to care for civilian casualties,i then went back, i" again. i know he will make this a political issue and he will should. but i think this time, at this moment he should have given a lot more credit to the people that did this instead of throwing this into the first phase of a political campaign. host: we will give an opportunity to hear the president himself and his own words from last night around 11:30 p.m., addressed the country on the news osama bin laden killed. that is today's "washington journal." we will be back tomorrow. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011]

>> good evening. tonight, i can report to the leader of al qaeda, and a the murder of thousands of children. it was nearly 10 years ago that a bright september day was darkened by the worst attack on the american people in our history. the images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory -- hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless september sky; the twin towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the pentagon -- the wreckage of flight 93 in shanksville pennsylvania

saved unseen to the world. up without their mother or theirparents who would never know the feeling of their child'son september 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the american people came together. we offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. we reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of community and country. on that day, no matter where we came from, what god we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one american family. we were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice. we quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al qaeda -- an organization headed by osama bin laden, which had

openly declared war on the united states and was committed to killing innocents in our country and around the globe. and so we went to war against al qaeda to protect our citizens, our friends, and our allies. over the last 10 years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals, we've made great strides in that effort. we've disrupted terrorist attacks and strengthened our homeland defense. in afghanistan, we removed the taliban government, which had given bin laden and al qaeda safe haven and support. and around the globe, we worked with our friends and allies to capture or kill scores of al qaeda terrorists, including several who were a part of the 9/11 plot. yet osama bin laden avoided capture and escaped across the afghan border into pakistan. meanwhile, al qaeda continued to operate from along that border and operate through its

affiliates across the world. and so shortly after taking office, i directed leon panetta, the director of the cia, to make the killing or capture of bin laden the top priority of our war against al qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network. then, last august, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, i was briefed on a possible lead to bin laden. it was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. i met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin laden hiding within a compound deep inside of pakistan. and finally, last week, i determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get osama bin laden and bring him to justice. today, at my direction, the

united states launched a targeted operation against that compound in abbottabad, pakistan. a small team of americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. no americans were harmed. they took care to avoid civilian casualties. after a firefight, they killed osama bin laden and took custody of his body. for over two decades, bin laden has been al qaeda's leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies. the death of bin laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al qaeda. yet his death does not mark the end of our effort. there's no doubt that al qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. we must - and we will -- remain vigilant at home and abroad. as we do, we must also reaffirm that the united states is not - and never will be - at war with

islam. i've made clear, just as president bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against islam. bin laden was not a muslim leader, he was a mass murderer of muslims. indeed, al qaeda has slaughtered scores of muslims in many countries, including our own. so his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity. over the years, i've repeatedly made clear that we would take action within pakistan if we knew where bin laden was. that is what we've done. but it's important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with pakistan helped lead us to bin laden and the compound where he was hiding. indeed, bin laden had declared war against pakistan as well, and ordered attacks against the pakistani people. tonight, i called president zardari, and my team has also spoken with their pakistani counterparts. they agree that this is a good

and historic day for both of our nations. and going forward, it is essential that pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al qaeda and its affiliates. the american people did not choose this fight. it came to our shores, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens. after nearly 10 years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war. these efforts weigh on me every time i, as commander-in-chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who's been gravely wounded. so americans understand the costs of war. yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. we will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies.

we will be true to the values that make us who we are. and on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al qaeda's terror-- justice has been done. tonight, we give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who've worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome. the american people do not see their work, nor know their names. but tonight, they feel the satisfaction of their work and the result of their pursuit of justice. we give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country. and they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of the burden since that september day. finally, let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to

prevent another attack on our shores. and tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. i know that it has, at times, frayed. yet today's achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the american people. the cause of securing our country is not complete. but tonight, we are once again reminded that america can do whatever we set our mind to. that is the story of our history, whether it's the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens, our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place. let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are -- one nation, under god, indivisible, with

liberty and justice for all. thank you. may god bless you. and may god bless the united states of america. >> and that was president obama last night at 11:36 p.m. in the east room of the white house, announcing the death of osama bin laden. as you can imagine, all sorts of briefings and hearings are popping up in this town today in washington. we will continue our live coverage of the death of osama bin laden here on c-span until the house comes in at 2:00 p.m. you can imagine that there will be many one-minute speeches regarding the killing of osama

bin laden. we want to hear from you as well. we will get to those in just a minute. secretary of state clinton spoke from the state department about this. >> today i want to say a few words about what this means for our records going forward. first, i want to offer my thoughts and prayers to the thousands of families whose loved ones were killed in osama bin laden's campaign of terror and violence come from the embassy bombings and africa to the strike on the uss cole, to

the attacks of september 11, 2001, and so many more. these were not just attacks against americans, although he suffered grievous losses. these were attack -- although we suffered grievous losses. these attacks against cold world. in bali, madrid, istanbul, many other places, innocent people, most of them muslims, were targeted in markets and mosques, subway stations and on airplanes. each attack motivated by a violent ideology that holds no value for human life or regard for human dignity. i know that nothing can make up for the loss of the victims or fill the voids they left, but i hope their families can now find some comfort in the fact that justice has been served.

second, i want to join the president in honoring the courage and commitment of the brave men and women who served our country, and have worked tirelessly and relentlessly for more than a decade to track down and bring osama bin laden, this terrorist, to justice. from our troops and intelligence experts to our diplomats and law-enforcement officials, this has been a broad, deep, and very impressive effort. here at the state department, we have worked to forge a worldwide anti-terror network. we have drawn together the effort and energy of friends, partners, and allies on every continent. our partnerships, including our close cooperation with pakistan, have helped put unprecedented pressure on al qaeda and its

leadership, continued cooperation will be just as important in the days ahead, because even as we mark this milestone, we should not forget that the battle to stop al qaeda and its syndicate of terror will not end with the death of bin laden. we must take this opportunity to renew our resolve and in afghanistan, al qaeda and their taliban -- in afghanistan, we will continue to take the fight to al qaeda and taliban allies. we are implementing the strategy for transition approved by nato at the summit in lisbon, and we're supporting an afghan-led political process that seeks to isolate al qaeda and the

insurgency. our message to the taliban remains the same, but today it may have even greater resonance. you cannot wait us out, you cannot defeat us, but you can make the choice to abandon al qaeda and participate in a peaceful political process. in pakistan, we are committed to supporting the people and government as they defend their own democracy from violent extremism. indeed, as the president said, and often have also declared war on pakistan -- bin laden had also declared war on pakistan. he had ordered the killing of many pakistani men, women, and children. in recent years, the cooperation between our governments,

military, and law enforcement agencies increased pressure on al qaeda and the taliban. this must continue, and we are ccommitted to our partnership. history will record that bin laden's death came at a time of great movement for freedom and democracy, at a time when people across the middle east and north africa are rejecting the extremist narrative and charting a path to peace will progress based on universal rights and aspirations. there is no better rebuke to al qaeda and its tennis ideology -- its heinous ideology. all are around, we will invest in a positive vision of peace and progress and relentlessly pursued the murderers who target innocent people. the fight continues, and we will never waivver.

