a landed with eight helicopters, a large crew of brilliant fighters ran out of those helicopters and blue holes into the side of the building, not wanting to go through the main door, because that was booby—trapped. there was something really amazing to see. i got to watch it along with general millie, the vice president and others, in the vice president and others, in the situation room. and we watched it so clearly. how did you watch it? i don't want to say, but absolutely perfect, as though you were watching a movie. the technology there alone is really great. a big part of the trip that was of great danger was, it was approximately a one hour and ten minute flight, and we were flying over very dangerous

territory. some of our leaders said that that could be the most dangerous, flying in and flying out. that was why last night we were so quiet about it. we didn't say anything, and i didn't make my remark until after they had landed safely in a certain area. but the flight in and the flight out was a very dangerous part, there was a chance that we would have met unbelievable fire. russia treated us great, they opened up. we had to fly over certain russian held areas. russia was great. iraq was excellent. we really had great cooperation. and you have to understand, they didn't know what we we re understand, they didn't know what we were doing and where we were going exactly. but the isis fighters are hated as much by russia and some of these other countries as they are by us. these other countries as they are by us. and that is why i say they

should start doing a lot of the fighting now, and i think they will be able to. can you say what role the kurds played in this generally? they didn't give us a military role but they gave us some information that turned out to be helpful, the kurds. can you tell us what the role of turkey might have been? what was the role of turkey, did they help? we dealt with turkey, they knew we we re we dealt with turkey, they knew we were going in. we flew over some territory. they were terrific, no problem. they were not a problem. they could start shooting, then we would take them out. but a lot of bad things can happen. plus it was a really secret mission, we flew very, very low and very, very fast. but it was a very dangerous part of the mission. getting in and getting out too, equal. we went in identical... way to an identical route. we met

with gunfire going in, but it was local gunfire. that gunfire was immediately terminated. these people are amazing. they had the gunfire terminated immediately, meaning they we re terminated immediately, meaning they were shot from the airships. you talked earlier about pulling troops out, and now troops are going back m, out, and now troops are going back in, we are trying to understand the timing of when this... in, we are trying to understand the timing of when this. .. from the first day i came to office, and now we are getting close to three years, i would say where is al—baghdadi? i wa nt i would say where is al—baghdadi? i want al—baghdadi. and we would kill terrorist leaders, but they were names i had never heard of, there we re names i had never heard of, there were names that were not recognisable, and they were not the big names. some good ones, some important ones, but they were not the big names. i kept saying where is al—baghdadi? and a couple of weeks ago, they were able to scope him out. you know, these people are very smart, they are not into the

use of cell phones any more. they are very use of cell phones any more. they are very technically brilliant. they use the internet better than almost anybody in the world, perhaps other than donald trump. but if i use the internet particularly well. and what they have done the internet through recruiting and everything... and thatis recruiting and everything... and that is why he died like a dog, died like a coward. he was whimpering, screaming and crying. and, frankly, i think it is something that should be brought out. so that his followers and all of these young kids that want to leave various countries, including the united states, they should see how he died. he didn't die a hero, he died a coward. crying, whimpering, screaming and bringing three kids with him. to die. certain death. and he knew the tunnel had no end, i mean, it was a closed end, they call ita mean, it was a closed end, they call it a closed end tunnel. not a good place to be. before you made the

announcement... i have been looking for him for three years. i started getting some positive feedback about a month ago. and we had some incredible intelligence officials that did a greatjob. that is what they should be focused on. what time to this operation start? did you notify... ? to this operation start? did you notify...? this to this operation start? did you notify. . . ? this started two weeks ago in terms of the operation, because we had him scope. we thought he would be in a certain location, he would be in a certain location, he was, things started checking out very well. we were involved on our own with some brilliant people who i have gotte n own with some brilliant people who i have gotten to know. brilliant people that love our country. highly intelligent people. and we have had it pretty well scoped out for a couple of weeks. but he tends to change immediately. he had a lot of cash, he tends to change like on a dime, where he will be going to a

