the new movie "head hunters" is based on one of the books and my favorite are the ones featuring a detective named harry hole. and he will be just as big and as important as harry potter. "piers morgan tonight" starts now. tonight breaking news. president obama's top secret afghanistan trip. the troop withdrawal and what it means for americans. >> this time of war began in afghanistan and this is where it will end. >> reaction to the president's speech live from afghanistan. plus tough talk from dan rather. never afraid to butt heads. tonight he won't be holding back. dan rather speaks his mind on president obama, and reporters who he says need to grow a spine, and the story that took him down.

the united states has conducted an operation that killed osama bin laden, the leader of al qaeda. >> why they charge the president with putting politics ahead of their safety. and only in america. the real bin laden battle. why it's not about politics. this is "piers morgan tonight." good evening. our big story tonight breaking news. president obama's surprise trip to afghanistan and his speech to americans on the one year anniversary of the mission to take out osama bin laden. >> my fellow americans, we've traveled through more than a decade under the dark cloud of war. yet here in the pre-dawn darkness of afghanistan, we can see the light of a new day on the hordes. the iraq war is over. the number of our troops in harm's way has been cut in half and more will soon be coming home. we have a clear path to fulfill our mission in afghanistan while

delivering justice to al qaeda. >> plenty reaction to this momentous day coming up soon. plus my interview with a man who reportered first in the '80s. and why some navy s.e.a.l.s charged that the white house is playing politics in the bin laden battle. we begin tonight with our big story. president obama secret trip to afghanistan. coming here to break down tonight's speech is nick paton walsh and wolf blitzer. also president george w. bush's assistant secretary of state. and douglas brinkley. i want to start with nick who's in kabul. what is the mood in kabul tonight? what is the reaction of the afghani people to this announcement by the president? >> to be honest, it's hard to tell. dawn has just broken. it coming under the secrecy of darkness. something the administration was to exploit.

it was a wonderfully defying speech, beautifully choreographed. all in a number of hours. but it doesn't change the harsh reality on the ground here. it's been an awful four months sign of a taliban on the rise in many ways. terrible attacks by afghan men in army uniform against nato personnel. so badly needed at the transition of securities to happen successfully here. so while it's possible to hear barack obama and feel that everything's on track that there is is plan and we can relax and let everything pan out, it doesn't really tally with the kind of harsh reality we've been going through in the past few months. >> not an awful lot is hinging on the taliban cooperating in the way the president seems to suggest they may. is there any likelihood of that happening?

aren't the taliban just waiting in the mountains for the american troops to pull out just to get back to what they did before? >> you make a good point there. that brings me to the part of the speech i found strangest, to be honest. in which barack obama appealed to the taliban for negotiations. they've been in talk with u.s. officials. that's something that happened a number of months ago in qatar, one of the states where u.s. officials met with taliban representatives. the talks, those beginning talks about talks collapsed after the last few disastrous months. the taliban pulling out and u.s. and afghan officials saying those contacts have ceased. there is no word to talk about this. and i was curious to listen to barack obama talk about this path of reconciliation ahead. i think there are many concerns that the taliban is just biding its time. there is a popular saying here. while the americans have an expensive watch, it's the taliban who have the time, piers.

>> indeed. thank you very much. turn to general kimed. when you hear what the president was saying today, i was struck by the use of the counterterrorism that people are putting out today. hasn't that been what this has always been? has it been a war in any conventional sense? and did america ever hope to win a war in afghanistan? or hasn't it really been a counterterrorist operation that will now continue with more emphasis on afghan troops than american troops? >> not really. it was not a conventional war, but there were two distinct operations going on. one was a counterterrorism operation led by the higher opposition forces. but there was also a counterinsurgency who continue to fight against the established government inside of kabul. but those are two different

