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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Moammar Gadhafi Speaks on Libyan TV; Meet the Gadhafi Family; Charlie Sheen's Meltdown
Aired March 08, 2011 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone.
Breaking news: after a day of dramatic developments in Libya, Libyan state television right now airing a new statement from dictator Moammar Gadhafi taped earlier today, the dictator seeming to put out a new explanation of the uprising against him. This is a live image right now.
He now seems to be blaming the opposition on communist agents of America. Now, this is an early translation and as you know, figuring out exactly what Moammar Gadhafi is saying is not always so easy. So we're going to continue to listen and continue to try to get another translation just to make sure.
But if that is a new -- if he is in fact blaming communist agents of America, that would certainly be yet another explanation of what is going on in his country. As you know, we have heard everything from al Qaeda fighters to kids who have been drugged with hallucinogenic drugs.
Now even as he does all this, poorly-armed opposition forces are trying to hold on against attacks by Gadhafi's forces. Tonight, we bring you new video from inside a surrounded city. The city is Zawiya. Gadhafi claims his forces took it days ago. They didn't. And he clearly doesn't want you to know what is happening there right now.
Reporters are banned from going inside Zawiya. But the video we're about to show you was shot by a team from Britain Sky News, the only foreign reporters in that city who managed to get in before the fighting began. Their video is disturbing, we warn you, but it's important because it contradicts much of what Gadhafi, his sons and his spokesman continue to claim.
Remember, they all claim they're fighting al Qaeda, not Libyans who hate them. They claim they've not fired on Libyan civilians. They claim casualties have been few.
From what you're about to see and what witnesses on the ground are reporting, those claims are false, untrue, incorrect, lies.
We're "Keeping Them Honest".
What you're seeing is full-fledged warfare on opposition forces that are hanging on, just barely, poorly armed, most of them civilians with no military training and few weapons.
At a hospital in Zawiya, plenty of wounded, some of them children. This little boy has a head wound. There's a little girl nearby. Remember, Gadhafi is claiming they haven't fired on any civilians. A local doctor tells us since the video was taken the hospitals have been shut down. He says the army shot and killed two colleagues in the main square.
Even more chilling, he says that when troops encounter wounded residents, they don't take them for treatment or render any assistance. Instead, according to this doctor, the wounded are simply shot dead. We cannot independently confirm that, but that team from Sky News was in an ambulance that was fired upon by government forces.
All of these accounts totally contradicting the government line that there's no uprising and that major Libyan cities are being held hostage by small numbers of al Qaeda fighters. It also lays bare the claim repeated by one of Moammar Gadhafi's sons on Al-Arabiya today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAADI GADHAFI, COLONEL GADHAFI'S SON (through translator): The leader gave clear instructions that the military doesn't intervene, except in cases where there are vital areas that need to be protected and to be ready in case of foreign intervention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: None of what you see in Zawiya or any place else so far backs that up. Yet the regime keeps repeating it falsely claiming about 100 fatalities, many of them police officers they say killed by al Qaeda or crazed Libyan teenagers hopped up on hallucinogens. You'll recall that even when the government unveiled that haul of so-called hallucinogenic pills last week, this is what they showed. The drug turned out to be a hospital painkiller. The side effects -- drowsiness and constipation, not -- it's not a hallucinogen.
But even when its own evidence falls flat, the regime keeps adding. Gadhafi himself repeated untrue statements during an interview with Turkish TV. It happened at a Tripoli hotel today where foreign media had been bottled up. Shortly before his boss appeared, the spokesman, Musa Ibrahim, the official Libyan government spokesman warned NBC's Richard Engle that going out and taking pictures from the hotel roof would be deadly.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUSA IBRAHIM, LIBYAN GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN: Some people are sneaking from balconies up there. They will be shot dead immediately. Don't do that. Don't tell me, please come on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Not wanting to be filmed, saying that they'll be shot dead if they go up on the roof. Gadhafi came to the hotel seven hours late after a day of speculation. First that he was willing to negotiate his departure, and later when that report didn't pan out that he would give a news conference.
Instead he spoke only with a Turkish reporter, reprising his old lines and now this taped statement from him tonight playing out on state television live that we continue to monitor.
Meantime, air power is giving the regime an upper hand in eastern Libya. This is apparently a weapons depot being hit but opposition leaders say water supplies are also being hit in Ras Lanuf. Again, the government denies targeting any civilian targets. It also denies negotiating with the opposition and earlier today, rumors that Gadhafi wanted to negotiate his departure from Libya proved to be just that, rumors.