certain location, all of a sudden, he will go someplace else. and he will have to cancel. but this was one where we knew he was there, and you can one where we knew he was there, and you can never one where we knew he was there, and you can never be 100% sure, because you can never be 100% sure, because you are basing it on technology more than anything else. but we thought he was there. and then we got a confirmation. and when we went in, they were greeted with a lot of firepower. a lot of firepower. i tell you, these guys, they do a job, they are so brave and so good, and so importantly... many of his people we re so importantly... many of his people were killed. and we will announce the exact number over the next 2a hours. but many were killed. we lost nobody. think of that. it is incredible. you have told the russians... the dog was hurt. the canine was hurt, it went into the tunnel. but we lost nobody. you

requested russia to fly over this area that they controlled... we spoke to the russians. what did you tell them? we told them we were coming in, and they said, "thank you for telling us." they were very good. did you...? no, they didn't know why. we told them, "we think you will be very happy." because they hate isis as much as we do. you know what russia has done —— you know what russia has done —— you know what russia has done —— you know what isis has done to russia. they didn't know the mission but they knew we were going over an area which they had a lot of firepower. did you notify the congressional members about this? we notified some, and others are being notified as we speak. we were going to notify them last night, but we decided not to do that because washington elites like i've never seen before. there is no country in the world that lea ks is no country in the world that leaks like we do. and washington is a leaking machine. and i told my

people, "we will not notify them until our great people are out." not just in, but out. i don't want to have them greeted with firepower like you have never seen. it was top secret, it was kept, there were no lea ks, secret, it was kept, there were no leaks, no secret, it was kept, there were no lea ks, no nothing. secret, it was kept, there were no leaks, no nothing. the only people that knew what a few people that i dealt with. and again the general and joint chiefs of staff were incredible. we had some tremendous back—up, robert o'brien, secretary pompeo. hence, itold back—up, robert o'brien, secretary pompeo. hence, i told you, back—up, robert o'brien, secretary pompeo. hence, itold you, he back—up, robert o'brien, secretary pompeo. hence, i told you, he was great. very small of people that knew about this. a leak could have cost the death of all of them. now, they are so good that i think you know thing was going to stop them anyway. we also had them surrounded bya anyway. we also had them surrounded by a massive air power up in the air

yesterday, surrounded at very high levels, or very low. we had tremendous airpower. before you were in the situation room... the secretary, a few of the joint chiefs, some generals, we had some very great military people in that room. and we had some great intelligence people, robert o'brien. really great. was the product of the us troops in syria last month specifically tied in with this raid? was the product of the us troops in syria last month specifically tied in with this raid? your network is doing a greatjob, let them know. the pull—out had nothing to do with this. it is a good question because we found this out at a similar time. we are after these leaders, and we have others in

sight. very bad ones, but this was the biggest one. perhaps that we have ever captured, because this is the one that built isis, and beyond. and was looking to rebuild it again. very, very strongly looking to build it again. that is why he went to this province, this is why he went to this area. a lot of people i was watching this morning and hearing, they were saying why was he...? they we re they were saying why was he...? they were surprised. it was because that was where he was trying to build from, it was the place that made the most sense if you are looking to rebuild. at what moment did you decide... ? rebuild. at what moment did you decide. . . ? i said rebuild. at what moment did you decide...? i said when rebuild. at what moment did you decide. . . ? i said when they had landed safely. and that was to notify you guys that you have something bigger this morning so you wouldn't be out playing golf. or tennis. or otherwise being indisposed. where did they. . . ? i would rather not say, but we landed ata would rather not say, but we landed at a friendly port in a friendly

country. does it give you any pause to consider your decision to withdraw... ? to consider your decision to withdraw. . . ? no, to consider your decision to withdraw...? no, we don't want to consider your decision to withdraw. . . ? no, we don't want to keep soldiers between syria and turkey for the next 200 years. they have been fighting for hundreds of yea rs. we have been fighting for hundreds of years. we are out. but we are leaving soldiers to secure the oil. we may have to fight for the oil, that's ok. maybe somebody else wants the oil, in that case they have a hell of a fight. because massive amounts of oil. and we are securing it for a couple of reasons, number 1: it for a couple of reasons, number i: it stops isis. its got tremendous wealth from that oil. it is secure. —— isis got tremendous wealth from that oil. we may negotiate a deal with whoever is claiming it if we think it is fair, we may militarily stop them. we have tremendous power in that part of the world. we have the airport right nearby. a very

