are killing the women and the children even in their houses. >> reporter: edres bufayed was in prison, then banished by qaddafi. now he's certain the dictator has just days left. >> maximum, next friday, everything will finish, i think. he is now very weak. in very difficult situation. >> reporter: they are preparing here for casualties and a humanitarian crisis, even though the fighting is still many miles over the border. they are ready for qaddafi's fall and the chaos that might ensue. close by a fleet of ambulances is parked up, and emergency medical supplies have been stockpiled. >> lehrer: later, one of qaddafi's sons said there could be a negotiated cease-fire in two western towns by tomorrow. he claimed government troops are holding back from attacking rebels there. >> woodruff: several hundred americans and other foreigners finally reached malta today. their ferry had been stuck in tripoli for three days because of choppy seas. and a chartered plane with u.s. diplomats and relatives left tripoli as well. with that, the american embassy suspended operations. to the east, hundreds of chinese workers and others boarded greek ocean liners in benghazi. bad weather delayed their sailing, but they were expected in crete tomorrow. there were also new departures from libya's diplomatic corps as the country's u.n. delegation in geneva defected. >> ( translated ): i confirm to you that we, at the libyan mission, have strongly decided to be representatives of the libyan people and its free will. we shall not represent anyone else. we shall be the voice of this great and heroic people at this council and all international assemblies. >> lehrer: libya's delegation to the arab league also renounced qaddafi today. and opposition forces in benghazi celebrated that city's liberation. we have a report from benghazi, but out of safety concerns, we are not identifying the correspondent or news organization. >> reporter: the first friday prayers in what they're calling the capitol of liberated eastern libya. the sheik says we're not against colonel qaddafi's tribe but his regime. they pray in front of the courthouse, the center of the revolution in benghzai. coffins are brought through the crowd. people who have died of the wounds they sustained last week when government forces shot demonstrators. he was imprisoned at 16 and held for 7 years. last week a sniper shot him as he joined the protests. >> ( translated ): i call on anyone from benghzai who is healthy and able to carry arms to go and liberate tripoli. because we are nothing without tripoli. >> reporter: the picture is his brother hanged by the regime, while he was permanently injured in prison. >> ( translated ): my father was a pioneer of education in benghzai. and the reward he got was for one son to be hanged and the other crippled. >> reporter: the man many credit with starting the uprising in benghzai by calling a protest for legal rights stands on the courthouse roof and can't quite believe his eyes. did you think it would be like this? >> no, sure no. but things go well as we want. >> reporter: the lawyers, engineers, doctors and other intellectuals who led the revolt are now trying to organize a new council to pay salaries and establish law and order. they are still reeling from the speed of events. >> ( translated ): at the first, it was protest. and after that when we heard some people killed we tried to stay and not go and then all of a sudden it's a revolution. >> reporter: elsewhere in the courthouse, 20 men accused of being african mercenaries hired by the colonel to kill protesters. some deny it and say they are libyans. others say they are from ghana and they're innocent. the revolutionaries haven't lost their sense of humor. the grafitti reads, "qaddafi you are the weakest link." it all comes down to him. he and his sons say they will live and die in libya. in benghazi, they say they won't rest until he is gone. >> lehrer: in washington, white house spokesman jay carney said qaddafi has lost any claim to legitimacy. he said the u.s. is going ahead with unspecified sanctions. and, he defended the pace of the president's response. >> there has never been a time when this much has been done this quickly. the united states has acted in concert with its international partners in great deliberation and haste. >> lehrer: the u.n. security council met this afternoon, to consider possible sanctions against the qaddafi regime. secretary general ban ki-moon urged concrete action and he said any delay will mean more loss of life. and nato's decision-making council held an emergency session, but announced it would not intervene in libya. and to hari sreenivasan. he has been talking by phone to several people in libya. >> in tripoli we spoke with a woman who wanted only oh be identified by her first name. rama lives in the neighborhood and watched qaddafi's speech and wondered if his supporters in the square had been paid to be there. >> we had eye witnesss that saw him in the green square, the suv was an open back, filled with fresh cash just out of the bank. and they were asking people, hey, can you bring me 30, how much do you want, 12 grand, and they just give them cash straight. >> reporter: she says qaddafi used the cash to fill green square with supporters and that the smiles and support are easy to buy from a population that needs so much. >> these people are hungry for money. i mean, if you take a bunch of libyans and take them to qaddafi and he asks them what do you guys want, a lot of them would say we need cars, we need