fights and in many ways fought by two different sets of forces. >> right, but america hasn't won a war in afghanistan any more than the russians did. have they? >> no, they really haven't. that's what surprised me so much in this very triumphless speech that was given. there's still a lot of hard work. i'm glad he told that to the troops. if he didn't tell it to the nation, that there's still hard work to be done. the situation on the ground still a problematic. and i was just saddened to see how this entire strategic partnership agreement and the anniversary of the killing of bin laden have been tied so much into the politics in the political season we're seeing. >> i mean, isn't it a problem for the president it is the one year anniversary of the death of bin laden but also a few months from the election. anything he does or says right now is deemed electioneering. if you look at it dispassionately, it took a big

decision that day a year ago. and if it had gone wrong, a lot of people would be paying for his blood. wasn't it good it was a successful mission and got rid of a pretty awful man? >> but he didn't do it. the troops on the ground did it. he made the decision. and you're right. he would have bourn the responsibility if it had gone wrong. but i think there was a worl article today that talked about presidents before who were quick to use the pronoun of i when things went wrong but not i when things went right. the only time a good leader takes responsibilities is when things go wrong. when things go right as this did, you give the credit to the troops. you give credit to the s.e.a.l.s. you give credit to who ran the operation. they were at the sticky end of the spear. if this had gone wrong, it wasn't a political problem. it would have been a life and death problem that they had.

so yes, bin laden is dead. the world is a better place because of it. but as senator mccain said, heroes don't brag. and there's just a little bit too much bragging going on for my personal tastes here. >> let me turn to doug brinkley. presidential historian, professor of history. what is the historical significance of the president's visit to afghanistan tonight and the speech he's made outlining the future there? >> i think it's very important. it's his third visit to afghanistan. and it's his first since bin laden's been killed. remember, this was our national objective. get bin laden. we got him. but we have to -- everybody was talking about the politics of all this. remember, nato is meeting in chicago in late may. you have to have some kind of framework, a strategic partnership between afghanistan and the united states. so if it wasn't this day, it would have had to have been in the next few days. i think president obama gave a very strong speech. imagine if you've been serving

in afghanistan for years, i don't think it was triumphless, we've decimated a lot of al qaeda. but there's still rocky times ahead. the strategic partnership signed to only time will tell. but it was a good move to make as we head into the summer where we're going to be bringing home about 25,000 more u.s. troops. >> let's take another listen to a clip from the president's speech tonight. i agree. i don't think it was overtly. let's listen to this. >> as we emerge from a decade of conflict abroad and economic crisis at home, it's time to renew america. an america where our children live free from fear and have the skills to claim their dreams. a united america of grit and resilience. where sunlight glistens off soaring new towers in downtown manhattan and we build our future as one people, as one

nation. >> let's turn to wolf blitzer now. he's taken flack from this rivals who's saying he's making capital out of bin laden's death. isn't it the reality if you're a few months from election, anything he does or says can be deemed electioneering. isn't it perfectly justified for him on the anniversary of bin laden's death after the order that he gave and the s.e.a.l.s' successful mission that he should remind people of what happened. what did you think? >> he didn't get into a lot of politics -- political talk if you will in this talk from the bagram base. he said the u.s. is well on the way to defeating, crushing al qaeda. i'm paraphrasing what he had to say. that wasn't the major thrust of the speech. the major thrust of the speech was outlining a framework for

getting out of afghanistan. and he sort of down played the reality, the harsh reality that it's not happening next month. it's not happening next year. two and a half more years, the united states is going to have to maintain tens of thousands of troops in afghanistan at a cost of tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars. only at the end of 2014 two and a half years from now will all u.s. troops be out of afghanistan. but then he outlined a ten-year framework, details to be negotiated during which the u.s. will have some sort of military and economic role in afghanistan. so it's a lot a work even though 20,000 or 25,000 more troops will be out this year. the u.s. will still have well over 60,000 troops on the ground in afghanistan in a very hostile, warlike environment. and there will be a lot of casualties, unfortunately, in the process. >> senior member of the senate armed services committee has said today clearly this trip is campaign related. we've seen recently president obama has visited college