i know there are some who doubted this day would ever come, who questioned our resolve and reach. let us remind ourselves, this is america. we rise to the challenge, we persevere, and we get the job done. i am reminded especially today of the year was some of humanity that marked the difficult days after 9/11. in new york, where i was a senator, our community was devastated tha -- our community was devastated, but we pulled through. 10 years later, that american spirit is as powerful as ever, and it continues to prevail. this is a day not only for americans but for people all over the world who look to more peaceful and secure future, at that with continued vigilance --

yes, with continued vigilance, but more so with growing hope and renewed faith in what is possible. thank you very much. >> and that was secretary clinton from about 20, 30 minutes ago at the state department, reacting to the death of osama bin laden, who was killed in abbottabad, a suburb of islamabad, the capital of pakistan. now we want to hear from you. you can also send us a tweet -- twitter.com/cspan. no hyphen in "cspan." you can make a comment on our facebook page.

mike allen of politico has created a minute-by-minute breakdown of how this took place. we want to be just a little bit of it before we get your phone calls. "president obama rejected the of original plan for the bombing." you go down, and it says that the compound, about an acre, three-story house, is in abbottabad, a suburb of the pakistani capital, islamabad. "residents burned their trash, and there was no telephone or internet connection to the compound, valued at $1 million. but officials never had anything directly proven that osama bin laden was living there. the u.s. discovered the compound by following the personal career for bin laden.

officials did not learn his name until 2007, and then it took two years to find him and track them down to this compound, discovered in august 2010. moment, 'holy cow' officials said. the helicopter raid was this year, more daring, an official said, wanted to prove. he did not want to leave a pile of rubble. officials also knew there were 22 people living there, and obama wanted to be sure not to kill all the civilians. ordered officials to come up plan. officials might hurt the action from washington." just a little bit more. "as the actual raid approach, daily meetings were held, chaired by national security advisor tom donilon and their deputies, chaired by john brennan, the president's

counterterrorism adviser. at an april 19 meeting in the situation room, the president approve the assault as the course of action. on april 28, just after the east room announcement that cia director leon panetta would be succeeding robert gates as defense secretary, the president held another meeting in the situation room and went through a everyone's final recommendation. he did not announce the decision at that time, but briefed the council." irvine, kentucky. dwight, your reaction to osama bin laden being killed. >> i thought it was great. i would like to thank c-span, by the way. i'd like to congratulate the military, the cia, both administrations. but i would like to clear some

things up a little bit here. a guy said on fox news, or another news network, from the government -- he mentioned that 1998, this already been done, osama bin laden had been killed. i remember when i had a part- time job and we had a lot of people who were right wing nuts, they listen to people like rush limbaugh, and they said, well, everything that bill clinton does was a diversion from monica lewinsky. bill clinton -- there was a lot of pressure put on him, and he cannot do the job fully. it was like a witch hunt. it was years ago, and by the time he tried to do something, said was a plane that

"united arab emirates" on the side -- >> come to the conclusion. >> my conclusion is that this was a combined effort. it was no one person's bafault. i thought both administration's handled it pretty good. i think bush put wait too much emphasis on saddam hussein. >> all right, the white, we got the point. tucson, arizona -- all right, dwight, we got the point. tucson, arizona. >> i am not a bush and khyber. he put us on the road to what happened -- i am not the bush admirer.

he put us on the road to what happened. we should acknowledge that it is not just the past two years, but 10 years in the coming and thousands of people had a say, did something, followed a lead that no one else would, and we came to this point. is a real joint effort of all of our people and all of the people in the state department and the cia and the army and everybody , navy, marines. i want to thank them. don.sylvania -- hi, >> i am proud to be an american, proud to be a u.s. air force veteran, and i'm proud that president obama got the job done like he said he was when to do, and also proud of the other presidents -- president clinton and president bush. all of them tried, and it was

ongoing, and we got the job finished. like i say, i am proud to be an american and i'm glad it is over. >> the picture we showed you on the air is on a compound of abbottabad, in the suburb of islamabad. here is a little bit more from story.llen's politico "tom donnelly is signed a written authorization to -- tom o'donnell and signed written authorization to cia director leon panetta. the strike was scheduled for saturday, but whether it pushed it to yesterday. navy seals arrived at the compound at 3:30 p.m. and were gone by 4:15 p.m.. obama monitored the situation all day in the situation room, surrounded by donilon, chief of staff bill daley, secretary of state clinton, secretary of

defense and gates, joint chiefs chairman mike mullen, and others. panetta was at cia headquarters, where he turned his conference room into a command center that gave him constant contact with the tactical leaders of the strike team. at the helicopter carrying out the assault force appeared to stall over the co plann -- over the compound, providing heart-stopping loans for people in washington -- moments for people in washington. the pilot put the bird down gently in the compound but could not get it going again. they went ahead and raided the compound, even though they did not know if it would have a ride home. special forces put bombs on the helicopter and blew it up. bin laden resisted the assault force, and he was shot in the face by the fire fight. the commander on the ground told another commander that they had

found out osama bin laden. applause erupted in washington. reinforcements came and picked eals, who picked up every shred of intelligence in the house. officials used facial recognition technology to compare them with no pictures of been la-- of been lost in. it was him." your reaction to osama bin laden being killed. >> i have gratitude to all those who participated and persevered in all these years to try to make this happen. i want to point out to the last caller from "washington journal" that the president used "we" and "our" 300% more than "i," and before he used "i,"he thanked

all the military and intelligence people and of and he thanked them again. i ask people to look into their hearts and let go of fear and pettiness and all the things that are holding us back now. that this be a new beginning for us. >> jacksonville, florida. hi, renee. >> i want to reiterate what the last caller said. she stole my thunder, because i was going to say the same thing, but i am so proud of my government, military, and president, and i think the country is proud of everybody involved. thank you. >> will, johnson city, tennessee. >> i would like to thank all those special operation guys, all the sun rises -- all the sacrifices they made during the course of the year. one of the things that was disheartening to me to hear people say that they want

that the president carried out the job he said he was going to carry out. the president said a priority, worked along with intelligence officers, a lot of people on the ground, and we got our guy. even if people don't believe now, we got osama bin laden. >> as you can imagine, press conferences and different events are popping up around washington regarding the death of osama bin laden. c-span will bring you as many of those as possible today. here is a little bit more from mike allen's story in this morning in politico. "a senior u.s. official emails that bin laden was living at a relatively comfortable place. many of the plus soldiers are located in some of the remotest regions of pakistan and live in

austere conditions. he obviously was not living as one of them. -- as one of them." annette, your reaction. >> first of all, i want to reiterate to everyone else that this is a proud day for me as an american. i am extremely, extremely proud of the president. back on the statements that were made before, regardless of whether people think the president should say "i," we had a president who said "the buck stops here." if this operation had not gone right, he would have gotten flak. if it did go right, it could not have gone without him giving authorization. i sometimes have a hard time understanding why our country does not understand what a president is, when we have had

presidents all of our lives. i it joined the military academy in 2011 -- [unintelligible] at the same time, i understand he felt a great need to do what he did because of what happened. i live in florida, where the president came down to see the space shuttle that did not go up. he went to see all the persons in alabama who suffered from the tornado knocked out he had a fundraiser in miami. i think last night he had a conference on the news. at no one time could you tell that anything was going on.