big, very monstrous, very powerful airport and very expensive airport that was built years ago. we are in fa ct that was built years ago. we are in fact middle east now for $8 trillion. so we don't want to be keeping syria and turkey, they will have to make their own decision. the kurds have worked along incredibly with us. in all fairness, it was much easier dealing with the kurds after they went through three days of fighting. because that was a brutal three days. in fact, we would have said to the kurds, "do you mind moving over seven miles? quote they we re moving over seven miles? quote they were in the middle mostly. so you have seven or eight miles. could you move have seven or eight miles. could you m ove over have seven or eight miles. could you move over seven or eight miles? i have to say, turkey has taken tremendous deaths from that part of the world. we call it a safe zone, but it was anything but a safe zone. turkey has lost thousands and thousands of people from that safe zone. so they have always wanted that safe zone for many years. i'm glad i was able to help them get it. but we don't want to be there. we wa nt to

but we don't want to be there. we want to be home. i want our soldiers home orfighting want to be home. i want our soldiers home or fighting something that is meaningful. i tell you who loves us being there: that russia and china. because while they build their military, we are depleting our military, we are depleting our military there. so russia loves us being there. russia likes us being there for two reasons, because we kill isis, we kill terrorists. and they are very close to russia. we are 8000 miles away. maybe they can get here, but we have done very well with homeland security and the band, which, by the way, was approved by the us supreme court, as you know. there was an order which said we lost the case, and it was right in the early part. he didn't want to... he refused to say that we won the case in the supreme court. but we have a very effective ban. and it is very ha rd have a very effective ban. and it is very hard for people to come to our country. but it is many thousands of miles away, whereas russia is right there, turkey is right there, syria is there. they are all right there.

excuse me, iran, iraq. they all hate isis. so we don't, you know... in theory, they should do something. i tell you something else, the european nations have been tremendous in supplying... because i personally call, my people call a lot, "ta ke personally call, my people call a lot, "take your isis fighters." but they said they didn't want them. they came from france, germany, the uk, from a lot of countries. and i actually said to them, "if you don't ta ke actually said to them, "if you don't take them, i will drop them right on your border or you can have fun capturing them again." but the us taxpayer is not going to pay for the next 50 years. you see what guantanamo costs. we won't pay billions of dollars because we were good enough to capture people that wa nt to good enough to capture people that want to go back to germany, france, the uk and other parts of europe. and they can walk back, they can't walk to our country. we have lots of

water in between our country and them. you mention is that you had gotten to know some brilliant people along this process who helped provide information and advice along the way, is there anyone in particular or would you like to give anyone credit for getting to this point today? i would, anyone credit for getting to this point today? iwould, but ifi mention one, i have to mention so many. i spoke to senator richard the this morning, he is very involved with intelligence and the committee. he isa with intelligence and the committee. he is a great gentleman. i spoke with lindsey graham just a little while ago, in fact, lindsey graham is right over here. he has been very much involved in the subject. he is a very strong hawk. but i think lindsay graham agrees with what we are doing now. again, there are plenty of other countries that can help control... i don't want to leave 1000 2000 3000 soldiers the border. but where lindsey and i

totally agree is the oil. the oil is so valuable, for many reasons. it fuelled isis, number one. number two, it helps the kurds. because it has basically been taken away from the kurds. they were able to live without oil. and number three, it can help us. we should be able to ta ke can help us. we should be able to take some also. and what i intend to do, perhaps, is make a deal with an exxonmobil or one of our great companies to go in properly. right now, it is not big, it is underground, but it is not big oil up underground, but it is not big oil up top. much of the machinery has been shot and dead. it has been through walls. —— it has been through walls. —— it has been through wars. we are securing the oil, that doesn't mean we don't make a deal at some point. they are fighting to 1000 years, they are fighting to 1000 years, they are fighting for centuries. i want to bring our soldiers back home. but i

do want to secure the oil. if you read about the history of donald trump, iwas read about the history of donald trump, i was a civilian. i had absolutely nothing to do with going into iraq, and i was totally against it. but i always used to say, "if they are going to go in," nobody cared that much, that it was written about, "if they are going to go in," i'm sure you have read the sentence, " if i'm sure you have read the sentence, "if they are going into iraq, keep the oil." they never did. i know lindsay graham had a bill where basically we would have been paid back for all of the billions of dollars that we have spent, many, many billions of dollars. i hate to say it, it is actually trillions of dollars. but many billions of dollars. but many billions of dollars. and by one vote, they were unable to get that approved in the senate. they had some pretty big opposition from people that shouldn't have opposed, like a president. if you had done that, iraq would be a different story today because they would be owing us a lot of money. they would be