housing, we need to live life, basically. and if you bribe them with cash they are very, you know, close minded that they don't know what other stuff would be -- for them. >> reporter: a man we spoke to who only goes only by his screen name, libya united, says the propaganda machine has been running for several days. >> we're getting messages that we, that anyone who tried to cross the lines will be punished, these four red lines are... (i audible) don't cross these four lines so you don't get punched and stuff like that. the last messages were just from saudi arabia, that says... the leader of the country. >> reporter: in the eastern part of libya in benghazi rereached a 42-year-old man just after friday prayers, he said thousands took to the streets and were united in their defiance of qaddafi. >> i swear to allah we are going to condemn all his... and send tom the high court. this is from me and the whole libya, we need help, we need help from america. we need help from europe. because the people, we don't have planes to buy, we don't have guns to buy. >> sreenivasan: now to what libyan-americans are hearing from their contacts, friends and families across libya as qaddafi struggles to hold on to power in tripoli. we have two long-time critics of the qaddafi regime. mohamed eljahmi who works as a software engineer. and naeem gheriany, a nuclear scientist. thank you for joining us. so mohammed, let start with you, mr. eljahmi. is this parallel, does this sync up with what you're hearing from your family members, that this propaganda machine is trying to present this image that qaddafi is still in power? >> yes. mr. qaddafi throughout his rule has been consistent in building his rule on three components. fear, deceit, and impoverishing the libyan people, meaning tying their individual, their basic needs to fulfilling their basic needs through absolute loyalty to him. >> reporter: mr. gearian e, is this what you're hearing on the ground? >> what we're hearing is that there was more killing today in tripoli. we knew that that's coming, that was coming. there has been a buildup of this matter over the past four or five days, both from the demonstrators as well as the qaddafi people and his security apparatus or whatever remains of that. we are kind of surprised that it took so long, because qaddafi definitely would have wanted to crush the protesters as soon as possible that have been in the streets of tripoli for the past several days. we think that he didn't do that, not out of niceity, but just because he could have not arranged for his own security and that's an indication that he doesn't really have much control. in fact, yesterday he appeared or he called rather over the phone to state tv and did not even have a picture of him. >> reporter: mr. eljahmi, what about the speech today what do you make of it? >> this is the basically more desperation, playing to the, trying to show that he has control in terms of imploring his people to retaliate. and it is all desperation. i really think when you look at where his control is, it is his... and some other parts in the south. but you know, for the better of libyan society and the libyan state is that mr. qaddafi needs to go. the longer he stays around, the more the threat of a civil war. and destabilization of libya. >> reporter: mr. gheriany, in egypt it was mubarak out, democracy in. what you hearing from libya? >> it very consistent the message that we're hearing from libya. that enough qaddafi, that's enough. qaddafi has been around for 41 years, this is his 42nd year, that's since the time of nixon, it's eight american administrations. and over those four decades he destroyed the country in every aspect he can think of. so people are fed up. those who are revolting against him now were all born during his rule. they knew nothing but qaddafi. they reject him and they're very determined, there's no going back. >> reporter: is the emphasis on a democracy there? >> there's a lot of thirst for democracy, in libya and the whole region of course, yes. there were no other slogans that people were chanting other than we want freedom to live like human beings, we had enough of this tyranny and we are not going to take it any more. the people are willing to die facing machine guns, anti-aircraft guns, mercenarys and all kinds of caughts on them. and they are facing that with very much determination. >> reporter: mr. eljahmi what about the movement, is there an organizational structure that's forming? we saw a little bit in one of those stories, but are there people starting to organize to say we're ready to lead in the absence of qaddafi? >> well, it started in the eastern part, yes. the tribes try to play a positive role. when the tribes, the elders talk, the younger ones listen. and the former justice minister who quit was put in charge. in benghazi they formed a committee made out of the attorney who is the one who started the protest, or his arrest by libyan, by qaddafi security triggered the protest. and they informed some committee to do the work and for the city of benghazi. libya, the positive thing right now is there's emphasis on unity, for example the flag of the independent flag which was, with the constitution monarchy being raised in tripoli and benghazi to every city they're talking about national unity. and if it continues it seems like, well, the enemy really here is mr. qaddafi himself, because he consistently for nearly 42 years has prevented libyans from, you know, meeting their aspirations. in addition, in his policies, the