aplomb andzed by ihis his ability to do so many things at one time. we need to give him credit for that. >> majority leader reid, along with senate armed services chair carl levin, will be holding a press conference on capitol hill at 11:15 a.m. this morning, and we will be bringing that to you live as well. back to mike allen and the politico story. "a senior administration official briefing reporters on the midnight conference call -- 'the compound sits on a large plot of land in and out-that was relatively secluded when it was built. it was about eight times larger than the other homes in area. when the compound was built in 2005, it was on the outskirts of the town center at the end of a narrow dirt road.

in the last six years, residential homes up been built nearby. it has to all-too-18-foot walls -- 12-to-18-foot walls topped with barbed wire. access to the compound is restricted by two security gates, and the residents of a compound burned their trash, unlike their neighbors, who put the trash out for collection. the main structure, a three- story building, has a few windows facing the outside the compound. a terrorist on the third floor has a seven-foot privacy walls. it is noteworthy that the property is valued approximately $1 million but has no telephone or in a net service connected to it.'" >> i was going to say something about seeing the body of the bin laden.

i want to thank everybody who was involved. i have a family overseas, and i want them to know that they should stay vigilant and we need to know that our government is there for them. we thank them. thank you. >> dan in long island, good morning to you. >> good morning, mr. slen. i have the greatest respect for you, and i ask you to step outside the box. there are a lot of 9/11 truthers who have doubts about the story. to murder the guy, i think we would have been better off having embraced this man in a way just to prove that he was guilty, first off, because now, especially when they got rid of the body, it seems very suspicious, again, and leads to more questions than answers. these people, if that is their chosen leader, we have to figure out a way to come together, because this world cannot

tolerate any more wars. bin laden is just one man, but we have millions of people who have embraced his feelings and the way he feels about america's involved in their countries. >> what would you think of the ramifications of a trial of osama bin laden, new york, guantanamo? >> wherever they hold him, it seems that by not trying to embarrass covering something up -- by not trying him, they are covering something up. if he researched the "new york times" article, two months after the incidents of 9/11, my supervisor had destroyed the videotapes of all six air traffic controllers involved in the incident. that was one of the worst crimes that ever happened in this country, to destroy evidence about the crime leads one to be suspicious, and not only did he destroy the tapes, but he

dispersed it about the center in its various garbage cans -- >> are you a so-called 9/11 truther? >> when i saw that occur, and other things, whether it was henry kissinger's initial head up the 9/11 commission, and he had to doubt because of conflicts of interest, it shows a -- he had to battle out because of conflicts of interest, it shows you that we did not get an honest assessment of what took place. there is a lot of evidence that has been ignored, whether it is the anthrax attacks. all that was not included in the 9/11 commission. i don't go on these tensions of conspiracies. i just want to stick with the facts. with any crime, you want to follow the money, and in this case, that did not happen. there was not any troop 9/11 commission -- true 9/11

commission. >> we will have to leave it there. back to mike allen. "two or careers, the third was osama bin laden's son. one woman was killed when she was used as a shot by a male combatant. two other women were injured. the loss of an often puts the gro -- the loss of bin laden puts the group on a decline that will be difficult to reverse." michael scheuer lawyer, who used to head up the cia -- michael scheuer, who used to head up the cia bin laden unit, was on "washington journal" this morning. we will show you that. laden unit chief from 1969 -- 1996 to 1999 and served as an adviser after the

september 11 attacks, 2004. the need begin with your reaction when you heard the news. guest: i was delighted. he was a direct threat to the united states. a very were the enemy with a said. this meant defied the united states for 16 years -- a very were the enemy. -- a worthy enemy. host: what do you think the state will be looking for? guest: the agency will be looking at the immediate right reaction. there have been some public statements pledging revenge. we also face the problem at 9/11, they now have good organizations in yemen, somalia, and iraq, and in north africa.

this is a much bigger problem than it was backed 9/11 -- at 9/11. they will be looking at individual muslims who are anchored by this action and will try to take revenge against american tourists or businessmen or ex-patriots. host: what are your concerns? guest: most of that americans do not give the idea that this is over. it is important -- i don't mean to the great we have done. this is more than a one-man problem. the president and mr. bush always say we're not at war with islam, there is a significant part of the islamic world that is at war with us and that will continue and probably be reinvigorated by the death of osama bin laden. host: who could replace osama

bin laden? guest: initially, his deputy, al-zawahiri. i do not think al-zawahiri will be the permanent commander. he is an abrasive man in the stock get away with the saudis very well. the talk about a libyan who has been a prominent -- prominent in the religious discussions of al qaeda. the al qaeda command in the european peninsula is a very senior person, former secretary to osama bin laden. those are two candidates. al qaeda puts an enormous amount of time in planning succession. this is not something they wanted to happen, but it is something that will prepare for for a long time. host: how do we know that? guest: bin laden has said this

will be a generational war. we have seen them -- we killed a number twos and number threes all over the world. this sometimes try to rub our nose in front of them by putting their circling -- curriculum on the internet. they do plan for succession. host: what do we know about how he was killed? guest: it appears he was killed in a firefight. it was a c.i.a.-led operation. they gave him a chance to surrender. he refused and was shot and killed. he died exactly the way he wanted to. he preferred death to capture. much of the muslim world will see him as a holy warrior who died in fighting in got past path -- god's path.

host: why the burial at sea? guest: if they buried him at land, it might have been seen as a shrine. they are opposed to that. i think to be on the safe side, they buried him at sea. host: you with the former unit chief of the bin laden unit at the cia. he started it -- you started it. why? guest: we could not go after hezbollah because so much of the money was in religious institutions. the white house did not want to go after them. we went after osama bin laden the cost after the war with the soviets, in his name and began to turn up all over the world.