But not before the State Department weighed in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
P.J. CROWLEY, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: There's nothing preventing Mr. Gadhafi from leaving his tent, climbing in an airplane, and -- and leaving Libya so his people can have a better tomorrow than -- that they have today. There's nothing preventing him from doing that.
(INAUDIBLE)
CROWLEY: Again, it's not for us to choose his you know, his -- his final destination. We are going to hold him accountable. There is a commission of inquiry under the ICC. Yes, so you know, my -- my favorite booking would be a trip to The Hague.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Apparently that's not in the cards. With us now in Tripoli: our own Nic Robertson and David Kirkpatrick of the "New York Times" and in Benghazi, CNN's Ben Wedeman.
Nic, I don't -- this -- this thing where Gadhafi arrived and -- and his spokesman warned NBC's Richard Engle and other reporters that if they went on the roof they would be shot instantly. What was that about?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There was so much confusion before Gadhafi came and the government officials, Mr. Ibrahim among them, were trying to figure out where the journalists could go. There were sort of a -- there was -- Mr. Ibrahim didn't know that Gadhafi was coming. This is the man who is in charge of the journalists in the hotel here.
The red carpet had been rolled out. He -- he was trying to figure out where we could go and where we could stand and he was trying to negotiate that with Gadhafi's security forces. He seemed to be diligently trying to do that. Yet at the same time he issued a very flat and straight out warning to everyone, that if you get on the roof, then Gadhafi's security forces are going to see that as a threat. So don't do it.
And he's been faced with journalists trying to get every angle of the story. Why? Because his office hasn't been able to get us to places like Zawiya so he knows exactly we're going to get out and try and get the story. So this seemed to be -- it seemed to be a warning, but not so much a threat. It was just don't be stupid, don't get up there. Don't put yourself in harm's way -- Anderson.
COOPER: Ben, you've had, you're in the -- in the -- in the east of Libya, areas controlled still by the opposition. You were near Ras Lanuf, and I'm probably mispronouncing it. Where -- how do you see the battle at this point, the ebb and flow of it? Who has the upper hand now, is it the Libyan -- the Libyan regime?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The regime clearly has the upper hand, Anderson. They've got a lot of tanks, surface-to-surface missiles and their real sort of ace in the hole is air power -- helicopters and fighter bombers that, at will, can hit the rebel positions. The rebels have these old ancient Chinese and Soviet anti-aircraft guns that are almost useless. They're more useful really at sort of shooting horizontal at oncoming troops.
What we're seeing is that the -- the government forces are stationary at the moment. They're just outside the town of Bin Jawad.
But every time the opposition forces try to move there, try to go in that direction, the government forces just let -- just let loose with everything they have. It appears their offensive so to speak has come to a screeching halt -- Anderson.
COOPER: David, from your perspective, what are you hearing in terms of the battle of -- for Zawiya and some of these other cities, Misrata, how do you see the ebb and flow of this?
DAVID KIRKPATRICK, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": I think it's very much right. It appears that the -- the Libyan military has an overwhelming advantage in firepower. They have a deficit in morale, and so despite that advantage in firepower, we've seen them swept aside at certain points by -- by a smaller and -- and poorly-armed forces.
There's some indications that bombers are dropping their bombs far, far from the targets. So even though they have this enormous air power, they're not able to -- to decimate the rebels as much as they would like. But some analysts -- as much as they might like.
But some analysts say they even have -- the rebels have anti-aircraft weapons in their supply areas back in Benghazi.
But they don't have the logistics to get them to the front so they could take on some of these planes. But they can't get to the weapons to the battle.
COOPER: Nic, you were on the outskirts of Zawiya yesterday. I want to play some of that video, because you know the government by then, the Libyan regime, the Gadhafi regime was claiming they were already in control of the city. They didn't let you go into the center of the city.
But from what you saw on the outskirts, clearly there was still firing and fighting going on. I just want to play that video for our viewers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON (on camera): That's the sound of heavy machine gun fire. It sounds heavy machine gun fire cracks, the shots -- just ducking for cover, we're ok behind this wall. So that's the --that's what we can hear going on, on the outskirts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: So Nic, from what we're hearing from Zawiya from -- from a doctor who escaped said that -- that they -- that the government has actually shut down the two hospitals that were treating opposition wounded. If that is in fact the case, that's an extraordinarily alarming development, that -- the idea that there is no place for the wounded to get treated.
ROBERTSON: And that any wounded of the government forces are coming across, according to this doctor, that they are being shot. It -- it is alarming and it certainly begins to paint a picture that the rebels out here have (AUDIO GAP) rushed into Zawiya, as well, are slowly sort of succumbing to that weight of force. The doctors have talked about tanks being involved in that fight, quite heavy use of tanks.
