qaeda, poor for them joint operations forces command? >> we cooperated with them. there's a story that dod and cia host: kennel michael hayden, the key for helping us understand this news this morning. >-- thank you for helping us

understand this news this morning. >> in just a minute, a senate homeland security chairman, joe lieberman, will be briefing in the senate gallery. you can see that there on your screen. we will bring that to you live at 1:00. that will be live on c-span. back to your calls in the meantime. caller: stephanie. i just wanted to say i have been listening to this all morning, and it is a good day in america. just as has been served, but it concerns me listening to the naysayers. how do we know he is dead?

we either trust them or we do not come up with the rhetoric, it has to stop. another thing that concerns me is the public display of happiness. i am happy, too, but we have to be careful. this is not over. and i have a feeling it is probably just the beginning. we all have the right to be happy. i am elated for the 3000 people that were killed on 9/11, and their families, but we have to be very careful about the rhetoric and arrogance we display in this matter, because we could pay for it. it really pay for it in the end. >> the house majority leader tweet out this is a testament to the dedication of the men and women in our armed forces and intelligence community. brandon and fall river,

massachusetts. you are on c-span. what is your reaction? caller: i was looking at pictures. there are three pictures of osama bin laden. there is one picture of him originally and pictures where it shows they photoshop the pictures. i am sketchy on it, but it is the government, so who knows? >> from president george w. bush earlier this evening, president obama called to inform me that american forces killed osama bin laden, the leader of the al qaeda network that attacked the mayor on 9/11. i congratulated him and the men and women in the military who devoted their lives to this mission. they have our everlasting gratitude. >> i would like to say that

watching everything and understanding all that has gone down, we have to take a day and read part of our accomplishments as american. -- and be proud of our accomplishments as americans. what we accomplished is something of great magnitude. only time will tell, but for now we should be proud of what we accomplished and understand that they have done dna testing on him before he was discarded, and everything has been confirmed. as far as i am concerned, it is a done deal. we need to move on, but also be proud of what we accomplished today. >> damian, san diego. caller: the american people have been on the roller-coaster a promotion cents 9/11, economic downturn, the war and all the people we have lost.

i understand the skepticism is quite healthy, but i want to take you back to one of the callers where they said it is good news and we should embrace it. is it really public? is a sketchy? that is not the focus right now. i am glad for the good news. i do not care about the political aspect of this. i was in a movie theater with my wife and i woke up this morning and could not believe the news. i am really appreciative of every person involved, and i think that is the main news right now. host: the next calller. what is your reaction to the death of president obama? caller: you will probably call me crazy, which most people do. you know this guy that went to

england after this big revolt in libya? i do not remember his name, but i was thinking about this, and it is strange that after he goes to england all the sudden they know exactly where osama bin laden is. host: we are waiting for senator lieberman to come into the gallery for his conference. it has been pushed back to 12:15. he was on the washington journal this morning. here he is very briefly.

guest: a very emotional feeling about what this means for the families and friends for those who were killed on 9/11 who have come to know over the years since then. and finally, a great gratitude to the american intelligence military communities that cooperated to run this down and carry out this mission as effectively as they did. it is a great day for justice, and for america really. >> what does this mean going forward for homeland security? >> i think it means our homeland security is a little bit better

this morning, but the threat does not go away, but osama bin laden was unique. he created this movement. he had this inspirational figure. you will not replace him. i think coming at this in the same historic time of the uprisings in the arab world, which are totally non-al qaeda, they are democratic and peaceful, it really represents a significant turn in the arab world and in the muslim world, but the fact is the al qaeda and other terrorist groups, including the one run by the radical cleric who is now in yemen who was at one point an american citizen, they are using the internet. they are capable of carrying out terrorist attacks against us.

this war against islamic extremists and will be a long war, but the death of bin laden is a tremendous victory for the forces of justice and law and security in the united states of america, and hopefully the momentum will continue to build. >> what questions do you have? >> well, obviously a significant question will be what was their role of pakistan here? guest: if we have had a very complicated relationship with pakistan in matters of terrorism. as an american intelligence official once said to me more generally, there is probably no intelligence service in the world that gives us more assistance than the pakistan the intelligence service, but we also have very good reason to believe that elements of the

pakistan the intelligence service are cooperating with terrorists who are targeting and killing american soldiers in afghanistan, so last night president obama certainly appeared to be thanking the pakistanis for their help. i think we certainly have to ask the question how could this have existed so long in the middle of a developed committee -- community and pakistan without detection? we ran it down by the extraordinary work that our intelligence service did following careers. one of them led us to this compound, and then we pursued it from there. my big question going forward is how do we assist the pakistan the involvement in this, positive or negative and what does this say about the