treating us much differently. but i will say that iraq was very good with respect to the raid last night. on the timing, you got back to the white house around 430 yesterday afternoon, did you really go to the situation room? we thought for three days this was going to happen. it was actually... look, nobody was even hurt. the canine, as they call it, a beautiful dog, a talented dog was injured and brought back. but we had no soldier injured. and they did a lot of shooting, and they did a lot of blasting. even is not going through the front door. you think you go through the door, if you are a normal person, you would say not not, may i come in? the fact is they blasted their way into the house in a very heavy wall, and it took them literally seconds. by the time those

things went off, they had a beautiful big hole in the wall and they got everybody by surprise. unbelievably brilliant as fighters. i can't unbelievably brilliant as fighters. ican't imagine unbelievably brilliant as fighters. i can't imagine it would be anybody better. and these, as you know, are our top operations people. apparently, he had been in bad health, al— baghdadi, for apparently, he had been in bad health, al—baghdadi, for a while. apparently, he had been in bad health, al-baghdadi, for a while. we don't know that. he was the last one out, his people had either been killed, or gave up. and came out. because with the 11 children that came out, we were able to do that, we don't know if they were his children, they might have been. as i said, three died in the tunnel. and the tunnel collapsed with the explosion. but you had other fighters coming out also. and they are being brought back, they are being right now in prison. can you remember what time you went into the situation room? i started at 5pm, we

we re situation room? i started at 5pm, we were pretty much gathered at 5pm yesterday. we were in contact all day long through, hopefully secure phones, i will tell you tomorrow. nothing seemed to leak, so i guess they were secure for a change. we gathered more or less and 5pm. the attack started moments after that. the lift off and started moments after that. again, the element of attack that they were most afraid of was getting from our base into that compound, because there was tremendous firepower that we were flying over. and i won't go into it, but you had a very big russian presence in one area, you had a turkish presence, you had a syrian presence, and who are flying low. it is very dangerous. and there were shots made, but we think these were

people who were shooting that were indiscriminately shooting. the helicopter took some shots, but we think these were people that were just random people that don't like to see helicopters, i guess. was there any kind of dna test done or...? that is there any kind of dna test done or. . . ? that is another part of the genius of these people. they have his dna. more of it than they want even. and they brought it with them with lab technicians who were with them. and they assumed that this was al—baghdadi. they thought visually it was him. they assumed it was him, and they did an on—site test. they got samples. and to get to his body, they had to remove a lot of debris, because the tunnel had collapsed. but these people are very good at that. as i said, they brought body parts back with them etc. there wasn't much left, the vest blew up.

but there was still substantial pieces that they brought back. so they did an on—site test because we had to know this. and it was a very quick call that took place about 15 minutes after he was killed. and it was positive, this is a confirmation, sir. it was also reported that one of his wives had detonated... there were two women. both wives, both wearing a vests. they had not detonated. but the fact they were dead and had vests on made it very difficult for our men. because they had vests on. and it made a very difficult for our men. because you never know what is going to happen. they are lying, they are dead, they never detonated, but they are dead. on possible successors,

have you been briefed on who...? are dead. on possible successors, have you been briefed on who. . . ? we know the possible successors, and we have them in our sites. we know the successors. hamza bin laden was a big thing. this was the worst ever. osama bin laden was the worst ever, but hamza bin laden became big. this was a man who built a whole, as he would like to call it, a country, a caliphate. and was trying to do it again. i had not heard too much about him, i heard the stories that he may not have been in good health. but he died in a ruthless, vicious manner, that i can tell you. we have people that were taken. many other people that were taken. many other people died on site. but we have people died on site. but we have people who are taking, yes. the

children, we left them under care of somebody that we understand. 11 children. how many adults? i would rather not say. i will leave that to the generals. a small group. more dead than alive. which a special operations teams were involved? many of them. at the top level. and people that were truly incredible at their craft. i had never seen anything like it. as far as partnerships goes, whether any other forces involved, or what is only american troops? only american forces. but we were given great cooperation. we told the russians we we re cooperation. we told the russians we were coming in, because we had to go over them. and they were curious, but we said we were coming. and we said, one way or the other, we are