I followed up this with the deputy foreign minister here this evening and he reiterated again no use of -- of -- of heavy firepower against civilians, no civilian casualties. And that is at the same time as these pictures from Sky News are already out on the Internet.
So it -- it -- it just diminishes faith -- whatever faith there was in what government officials say. Or -- or simply are they being duped by Gadhafi? Are they not looking at the Internet like other people in the country are? And just -- it -- it defies logic really when you hear these things -- Anderson.
COOPER: David, I mean, I don't know how to phrase this exactly, but does the Gadhafi regime have any credibility in their public statements whatsoever?
KIRKPATRICK: Well, we're in an atmosphere here where facts are increasingly rare. And I think that's one of the reasons why we're seeing so many rumors flourish. The Gadhafi statement on state television has seemed far, far, far off base. It's also true that not everything the rebels say is -- is iron-clad either. I've had a lot of people -- even people in Zawiya -- I mean, as you know, we're not able to get to Zawiya.
So for a while we are relying on -- on phone calls on people who were there, who would give us shocking and graphic reports. Some of it was true; not all of which was true.
And now all the phone lines are down, electricity was down, the Internet is down. So what -- what -- what suffices for information from Zawiya really now, aside from that Sky TV tape, is a few days old are people -- people in neighboring towns telling us what they think is going on in Zawiya.
So I would say no, that the state TV reports and the news from the Gadhafi -- Gadhafi administration is not necessarily fully reliable. Neither is what we hear from the rebels either.
COOPER: Ben, in the east, you've travel with the opposition forces. You've seen them under fire and returning fire. How important is the Gadhafi air force? How important is their air superiority to -- to what's happening on the ground?
The question obviously if there was a no-fly zone, whether taking out aircraft would really make that much of a difference in terms of the battles on the ground.
WEDEMAN: It would -- it would make a huge difference, because this is what has prevented the opposition forces from moving ahead. You have to realize that in desert warfare, its open terrain. There's really nowhere to hide, there are no mountains or there are no forests, nothing.
And as the opposition forces move ahead, and they move in a very haphazard, sort of random, chaotic way. They're just sitting ducks out on this open terrain, a long, black strip through the desert.
And as long as the aircraft of the Libyan air force, helicopters and fighter bombers can watch what's going on, can see what's going on, they -- they -- they have complete control of the situation.
We've seen the helicopters letting loose with rockets into rebel positions, not even positions, I'm talking about just pickup trucks as they drive along the road.
So a no-fly zone, which is something that everybody you speak to here says they desperately need, would make a huge difference. It would take the pressure off the opposition forces, because -- because at the moment, this is their main terror, is when you're driving down the road, you hear that plane overhead, everybody panics.
COOPER: David Kirkpatrick, I appreciate you joining us from "The New York Times"; Ben Wedeman, Nic Robertson, all stay safe. Thanks.
Let us know what you think we're on Facebook or follow me on Twitter @AndersonCooper. I'll be live tweeting throughout the hour tonight.
Moammar Gadhafi has nine grown kids. You know, you've probably only heard about one or two of them. All hold some positions of influence. One allegedly helped plot a coup against his father, but is back in the fold now.
They're certainly not "Brady Bunch". we'll take a look inside the Gadhafi clan. Later tonight, we'll also look at the no-fly zone, a debate about whether or not it actually would work. And later: Charlie Sheen's very public breakdown taking a pretty disturbing turn. It's a story we haven't really reported on, but his latest statements and video appearance are startling. Dr. Drew Pinsky joins me ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Updating our breaking news: Moammar Gadhafi speaking right now on tape, on state television in Libya after a day that began with rumors he was negotiating his departure. That did not pan out. They were just rumors. With his forces apparently gaining the upper hand, there is no immediate sign it will pan out in the immediate future.
We're trying to translate his statement right now, and as it often is with Gadhafi deciphering what he is actually saying is often not clear. Our interpreter right now just said he was speaking gibberish. So we're trying to get a better translation.
Also, less than clear at the moment, just how much pressure the world may bring to bear on him.
Today, the Organization of the Islamic Conference said it wants the U.N. to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya. The group represents 56 member states.
In the meantime, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it's important that any no-fly zone over Libya not be a U.S.-led effort. When pressed on whether the U.S. would support a no-fly zone, she told Sky News quote, "We're going to support the efforts that are being made because we think that the people of Libya themselves have to be supported and we know how difficult this struggle is."