campuses to win back the support of that age group. similarly this trip to afghanistan is an attempt to shore up his national security credentials because he spent the past three years gutting our military. doug brinkley, do you think that is fair? this is just cheap politics? >> it's cheap politics. we have to pull together more as a country than looking at everything our commander in chief does and seeing it through a political lens. our whole country's been trying to make some kind of progress in afghanistan. we're all kind of anxious to go home. and i think the president did a very strong job today. it's dangerous. i mean, remember mission accomplished with george w. bush. it backfired on him. you don't see a banner behind president obama. he didn't come in wearing a fighter pilot uniform. he simply is trying to get some kind of exit strategy going. and also, remember, just weeks

ago we were dealing with korans being burned. we were dealing with massacres of civils in afghanistan. we can see progress has been made in kabul, i think it's a good thing. >> wolf, what was your reaction to that quote there from the senate armed services committee member? >> well, that was over the top. the united states is still spending about $700 billion a year on u.s. defense expenditures. the pentagon's budget has gone up every year since he took office. i don't know how you can say he's gutted the u.s. military. this president has been very, very strong to the point that the lot of liberal democrats, they've been very concerned about the president's strategy in afghanistan. they've been concerned about the president's continued robust military expenditures. the budget that goes to the pentagon. so this notion of gutting the military is way too far. >> general kimmitt, let me leave

you with statistics and give you the final word. 5,860 days, 1,480 americans killed. over 15,000 americans wounded. 11,864 civilians killed. $443 billion spent. was it worth it? >> well, was it worth it? we don't know yet. the fact is if we leave afghanistan in a better situation going forward, if it is no longer a safe haven for terrorism and it is no longer an emerging threat to the people of the united states of america -- and let's also recognize that if we have got to maintain a war against terrorism, fight against terrorism, global war on terrorism for years to come. because it is important that we killed one man. but we didn't kill an idea. and i believe that we shouldn't rest thinking that it's over. we've got work to do in afghanistan. we've got to work to make sure

that this disease of terrorism and these threats to america, we maintain vigilance for years to come. >> thank you all very much indeed. you're looking at live pictures of the white house. the president's on his way back. next a man who first reported from afghanistan in the 1980s, the great cbs newsman dan rather. >> one year ago from a base here in afghanistan, our troops launched to kill osama bin laden. the goal i set to defeat al qaeda and deny it a chance to rebuild is now within our reach. between pakistan and afghanistan. [ female announcer ] lactaid milk is easy to digest.

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between pakistan and afghanistan. a border that is now closed to most everyone except refugees fleeing the soviet invasion. these afghan clothes i'm wearing were part of an operation to sneak me and the cbs film crew into afghanistan. the operation succeeded. so far as we can tell, we are

the only full television crew to get inside afghanistan in recent months. >> that was dan rather in afghanistan back in 1980. he's now the host of rather reports. and joins me now on our big story. welcome, mr. outspoken. fantastic costume you were wearing there. what do you see timely to have you here on the day president obama flies to afghanistan and make the speech. has america got more out of this conflict in afghanistan than the soviets did? >> that's to be determined. i don't think it yet holds up. the soviets left in defeat. as of right now, the war on afghanistan is a stalemate. one might want to say a stalemate at best as far as the u.s. is concerned. what president obama laid out tonight, that will determine whether it stays a stalemate,

whether we succeed in the basic mission, or whether it's a failure. >> when you look at president obama's foreign policies since he became president, are you impressed by the way he has conducted it? >> i am personally impressed. and furthermore, i think most of the american people are impressed. he hasn't done it perfectly, but let's face it. he's ended one war. the iraq war. he got -- he didn't get, u.s. military people got but on his watch he got osama bin laden. we've also made rather great strides in trying to stabilize the situation of china. it hangs in the balance right now. i think he gets an "a" on foreign policy. one must note, elections are rarely decided on foreign policy. it's about the economy and jobs. that would be the determining factor. i think president obama may be