relationship going forward? >> does that mean you are wondering whether or not the pakistan a, some knew that osama bin laden was at this compound? >> you wonder if there was someone in the intelligence service knew that this was going report it or worse somehow in coalition with the extremists? we know the intelligence service has connections with what is called a network that operates out of pakistan, but is in the fight against afghan and american troops in afghanistan and has killed a lot of americans, so blood is on their hands. those are the big questions come up really the most powerful emotion really is tremendous excitement and gratitude to the people who have carried out this raid. america has showed again that we

can do it. we have also showed that if you target as, you can run, but eventually we will find you come in you will be brought to justice. the best justice was the death he got last night. >> as you are talking, we're showing our viewers images, images are emerging of the interior of the compound. as homeland security chairman, how did you find out? >> i was called last night by an official in the counter- terrorism apparatus of our government to let me know this announcement was coming around 10:30. and i am just very grateful. our committee and a lot of other people have spent time building agencies and institutions that will cooperate with one another in intelligence work and data

gathering work that all goes into finding someone like osama bin laden or the couriers and then following him and he leads to bin laden, and then you have to say what a heroic effort by the navy seal team. certainly i want to say in regards to that that the navy seal team, special operations forces and afghanistan are carrying out raids like this against less well-known terrorists about every night in afghanistan, and that is part of the reason we're making progress there, mostly against the caliban. some against al qaeda. these are american to put their on the line every day to protect our is security. host: can you tell us more about this navy seal team? we are not reading a lot in the

newspaper this morning. who are they and how many? guest: i cannot say much more about them. i am sure inappropriate time the pentagon will release or pri details. these are extraordinarily highly trained individuals. and my guess is that this was a team that was experienced and had been involved in other raids. we have taken out a number of the leaders of al qaeda since 9/11. the remaining that have not been touched, most significant were osama bin laden and the egyptian doctor who was second charged. the no. 3 position has been filled by a second in position of people who have been killed by our forces. so al qaeda -- i think al qaeda as an institution is in decline,

but it is not time to say by any means that we have had mission accomplished with regard -- with regard to islamic extremism and terrorism. the state department announced overnight the alert levels are up this morning because you have to worry about some other individuals, maybe not even associated directly with al qaeda who want to take revenge. we are going to be on a higher level of alert around the world, and also here at home in the next time. >> the new york times and their long piece this morning with this paragraph. guest: i am sure that is true. we've heard reports that he has left directions about what he

hoped what happened if he was killed. i think he felt eventually he would be taken and not captured. so we have to be on alert now, but i cannot stress enough that the most significant, powerful movement in the muslim world today is not al qaeda and islamic extremists them and terrorism, it is the peaceful democratic protests that successfully occurred in tunisia and struggling to occur in places like libya and syria. what they have proven is that a small group really evil and inhumane people can do terrible damage to other people, and that is why we have to stay on alert. >> does this put a further emphasis on president obama to put -- to bring american troops

home from afghanistan? guest: i do not think so. i think that will be judged separately. what you have there now is mostly the caliban, which is the fanatical extremist group that was in control of a afghanistan which is then, fanatical extremist group that was in control of afghanistan. we are making real progress in taliban ht against the caliba and associated other groups. i think bin laden's death will be a blow to morale, but it will not ended the fight. i think the judgment about how many troops to bring home in july and when to bring them home over the years ahead has to be made based not on this event, but on what we actually see

happening on the ground in afghanistan. obviously we hope and pray that afghan security forces will be ready to take over. they are on self-defense as soon as possible. we cannot lead to early, because otherwise we will face this again. host: what is next for the homeland security committee? who are you reaching out to to get more information? guest: i will be reaching out to people in the intelligence and homeland security community to get more information. i am very interested in how this was carried out, but now i have to focus on the homeland security department on what is next. i am making sure if there is any movement, and we are constantly monitoring the

movement of islamic extremism and we are listening to their conversation and watching their emails, that if there is anything that begins to look like another threat, that we snuff it out quickly. i think we have to show great gratitude we have this victory, but focus now on not relaxing because the enemy will not relax either. and host: senator lieberman, thank you for your time and comments. >> if that was senator lieberman on "the washington journal." he will be holding a press conference in just a few minutes. that is the picture from the senate gallery on the third floor of the capital. as we continue to look at the aftermath of the killing of osama bin laden today in a town just outside of the capital, we want to get your reaction.

members are on the screen. please allow 30 days between your calls. john and oakdale, calif.. caller: i did a year and a half in iraq, and i have an interesting theory on why he might be in the ocean. there might not have been much left of him. i worked with the seals in iraq and they are very good at what they do. they complete the mission thoroughly, and there is no doubt in my mind that he is dead. i think that there is probably not much left of him to identify. i want to thank the seals and cia for doing your job. it is a beautiful thing they are gone.