That's as far as she would go. Ed Henry joins me now from the White House. Ed, what is going on inside the administration? There -- there was talk a lot about doing something maybe through NATO. Are they any closer to coming to a -- a firm decision on a no-fly zone?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know Anderson, they don't seem any closer at all. Today, the President did a phone call with the British Prime Minister David Cameron and afterwards the White House officials put out kind of readout of it and basically said look, they agreed Gadhafi must go, all options are on the table, including a no-fly zone. But frankly, we've heard that same formulation for days now, a couple of weeks in fact.
And when Jay Carney was pressed by reporters a bit after that, well, what are you going to do? Are you going to go before the U.N. Security Council? He -- he kept hedging and basically said, "I'm not going to you know, get into the details of exactly what process we're going to use."
So it's still anyone's guess, are they going to go through the U.N., are they going to go through NATO? And you know, having "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT" interview Donald Rumsfeld is a reminder. And when you talk to senior U.S. officials, they remind everyone about the experience in Iraq, the experience in Afghanistan and that you've got to be really careful before a commander-in-chief starts any kind of U.S. military action.
But as they continue the same kind of formulation day after day, they're facing real pressure to act and it's no wonder then "The New York Times" today had a pretty tough editorial saying the U.S. is losing credibility as it continues to wait.
COOPER: And -- and so now you have senators like McCain and -- and Kerry talking up a no-fly zone but -- but Secretary Gates a couple of days ago was -- was -- was talking about the difficulties of it, saying it's essentially, you know, this is not some video game that you basically have to -- get involved in a war on the ground, you have to take out anti-aircraft elements.
He now -- I don't know if he's softening or changing his position, but now I think today he stressed just the importance of -- of doing stuff in -- with international cooperation.
HENRY: Right. And I think that same caution is now being reflected in the words of Secretary of State Clinton as you referred to in that Sky News interview as well. She had seemed to be a little bit more forceful. Maybe more in favor of a no-fly zone say a week ago.
But with Secretary Gates and others and Bill Daley, the Chief of Staff here at the White House, seemed to put cold water on that.
Take a listen to a just a couple of quick of back and forth, the Sky News reporter said to the Secretary -- Secretary Clinton, will you support a no-fly zone? She said, quote, "Well, we want to see the international community support it." So would you support it if the international community would, he pressed? "Well, but I think it's very important", she said, "that this not be a U.S.-led effort." The reporter pointed out. Of course, but you've got other countries involved, Britain, France, et cetera. She said, "Right". So he said, in theory the U.S. would support a no-fly zone? And she said, as you noted a minute ago, "We're going to support the efforts that are being made."
That's not exactly a clear answer. It seemed to be dancing around that very direct question, are you supporting a no-fly zone or not? Frankly, Secretary Clinton doesn't want to get ahead of the White House because they haven't made a decision yet -- Anderson.
COOPER: Ed Henry at the White House. Ed thanks.
Joining me now Fouad Ajami, professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution; also joining us National Security contributor, Fran Townsend. In 2010, Fran visited high-ranking Libyan officials including Seif Gadhafi at the invitation of the Libyan government. She's also a member of the CIA External Advisory Committee. And Benjamin Barber, author of "Jihad Versus McWorld". He also worked with Seif Gadhafi on promoting Democratic reforms in Libya.
Mr. Barber, do you support a no-fly zone?
BENJAMIN BARBER, SEIF GADHAFI'S FORMER ADVISOR: I support any effort that I think will work to overthrow the Gadhafi regime.
And the question is will this work to help or will it hurt? And I have in my imagination the possibility of images of civilians on the ground killed in an attempt to suppress anti-aircraft fire by American planes -- now dead Muslim Arab civilians killed by American pilots in a good cause, but without result.
I have in mind the possibility of images once again of American planes over an Arab country being used by al Qaeda, being used around the world as propaganda against us. I have in mind the danger that Gadhafi himself, with his wild claims that this is an American war, suddenly now has warplanes overhead from the United States and can say, you see, I wasn't crazy. I was right.
So there are lots of reasons we need to do effective things to help the rebels. We must do that. But they have to be effective. They can't endanger people on the ground and they can't endanger the United States in a way that once again we become associated with neo- colonialism, the repression of peoples in Libyan countries.
In the end, Libyans themselves are going to have to do this. We need to give them all the help we can, but I think the presence of American aircraft over airspace in Libya could be extremely dangerous.
COOPER: Not just militarily that -- that it could go wrong, but also in the war of ideas, it could be very dangerous.
