our chief foreign correspondent richard engle with us tonight from benghazi. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. i think showed up is a good way to describe it. this was an unannounced and unexpected visit. we had heard rumors that senator mccain would be coming here, but we couldn't confirm it until we went downstairs in the lobby of the hotel and saw senator mccain standing there. >> senator, welcome to benghazi. >> even the people of benghazi seemed surprised to see senator mccain in town. >> how are you? >> reporter: he arrives unannounced with only a tiny entourage and almost no security. he toured downtown benghazi and looked at photographs of rebels killed fighting gadhafi, men the senator calls his heroes. the message quickly won over the people here. as word spread of mccain's arrival, american flags were brought out along with signs praising the united states. but speaking to nbc news, he was critical of president obama and the nato mission here. calling it contradictory. >> the policy is that gadhafi must go, but the president s

they repelled an attack in benghazi. whether that attack would have continued, whether all the armor sort of on the road would have overwhelmed them is sort of an open question at some point in the future but, you know, they are certainly able to fight. so at the moment when they're expecting air strikes to allow them advance and they don't come they seem to be sort of frozen in place. and so, you know, we'll be looking to see how they adjust, whether they make clear decisions about their military leadership and sort out the risk at the top and whether they're able... whether they have professional soldiers they can call on and whether they can organize as professional solders to take sort of a more active role in the effort. and we'll be watching the political developments, too. i failed to mention that there is also a very strong sort of core of these lawyers and these university professors still very much involved and it hasn't sort of been taken over by these sort of well-known technocrats. they are fairly new to the

neither in misratah nor benghazi. what you needed to do was strike their military center of gravity, tanks, artillery. but also his intelligence service. again, libyan armed forces are 10-1 advantage over the rebels right now in numbers and combat power. so if the u.s. steps out of this equation, takes away our enormously effective u.s. air force, it's hard to see why we're not going to end up in a stalemate civil war in libya with sort of an embarrassment to the president's public commitment and public policy. >> is that where you think this is heading? i mean from where we were twn rendrtle alone to reach tripoli. do you think we'll be in a long ground fight here with the cia trying to pick off dsidents one by one? how do you see this playing out? >> well, if the usair power isn't a major factor in this campaign i cannot imagine why the canadians, danes, french, and brits argog ave t awacs, refueling tankers, precision munitions. only the u.s. air force or u.s. naval air power can do th iwee coming out then i think

they repelled an attack in benghazi. whether that attack would have continued, whether all the armor sort of on the road would have overwhelmed them is sort of an open question at some point in the future but, you know, they are certainly able to fight. so at the moment when they're expecting air strikes to allow them advance and they don't come they seem to be sort of frozen in place. and so, you know, we'll be looking to see how they adjust, whether they make clear decisions about their military leadership and sort out the risk at the top and whether they're able... whether they have professional sdiers they can call on and whether they can organize as professional solders to take sort of a more active role in the effort. and we'll be watching the political developments, too. i failed to mention that there is also a very strong sort of core of these lawyers and these university professors still very much involved and it hasn't sort of been taken over by these sort of well-known technocrats. they are fairly new to the s

reports on the day before the air strikes took place from benghazi it's clear that the rebels in benghazi stopped. before he got beyond the suburbs and i think it would have been impossible for a force of maybe tens of thousands of soldiers to have taken a city of a million people so i don't accept that that was a sufficient justification for the war in the first place i also think there is some evidence again report in the guardian newspaper that gadhafi actually moved into playing the to take shelter from possible air attacks so far from producing the effect that the government said it would produce the opposite effect through your position is just stand back and leave well alone and let them sort themselves out well i certainly think that one revolution take place in the country is the business of the people in that country to conduct the revolution and my point across the western intervention would be this i don't think that they did intervene in order to assist a revolution process i think they intervened in order to get control over aleutian process and we begin to see now in the we

reports on the day before the airstrikes took place from benghazi it's clear that the rebels in benghazi stopped. before he got beyond the suburbs and i think it would have been impossible for a force of maybe tens of thousands of soldiers to have taken a city of a million people so i don't accept that that was a sufficient justification for the war in the first place i also think there is some evidence again reporting the guardian newspaper that he actually moved into paying you to take shelter from possible air attacks so far from producing the effect that the government said it would produce the opposite effect so your position is just stand back leave well alone and let them sort themselves out well i certainly think that when the revolution takes place in the country it's no business of the people in that country to conduct a revolution and my point about the western intervention would be this i don't think they did intervene in order to assist a revolution process i think they intervened in order to get control over aleutian process and we begin to see now in the weeks since the we