people have been going through changes, hoping that should get him, and now he is gone. in other words, you of a splinter in your finger -- some now that the splinter is out, you are happy. i think the government and the president did a beautiful job. host: that was called and in st. louis. summing up in a few minutes, senator lieberman and senator collins from the homeland security committee. following that, mike rogers house intelligence committee chairman will be doing a press conference at about 1:00. 1:45 the white house will be briefing with j kearney. -- with jay carne. after that, the house cavils and

at 2:00 eastern. that white house briefing will continue live on c-span3. you can watch it in either of those places. at 2:00 on the senate floor, senator mcconnell, the republican leader will make a statement. our next call comes from utica, new york. linda. hello, good afternoon. and i was happy when i first osama bin laden had been killed. then i woke up this morning, and i am not as happy anymore. it is kind of sad. now we will have a major attack to do more damages. host: what do you think should have been done with osama bin

laden? caller: i am kind of happy that we do not have to deal with him anymore, but now we are planned to have more problems. -- but now we are going to have more problems. caller: the ban was shot in the face. -- the man was shot in the face. they threw him in the ocean. that was amazing. that means we will never find his body. that means there is no investigation into the body. what is our government thinking? they must think the american people are stupid or something. the truth is i think the government has him locked up and torturing him. the truth is they shot him in the face and threw them in the ocean.

and then lieberman comes on now, lieberman is the biggest fake there is. he took money from the banks. now we're listening to lieberman? you have to be kidding me. they shot him in the face. in now they throw them in the ocean. host: we got the point. and scott, you are on c-span. and caller: my mother taught me to only speak good of the dead. osama bin laden is good. host: next call is from montana. caller: i was listening to the present last night, and the biggest thing is he took total

responsibility. everybody does not think how much his life is on the line, that they probably want to assassinate this man. that they want to kill him and his family. people do not think about that. this was a lot to take the responsibility and say i ordered this. even though it was done by some great people who did what they did, but people forget about this. do not forget about it. it is a lot to say. what everybody do it? that is a lot to think about. this man every place he goes, he has to worry, even when he leaves office. i hope he is elected again. it really gets me emotionally that some knuckleheads are still going to worry about whether he is a citizen, whether he is a good, a christian. and he is. this really bugs me and worries

me that there will still be people talking about him and knocking him as a president. some people, because of his race, will never be satisfied, and some people will never be satisfied because they are diehards. host: i will leave it there. u.n. secretary general spoke about the killing of osama bin laden. >> it is a watershed moment in our global fight against terrorism. the crimes touched most of the continent and brought tragedy and loss of life to thousands of men, women, and children. the united nations condemns in the strongest possible terms the terrorism in all its forms.

this is a day to remember the victims and families of victims here in the united states and everywhere in the world. the guided nations will continue to fight against terrorism and fight the campaign against terrorism. i remember personally and vividly the day of september 11, 2001. i was in new york on that day. the united nations is coveted it to continue to lead the campaign with world leaders to fight against international terrorism. i thank you very much. >> c-span live coverage of the

aftermath of the killing of osama bin laden continues. kale is on the line. what are your thoughts? caller: i am not sure what to believe. when saddam hussein was killed, basically we were there. now the body is and the ocean. where is the security from the government that this man is in fact indeed dead? host: what would you have suggested? would you have suggested keeping the body and having pictures? caller: not that i specifically want to see someone tortured or anything like that, but like i said, it took place so fast, how

in the world do we know in fact that he is dead? the american people do not have approved. we need the proof. politicalike allen's report he writes that the helicopters landed at 3:30 yesterday afternoon eastern time and had taken off by 4:15 eastern time. 45 minutes on the ground. waterloo, iowa. caller: i am concerned about the bittersweet situation. i am glad they have caught him and have gotten rid of him or what ever you want to say. i am also concerned morceau about what is america prepared to do if there is to be another attack? right now we are rejoicing and exciting and happy, but there are people out there that of ec

loved that man because it took us 10 years to catch up with him -- that obviously loved that man because it took us 10 years to catch up with him. also, i wanted to say that there are other things that americans should be concerned about. in our economy is so bad, what are we going to do about that? there are people in this country that are suffering, and we are worried about the country. i feel like we need to take care of home first. both senators this morning talk about what role, if any, pakistan played in the fact that osama bin laden was hiding 35 miles from the capital. look out, mountain, georgia. mountain,

georgia. caller: i want to thank the leadership and courage it has taken to bring this about. [inaudible] host: we lost her. or lean, massachusetts. my name is helen. thank you for taking my call. host: we have to break here. here are the senators lieberman and collins. >> good afternoon, everybody. thank you for being here. senator collins and i wanted to come here today most of all to off of the men and you women of the intelligence committees for what they did