FOUAD AJAMI, PROFESSOR OF MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES, JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: I'll tell you, in the war of ideas, it's a scandal, what we are -- what we are now witnessing. And I disagree very much with Professor Barber. I think everyone know -- now knows the spectacle that we are seeing. These are basically unarmed people facing a regime heavily armed, still with tanks, with -- with -- with airpower and the like.
And the idea somehow or another that people in Ramallah or people in Nablus or people in Amman will mind seeing the Americans come to the rescue is really a form of abdication.
This is what the administration in a -- in a way has fallen back on. We keep saying we want this rebellion to be organic. We want it to be authentic. We want it to be Libyan. It is authentic. It is Libyan, but the people still are facing a heavily armed regime. It's still an uneven fight. And it's a moral burden that we have, that we have to level this killing field in Libya.
COOPER: Fran, in terms of national security interests, there are those who argue, well, look, morally, there may be issues here to -- that the U.S. should get involved on, but that there is no national security interest.
FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Well, let's remember, Libya -- Libya has important oil reserves. And so you've got an energy national security interest alone.
But let's remember all across the Maghreb in North Africa, we have had a very active al Qaeda presence. And what do we know about al Qaeda presences in that region? They look for ungoverned states. And to the extent we allow this chaos to continue without supporting the rebels, without ensuring some government and rule of law structure there, we leave open the possibility that al Qaeda will come in.
There is no evidence that they're there now. Contrary to Gadhafi's claims, there is no -- I have talked to sources in the administration, in the intelligence community -- there's no evidence that al Qaeda is interfering right now.
But if we leave it in chaos, if we leave an ungoverned space, they will come in. It's what they have done in Yemen.
COOPER: Professor Barber, what sort of message does -- if Gadhafi is allowed to continue killing his people the way he has, and it is -- seems to be an unfair fight, I mean, no matter -- all the images we've seen, all the firsthand reporting and witnesses, what message does that send, though?
And are you concerned about the message it sends to other dictators in the region, that, you know what, suppression works, killing your people actually does work, and the international community will stand by?
BARBER: I'm deeply concerned, but the United States has learned I think the hard way now that if we alone try to repress dictatorship with armed force, we are likely to be seen as part of the problem --
(CROSS TALK)
COOPER: What about under cover of NATO or U.N.?
BARBER: I would love to see this done by the United Nations. It's unlikely Russia or China will allow and the security --
(CROSS TALK)
COOPER: What about NATO?
BARBER: NATO, there, you've got go neo-colonial powers -- quote, unquote -- "neo-colonials," seen by -- I would rather have it done that way than just by Americans.
The problem is, the U.S., as we did in Bosnia, always ends up carrying the heavy burden, because of our obligations, because of our willingness to commit forces and risk American lives, which is a beautiful thing about this country.
But, as a result, we often up -- end up over-committed in ways that leave us standing alone. I mean, it's great now to stay we've got to jump in and do something. But if we jump in and others don't come with us and we end up looking once again like imperials and bullies, not just to al Qaeda and to Hamas, but to people -- there are people in Benghazi who have said we don't want American planes coming in if it's going to be seen then as an American war and not our uprising. In the end, people have to make their own revolutions. We can try to equal the playing field and should. We can do that from offshore. We can do it by jamming communications. We can do it by supplies. There are lots of things we can do.
But once you put American forces in the air and the danger of shooting down American pilots, hurting civilians on the ground as inadvertent targets against anti-aircraft, you put the U.S. in a position where we look like the bad guys. And I think you make it harder for those making the uprising to demonstrate that this is their liberty, their uprising that this is about.
COOPER: We're going to have to leave it there. Professor Barber, we're definitely going to have you back. I want you to give (INAUDIBLE), also about Seif Gadhafi that I want to talk to you about.
BARBER: Thank you.
COOPER: Fouad Ajami as well and Fran Townsend, thank you very much.
Still ahead, what we have learned about the people who know Gadhafi best, his family. He has nine grown kids, including a son who likes to party with A-list celebrities. We'll kind of break down the many family -- the branches of the family tree here just to explain who some of the players are fighting on the ground right now.
And later, in a very different vein, a story we haven't really done much about, but frankly, a new tape kind of stopped us in our tracks today. It seems as though Charlie Sheen's downward spiral is deepening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: People need to hear my goal as it rolls out. Not as it's like disappearing? Disappearing, like -- like so many freaking, you know, magicians and rabbits.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: You heard a bit at the top from Gadhafi's son, Saadi. Like his brother, Seif, he sticks to the family line and has been richly rewarded for it. Remember Moammar Gadhafi claims that he has no money; claims he has no power, yet somehow his children have access to almost unlimited wealth and power. They've also at times acted as the more westernized faces of this brutal regime.