new youth of libya right now, they're looking for a mix of spirituality of the east with materialism of the west. they want to earn things the right way, unlike what mr. qaddafi did. he corrupted libyan society by creating a situation where the only way to be involved is to be involved in state security and harm your citizens and terrorize the population. >> reporter: we'll have to leave it there. mohammed eljahmi thank you so much and naeen gheriany, thank you for your time. >> woodruff: still to come on the "newshour": governors daniels and schweitzer on state budget woes. plus, mark shields and david brooks. but first, the other news of the day. here's kwame holman. >> holman: pro-human rights protests flared in many places in the middle east today and violence erupted in some. thousands of iraqis demanding better government services marched in several cities, and clashed with security forces. at least 12 demonstrators were killed, most of them in mosul, where guards opened fire. in egypt, cairo's tahrir square was filled with crowds pressing the country's new military rulers to make democratic reforms. the protesters also demanded the prime minister resign. >> ( translated ): our main demand is for ahmed shafiq's government to step down. we made mubarak step down and we must make shafiq also step down. shafiq has been appointed by mubarak. he is one of his regime, and we want him to go even if he is leading a government of angels. our second request is the immediate release of all political prisoners who are still in prisons. >> holman: one of the largest demonstrations yet played out in bahrain's capital. many thousands of people gathered in manama waving flags and demanding the government make political concessions. the huge protest blocked miles of roads and highways. and in yemen, government supporters and opponents held rival rallies in the capital, sanaa. and troops opened fire on crowds in aden, wounding 19. in pakistan, an american working for the c.i.a. returned to court in lahore in handcuffs. raymond davis is accused of murdering two pakistanis. he says it was self-defense, but he refused to sign a document outlining the charges. instead, he claimed diplomatic immunity. u.s. officials have demanded his release. the pakistani government has left it to the courts to decide. a saudi arabian college student charged with a bomb plot in texas has made his first court appearance. authorities say khalid aldawsari had a string of targets, including this dallas home belonging to former president george w. bush, as well as dams and nuclear plants. he arrived at federal court in lubbock today in shackles, flanked by u.s. marshals. then, he appeared before a judge to hear charges he bought chemicals with intentions of building a bomb. ireland's ruling party braced for a landslide loss today. voters went to the polls, amid soaring unemployment, and anger over the economic collapse that forced ireland to accept an international bailout. election results won't be finalized until sunday. wall street closed out the week with a rebound, as oil prices stabilized. the dow jones industrial average gained nearly 62 points to finish at 12,130. the nasdaq rose 43 points to close at 2,781. for the week, both the dow and the nasdaq lost about 2%. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to judy. >> woodruff: in statehouses across the country, governors and legislators are struggling to balance their budgets in a tough economic climate. those budget woes played out this week in wisconsin. the deadlock continued there as one legislative chamber moved ahead with the governor's proposal to curb labor's power. >> shame! shame! >> woodruff: democratic legislators jeered at their republican colleagues after the wisconsin state assembly voted to pass an anti-union bill in the early hours of the morning. the measure, which saw three straight days of debate, would strip most public employees of most of their collective bargaining rights. but it still has to go through the state senate. and a quick vote is unlikely there-- 14 democrats skipped town last week, freezing action in the upper chamber. it's not known when they'll return from their suspected hideout in illinois. republican governor scott walker continued to prod his opposition. >> we'd certainly welcome them home. there are plenty of other things we can work on to bridge the gap that is there now. they were elected to do this job. >> woodruff: democratic lawmakers from indiana have also fled to illinois-- camping out at this hotel to dodge votes on their state's pending legislation on labor and education reforms. >> i think they thought we were going to bend, break, and come back. >> woodruff: earlier this week, republican governor mitch daniels withdrew his support for a bill that would have severely weakened private sector unions. even so, the democratic side of the state legislature, still remained empty. after daniels received criticism from some republicans for caving, he amped up his rhetoric. >> you don't walk off the job, take your public paycheck with you and attempt to bring the whole process to a screeching halt. >> woodruff: in washington today, president obama sat down with a number of democratic governors, who later commented on the government versus union battles across the nation. >> whatever wisconsin or these other states can do to get back into the game of creating jobs instead of fighting or belittling their public employees i think is a good step. >> woodruff: the governors will remain in washington through the wee