helped by what he's done in foreign policy especially the getting of osama been on his watch. >> i would be the first to salute the troops. half my family are in the armed forces. however, i do feel it sightly churlish for people to criticize president obama simply reminding people that actually he did take that ordered. because had it gone wrong, as i said earlier, all hell would have broken loose. >> absolutely. >> republicans would have made his life unatentable. >> many saying don't moon walk in the end zone are the same people who applauded president bush when he declared victory in iraq. it's going to be part and parcel to the president's campaign. but i do think the president, whether you agree with him or not, you have to give him credit. on his watch he made the risky call. and jimmy carter can tell you if it had gone badly -- >> it came down to failed

helicopters and awful luck and the rest of it. and on such moments, presidential reputations and nation's reputations can hinge. these are huge decisions these guys have to take. it's not really about politics. i remember when bin laden was killed. very well. because i had flown in from england. i had been covering the royal wedding for cnn. it was the next day. everyone was texting me saying turn on cnn. i turned it on. bin laden is dead. not just america, the world was celebrating. and if it had gone wrong, the world would have seen a humiliated american president. >> absolutely. and probably one who would not be re-elected. >> see, i think presidents when they get it wrong, we all kicked president obama. but isn't it just weird in the modern political world with the rhetoric as it is that he can't even get credit for something so straightforward?

>> it's also a reminder in the great sweep of history that it's hard to judge presidential decisions and administrations at the time. it takes a period past the presidency to put it in context. an example would be president eisenhower. because he ended the war in korea was criticized by some for doing so. he became a two-term elected president. wasn't the only thing that got him elected. it was an important thing that got him elected. but i quite agree. whether republican or democrat, we need to remind ourselves what a difficult job it is. and making a call when your advisers, when the majority of your advisers said i don't think this is the time to go. to say we're going to go, make the call. again, give the troops all the credit they deserve. he does deserve some credit. i think he will get some from the american people. >> it's not just an american thing. winston churchill was kicked out of office after the second world war.

in the end it was about the economic conditions in britain. you know, there was so much disaffection when people came home and found there was no money and no prosperity. they thought, wow. let's get rid of this guy. he's obviously taken his eye off the ball. and you can see with president obama, the economy's still in a rough state. come november he's up against a guy almost certainly mitt romney who is very smart with business, very smart with the economy and financial matters. >> he certainly has a fight on his hands. i have said to some criticism as of this moment that president obama is even money re-elected. however, how things go in afghanistan might effect his chances. remind ourselves. tonight i thought the president delivered eloquent rhetoric. that is going to come hard

against the reality on the ground. the afghan government is corrupt to the core. and it's ineffective. the opium traffic which supports finances, runs unchecked. and many of the muslim leaders in afghanistan preach the gospel these americans are infidel invaders. that's part of the reality. plus the fact that the taliban, not al qaeda per se, but the taliban controls at this moment a great deal of the countryside of afghanistan. that's the reality. so the president's rhetoric tonight comes up hard against that reality. >> i agree with that. let's take a short break. come back and talk about your extraordinary career. the book is riveting. i want to get into it when we come back. [ female announcer ] introducing a match made in skin heaven.

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what is the most important thing you want the american people to understand at this important juncture of history? >> translator: first, convey to them that the people of iraq are not the enemy of the american people. >> dan rather interviewing saddam hussein for cbs news in 2003.