Now that their father is facing the fight of his life, they have rallied around him. And are in some cases leading the fight against the Libyan people they had hoped to one day themselves rule.
Tom Foreman tonight with a family portrait.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Moammar Gadhafi has not only held onto power for a long time, he's also had a large if at times quarrelsome family to help him. Gadhafi has nine grown children: one the result of a short marriage to his short wife, seven by his second wife, and one by adoption. And they hold many positions of influence in Libya's security forces, military, telecommunications, and other industries.
The most noted power player is Seif al-Islam. He's second oldest, educated at the London School of Economics. He speaks fluent English and he paints. He's been seen as a possible successor to his father and was considered a more modern thinker. But that was before his recent vow to fight protesters to the end.
A rival possible successor to power: Mutassim, he once allegedly helped plot a coup against his father and fled the country when it failed. He was eventually forgiven and is now his father's national security adviser, who is involved in talks about better U.S.-Libya relationships with Secretary of State Clinton in 2009.
Ayesha is 34, she's the only daughter believed to be a peacekeeper between the brothers. She's long supported anti-government groups like the IRA and insurgents in Iraq. She was part of Saddam Hussein's legal defense team. And when "The Telegraph" asked her last year how she felt about Iraqis who say he slaughtered thousands, she said, "You're bound to meet people who may be against your policies."
Then there is Hannibal Gadhafi, the headline maker. He has reportedly paid millions for private parties featuring big name entertainers like Beyonce, Usher, Mariah Carey, and Nelly Furtado, several of whom now say they've given the money back. He's also been implicated in a string of violent incidents in Europe. He was accused of beating his staff; the charges were dropped.
He is married to former model Aline Skaf, seen here on arabiccelebrities.com. He was accused of beating her in a London hotel. She later said she broke her nose in an accident. Hannibal was also stopped after driving his Ferrari 90-miles-an-hour the wrong way down the Champs Elysees. He invoked diplomatic immunity.
The sixth son Khamis seen here in this photo from elpais.com (ph) is said to command a Special Forces unit known as the 32nd brigade or the Khamis brigade, which protects the Gadhafi family. His troops have been involved in much of the heavy fighting throughout Libya.
Still, despite the various problems among these strong personalities, nothing seems to have driven the family members far enough apart yet to weaken their collective grip on power.
Tom Foreman, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, another country facing new demonstrations in the streets, Isha Sesay has that and more in a "360 News and Bulletin". ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At least 40 anti-government protesters have been injured in Yemen in front of a university. Witnesses say security forces fired into the air and shot tear gas into the crowd of demonstrators.
House majority leader Eric Cantor is defending the Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King's controversial terrorism hearings. There's been a backlash from some Muslim groups over the hearings about radicalization in the American Muslim community. Congressman Cantor says people can react the way they want, but that radical Islam is a threat overseas and at home.
Officials in California say more than a million sardines in Redondo Beach died from natural selection, not environmental reasons. Officials say tests show lack of oxygen caused the massive fish kill in King Harbor Marina after a large school of sardines got chased into the harbor.
And Anderson, a new survey shows that Hawaii is the happiest state in the country -- surprise, surprise. I mean what's there to be unhappy about if you live in Hawaii? Anyway the phone survey lists six categories of well-being including work environment, health and community satisfaction.
The top five happiest states, Anderson, if you would like to take a guess aside from Hawaii -- any thoughts?
COOPER: Well, they're on the screen right now.
SESAY: Yes, I know. I just saw that. Anyway, don't cheat. Wyoming, North Dakota, Alaska and Colorado.
COOPER: That sounds about right. I can imagine that. Good healthy outdoor living places.
SESAY: Really?
COOPER: Sure.
SESAY: Alaska?
COOPER: Sure, beautiful.
SESAY: All right. New York, you know where that came in? It's not on the screen.
COOPER: No, where did it come in?
SESAY: Number 32.
COOPER: What? That's wrong. I would say it's number six. It's number one for me but --
SESAY: Ok.
COOPER: I live here so it seems normal. SESAY: But more to the point, my adopted home state of Georgia tops your Big Apple. We're at 31.
COOPER: Not so much better.
SESAY: We topped your Apple.
COOPER: Ok. Yes, you top my apple, so to speak. All right. More from Isha in a moment.
Coming up, a story we haven't covered much because compared frankly to what we have been covering, it doesn't seem that important. But a new video by Charlie Sheen we saw today -- well, it stopped me in my tracks, I have to say.