reports on the day before yesterday took place from benghazi it's clear that the rebels in benghazi stop gadhafi. before he got beyond the suburbs and i think it would have been impossible for a force of maybe tens of thousands of soldiers to have taken the city over a million people so i don't accept that that was a sufficient justification for the war in the first place i also think there is some evidence again report in the guardian newspaper that he actually moved into playing a to take shelter from possible air attacks so far from producing the effect that the government said it would produce the opposite effect so your position is just stand back leave well alone and let them sort themselves out well i certainly think that one revolution take place in the country is the business of the people in that country to conduct the revolution and my point about the western intervention would be this i don't think that they did intervene in order to assist a revolution process i think they intervened in order to get control over evolutionary process and we begin to see now in the weeks

reports on the day before the airstrikes took place from benghazi it's clear that the rebels in benghazi stopped to get a piece of this before he got to be on the suburbs and i think it would have been impossible for a force of maybe tens of thousands of soldiers to take in a city of a million people so i don't accept that that was a sufficient justification for the war in the first place i also think there is some evidence again report in the guardian newspaper that he actually moved into place so you could take shelter from possible air attacks so far from producing the effect that the government said it would produce the opposite effect so your position is just stand back leave well alone and let them sort themselves out well i certainly think that when a revolution takes place in the country it's the business of the people in that country to conduct the revolution and my point about the western intervention would be this i don't think that they did intervene in order to assist a revolutionary process i think they intervened in order to get control over evolutionary process and we beg

reports on the day before yesterday took place from benghazi it's clear that the rebels in benghazi stop gadhafi. before he got beyond the suburbs and i think it would have been impossible for a force of maybe tens of thousands of soldiers to have taken the city of a million people so i don't accept that that was a sufficient justification for the war in the first place i also think there is some evidence again report in the guardian newspaper that he actually moved into the take shelter from possible air attacks so far from producing the effect that the government said it would produce the opposite effect so your position is just stand back leave well alone and let them sort themselves out well i certainly think that one revolution take place in the country it's no business of the people in that country to conduct a revolution and my point about the western intervention would be this i don't think that they did intervene in order to assist a revolution process i think they intervened in order to get control over evolutionary process and we begin to see now in the weeks since the we

reports on the day before the airstrikes took place from benghazi it's clear that the rebels in benghazi stop gadhafi. before he got beyond the suburbs and i think it would have been impossible for a force of maybe tens of thousands of soldiers to take the city of a million people so i don't accept that that was a sufficient justification for the war in the first place i also think there is some evidence again report in the guardian newspaper that he actually moved me to take shelter from possible their attacks so far from producing the effect of that the government said it would produce the opposite effect for your position is just stand back leave well alone and let them sort themselves out well i certainly think that when the revolution takes place in the country it's the business of the people in that country to conduct the revolution and my point about western intervention would be this i don't think that they did intervene in order to assist the revolution process i think they intervened in order to get control over evolutionary process and we begin to see now in the weeks since th

reports on the day before the air strikes took place from benghazi it's clear that the rebels in benghazi stop gadhafi. before he got beyond the suburbs and i think it would have been impossible for a force of maybe tens of thousands of soldiers to have taken the city of a million people so i don't accept that that was a sufficient justification for the war in the first place i also think there is some evidence again report in the guardian newspaper that we actually moved into playing the take shelter from possible air attacks so far from producing the effect that the government said it would produce the opposite effect so your position is just stand back leave well alone and let them sort themselves out well i certainly think that when a revolution takes place in the country it's no business of the people in that country to conduct a revolution and my point about western intervention would be this i don't think that they did intervene in order to assist a revolution process i think they intervened in order to get control over additional process and we begin to see now in the weeks since

so almost everyone has moved to benghazi. that feeling of enthusiasm and momentum that the rebels felt they had isow almost all gone. make a wish! oh. ooh. by 'souoh.

i am primarily referring to benghazi. outside of the courthouse in benghazi, there would often be people chanting no, no, no al queda. a lot of these people were women, interesting for a north african and arab conflict. those on the home front insist that there is basically no political space for anti- democratic islamists within libyan civil society. that is despite the fact it there are islamist fighting on the kinetic war front. insistence that there be no western footprint on the ground, not even the lightest intelligence 1, was evidence to me of a politically immature mind stead -- mindset among the revolutionaries. if air power was going to be used, as it now is, if there were westerners from these intelligence services correlating armed forces, i'm not sure how the libyans thought that nadir destruction of rebel tanks was going to be unavoidable -- nato destruction of rebel tanks was going to be unavoidable. nato spokesperson said he did not know the rebels had tanks, which i find someone astounding. one of the thi