in yemen, in chechnya, in east pakistan, and east africa. not that he was in command of all those places, but he had provided money, training, false documents, rhetoric on tape that was used. and so we set up a unit to decide whether or not he was indeed a threat or just another saudi spendthrift. it turns out he was a very hands-on military commander. host: what kind of reaction did you get from your superiors when you did this? guest: the request came down from the white house to go after bin laden or al qaeda. when they decided on al qaeda, i was directed to form the unit. the order came from above. we set up in late 1995 and had

some extraordinary successes. some of my officers were extraordinary performers. they gave mr. clinton 10 different chance it to kill them between may of 1998 and may of 1999. i have lived in fear that the would-be broker justice in the sense that, when you do not do something when you have the opportunity, it does not always come around again. host: juneau like president clinton did not except that -- do you know why president clinton did not accept that? guest: the prince's father was about to buy aircraft. the white house decided it was more important to sell those planes than it was to kill osama bin laden, even with a couple of

dead princess. there were afraid the agency would be accused of the assassination. there were always afraid of the media. the europeans would think we were cowboys. mr. bush acted the same way in many instances. host: why did it take so long? guest: the decision to put the light footprints into afghanistan by mr. rumsfeld. afghanistan has the highest mountains in the earth. we have 100,000 troops in afghanistan. one in three or shooters. they're supposed to keep mr. karzai in power and rebuild the economy, build a transportation and communications infrastructure from scratch, defeat the taliban, and in his spare time, go after bin laden. host: let's go to phone calls.

stephen in college park, maryland. caller: there is one sensible, just, -- they should have desecrates his remains. feed it to -- a pig farm lagoon to show the followers would means -- and who is the boss. we're not doing that. it is unfortunate. host: that is your opinion. what about stoking the fire? this is what's osama bin laden -- this is what osama bin laden wanted. guest: to desecrate the body would have made us feel good, but it would have invoked great anger in the muslim world. host: lancaster, california.

tony, you are next. caller: i have a question for those who question the burial at sea. where do they think you want -- he should have been buried? in the united states? host: that was part of a report that said it would have been difficult in finding a country to except his remains. guest: the saudis would not taken back. i thought it was an unusual decision to bury him at csea. as i think about it, i think now it was a good idea. now people will say, they buried him at sea and he really is not dead. host: the suspect there will be pictures coming forward? guest: i think they may have to

release pictures to satisfy people in the united states. i don't think it's a good idea. a lot depends on how he looks, in a sense. when a man dies, if he looks composed and calm in his death, it is a tradition in the muslim world that he was truly fighting in god's way. if he is shot and messed up, maybe it would be good to use the pictures because it might be not seen as fighting in god's way. it does not advance the game at all. it kind of satisfies a lot of people to see the actual evidence. host: let's go next to mississippi. good morning. caller: am i on?

you are doing a great job, greta. to the lady who dressed you down this morning, i do not agree with her at all. i thank god for c-span. i am an avid viewer of c-span. i have been up all night, have not slept a wink. i am glad he is gone. he can no longer be a threat. i don't think the story is over. i think there probably will be retaliation from his people. but i just want to commend the special forces and our president for a job well done. host: we heard from a phone call this morning, we talk to chairman joseph lieberman and we talk to a former cia director, general hayden about the special ops team that wins in.

guest: there were officers that went in and landed on top of the building. they cornered osama bin laden and several other people. his adult son. nobody wanted to surrender. they all ended up dead. it strikes me given the time in which it took to develop this operation that the seals probably work very well practiced and it did appear to quaff as clockwork. host: what do you make -- one newspaper said leon panetta and others watched it in real time from the cia. guest: that would not be surprising given cameras and other things. we watch things live on the ground in afghanistan from the creditors. -- creditors -- predators.

host: next to philadelphia. you are on the air. caller: i think it is strange that they have not showed the body. it is cut the thing that gets reelected. i did not see how all the sudden -- this happens when people want to see his birth certificate -- it is like a smokescreen. host: who was osama bin laden? guest: 1 of 54 children of wealthy saudi contractor. they remain the sort of -- of the middle east. he grew up in the religious manner, one of the many brothers who did not go to school outside saudi arabia. he was educated in religion but also economics and management. he worked first father's company

as first a laborer and an informant and a construction engineer. he specialized in talk construction and the construction of mosques and other buildings. he fought against the soviets and remained there most of the next decade. and came to sadudan back to afghanistan and has been there ever since. host: what we know about his wealth? guest: his own wealth was limited to about $40 million from his share of the family fortune. he probably still was receiving his annual share of the fortune over the past 16, 18 years. he drew money from many sources, some from the taliban, some from moscow contributions. -- mosque contributions. men who solicited contributions

from new jihad been in the 19 80's continue to support him. there would always be a surge after he attacked the united states -- men who solicited contributions from the mujahedin. host: he is a prolific fundraisers. guest: terrifically prolific. after he attacked the united states, that flow of the nations began to come back to him. host: what were the efforts to freeze his assets? guest: we try to freeze his assets that were in western banks. outside of that, we cannot do much about that. we froze very little of this money over time. host: this statement was put out by george bush. there is a quotation in "the washington post." "the fight against terror goes

on." host: florida, brenda, your next. -- you're next. caller: i just have a question. i grew up near emmett till airforce base all my life. mcdill air force base. would be a terrorist target? guest: everything in the united states, what our military facility or civilian facility, has to be considered a target. being one place rather than another is not much of a safety measure. i don't think they will be going up against a hard targets anytime soon, like a u.s.

military base. they are more likely to go after a civilian facility or perhaps assassinating someone. host: joe from indiana, you are next. i have a question for michael. when i see people celebrating in the streets in new york and washington, it reminds us of the terrorists that hate us when i see them in the streets, i think maybe this is puling fires puma future terrorists. maybe i'm looking at this wrong. hosguest: i think it will be interpreted by the enemy as unnecessary. at the end of the day, that is just the way it is. i don't think we should try to prevent people from celebrating. what i hear more than a

celebration itself is the american people pinking that killing of bin laden ends it all. we have a high road to climb before this is over. host: crowds gathered outside the white house last night upon hearing the news from president obama. now to seattle. caller: i think 9/11 was an inside job. look at the 9/11 timeline that online if you want to look at that. i unbackethin think obama is anc just like bush was. >> that's nonsense. he attacked us because we had failed to kill him in 1988 and

1999. the idea that the cia or the u.s. government would attack their own people is ludicrous. host: moscow, tennessee, patricia. caller: thank you. my father is a lieutenant colonel in the military. i have the utmost respect for anybody who serve our country. they give the freedom that everybody has. thanks for the fight still going on. god bless everybody. hold your heads high. give thanks to all the young men and women. if if you see somebody in uniform, said perrin. without them, we would not be in this country and able to voice our opinions as we are this morning. -- if you see somebody in ake -- shake their hand.

e. speak to the relationship osama bin laden that with saudi arabia. guest: as in most things in saudi arabia, things are opaque. there are members of his family that still support him. he was at daggers drawn with the saudis. he they have cracked down on his organization. they probably should be prepared for violence in their country as a result of osama bin laden being killed. his followers will want to take revenge not only against --

against u.s. and foreign presence on the arabian peninsula. host: is that separate from the protest we are seeing in these countries in the middle east? guest: it will be separate in saudi arabia. most process or local. in saudi arabia, the government is not like very much. -- most protests are local. one of the thing that make u saddamn-islamic -- one of th-- what impact you think this will have on the situation in libya? providinglibya, we're air support for people who osama bin laden fought bin against the soviets. that is a mixed situation.