In a moment, we're going to show you what was so disturbing. We'll talk to Dr. Drew Pinsky, who says it's very clear what's happening to Sheen although it's not very clear what he's sometimes talking about.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: Winner.com. Winner, winner, chicken dinner -- I don't think so. Winner, winner, Sheen dinner.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, we haven't been covering the Charlie Sheen saga because while it's been all over the place, and it certainly is captivating, it's certainly not as important as what we have been covering. But tonight we decided to talk about it for a few minutes because a video released by Sheen last night online is pretty shocking, and pretty disturbing.
Sheen appears incredibly disheveled and appears to be having a conversation with one of his representatives named Bob. Today it was announced that Live Nation Concert Promoters have made a deal with Sheen to market products using some of his catch phrases like "winning". TMZ posted a video of Sheen on the roof of the Live Nation building in Beverly Hills brandishing a machete and drinking from a bottle marked "Tiger Blood", which refers to one of his many catch phrases that have entered the collective vernacular. Still not quite sure what tiger blood really is.
In the video from last night, Sheen was at times incoherent. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHEEN: Built by trolls, keep that in mind, phones were built by trolls.
Ok. That gives us like 6,000 hours. Ok. Great, great, great. Well, as it should be, duh.
People need to hear my goal as it rolls out, not as it's like disappearing. Disappearing like so many freaking, you know, magicians and rabbits.
We are in the middle of a movement here, an odyssey of epic proportions. Epic, epic proportions.
Well, hello, duh.
I had more than fun. I had me with it.
My plan is the best one in the world. Now people are starting to wake up and realize that. Walk into my plan and you're going to win, win, win.
Winner.com. We're in the middle of genius.
Foiled by phones and trolls. People are calling through and it pisses me off because they're like interrupting again my brilliance.
Well, I mean what's not to love? It's my life. Winning. As I was saying because people are calling in to change my number; they're giving it to this freaking interruptive trolls.
Winning. Waiting and winning. Waiting for everyone to catch up.
Everybody wins.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Earlier I spoke with addiction specialist, Dr. Drew Pinsky about what may be going on with Sheen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: So Dr. Drew, I haven't been following this as closely as a lot of people, but I saw this video today -- this latest video that he's put out and it's really just stunning. I mean this is a guy -- he seems to be on the edge.
DR. DREW PINSKY, ADDICTION SPECIALIST, HLN HOST: Right. It's disturbing and it's uncharacteristic. It's clearly a change.
It's a condition we call hypomania. It's an inflated sense of self, grandiosity, pressured speech, distractibility, a belief in special powers. It's infectious, but the fact is, it's a medical condition. And it never stays the same.
COOPER: What do you mean it's infectious?
PINSKY: He either gets worse -- if the people -- you know the people around him are playing along with him. In fact, that's the most disturbing part of this for me is that the people around him are validating these behaviors and actually amplifying them. This either goes up into a psychotic episode, acute manic episodes, or starts to come down. When it comes down, that's when the drug addict starts using again.
In all likelihood this is drug-induced. What's bizarre to me is how preoccupied people are with whether or not he's using. He's probably not using. I see this all the time where stimulants induce a psychotic state and when they become so high in their hypomanic state, then they don't want to use.
COOPER: Wait -- so he may even not be using any drugs rights now, but his brain has changed? He seems like a fundamentally different person than he used to be.
PINSKY: Exactly.
It's exactly right. He's in a different biological state, a hypomanic state. And for somebody like me that deals with this kinds of things all the time, it's like looking at a rash or any other symptom complex. It's obvious what's going on here. And in all probability it's drug-induced.
COOPER: But what's amazing to me is, I mean Live Nation has now signed some sort of a deal with him in order to promote his, you know, his brand of winning.
PINSKY: Yes. Yes.
COOPER: And as you said, these sycophants around him, this guy he's talking to on the phone, who I guess I one of his representatives, just kind of plays along with whatever he says, laughs at what he says or just kind of plays into it. Keeps saying what he's saying is brilliant. His tweets are brilliant.
I just want to play for our viewers some more from this rant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHEEN: I had more than fun. I had me with it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I like the way you go to Ustream and you see -- why you even go to ustream.com --
SHEEN: It's radical. It's radical. The people are doing exactly what they should be doing, which is watching me and listening to you, because we have all the answers. We have all the gold. We have all the solution, Bob.
And keep in mind, like any time I roll something out, my plan is the best one in the world and the people are starting to wake up realize that; that their plan is (EXPLETIVE DELETED) and my plan is gold.
COOPER: Sort of the grandiosity is -- I mean it just seems -- comes off as seeming completely out of touch.