but i don't actually accept the government's argument about benghazi either if you look at the guardian reports on the day before the airstrikes took place for me it's clear that the rebels in benghazi stopped a good half of this before he got beyond the suburbs and i think it would have been impossible for a force of maybe tens of thousands of soldiers to take in a city of a million people so i don't accept that that was a sufficient justification for the war in the first place i also think there is some evidence again report in the guardian newspaper that he actually moved into playing the to take shelter from possible air attacks so far from producing the effect that the government said it would produce the opposite effect so your position is just stand back leave well alone and let them sort themselves out well i certainly think that one revolution takes place in the country it's the business of the people in that country to conduct the revolution and my point about western intervention would be that i don't think that they did intervene in order to assist a revolutionary process i

a humanitarian ship the victims of the ongoing clashes were transported to the rebel stronghold of benghazi we're going to cross live show correspondent paula you're give a very latest. paula how has the front line shifted over night. the bottom witnessing is that the fighting here on the ground seems to get a catered in cheap primary cities in the east of the country it's around the city of brega where pro and he got the forces have been fighting it off for weeks now but that frontline keeps shifting and at the moment it's actually not clear who is in control of the city of grego in the last six weeks that city has changed control six times so just gives you a sign of how quickly that frontline is moving in the west of the country most of the fighting is happening in and around the town of misrata and there we are hearing that the government has stepped up efforts to eliminate and he could have the supporters now we do know that a turkish humanitarian ship has taken two hundred and fifty patients civilian casualties to the city of benghazi doc some doctors on board that ship are saying tha

every day in the rebel stronghold of benghazi move pictures of those killed or missing or war and for the first time at least a dozen rebels are. still mean you will realize they have no choice except the losses. more than two weeks of passed since the no fly zone was put into effect over libya nato planes have been trying to rein in get after these heavy artillery clearing the way for the rebel fighters on the ground and there's even speculation egypt and the u.s. may be secretly training but the front line is still shifting back and forth with the rebels achieving only brief advances west this isn't something that either you anyway. the opposition says they are ready to take weapons from any willing state in order to be good i feel but it's. more weapons will help improve discipline mean teenagers with nato training or combat experience but. it seems that they are think they are not you know very much representative of what's going on on the ground we are seeing very articulate people talking to various governments in europe but also to the americans whereas on the ground we are see

nbc's stephanie gosk is in benghazi with the latest for us. stephanie? >> reporter: good evening, lester. this is the closest gadhafi's forces have come to benghazi since the air strikes began nearly three weeks ago. an estimated 10 to 15 pickup trucks packed with government troops rolled straight into ajdabiya today. shelling on the road from ajdabiya to benghazi sends the rebels on the run. caught by surprise again. they respond, but it's not an exact science. fighters struggled to get a rocket into position, moving the truck, even dropping a launcher, until finally firing off. the fighting began today on the western edge of ajdabiya. state tv broadcast a news reporter interviewing victorious government troops at the city's gates. but in the center of town, outside the hospital, it was a different scene. we're hearing gunfire on the other side of the hospital. the rebel forces say that gadhafi loyalists have actually taken a position there and they continue to gain ground. most of the patients were evacuated in the morning. >> translator: we've got qui

leaders of the african union arrived in benghazi hoping to strike a deal. just hours earlier in tripoli, moammar gadhafi said he backed their peace plan, including an immediate cease-fire, but the rebels quickly said no deal. the plan was rejected, the protesters cheered. people of benghazi have been protesting since mid-february with one simple demand, that gadhafi step down. any negotiation short of that, they say, is unacceptable. this woman has worked with the rebel leadership from the beginning. we first met her son after they seized control of the season. >> he is a liar and tried to lie many times. >> without a deal, the fighting continues. in the west, gadhafi has put a stronghold on misratah. medicine and food are running low. government tanks shell the city nearly every day. snipers done people down in the street. >> nato has stepped up its attacks on gadhafi's soldiers, releasing these videos of successful air strikes. bombing sunday gave rebels help to hold the eastern town of agdabia, but nato acknowledges it won't be enough to end the crisis.

