our tom asheville is in tripoli. >> reporter: celebrations in tripoli. but a storm of protests in london as government documents showed britain wanted al megrahi released before he wdied of cancer. >> in response to that, i said we were not actively seeking his death in prison. >> reporter: the libyans have denied al megrahi was released for oil concessions to british companies. >> he was put on conditions. and released on relations. >> reporter: as celebrations in tripoli last night, pictures of al megrahi arriving here two weeks ago were projected on a giant video screen. the welcome he received has angered the u.s. government. libyans have always maintained al megrahi is innocent. he's now in a tripoli hospital suffering from terminal cancer. natalie? >> tom aspell in tripoli, thank you. >>> in an article posted on the current tv website, laura ling and euna lee says they followed their guide on the border and were on north korean soil for just one minute when they saw two north korean soldiers with guns running toward them, and they ran. they said th

in tripoli, all will be watching to see if the bomber will observe the celebrations of gaddafi's rise to power. >> libya shared its pariah status. this will be highlighted in the celebrations of the for the anniversary of muammar gaddafi's rise to power. we will look at how much the country has changed. >> in recent years, colonel gaddafi has ended his international isolation but relations with the west remain difficult. it is 40 years since he came to power in a coup. today, his image is everywhere. it is a permanent feature of the landscape. it is not just for tonight's anniversary celebration. libya is one of the most tightly controlled countries in the entire middle east. it is very difficult to find someone who will speak out against the regime. we are on our way to meet one man who was brave enough to do so even though he knows that talking to us could mean going to jail. he's only too well aware that criticizing the rushing has a sentence of up to 25 years. -- criticizing the regime has a sentence of up to 25 years. he does not want to get anyone else into trouble by talking to

wherever he traveled from paris to rome or belgium, it is his preferred form of overnight stay outside of tripoli. this week presented a unique problem for the libyan leader. new york's skyscraper hotels are not an option, because gadhafi who has no fear of palling around with terrorists is actually afraid of elevators. joining me now is congresswoman nita lois, she represents new york's 18th district which includes the town of bedford. congresswoman, welcome, thank you for joining us tonight. >> thank you, larry for asking me. >> can you confirm for us now that moammar gadhafi is not sleeping your district tonight. >> frankly i have been in touch with the local officials all day, the state department, donald trump didn't return my call, although i have known him since he was a kid when we all lived in queens. and it's clear that the tent was taken down and we're following it very carefully. westchester county police were asked to provide security, this is really extraordinary when you think that he was about to camp out in the backyards of victims families. >> now, i don't know donald trump as y

it happened i was a senate delegation in tripoli and met with colonel gadhafi about a week before this happened. there were rumors of it coming. we said to him, everything you've done to improve your relationship with the united states, and he really has. disbanded his nuclear program. cooperating on counterterrorism. it's all going to be set back to where we were before if not only does he come home, but you greet him as a hero. of course, that's exactly what happened. and, therefore, our relationship unfortunately is set back to where it was. this was a dreadful mistake and really an insult to the memory of the people from the u.s. and elsewhere who were killed as a result of his actions. >>> let me ask you about afghanistan. you're on the armed services committee. you've been a strong supporter of the war. i've been told in general mcchrystal's report there are actually recommendations that we would need 500,000 troops on the ground. 500,000. a combination of u.s., nato, and presumably afghan forces that they could train up. in five years, in order to accomplish our mission goals. t

better than what we got in tripoli. thank you, john harwood. >> thank our producer. >> weep be checking in with john as we get more. we're awaiting arrivals for people like the chancellor of germany should be arriving this hour, prime minister of the netherlands, silvio berlusconi. i wonder who is in his entourage. get ready to stop trading. you will want to hear julian robertson's stock ideas and jim cramer's stock ideas today. that's a special "street signs" two-fer. we'll be back in just a moment. [ engine powers down ] gentlemen, you booked your hotels on orbitz. well, the price went down, so you're all getting a check thanks. for the difference. except for you -- you didn't book with orbitz, so you're not getting a check. well, i think we've all learned a valuable lesson today. good day, gentlemen. thanks a lot. thank you. introducing hotel price assurance, where if another orbitz customer books the same hotel for less, we send you a check for the difference, automatically. >>> welcome back to "street signs." boy,

were wrong, which they were, democrats decided the to try to calm them down by agreeing to doubly, tripoli, extra dog dare clarify that in wilson's case the bill wouldn't cover illegal immigrants and in buyer's case that it wouldn't harm veterans. the bill wouldn't have covered illegal immigrants in the first place, nor hurt veterans, but democrats agreeing to tweak language to please these guys anyway made them feel their made-up spirl criticism had been validated as evidenced by house staffers wanting me to issue a correction stating that congressman steve buyer was really right all along when he lied about veterans being put at risk by the proposals for health reform. veterans are not at risk from proposals for health reform. tricare and va care will not change under anything that is being considered for health reform. congressman buyer was wrong when he said it in august. he was still wrong when democrats tried to appease him about it anyway. and he is wrong now when he tries to take credit for fixing a fake problem that he created in the first place to build his own reputation on the

organized to get scottish flags, the blue and white flags, to wave at the aircraft as it taxis into tripoli airport. gordon brown said in his speech, "there was no controversy, no cover-up, no double dealing, no deal on oil." i think we have to go beyond that and look at this as a series of kind of nods and winks. the british government's bottom line here is they didn't make the decision, the scottish government made the decision, but the fact it it's the british government is responsible for foreign affairs. it's the british government more than any other institution that has to care about relations with the united states. and it looks as though the british government tried to achieve two things. it tried to please libya by easing the way for megrahi's release, and on the other hand, it hoped to be able to smooth this over with the united states by, if you will, getting gadhafi's agreement to having a quiet homecoming. the whole thing has blown up in their faces. >> john, it just didn't seem believable, does it, that with most british citizens that the scottish government would make this d

so wherever he goes, he brings the tent, from paris to rome, belgium to tripoli. the tent follows khaddafy everywhere, which brings us back to the posh town of bedford and the tent on donald trump's property. in a statement to nbc news, the trump organization said "we have business partners and associates all over the world. the property was leased on a short-term basis to middle eastern partners who may or may not have a relationship to mr. gadhafi. we are looking into the matter. late yesterday, just as libyan workers were putting the satellite dishes on top of the tent, city officials from here in bedford worked in with a stop work order. turns out, matt, they don't have the proper permits to build that tent, so it won't happen here. there are reports that ga tafdh is staying at the libyan mission near the u.n. he speaks to the u.n. later today. >> jeff rossen in bedford, new york, for us. thank you very much. it's 20 minutes after the hour. once again, here's meredith. >> matt, thank you. >>> now to the potential legal trouble for former senator and presidenti