PINSKY: Right. It's out of touch. It's a belief in special powers. The thing about hypomanics is, they don't believe they have a problem, they believe you're the problem. And it sort of begs no alternative. Very difficult to treat because they don't see it as a problem because they are so high in that state, they'll often say things like, "I've figured it out. I understand the universe now." They feel in touch with something bigger than they've ever been in touch with before, but it goes to a very bad place. It's a medical condition --
COOPER: So how do you recover from this?
PINSKY: And it does not stay the same.
Well, usually it's medication or if it's drug-induced, obviously it's treating the underlying addiction. It's time sometimes.
Again, when you have somebody who is an untreated addict, though, when they start coming down is when they start using again.
COOPER: There's one more piece of this video I just want to play.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHEEN: What kind of a dog is that? You said, what kind of dog is that. I say it's a Sheen dog. What other kind of dog would it be? And it's inhabited, its soul is inhabited by the ghost of Betty and now it will murder people, it will eat trolls with its razor fangs and drop their slings off at their children's tiny houses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PINSKY: Wow.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Does a family intervene? What happens in a case like this? He's got obviously huge amounts of money.
PINSKY: Right. That torrent of speech is so typical of hypomania. You know, those of us that don't have power, fame and money, your employer would step in. Your family would step in. And the fact is what usually happens is a doctor or the law enforcement steps in and puts somebody on an involuntary hold, a 5150. That's where many of these patients end up oftentimes before they are effectively treated.
COOPER: But somebody who has money like him, he's going to get a radio show or you know -- I mean can he continue to function?
PINSKY: Isn't that crazy?
No. It's going to get worse. Things are going to be bad. I just don't know when.
Isn't that funny, though? This is why people have a -- seem to not be able to comprehend that celebrities, the reason they seem to have so much trouble is they have -- they don't have the usual barriers that the rest of us have. They don't have -- they have sycophants around them.
They have unlimited amounts of money. So their diseases, their psychiatric conditions when they occur tend to play out to a much greater extent and the consequences often are much, much worse before they ever come to treatment.
COOPER: And treatment is possible, though?
PINSKY: Absolutely. I've got lots and lots of patients like this. This is a very common thing. In fact, I just had a patient two days ago who told me that he was jealous and angry at his friends, cocaine- addicted friends, that get like this because they're high all the time and they don't need to keep using. And eventually of course, they know that never goes to a good place.
But the drug addict thinks like that. Like damn, he's like that even without using. So this is not whether he's using or he is not using. There's no doubt in my mind he's not using right now but there's also no doubt in my mind that he will use again soon.
COOPER: All right. Dr. Drew, appreciate your time. Thanks.
PINSKY: Pleasure. Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, a quick reminder for everyone. If you'd like to see more of Dr. Drew, his new nightly show premieres April 4th at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on our sister network, HLN.
Still ahead tonight: after the worst offshore oil disaster in American history, today an apology. What BP's CEO told a roomful of the world's top oil executives next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Let's get an update on some other stories we're following. Isha Sesay has a "360 News and Business Bulletin" -- Isha.
SESAY: Anderson, more testimony today in the trial of self-help speaker James Arthur Ray, who is charged in the deaths of three people who took part in a sweat lodge ritual in Arizona. A volunteer said she and others received only about ten minutes of training on how to assist people, who fell ill during the event and no instruction on how to help anyone who was unconscious. Ray has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter charges.
BP's CEO Robert Dudley told a gathering of oil industry executives, he's sorry for the DeepWater Horizon disaster which disrupted oil exploration and production in the Gulf last spring. Eleven people were killed when the rig exploded, creating the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
The trusty charged with recovering funds of investors ripped off by Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff is ready to distribute $2.6 billion of recovered funds to the victims. The remaining $7.2 billion, Anderson, the trustee has collected is still tied up in litigation.
COOPER: Wow. A lot of money.
SESAY: Yes. COOPER: Hey, we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Time for the "Beat 360" winner; our daily challenge to viewers, a chance to show up our staffers by coming up with a better caption for the photo that we put on the blog every day. Tonight's picture, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sharing a laugh with first lady, Michelle Obama during the ceremony for the International Women of Courage Awards today in Washington.
Staff winner is Sam. His caption: "How are those 3:00 a.m. phone calls working out for you?"
Our viewer winner's Anthony from an undisclosed location and his caption: "And they said a woman in power would be an emotional rollercoaster -- then they got Boehner."
Anthony, your Beat 360 T-shirt is on the way.
Hey, that's it for 360. Thanks for watching.
"PIERS MORGAN" starts now.
I'll see you tomorrow night.