the regime, they say, has spies in benghazi. he told me one of the missing is one doctor who is a father of four and director of the emergency ward. he left the hospital march 18 to look for the wounded. this is the hospital in which the doctor was traveling. highly visible and clearly marked. and yet it is riddled with bullets. inside, bloodstains, and judging by the explosive nature of these rounds, it is hard to imagine anyone inside could have survived. the in get eyewitnesses said the driver -- and yet i witnesses said the driver was seen it tied up by the vehicle on it the edge of the road. >> a paramedic who travel behind said the doctor was hit and in the shoulder. >> we have not told the family what happened. there is still no information to get them. one round hit the tire. the other is still lodged in his abdomen. >> among the other names of the missing, a cardiologist and in europe certain. -- and a neurosurgeon. everyone is a legitimate target, be it fighter, a civilian, or doctor. christian fraser, bbc news, bengha

delegates traveled to the rebel stronghold of benghazi to present the initiative, but it seeks only to reform a ruling system they want dismantled completely. >> the rebels transitional national council held a press conference in benghazi after meeting with delegates from the african union. rejecting the cease-fire plan, they said there could be no peace while muammar gaddafi remains in power. muammar gaddafi has embraced the plans, but the rebels say his words are not matched by his actions. they say his forces have stepped up their shelling of one of the main centers of the conflict. the chief of nato suggested he had announced cease-fires in the past but had not kept his promises. >> and the cease-fire must be credible and bible -- and a verifiable. as this united nations security council has made clear, there must be a complete end to violence. and a complete and to all attacks against and abuses of civilians. >> nato said it would press on with air strikes as long as muammar gaddafi's forces continued to target the civilian population. so does this rejection of the ceasefire put a

the regime, they say, has spies in benghazi. he told me one of the missing is one doctor who is a father of four and director of the emergency ward. he left the hospital march 18 to look for the wounded. this is the hospital in which the doctor was traveling. highly visible and clearly marked. and yet it is riddled with bullets. inside, bloodstains, and judging by the explosive nature of these rounds, it is hard to imagine anyone inside could have survived. the in get eyewitnesses said the driver -- and yet i witnesses said the driver was seen it tied up by the vehicle on it the edge of the road. >> a paramedic who travel behind said the doctor was hit and in the shoulder. >> we have not told the family what happened. there is still no information to get them. one round hit the tire. the other is still lodged in his abdomen. >> among the other names of the missing, a cardiologist and in europe certain. -- and a neurosurgeon. everyone is a legitimate target, be it fighter, a civilian, or doctor. christian fraser, bbc news, bengha

he's now back in benghazi where he joins us tonight. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. that support mission remains very significant here. it means that u.s. aircraft will be refuelling other jets, collecting intelligence and if specifically requested by another nato partner, flying combat missions as well. the front line on the desert highway outside brega can change in seconds. gunfire by gadhafi's troops forces the rebels into a rapid retreat. but later the rebels return, launching surface-to-surface rockets. here on the front lines, the rebels and gadhafi's forces, separated by a few miles, have reached a stalemate. for the last several days, neither has advanced or retreated more than a couple hundred yards. the stalemate is frustrating to the rebels. the nato air strikes aren't as frequent as before. >> why slow, slow be no help for me any? why? >> reporter: so the rebels are getting creative about boosting their own firepower, even attaching soviet-era aircraft rocket launchers to pickups. "if it doesn't fi

you up to ask yourself, what is going on with the cia people in benghazi? they are wearing slippers. >> the president made a speech at georgetown university -- after a decade, we've got to cut our dependence on foreign oil by 1/3. how is he going to do this, nina? >> ever president in modern times, going i think in model reagan -- ronald reagan -- george w. bush, we're going to make a switch grass into oil. this was not much better and i stopped paying attention. >> the gas tax -- you have to have a big revenue jump on energy or nothing good happens. >> charles has been talking about this or as long as i have known him. >> 1983, my first piece on that i have given up. >> i guess i've been around longer. richard nixon was the first on this. >> you are right. >> it might have been the same teleprompter. [laughter] energy independence, nationalism has become some of the underlying premise -- >> i would make two points. it looks as if the president's policy on oil is a drill in brazil. second, he said that we would cut oil imports by one/league starting from th

you said it was a minute you say did you say there was some transparency and there's transparency in benghazi but going into this conflict or war if it is a war there wasn't much transparency ok so i wish you could finish your children's parents in washington ok but that look a that's what's most important is nobody asking you i think that all right go ahead phyllis go ahead but i think i think that the key question of transparency is important and was not true in washington but i also think that we should be clear this was not a sudden decision that was made at a moment of urgency this was a decision that was several weeks in the making as we know that come about first when the french and the brits said we want a resolution that will call for a no fly zone the u.s. position was no we don't think a no fly zone is going to work but instead of saying and therefore we're going to vote no. they said let us take the resolution we will rewrite it and we'll come back with a better resolution which of course said not only a no fly zone but all necessary means to protect civilians but with some or all