in egypt, we see the islamists have a desire to gain power there. his death will be applauded by many to satisfy the west. the cyrillic or quietly, people will regret his -- but secretly or quietly, people will regret his passing. host: this is the news out of the middle east. "libyans attacked indices this morning." this is from "the baltimore sun." they refuse to sign a deal to step aside. you have syria it carries out mass arrests of protest. donald in massachusetts, your next -- you are next. caller: the right wing

extremists are still fighting the war and will not give credit to president obama. after all, he is a black man. guest: i think that is nonsense. president obama deserves credit for killing osama bin laden. he tried to tear down guantanamo. this has provided a very valuable intelligence to help facilitate bin laden's killing. i don't think it has anything to do with obama being a black. host: what about the role of pakistan? guest: i did not have any questions. they have interests that are different from ours. the best thing about killing osama bin laden is that we have depended on others to do our

dirty work. the pakistani were never going to do wit. we stepped up and did and that is a good sign. if we're going to win this world, we're going to left to do it ourselves. there will not be a proxy who steps in and does it. host: what does this mean for intelligence? guest: i think we will continue to collect intelligence. their interests are different than ours. they are fighting a civil war in their own country, pakistan, which emanated from their support for our effort in afghanistan. host: illinois. you're next. caller: i have a response to the question about the subject about osama's people not being

happy with the way he was buried at sea. they wanted something more respectful for him. i was thinking about all the beheadings that they offered our people and our american citizens all over the world. i don't see much dignity in that. i think that is pretty equal. guest: we live in a pretty politically correct world. the u.s. government wanted to treat him according to islamic law by bearing him within 24 hours and they decided to do it at sea. it will not be appreciated in world but i don't think it matters. caller: good morning. thank you for your program. i just wanted to say it is

always a tragedy of monumental proportions when there are no good ways to come to -- the taking of life is always a bittersweet -- i happen to be a minister. taking a life is always a bittersweet solution, no matter whose life it is. i have nothing but praise and admiration for the brave men and women who collaborated to bring this to as good an end as possible, who went right into the middle of a neighborhood with no hurt or harm and just did the job they needed to do as far as bringing him back to trial -- we're going to be in enough danger because he has been removed. people should not whine about that. that was inescapable.

the destruction of having him -- the distraction and defense of going into a lot -- are you just going to try him for the 3000 people that he killed a ground zero? that is a disrespect -- that is ridiculous. it was a wise decision to bury him and t sea. it will forever prevent them from memorializing him. host: there was, but u.s. officials not wanting a trial. they were relieved in many ways that he was killed and not captured alive. guest: i hope we learned the lesson with saidddam. we did not want osama bin laden in new york and speaking to the muslim world. that would have been nonsense. i think they should be relieved.

they did give him a chance to surrender. he much preferred death to capture. host: where did to learn that detail? guest: i heard it on the news this morning. he was going to resist and they shot him. host: do we know how he resisted? guest: i do not know. he always had a rifle with him. he may have fired back. host: we have a tweet. guest: that is the way the u.s. government works. i think there were rightfully worried about putting u.s. servicemen and ca people into

pakistan without a means of rescuing them if things went terribly wrong. i think in this case probably meetings were a good thing. it is surprising it did not leak. there was enough discipline in the government to have five meetings without a leak, which is extraordinary. host: describe how these meetings come together. guest: generally some of his cabinet members and the head of the intelligence community, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the cia, very senior people. host: i want to go back to the idea of having a trial. how you try someone for being a mastermind? guest: he is responsible for ordering the 9/11 attacks and the must be some law that covers that.

i am not sure this is a law and order issue. the further we can get away from trials, the better we are. host: matt in kansas. caller: i wanted to speak -- i've followed some of your programs here run c-span. i appreciate the opportunity to hear from someone who was at a close relationship with this particular situation as you have. and so i know that in the past you have expressed frustration over the years towards a different administration for their ability to act decisively and at times when we had information and the possibility to eliminate osama bin laden as a threat. those opportunities were not for whatever variety of reasons

taken advantage of. and so having heard the news this morning about the death has been taken, i am wondering if you are encouraged by the actions taken by the obama administration, and whether or not you think that this approach of having a very thorough intelligence along with a very decisive and special forces approach to addressing this problem through intelligence and special forces, if that is something that encourages you? guest: i am glad the president took advantage of this opportunity. we have been at the process of trying to capture or kill them one at a time since june or july of 1995. there are now way more insurgent

fighters, al qaeda it in the field then the work in 1995. this is not a process we can win by killing people or capturing them one at a time. we have to probably apply the military force more severely where we can. we have to go to the heart of their motivation. what our government does in the muslim world. our foreign policy is the main recruiter for al qaeda and it remains what was in 1995, so there is no difference. i am glad they took the opportunity to do this. in itself, going after one person at a time will only lose this war for america. host: what about your criticism of doing this one at a time. are we out manned? guest: they are much bigger than we give them credit for.

the president said he was a gangster and mass murder. there are two sides to every coin. he was very respected in the muslim world. the president -- none of our presidents have been willing to admit that, but it is troop 3 the number of people -- al qaeda's main base in 9/11 was in afghanistan. now they a part of afghanistan, a big slice of pakistan, yemen, somalia, iraq, parts of gaza, and north africa. they are an enormous -- there are an enormous number of people out there besides al qaeda who are attacking us. it doesn't make sense to think you can take out that many people one at a time. host: what are their resources? guest: they have better and

indifferent. pbs sometimes with equipment that was current in the korean war -- the use walkie-talkies that our national security agency does not -- or they buy off the shelf very sophisticated in cryptic equipment -- encrypted equipment. they are interested in the tools of weapons, electronics, communications. they are very anti-of western -- anti-western for things like women's rights. caller: i have a question and comment. when the towers went out and i heard the name bin laden, i did an internet search to find out

who he was. i came across a congressional expense record and i noticed that the cia was paying bin laden between $26 million and $30 million a month and providing him with stinger missiles. i have not seen accountability to how much money was paid to bin laden. do you believe that full record should be openly disclosed to show how much money was paid to bin laden by the u.s. government? guest: there is not been a single cent paid to bin laden by the united states. he would not meet with us. if you read a document, you're

reading a fabrication. host: green bay, wisconsin, michael. caller: my question was -- i am concerned with making sure the muslim world is going to view his burial. is there anything you are aware of that a burial at sea is against any muslim traditions? guest: i do not know the first thing about that. you fight a war and you have to offend someone per the president made a wise decision in what he did and will have to live with the consequences, if there are any. host: administration officials said they did carry out the burial and it was a speedy burial. guest: the custom is within 24 hours, and they did do that.