his new book is "rather outspoken." he's back with me now. fascinating watching you with saddam. you've covered so many stories from the civil rights movement to jfk's assassination, vietnam, 9/11. when you finished the book and shut the page, which of all the stories was the one that had the most personal connection to you in. >> i would say covering dr. martin luther king in the civil rights movement was my first big assignment for cbs news. covering for dr. king in the civil rights movement changed me as a person and changed me as a

pro. i grew up in a segregated society in texas. it was not alabama or mississippi, but if i had to pick one story that would be it. if i didn't choose 9/11. perhaps because 9/11 is so recent. but, you know, i think about to the heart which i don't think i'll ever forget. i can't think of a day that's gone by that i don't this about it. >> will america recover from that day? >> my opinion is we have not

fully recovered. it resonates and echoes through this day. will we ever? ever is a long, long time. i don't think with the current generation of americans and young people, i don't think it will fade at least until all of us are gone. >> when you look at the response by america, during the war in iraq, what happened in

i'm at peace about it. i can take -- when you're a pro and you play the game at or near the top, you're going to have good days and bad days.

you're going to see sunny days and starry nights. that's just the way things go. i did write about it in the book. it's less than a fourth of the book. i wanted to get between hard covers my side of the story. anybody who's interested in how bigtime news operations work. >> it's gripping to read. i've worked for big companies. i've been through a similar thing myself. i want to play a clip of your apology on air and get your reaction on this. >> the failure of cbs news to do just that to properly fully scrutinize the documents and their source led to our airing the documents when we should not have done so. it was a mistakes. cbs news deeply regrets it. also i want to say personally and directly i'm sorry. >> this all surrounded memos critical of george w. bush's service as an officer in air texas national guard.

when you look back on the whole thing knowing everything you now know, is there anything you would have done differently with the great benefit of hindsight? >> we don't have the great benefit of hindsight. what i think -- this is the way i think about it. we reported a true story. many questions about george bush was he awol? did he disappear if you're a soldier today and walk off the base for a couple days you have tok accountable and have to pay consequences. we reported a true story. that's the reason i'm no longer at cbs news. those who found the story uncomfortable for their partisan political purposes attacked us at what they knew to be the weakest point which was this documents. >> do you believe those documents? >> i do. i believered ever since and believe it to this day. the longer we go and nobody

comes forward with proof that the documents were not what they report to be, the more i believe it. now, it's fair to say well dan, i don't think you proved the documents. but we're off in the weeds now. in the big picture, what was our job? our job was to get as close to the truth as we possibly could do. that we did. we reported a true story. everything in the documents checked out. it's true. these questions about how did he get in? he got in because of his father's privilege and place. how did he manage to disappear for a year and not be accountable? again because of his father's time and place. for a commander in chief with that kind of record, it's fair to raise the questions. and we did. and we paid the price. >> have you ever had any conversation with president bush since that? >> once. after that i was at the white house for a briefing for reporters. and i asked him a couple of questions and he answered the questions.

and then afterward, he said to me i hope you'd be happy retired in austin which is texas being my home. i had no intention to retire in austin. i have a passion for my work and plunged myself back into doipg work. >> we asked cbs to make a comment. they chose not to. it is another fascinating part of the book. you're still reporting as well as you always did. let's take another break. i want to talk about modern journalism. you have a few spiky views about the young breed which i want to explore with you. uncover stronger, younger looking skin.

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back with my special guest dan rather. you over your time as a reporter spanned over 11 presidents. who was the best? who was the one if you could choose one guy to lead your country? >> dwight eisenhower would probably be my choice. we're very fortunate in this country that we've never really had an evil president. some would argue richard nixon. i don't make that argument. all those that had to resign from a widespread criminal conspiracy. but i'd have to say ike.

he had been seasoned by the war being a college president and his two terms were not without their faults and flaws. but you have to pick one, i think it's him. >> when you covered the civil rights movement, did you ever imagine in your lifetime there would be a black president? >> not only did i imagine it, we used to sit around in the shank of the evening over adult beverage talk about civil rights. i remember clearly saying in my lifetime there may be an african-american elected mayor of atlanta, but there'll never be an african-american congressman from the state of georgia. and somebody said what about president? i said maybe my grand grandson's time. and even more recently, as recently as the 1990s even the early 2000s when someone would suggest we'd have a person of color as president, i said i don't think you know the country very well. i'd have to say i was wrong about it.