docking tonight in the rebel capital, benghazi. most onboard were migrant workers. but there were libyan casualties, too, and among the walking wounded, 9-year-old mohammed. his father told us he was playing outside when a bomb exploded nearby. shrapnel tore through his flesh. he can hardly bear for the doctors to touch his face. mohammed el-masti told us he'll go straight back to the front as soon as he's treated. the international organization for migration got these people out and they're going back for more. >> the worst of the wounded are now being taken away on stretchers and brought to hospitals for further treatment. this is the second major evacuation from misrata in recent days. more than 2,000 people have now been brought out but thousands more are still waiting. and desperate conditions, hoping for an escape. >> another young fighter showed me the tail end of a rocket that landed near him and a group of his friends. >> there were six of my best friends. and i just followed them. [inaudible] >> one of them, his leg is severed. >> this is the kind of fight

nbc's stephanie gosk is in benghazi tonight with more on this siege going on in misrata. stephanie, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. well, nato says that the fighting over the last ten days in misrata has been intense. their most recent air strikes have destroyed dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, but commanders admit that gadhafi still has considerable strength on the ground. seven weeks under siege, and the fighting is only getting worse. government forces are trying to beat down not just the rebel fighters but the people of misrata themselves. there is no safe way in or out by road. the deep water port is the city's only lifeline. ships dock daily, bringing in food, medicine, and sometimes weapons. waiting to get out, human cargo. there are an estimated 5,000 migrant workers of many nationalities stuck since the fighting began, living in dirty and dangerous conditions. >> we are praying for god so that they can take us back to our country. >> reporter: when the opportunity comes to leave, there is a crush to get on board. no one wants to be left behin

former justice minister heads the national council in benghazi. he met with u.s. special envoy on friday. he was in benghazi to try to broker a cease-fire between the rebels and gadhafi. there could be no cease-fire unless forces loyal to gadhafi stop attacking the rebels and withdraw from towns and cities. the senior government officials have started deserting gadhafi. libya's information minister and the speaker of the congress have left for tunisia. the officials show that gadhafi is rapidly losing power. >>> the japan sumo association has punished 22 wrestlers and one stable master for a bout-fixing scandal. >> translator: it's a great pity that we have to punish so many of our members. it's an extremely severe punishment. >> the association's executive board decided on a series of punishments from an outside investigative committee. 19 wrestlers were asked to retire. six are in the top tier division. three people who admitted involvement were suspended for two years. >> translator: i want to apologize to the sumo association, to my stable and mostly to the fa

he is very willing to relinquish the national council in benghazi. he thinks his job would finish the minute gadhafi's regime falls. so he doesn't seek power. many of the council members before joining the resolution mr. abdeljalil, all the new names within the opposition now has been born of gadhafi's -- regime. it seems impossible to say if these members of the council, apart from abdeljalil have any true representation of the massive uprising from especially the young. of the opposition -- albeit opposition groups have come back to libya now in order to reconnect with their supporters and also to reconnect with the people who let this uprising. the libyan salvation sense of its members to reconnect with the libyan people in benghazi. the muslim government sent some people, but i think the quickest to act where the jihadist. they couldn't sit idle when they saw gadhafi's regime killing their own people. in any case, the jihadists were part of the military and participate in the struggle. some of the jihadists have returned from outside, but these p

ship the victims of the young going clashes were transported to the opposition's makeshift capital benghazi as the u.s. agrees to support nato during airstrikes on monday the death toll across the country continues to mount artie's correspondent paula sleazier brings us more from tripoli. the fighting here on the ground seems to be located in chu primary cities in the east of the country it's around the city of brega but that frontline keets shifting and at the moment it's actually not clear he is in control in the last six weeks that city has changed control six times in the west of the country most of the fighting is happening in and around the town of misrata and there we are hearing that the government has stepped up efforts to eliminate and he could have his supporters now we do know that a turkish military and ship has taken two hundred and fifty patients civilian casualties to the city of benghazi some doctors on board that ship will say that the injuries are incredibly severe and that the civilian death count is likely to climb we certainly have witnessed an increase in diplomatic a

special envoy in benghazi is there to meet rebel leaders. there are talks -- there are talks in tripoli with colonel gaddafi's regime. the implications are clear -- a ceasefire and decisive political change. but delivering that looks increasingly difficult. bbc news. >> as forces loyal to colonel gaddafi battle to hold ground they have won back from the rebels, no reports in air strike may have killed seven civilians, including children. ben brown has been talking to the libyan doctor who treated the injured. >> the rebels at been in retreat all week. they tried to regroup and did vance once more against colonel gaddafi's forces and the town of brega. the rebels now they are outgunned, but they are determined to regain all the territory lost in the last few days. there have been more nato air strikes. so far in the conflict, a coalition pilots have flown hundreds of missions. commanders say they see no evidence that there are any civilian deaths as a result. we are told that as many as seven were killed in an air strike the day before yester