this is a matter of a little moment, if you will. it is probably -- it would have been better if the saudis would have taken him and buried him at home. host: do you perceive this as something people get stuck on? guest: i think it is a detail that does not require more than the talk we have given it this morning. host: indiana. caller: i thank our troops, i thank everybody out in taking care of this problem and eliminating our enemy. host: we will go on to tennessee. george, what are your thoughts? caller: do you think there is any chance the president did not know that the burial would have been at sea? guest: that is a good question.

it could well a been that the military decided to do it that way or the agency decided. on this issue, mr. obama seemed to to be very much needy -- knee-deep in the details. it surprised me when it happened but on reflection, it probably was not a bad idea. caller: sean in new york. good morning. caller: i wanted to congratulate obama. i am not a big supporter of him, but he did accomplish one thing so far that he said he was going to do, and that is to get bin laden. number two, i think that the united states needs to stop trying to save face by not showing pictures and -- of him being killed.

they were sitting there celebrating industries. one shouldn't way -- why shouldn't we in dc? i just think that we're always worried about what other people are going to think. this guy committed mass murder. he got what he deserved. everybody should be in the streets. i think -- guest: the president gets the credit. that is fair enough part i think they will be forced to put the pictures out because the conspiracy people will say, he really is not dead. he is now living with the trilateral commission or some other conspiracy-minded organization in the world. we will probably see those pictures before too long. host: the fbi website now has bin laden as deceased.

these are the most wanted terrorists. if you could tell us who you think are the most wanted terrorists, or about them. host: i think al-zawahiri is probably next on his less, bin laden's deputy. another is being trained bin laden to be's success or or al- zawahiri's successor. another contender is a man who is very -- he's to be bin laden's secretary. the next generation of al qaeda will be better educated, more computer-savvy, and more vicious and militant than bin laden's generation. the americans will be sorry when my father is killed because of

the successes are much poorer vicious-- that is a passage from a book. host: here is the headline from a cuban newspaper this morning with a picture of osama bin laden. caller: i am finding the burial at sea a bit questionable. i never did believe that an airplane could not a building much less two buildings. i am concerned about and wondering, are you aware to the degree to which our government has been saturated with dual national is rallies in jewish people -- is rallies - - israelis. host: let's talk about the evidence. we have heard above the government being involved in the september 11 attacks. what evidence points

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> i served with leon panetta in the house of representatives. he has been generous with his time with me. i sit down and talk with him a fairly regularly. down in the new classified briefing center here in the capital. i have been falling this with director leon panetta for some time now, the general aspects of what they were looking at, which was confirmed last night when i received a call from the white house around 9:00 there 8 and then shortly thereafter the president called me and outlined what had taken place, which most of you know what place at this stage. the president was very somber in

his relating to me what took place. and when he spoke about the facility i had in my mind's eye what i had been briefed by leon panetta in more general terms. today americans across the country are welcoming the news that this awful man, this man who a epitomized evil, has been brought to justice by american forces. his death is the most significant victory in the fight against out, and sends a strong message to terrorists around whirlpool. -- the world. we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the courageous young men and women in our military and in our intelligence community who put their lives on the line. i went to a funeral in boulder city where a young man by the

name of patton was killed. he was a navy seal. i have learned these were navy seals that went into this operation. what they do is so courageous. the finest special operations forces in the history of the world are trained by our great country. so these men and women in the military and intelligence community who put their lives on a line to make this happen is remarkable. i cannot help but get -- the young patton boy, i had played ball against his dad and his uncle, out of my mind. we are refocusing on afghanistan and pakistan as a central battleground in the fight against terror. over the past two and a half

years, the obama administration significantly if escalated our military, diplomatic, and economic efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat of chitin in afghanistan and pakistan and around the world. the fight of terrorists wanted to harm america is not over. as we remember those killed on that dark day in september and their families and the other thousands of people that this evil man plotted to kill, we will continue to be vigilant with our military and our intelligence community, and support them as i know the american public does. >> when secretary gates reached me while i was waiting for an airplane at the detroit airport last night at about 10:00 or so,

my first reaction was great satisfaction and relief that a true mass murderer had been brought to justice. i thought to myself, that justice has a long memory and a long arm. i was also stunned by the capability of our special forces, the amazing performance of our young men and women in uniform, but they were able to pull this off. they never cease to amaze me in their skill, their confidence, their competence, and their bravery. thinking about this coming into baltimore and washington last night i was also thinking about the methodology of bin laden,

how it has been punctured a, that's he cannot escape justice and did not. people were thinking about this mythological character in caves along the border between pakistan and afghanistan, but he was in comfort for many, many years in a big place. dominions that he sends out to kill people -- the minions that he sends out to kill people are in much different circumstances. the others thought that i had flying back was the memory and remembers those who were lost on 9/11 and also those who have been lost to terror before and after.

this is a war that will continue, but this is a victory, although not the final victory over terrorism. this morning's statement of hamas condemning the killing of bin laden, calling him a martyr reinforces our resolve that this war has to continue to be fought. the myths of bin laden has been punctured. >> the president has a timetable to begin withdrawal from afghanistan. he has communicated that he will stick with that. i dig at the corporate. i think that is appropriate. >> there's been talk about oil prices dropping. how much could that be affected for taxpayers?

>> the world community is satisfied that a man of terror has been brought to justice. and i think that what we have seen with the price of gold, which has dropped, stock prices , hopefully, that is a trend. i am not confident that will be the case. i'm glad everyone is happy that this man has been brought to justice, but the international economic community is relieved, i think, that this man is out of circulation. we know there are other terrorists, but this is a shot in the arm to people's goodwill all over. >> can i ask about pakistani officials? given where bin laden was found, is there a question in your mind that it pakistani is knew where

he was? >> i think the pakistani army and intelligence have a lot of questions to answer. given the location, the length of time, and the apparent fact that this facility was actually built for bin laden and its closeness to the central location of the pakistani army. taiping the army and intelligence of pakistan have plenty of questions that they should be answering and, hopefully, are being asked. but i think the pakistani president's statement today was very reassuring when he specifically said that he thinks it is a great victory and that it is a success and that the congratulate us on the success of the operation. reassured by his statement, not

necessarily suspicious that he knew or that the civilian leadership . but i must tell you, i hope that through andlow kru ask tough questions of his military and its own intelligence. they have a lot of explaining to do. >> a question about the funding, there's a question about what is the future of funding for the war in afghanistan and so forth after the killing of osama bin laden. about, there's been talk interrogation and torture. there has been a leak that the of terror lead tout i a intimation about bin laden. >> i have no basis to believe that any leads were produced by

illegal activities on our part. i have no basis to know that. my views about the fact that torture produces heat misinformation and not a good information -- my view is that porter produces misinformation and not good information. -- torture produces misinformation. >> [unintelligible] >> i think that the armed services committee and appropriations committee have adopted to. they are looking for any waste at the pentagon. secretary gates is doing the same thing. we will continue doing the work that we usually lead tdo. >> did the president communicate what the threat level is now? >> the only information i have is that all of our embassies