>> amazing. and great that you were. i want to play a clip of you with george bush sr. i'll explain why after this. >> if you have a question -- >> i have one. >> please. >> you said if you had known this was an arms for hostages swap you would have opposed it. you also said that you did -- >> may i answer that? >> that wasn't a question. it was a statement. let me ask the question if i may first. >> here's my question for you. could you imagine that ever happening today? could any reporter -- would any reporter have the guts to do it but could any reporter do that now to a president? be that inquisitive, that interrogatory? >> frankly, i don't think any reporter could do it today. i don't like talking terms of guts. plenty of reporters have a lot of courage and guts. but in the current environment, anyone who wanted to keep their job as an anchor person and lead correspondent, i don't think

could afford to do that kind of pressing aggressive interview. and it was controversial at the time. that was in the 1980s, vice president bush was running for president. i was pressing him. in later years he admitted that what he'd said in the interview was not true. but in answer to your question, i don't think it could be done today, no. >> what do you think of the standards of modern journalism taking into account all the pressures. newsprint sales are crashing, the move online, the internet explosion, bloggers and so on. when you take an overview, what do you think of modern journalism standards? >> modern journalism is in crisis in my opinion. there are lots of reasons for that. not the least to the business of journalism as well as the practice has been the corporatization, the politicalization, and the trivialization of the news. i do not except myself from this.

we in journalism have lost our spine. our grit and gut. and i include myself in that criticism. i see some signs it is getting somewhat better. as i outlined in "rather outspoken" we have situations where now no more than six or four global corporations control about 80% or more of our true national circulation. in very big business, forgive my phrasing if you must. very big business is in bed with big government in washington. that effects what you see and hear and read in the news. that's not a good situation for us. you and i know that a free press, an independent, fiercely independent press is the red beating heart of democracy. and we begin to diminish the standards. you have this political and business influence.

any diplomatic confrontation or any sense they were being lectured to by the united states. really we just don't know. this has always been a fluid situation. cast your mind back to last friday when the news broke that

chen guangcheng escaped. remember, this is a blind activist, a man who has been watched 24/7. somehow he was able to get out under cover of darkness, climb a wall, cross a creek, go to a secret rehn sndezvourendezvous, with a car. those supporters praut him to beijing. since then, we spoke with other supporters who took him to the u.s. embassy. in the meantime, those supporters have been arrested ordained themselves and held for questioning. this has been a very fluid situation, a situation that's been constantly changing, and, of course, around that, this flurry of diplomacy, this concern about what it's going to mean for the united states and for china, particularly with hillary clinton arriving in beijing. now we have another development. reports that chen guangcheng has left the embassy of his own volition and taken to a medical facility, we don't know which

one, in beijing where he's been reunited with his family. it raises a whole lot of speculation. where's he going to go to next? is he going to try to leave the country? will he go to the united states? what is happening between u.s. and chinese officials? all those questions still to be answered, zain. >> this is such a major international story. there's been so much focus on this activist. how much play is this getting in china? do u.s. people in beijing where you are, are they even following this story? are they getting much information? >> great question because there's been an information blackout on this. this has not been reported in the state media. there's also been censorship of social media. webo, the chinese equivalent of twitter, has been censored. any search terms related to him have been blocked. if you try to search blind, you can't. if you try to search cnn, you can't.

u.s. embassy, similarly, blocked. they've gone to great lengths to stop this news from getting out to the public. we tried to speak to 40 or 50 people on the streets in beijing, and only two of those people knew who chen guangcheng was or were prepared to admit they knew who chen guangcheng was. yes, there's been an information blackout from the government. here's what's really intriguing. in the past when we've reported this story, our own stories have been blacked out by the censors on cnn. since i've been reporting this story when it broke on friday, all of the stories that i've done, even the visit we made to the village where we ran foul of local security, all of those stories have been run. on the one side, we have a blackout of media. on the other side, cnn and other media organizations able to report this story unfettered.