every day in the rebel stronghold of benghazi more pictures of those killed or missing or put up on walls and for the first time at least a dozen rebels are reported to have been killed in a coalition strike still many locals say they realize they have no choice except the losses. maybe. more than two weeks of passed since the no fly zone was put into effect over libya and nato planes have been trying to reign in these heavy artillery clearing the way for the rebel fighters on the ground and there is even speculation egypt and the u.s. may be secretly training but the front line is still shifting back and forth with the rebels achieving only brief advances west the sunni shia. and either you can in any way. you see here. the opposition says they are ready to take weapons from any willing state in order to get their feet but it's plainly more weapons will help improve the discipline many teenagers would name their training or combat experience but. it seems that they are take they are not you know very much reprise of what's going on on the ground we are seeing very articulate people talki

before that when the libyan opposition had managed to drive those government tanks out of out of out of benghazi with their own power without military force i'm not convinced that they could have done it again i'm not sure but my point is if we started with that they were handed in if we're looking back and we are now i think we need to look back three weeks earlier the first day there was a government assault on unarmed protesters. the first day when they were still unarmed that was the moment for the u.s. to quote intervene by saying you know what the colonel gadhafi we have allowed you since two thousand and two to be on our good side no more no more arms no more contracts no more military support you're going back probably just terrorism says i was on the hearing this will stop exactly as they should have the others what this is these are that's what i think roy would do if world however long grayness from germany just speaks in the conflict it looks in the conflict i mean what we're saying is sort of yourselves you know you own your own problems and we know that one side is on the other sid

i am primarily referring to benghazi. outside of the courthouse in benghazi, there would often be people chanting no, no, no al queda. a lot of these people were women, interesting for a north african and arab conflict. those on the home front insist that there is basically no political space for anti- democratic islamists within libyan civil society. that is despite the fact it there are islamist fighting on the kinetic war front. insistence that there be no western footprint on the ground, not even the lightest intelligence 1, was evidence to me of a politically immature mind stead -- mindset among the revolutionaries. if air power was going to be used, as it now is, if there were westerners from these intelligence services correlating armed forces, i'm not sure how the libyans thought that nadir destruction of rebel tanks was going to be unavoidable -- nato destruction of rebel tanks was going to be unavoidable. nato spokesperson said he did not know the rebels had tanks, which i find someone astounding. one of the thi

president zuma and his delegation will be here in benghazi tomorrow to meet with rebel leaders. but keep in mind, gadhafi has never said he would step down, and the rebels here in benghazi say they won't negotiate until he does. finding middle ground between them is going to be very difficult, lester. >> stephanie gosk tonight, thank you, stephanie. >>> tomorrow it will be one month since the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck japan, a country still in ruins and still trying to contain a nuclear disaster. today brought signs of growing anger and frustration, but also of a desire to move on. nbc's lee cowen is in tokyo again for us tonight. >> reporter: if there's a measure of the unease over japan's nuclear crisis, this was it. at least 5,000 turned out to demonstrate in front of tepco today. the utility now responsible for bringing their stricken nuclear plant under control. it's not the first protest against nuclear power. but it is the largest. and the longer this crisis goes on, the less patience everyone has. >> we've really had enough. that's why people are her

the opposition leadership in benghazi called the incident unfortunate but did not condemn nato. >> we feel sorry for the families who lost their children in this particular attack, however, we think it is necessary for nato to keep doing what they are doing because the benefit is much greater than what has happened today. >> nato says it's investigating the attack, which comes as the united states is preparing to end its combat missions over libya. the pentagon has said, as of sunday, american aircraft will continue to gather intelligence and refuel fighter jets, but no longer drop bombs. it ends a critical phase of the combat operation. and avoids the risk that american troops will cause civilian casualties, always a significant danger in an air campaign without troops on the ground to identify targets. as of now here in libya, the deadline for u.s. aircraft to stop flying bombing missions has passed. however, u.s. planes will remain on standby in case they're called for for emergency support. >> richard engel in benghazi, thanks. >>> turning to afghanistan and another day of deadly