around the world has been put upon on alert status and rightfully so. >> u.s. officials early this morning said this will be difficult to reserreverse. [unintelligible] >> i think that we should be cautiously optimistic in that regard. we have a lot of work to do. that this man is out of circulation is a shot in the arm for justice around the world. that will be good for everybody. banks. -- thanks. >> you heard the senate armed services tier carl levin saying that the pakistan military has a lot of questions that need to be answered, given the fact that

osama bin laden was found in the suburb of islamabad in an area surrounded by a lot of retired pakistan military. we want to get your reaction to the killing of osama bin laden. 202 is the area code. 585-3886 if you live in the mountain and pacific. lots of events in washington regarding the killing occurred obama have been popping up. that was senate majority leader harry reid talking about the issue. at 12:00 noon, senator lieberman, a tier of the senate homeland security committee, will hold a news conference. we will bring that to you live. at 1:00 p.m., mike rogers, the republican share of the house intelligence committee will hold a press conference. -- chair of the house intelligence committee. the white house briefing at 1:45. house comes in at 2:00 p.m. and

we will go to live coverage of the house. there will be lots of one-minute speeches on this issue there. also, the senate is in session today. senator mcconnell, the republican leader, will make a statement on the floor of the senate at 2:00 p.m.. that will be live on c-span 2. those are some of the things going on. janet napolitano, secretary of homeland security, issued a statement on the death of osama bin laden. she writes, "the death of osama bin laden is an important success not only for the u.s. but for the entire world. we remain at a heightened state of vigilance, but the department of homeland security does not intend to issue a transportation alert at this time. i have been clear since announcing in january that we will only issue alerts when we have specific or credible information to convey to the american public." now to your reaction on the

killing of osama bin laden by sniper. florida, mildred, you are on the line. good afternoon. >> good afternoon. it is still good morning for me. >> good morning. >> i have been watching since early this morning when you came on. a lot of the calls i have been dismayed about. everybody including myself, especially myself, are very proud of our military and everything that they do. if they are given a mission, they're going to accomplish its one way or the other. some of the calls have come in and are talking about the want to see proof. the military has told them. these people give our military great marks, but when they do something like this, they want to see proof. do they not trust the military?

thanks for calling, mildred. mike allen has written a minute by minute account and background. you can find it at politico.com. he writes that osama bin laden was shot in the face and that dna evidence points to the fact that it was him. the next call is from dallas, oregon, sue. >> i've been up most of the night, so i have a hoarse voice. i have been watching the italian and french tv and your channel. there's a lot americans leave out. bin laden did not stay in that house all the time. he moved around a lot. it is not like people living behind a 20-foot gated community with armed guards. i think it is really great what happened. i'd think is really great that

only a few other people were killed when there were 22 people living there. instead of bombing the whole area and killing a lot of innocent people. it is not strange aspect he's living behind gates would know what his neighbors are doing and vice versa. people should remember tahrir square in egypt where nearly 3 million people let everyone know who the people in the middle east are. what jobs, they want their children to eat. they are not against america. wanted their country and they wanted jobs and they got rid of a leader who refused to give than that. >> we will leave it there. story -- the

president shared no fewer than five national security meetings in march. president gave a final order to pursue the operation that he announced to the nation during the operation itself was the culmination of years of careful and highly advanced intelligence work. officers from the cia, the national -- "when the case had been made that this was a potential target, we began to prepare. in the and it was the skill and courage of americans that secure this triumph for the world and for our country." that was a senior official of the administration talking last night in a conference call. now, ohio, chris is on a line. >> first, i am two-time iraq

veteran. this does not have much to do with bin laden, i would like to say that everyone should believe in the official story of the military. they should think twice. i think the media depict civil stop such as fires as terrorist acts and suppresses a lot of inspiration coming out about they weapons of mass destruction over there. i don't know really what they would gain from lying about this besides the possibility of more americans in fear and more legislature infringing on our rights. it's a great day for obama because he has had low approval, 40% on friday. taking everybody's word for this without any evidence, i cannot

do it. i have been lied to on my level. it is on a need to know basis. even the cia guys are only going to know what they need to know. i am afraid we will never know the official story. two airplanes cannot bring down three buildings. >> we will leave it there. bill in portland, oregon. >> hello. the government is having a hard time keeping its story straight. we have been told that's al qaeda was the culprit in 9/11 for the last 10 years. all of a sudden we are supposed to believe that al qaeda is a group of freedom fighters fighting for freedom in libya and we are supporting them and giving them guns and money and training and we have apparently forgiven them for 9/11, i guess. now along comes this may surprise just-in-time to divert us from talking about anything like labor issues or stuff like that.

and osama bin laden has been killed. wait a minute. fox news and the egyptian newspapers reported back in december 26, 2001, that osama bin laden was dead. they had a funeral. >> you are expressing doubts about this? >> since those are common things, they are out in the public, they ought to at least have been addressed. >> all right. from a republican congressman from texas, this is his tweet. our next call comes from providence, rhode island, chris. >> the american people are supposed to believe that this is bin laden, in the case, but no facial evidence anymore, that he was thrown into the ocean, so his buddy and i recovered for dna testing. held by the is being

u.s. government and being tortured. >> how do you know that? people do notican believe these tactics. american law the la for the cia to torture people in these detention centers and he is being ported right now by the u.s. government. the american people must stand up against this atrocity, this lie. >> what are standing against? >> against them holding and drinking -- rigging information, throwing a man in the ocean so that his dna cannot be tested. this supposedly president of the

united states released a document last week that showed nine different layers of text on his birth certificate as a diversionary tactic, to create different things to take attention away from the fact that this man is not the president of the united states and they are torturing a human being against the laws of the united states, against the foundational documents of this country, the bill of rights, the constitution, the declaration of independence. they are torturing this human being, mr. bin laden. >> we have they point, thanks for sharing your views. british prime minister david cameron spoke about the death of osama bin laden. >> this news will be welcomed by across our country. of course, it does not mark the end of the threat we face from extremist terror. indeed, we will have to be

particularly vigilant in the weeks ahead, but it is, i believe, a massive step 4. osama bin laden was responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent men, women, and children right across the world. people of every race and religion. he was also responsible for ordering the deaths of many, many british citizens here and in other parts of the world. i would like to congratulate the u.s. forces who carry out this brave action. i would like to thank president obama for ordering this action. i think it is a moment when we should thank all post who worked day and night often with no recognition to keep us safe from the threat of terror. above all today, we should think of the victim's of the poisonous extremism that this man has been responsible for. of course, will greenback those loved ones that families have lost -- nothing will bring back

those lucky ones, but at least they know the man responsible for these appalling acts is no more. >> senator sanders, independent from independenttweets: -- independent from vermont tweets: we will continue taking your calls as we look at live events popping up in the country. at 12:00 noon and the chair of the homeland security committee. the house intelligence chair will be briefing at 1:00 p.m. and we will bring that to you live. and the white house briefing is at 1:45 p.m. and we will bring that live on c-span. the house is in at 2:00 p.m. we will go to the house at 2:00 p.m.