coming. but they were very cooperative. and we did say it would bea cooperative. and we did say it would be a mission that they would like too. because, again, they hate isis as much as us. for intel purposes, that was there any foreign intel which helped you along the way? so we had our own intel, we got very little help, we didn't need much help. we have some incredible people. we use our intelligence correctly, what we can do is incredible. we waste our time with intelligence that hurts our country, because we had poor leadership at the top, that is not good. but i have gotte n the top, that is not good. but i have gotten to know much of the intel people, and i will say that they are spectacular. they are not going to want to talk about it, they will want to keep it quiet. the last thing they want, because these are great patriots. but the people that i have been dealing with our incredible people. and it is really a deserving name, intelligence. i have dealt with some people that aren't very intelligent. having to

do with intel. but this is the top people, and it was incredible. it was flawless. and it was very competitive. so i do appreciate russia and turkey, iraq, and syria to an extent. because we are flying into syria, a lot of syrian people with lots of guns. so we had good coverfor with lots of guns. so we had good cover for probably the most dangerous part. it would not sound, when you're flying in, it doesn't sound like that would be the most dangerous part, you are going to shooting nests and other things that would happen when they broke into that compound. that was a very strong compound. and as i said, it had tunnels. but the most dangerous part, we had great cooperation. he will you inform —— did you inform nancy pelosi ahead of time? no, i didn't. i didn't want to have men

lost. he do you anticipate —— didn't. i didn't want to have men lost. he do you anticipate -- do you anticipate bringing the special forces teams to the white house?|j am forces teams to the white house?” am not sure if they want to have their faces am not sure if they want to have theirfaces are shown. am not sure if they want to have their faces are shown. they are incredible for the country. they are not looking for public relations. but they love doing what they are doing. the first lady was out there recently looking at what they do, she came back and said, "wow, i have never seen anything like that. " the training, the training and the power of the people. the men and women, the strength, the physical strength, the strength, the physical strength, the mental strength. these are incredible people. these are very unique individuals. did you hear that on your radio...? inaudible i don't want to talk about it, he was screaming, crying and whimpering. he was scared out of his mind. think ofjames foley, think of

the things he did to foley and so many others. and for those people who say, "isn't this a little violent?" think of how many times you have seen men, i think in all cases men for the most part, but in terms of this, where you see the orange suits, and you see the ocean. they are beheaded. or how many of you got to see, because it was out there, the jordanian pilot you got to see, because it was out there, thejordanian pilot whose plane went down. they captured him and put him in a cage and it set him on fire. and the king ofjordan actually attacked very powerfully when that happened. they had never seen anything like that. they set him on fire. this was al—baghdadi. and you should never ever hopefully see a thing like that again. there will be new people emerge, but this

was the worst of this particular world. this was the worst, probably in certain ways the smarter. it was also a coward. and he didn't want to die. but think of it, everybody was out, and we were able to search him down and find him in at the tunnel. we knew the tunnel existed. and that is where he was. this syria but, do you think this will change the standing...? you think this will change the standing. . . ? i don't you think this will change the standing...? i don't have a you think this will change the standing. . . ? i don't have a syria product, i don't want to guard these countries for the rest of our lives. they have been fighting for centuries, i don't want to have my people, 2000 men and women or 1000 or 28. we had 28 guarding. i said, "i don't want them there." now, i will secure the oil that happens to be in will secure the oil that happens to beina will secure the oil that happens to be in a certain part. but that is tremendous money involved. i would love... you know, the oil... iwill tell you a story, in iraq, they

spent, president bush went in, i strongly disagreed with it, even though it wasn't my expertise at the time. but i have a very good instinct about things. they went in, andi instinct about things. they went in, and i said, "that is a tremendous mistake." there were no weapons of mass destruction. it turned out i was right. i was right for other reasons. president trump is at the white house giving details of the american raid which he says al—baghdadi was killed. so i might actually discriminates against america in all issues towards oh companies to the from other countries after what we have done have an advantage in the right for the oil. heat the oil, give them what they