nbc's richard engel with us again tonight from the rebel-held city of benghazi. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the cia has sent small teams here to work with the opposition and also provide intelligence. and on the ground we're seeing signs from the rebels themselves that they are finally determined to stop retreating and take on gadhafi's forces. the rebels today took on gadhafi's troops without western air support. the rebels fight with mortars and rockets. they lack experience. rebels load a rocket, it doesn't go off. after adjusting it, the rocket eventually fires, but way off target. moments later, gadhafi's troops

i was near is here in tripoli with our correspondent going off to date from the rebel stronghold of benghazi also you can follow us on our facebook page as well as check out the

and in fact, in its execution prevented that as gadhafi's forces marched on benghazi. i think that my own experience with regime change is that can be long and very, very indeterminant in the outcome. clearly the policy of the president is one of to see gadhafi out and regime change in that regard and that can be accomplished through the limited military mission that we have, and in execution, and then the additional, the the other tools, if you will, that we have to pressure him over time. >> admiral, from a military perspective, you agree that having a broad international coalition and support in place makes a difference? >> oh, i think it has, yes, sir, clearly. >> now, on the question of providing arms to the opposition. admiral, i believe you have aid that you are looking at all options from doing it to not doing it. >> correct. >> and beth of you i believe have pointed out that other countries have the capability to provide arms to the opposition. admiral mullen i think again said that no decision has been made on this question, so i want to ask a slightly differ

it's west of benghazi and has a road that by passes a desert -- a desert road that bypasses benghazi to the south and connects to tulbrook. it's possible the war would be lost without intervention. i need to mention i left libya just before western air strikes began. the gadhafists on the other hand we learned and to a colleague of mine who was actually shot in the calf realized they have their red line which is a very obscure small settlement called benjalad. they told the journalists their own propaganda mixed in with their bra -- bravado. there's been more than one that this acts as a geographic call buffer and reaching it was absolutely unacceptable, and where they ended up putting up a very strong fight. some colleagues of mine were in a fire fight with pkm machine guns and gadhafist snipers and mother mercenaries, and they were treated to points further east. once the rebel movement realized that sirte was an insurmountable task, the calls for a no-fly zone increased and noncivil society actors in tobruk until the sites came to fruition. the libyan revolution issued a contest o

the convoys that have come here have all gone to benghazi. mizrata is too dangerous for anybody like visitors to visit. i would assume-- host:laila fidel joins us by phone and that you for joining the program. if you want to read more of her reporting, you can find it in this morning's "washington post." you can get that in hard copy or you can find it on line. coming up in 45 minutes, a discussion on new foreclosures for lenders. enter the break, a discussion on u.s. manufacturing jobs. you're watching "washington journal," today is saturday, april 23. ♪ we will be right back. ♪ >> all this month, we have the to the top winners of the studentcam video competition. meet the top three winners and see their bills this monday, tuesday, and wednesday morning started watch their documentary's at 6:50 eastern and meet the winners live during "washington journal" at 9:15. you can see the videos anytime on c-span.org. >> on c-span 3, an artist texas back to the 19th century white house. pepperdine university professor looks at the presidential el

> stephanie gosk on post tonight in benghazi, libya. stephanie, thanks. >>> turning now to japan, there was some good news for a change today. workers at that crippled nuclear power plant have managed to stop tons of highly radioactive water from seeping into the ocean, but now the workers have had any number of other problems on their hands, not the least of which preventing another hydrogen explosion. nbc's lee cowan remains in tokyo for us tonight and has our report. >> reporter: any euphoria over stopping the flood of radioactive water that had been gushing into the ocean was pretty short lived. workers now have a more pressing problem, preventing another explosion at the still steaming plant. engineers began injecting nitrogen into the containment building around reactor number one. the nitrogen could prevent explosive hydrogen from building up, the culprit that caused the blasts that ripped through the plant almost four weeks ago. today pregnant women and young children were urged to leave this village even though it's outside the

turkish humanitarian ship has taken two hundred and fifty patients civilian casualties to the city of benghazi doc some doctors on board that ship are saying that the injuries are incredibly severe and that the civilian death count is likely to climb now over the weekend there was a request from nato to the united states to extend its participation in these airstrikes for another forty eight hour was elected on expires today monday with the u.s. increasingly saying that it wants to withdraw from the operations as the president barack obama comes under increasing criticism from within his own administration the sense on the ground though more and more is that there is a stalemate being reached which is why people here are looking for some kind of political solution to get him out of this or we said they have witnessed an increase in diplomatic activity on behalf of the gadhafi regime in the most recent attempt a former libyan prime minister has headed a libyan envoy to the greek city of athens and there he's been holding talks to try and seek a way out of this crisis we know that this week that