we haven't been censored, and the story is getting out. perhaps this is a way for the chinese to prepare the way for what eventually happens with chen guangcheng. perhaps they're opening the information comes out through the back door, that through the international reporting, the information is then reimported back into china, and chinese people start to learn about what's happening without it necessarily being reported directly on state media. all of that is conjecture, but it certainly does raise a very interesting set of circumstances, and one we're not used to seeing normally, zain. >> it does. stan, just to make the point, your report right now with me has not been blacked out in china at the moment. so people in that country, if they're able to watch, can watch. stan grant, thanks so much. stan will bring you more details at the top of the hour. i'm zain verjee, and we'll continue to follow this story. stay with cnn.

i had a pretty lively dispute with jonah goldberg last night about this because i dependent think it was unreasonable of the democrats to remind people that mitt romney had gone on the record during the debate about the hunt for bin laden saying he didn't really think it was worth the vast expense to go after one guy. admittedly it came in the context of why the comments about the general cost of the war in afghanistan and so on, but was it unfair of barack obama to capitalize? he's a politician. it is election year. he did order the hit on bin laden. it was successful. and mitt romney was on the record saying, i don't think the cost is worth it. >> i think that's totally fair game. clearly, the campaign in chicago decided they're going to make the bin laden raid a centerpiece of the campaign. i think there's a danger of overplaying that hand, and i really think letting the record speak for itself with the president's actions and his decisions and how it went down

will probably serve them better later on rather than get into this politicized debate over the politicization of the bin laden raid. i don't think it's wrong to draw contrasts with your opponent when romney won't even state his own afghanistan policy. >> i thought it was fair enough. they have t reserving the right to criticize obama for all sorts of other things, on this one he got it right. let's get to the navy s.e.a.l.s, who are getting irritated that barack obama isn't giving them enough credit for doing it and is getting all the attention for doing it. >> this is where the backlash could come from. it's very hard to criticize the president's decision if you're his political opponent, but there are members of the special forces community, within the s.e.a.l. community, who have

expressed their anger, their resentment over how the white house, the administration has handled the publicity surrounding the bin laden raid. there was a fascinating edit editorial in "the wall street journal" several months ago by a navy s.e.a.l. saying the president is putting s.e.a.l.s lives at risk. i think we'll see that as the election continues. >> thank you very much for joining me. coming up next, the president's order to kill osama bin laden and the accusations he's politicizing it, i gave my verdict.

tonight on only in america,

what's the point of being president? you get to live in a big white house, fly on the world's best plane, helicopter, and armored car,k escorted by the most exclusive calf cade, and, yes, you get to hang out with george clooney, and if you're lucky, kim kardashian. but the real thing about being president is you get to make big decisions that involve people around the world. the consequences of being voted into the highest office in the land can be devastating. presidents have been assassinated, impeached, and exposed to all matter of danger, humiliation, attack, and challenges. and every decision is ravaged by the world's media, pored over, dissected, debated, and often ridiculed. it takes a pretty strong, courageous character to ride the storm of scrutiny, and america has been blessed with many such men over the years. friday, april 29, 2011, gave an

order to send a group of navy s.e.a.l.s into pakistan to kill osama bin laden. if it had gone wrong, president obama would be facing a landslide defeat in november. but it went right. the man who inflicted the worst atrocity on our country on 9/11, is dead, and the nation celebrated. today to celebrate the anniversary, president obama went to visit the troops in afghanistan and to lay out a plan for that troubled country. he's been criticized for exploiting bin laden's death for political motives, but should he be? president obama staked everything on that order last april, determined to bring bin laden to justice, as he promised to do. the fact that he was successful was a great relief to the country and a great job by the s.e.a.l.s. this country is founded on the appetite for a great exchange of