the white house briefing will continue on c-span3 live and on c-span 2 the republican leader in the senate will make a statement regarding the death of osama bin laden and that will be live on c-span 2. lots of events popping up today. we want to hear from you as well. north dakota, go ahead with your comment. >> hello. >> hi. >> i am very, very happy that bin laden is dead. i think that they should have done it quite a few years ago. >> we're going to move on to dallas, texas, larry. we quit all this crying and screaming. we should just sit back and i thank god and god bless america.

anyone in this effort has done a good, to me. i love america and i think we should all have patientce. god bless america. >> the next call comes from jack in the irvine, california. a reminder to turn down the volume on your tv. >> i am a vietnam veteran. i guess that has stuck with me all this time. i was very happy to hear that bin laden had been killed and the military experience in the goes back to world war ii when the japanese bombed pearl harbor. i think it was an admiral that asked how many carriers were damaged and he was told none of

them. he said something to the effect of we are faciwaking a sleeping giant. i'm kind of pessimistic, but i hope that's not the case with the death of bin laden. again, i am really glad that he's gone. thanks for taking my call. >> that was stacked in california. mike allen has quite a detailed story on the entire operation. we have been reading portions of its throughout the morning. -is a little more. this is from the conference call last night at midnight with a senior administration official. "from the time we first recognized bin laden as a threat, the cia gathered leaves on individuals in his inner circle, including his personal courier's. detainee's and oppose 9/11. flag for us individuals who

after 2 billion years ago be identified areas in pakistan where the couriers and his brothers operated, still we were not pinpoint exactly where they lived, due to extensive operation on their part. -- after two years ago. then in august of 2010 we found their residence in a town 35

miles north of islamabad. the area is relatively affluent -- next call is ozark, missouri, patrick. >> i kind of think that we should say congratulations to all our troops. the american public pastor realize that we have only really started this completely. at this time right now we have to watch our borders and cannot let our guard down. -- the american public must realize. >> michael hayden, former cia

chief, was interviewed. >> the retired general is joining us on the phone, former cia director from 2006 through 2009. general, let me read this paragraph. can you speak to that a little more, general? >> i can, without getting too specific. this is largely based on human intelligence, which in many ways is the best kind. it gets you deeper into the enemy's thinking and allows you to divine the enemy's intentions.

it seems to me that when you get to the level of competence the president must have had this past weekend, that this kind of source network has built up the kind of confidence that he needed to pay attention. operationally and politically risky stock was ordered in this raid. >> can you tell us about the process of briefing the president of united states. you said the president had to think long and hard about this. what goes into a decision like this? >> at the agency, you allow things to write and to appoint where they are ready for prime time. you don't want to go to the president with every new idea or a possible lead. you have to build up to a certain level yourself before you then take it down and beat the national security adviser

and then to the president and other members of his national security team. at which point you have something far enough along that you are, in essence, asking the president either for further guidance or for his go-ahead to begin to take more difficult or perhaps risky steps. again, you go hand in hand from that point on letting him know where you are, what you know, what you don't know, and how confident you are in the information. >> who would have given the order, the president's? >> i cannot conceive of this being done without the president's personal involvement. i can turn that sentence on its head a little. i cannot conceive of any president of the united states that i know of, given the kind of intimation it appears that we had, would not have made the decision president obama made.

-- who would not have made the decision president obama made. we believe the trail went very cold after he escaped from torah bora in 2001 late and in early 2002. after that until the last several years perhaps, but there was a gap of more than a few years in which a lot of our information about osama bin laden have to deal with elvis sightings. >> what is your reaction, general, to this news out of cairo this morning from the associated press?

>> that was absolutely expected. what we can see now is that al qaeda will try to reestablish its st. credentials. we will see an overwhelming urge on its part to do something or anything, a response asthmatics violence. -- outside a will try to reestablish its street credibility. we now have these al qaeda franchises not directly under or tied to al qaeda along the afghan/pakistan border, particularly popeyed in yemen. they still have considerable capability. it's a great moment and a great victory, but the war and the threat continues. >> this is also from the associated press this morning spiri. what do you suspect is going to

be happening at the cia over the next few days? >> there's going to be a real sense of satisfaction, quiet smiles, congratulations. these people know more than others that this is not over. they are just going to go back to work. >> what questions do you have about the role of pakistan or any other questions coming out of this news? >> based on what the president said last night and what some of your colleagues are reporting, it's clear the pakistani or not informed of this operation prior to its taking place. i understand that. i cannot conceive of it happening any other way. this is not the kind of thing that you want respect by widening the circle too large, too quickly. i understand keeping it quiet. the question people are asking me and i don't have the answer, how long was osama bin laden at

this compound that was an hour's drive away from the pakistani capital? and the inevitable question of what, if anything, did anyone in or associated with the pakistani government and its intelligence service no before this took place? we will try to find that out and we will see. but right now i think president obama was right last night when he tried to que the vast chinese in on the good news that this was as much good news for the pakistanis as it was for the united states. >> what about intelligence coming out of afghanistan? >> this is an important victory, but it does not negate the variety of reasons for doing what the are doing in afghanistan at the current time. obviously, these two affect one another, but we still have an enemy in the field. al qaeda is still a dangerous enemy.

as important as esther day's kill was, yesterday's there are still other dangers. i would not be quick to assume that what happened yesterday means any sharp change in direction in our trajectory in afghanistan. >> general, a when you heard the news, what went through your head on a personal level? let the cia until 2009 as part of this effort. -- you led the cia. >> i had great satisfaction. i know the people in that room doing those kinds of beatings. i had the highest regard for them when i was there. i feel good because i know they feel good. this has been a tough time for the agency and all the american intelligence communities. it is a rare moment when our successes are made public.

this is one of those moments. i feel great for them. >> what can you tell seal team 6? >> people have asked me whether the cia did this on their own and why did this seal team have this? i'm not surprised. they conducted this operation after it intelligence was gathered. despite a problem with one of the helicopters, they executed this with precision. we are what we are today because of their military professionalism. thatn laden's death means he will probably be replaced at the helm of al qaeda by the egyptian surgeons who has long served as his chief justice. what can you tell us about him?

>> that's part of the good news. al qaeda has never had to deal with a succession crisis. as dedicated as al qaeda members may be, they don't all get along with each other equally well. there's been a bit of a split in al qaeda between the egyptians and the gulf arabs. today's al qaeda is an amalgam of bin laden's organization and the surgeon's egyptian islamic jihad. if he moves into the no. 1 position, that puts an egyptian at the top of the al qaeda network, and that might create stresses in its own right. we often thought that it would be good to force al qaeda to go through this kind of succession crisis. in addition, does the satisfaction of killing bin laden. now we will see how it plays out. if i am trying to protect how th