no issue with un resolution seventy three insofar as a duty to protect us in the situation there in benghazi but that resolution should not be stretched to cover all sorts of manner of interventions excursions which could result in a serious military thanks for. your thoughts and about this today the u.k. combined with france to deploy military officers to libya to advise the rebels how legal is that under the existing u.n. resolution do you think. well i think that we are increasingly in a teenager in danger of getting into. as far as the operation of the resolution is concerned already last week we saw the piece coming from peter cameron from presidents or cozy up president obama which appear to speak in forked tongue i'm the one hand that was saying we're not in there for regime change in the other hand we're not giving up until we get regime change you can't say two contradictory russian arms in terms of an operation of the sort of nature you can't say that you're going on under strict terms that will commit to growing troops but then you end up getting stopped and then committing troops

aboard a humanitarian ship victim silvio going clashes were transported to the rebel stronghold of benghazi meanwhile a khadafi amboy has told the greek prime minister that the libyan government is seeking a solution to the crisis and wants the firing to stop our correspondent policy or has more from the capital tripoli. the work of bloodshed is increasingly being used to describe the situation in the last rebel held city in the west of this country the city of misrata now according to doctors on the scene they say that one person was killed and several people were wounded in the early hours of sunday morning when the government forces renewed shelling on a building in the city and we understand from the doctors and that and to a few days ago there were number of civilians being housed inside that building they had been injured in recent clashes between pro and anti gadhafi forces but fortunately there have been evacuated before the shelling began we are also hearing from doctors that in the last week alone hundred and sixty people have been killed in misrata itself from these battles gone

actually yes you can see you are in the second largest city benghazi one of the rebel saying about the recent kalish an attack that killed supporters. well i must say that here in bin guys you the rebel stronghold there is a lot of confusion and uncertainty around this incident with this coalition strike reportedly killing thirteen rebels because according to some reports it was caused by a program that these troops sneaked in the rebels and opened fire opened fire the nato planes full of pilots basically were forced to open fire back but according to other reports the rebel fighters opened fire in the air while celebrating their advance west also confusing the pilots and triggering them to open fire back but. this just shows this could be possible and i personally would believe the second version also because mining the poor level of organization and military training this could be the right the right scenario there are even reports now that the. egypt and the united states are secretly training these rebels because of many of them are teenagers with a k forty seven s which obviously

richard engel, nbc news, benghazi. >> we know the cia is on the ground in libya. they're helping to target gadhafi's forces and making contact with a largely unknown rebel leadership. jamie smith is a former cia officer who served in the middle east and also the founder and owner of scg international, a private security firm. thanks for joining us. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel was with a rebel group yesterday. he was telling me the rebels could hold up for months, even years without arms. so are arms needed at this moment to turn the tides? >> well, i would respectfully disagree that. you've got to have the munitions in order to provide defense, and gadhafi definitely has the munitions. he has the armor and the small arms to come in and take this back. we've seen this over the last couple of weeks where there's a pattern, where the rebel forces will come in. they will gain some ground. but because they're a somewhat disorganized group with a lack of training, they cannot hold the ground they take. and then gadhafi comes in and takes it back. we se

or able to avert a massacre in benghazi when i was in benghazi i talked to the people down there i found out from myself that they talked to some of the soldiers that belong together if you are a loyalist and they had given being given a mandate to come to town leveled the town of nine hundred thousand people literally leveled the town rape the women and and kill every man from eighteen to forty and do you really honestly believe we're going to are we just keep hearing this creepy really doing and we just hear this from people like you ok there is no evidence of this except for people like you come on programs like mine and say hey we're going to do this this and this but we never hear from which never cooperated i was on it again and that's really important here john if i can go to you i mean when the first bomb dropped is there any good way out of this mess. you know because even if we take it on the on the on the kind of playing field that omar is talking about if this goes on for a long period of time we will see the same amounts of human casualties we will see a prolonged period hol

or able to avert a massacre in benghazi when i was in benghazi i talked to the people down there i found out for myself that they talked to some of the soldiers that belong together if you are a loyalist and they had given being given a mandate to come to town level the town of nine hundred thousand people literally leveled the rate they were women and and kill every man from eighteen to forty and do you really honestly believe that all men are we i just keep hearing this crazy only doing we just hear this from people like you ok there is no evidence of this except for people like you come on programs like mine and say they were going to do business in this but we never hear from which never cooperated and i'll sign it again and that's really important john if i can go to you i mean when the first bomb dropped is there any good way out of this mess. you know because even if we take it on the on the on the kind of playing field put on mars talking about if this goes on for a long period of time we will see the same amounts of human casualties we will see a prolonged period they are going