for all of its yesterday. the fact is that today the world is a safer and better place because of the brave and brilliant american patriots who work together yesterday to kill osama bin laden, a mass murderer. for a lot of the last decade the homeland security committee where senator collins and i have been privileged to be leaders up together has concentrated on doing everything we possibly could to make sure that the lack of coordination within the united states government that facilitated the attacks against america on 9/11 was ended. what happened yesterday was in some sense the exact opposite of

the mistakes that led to the 9/11 attacks against united states, because from everything we can determine, every element of our government, military, intelligence, homeland security, work together as a team and the result was the end of the life of osama bin laden. i want to thank all of them, and particularly express my gratitude to president obama for his leadership as commander in chief. in speaking this morning and -- with one of the members of the national security team, and this was not a political appointee, he said to me that president obama throughout the preparations and deliberations and decision making that preceded the successful attack on osama bin laden yesterday, that president obama was cool and decisive, and that the

decisions that were made were not easy ones. i want to express my personal gratitude to president obama for the leadership he gave this great team of hours. and notwithstanding how well the team performed yesterday, i simply want to say briefly that our senate committee on homeland security will continue to monitor and investigate every element of what our government is doing to protect the homeland security of the american people, because the enemy is out there in the enemy will continue to try to attract -- attacked the american people here at home where we live and work. in that regard, let me make this point. there has been much commentary on the fact that there may now be a heightened level of danger for a limited amount of time as individuals or groups seek revenge for the murder of osama

bin laden. first, i want to reassure everyone that all of our homeland security and intelligence agencies are alert to those dangers and using every tool but they have to detect and if necessary, prevent such an attack. my own great concern in the days ahead is that a so-called loan or wolf, a single individual, who has been radicalized will now mobilize himself or herself to take action here at home against the american people. of course, as we know on the committee having spent a lot of time particularly investigating the murder of 13 americans ought these are thed, most difficult cases to foresee and stop, so might appeal to the

american people is please be alert. this is a classic, if you see something, say something moment. if you see suspicious behavior, call the police immediately, and that includes if you see suspicious behavior by someone who is a friend or a family member. the final point i want to make is this. i would like to put the death of osama bin laden in the broader context of the peaceful, democratic uprisings that are occurring now in the arab world. for the war that we were drawn into on 9/11 against islamic terrorism will not end with the death of one man. even that one man who most

visibly propagated this political ideology that is corruption of a great religion. this war against islamic extremism and terrorism will end when the ideas osama bin laden propagated, which i call islamism, light discredited and abandoned alongside its totalitarian twins, fascism and communism. in in this respect, it is fitting that osama bin laden was killed just as democracies are being formed in the arab world. the peaceful, youth-driven democratic revolutions taking place are the true repudiation of osama bin ladenism.

it turns out contrary to what he prophesied that his extreme ak horse andthe wee democracy is the strong course after all. to rid the world of this, it is critical that we together do everything in our power to help the democratic forces in the middle east succeed, for it will be at the hands of his fellow arabs and fellow muslims that osama bin laden is finally in firmly confined in history. >> let me just add to the comments by starting with the

comment from the national security team and the extraordinarily courageous navy seals and intelligence operatives who executed this very dangerous operation flawlessly in with such great courage. and-- and with such great courage. >> i could n but i cannot help but think when i got a call back the center did not exist until 2004. when michael called to tell me that osama bin laden had been killed, he talked about the extraordinary effort and cooperation. prior to 9/11, 2001, it just

opposite existed. there was not cooperation. information was not shared. in this operation we saw exactly the opposite. we saw all of our intelligence officials working with special forces. working with our homeland security officials, everyone working together to undertake and successfully carry out this extraordinary mission. in i also agree with senator lieberman that while this was an extraordinary significant development with the mastermind of al qaeda, the architect of the attack against our country, and the inspiration for so many

it isround the world, not the end of the fight against islamic extremism. and we must continue to not let down our guards. we must continue to be vigilant, and i agree that one of the concerns that i most have is that a homegrown terrorists will choose this moment to strike in an attempt to retaliate for osama bin laden's death. that is why i was particularly pleased that last night the department of homeland security, in conjunction with the fbi, put out a situational awareness alert that went to state and

local law enforcements, homeland security officials across this country, giving them intelligence information, telling them that they should be prepared for an increase in attacks, perhaps the expediting that is now under way. and that perhaps they should be on the alert for that to happen. not too long ago there would have been no communication between washington and state and local law enforcement, much less a system that went out in a very timely way to provide this kind of information. so i think it shows how far we have come in the past decade, but we must not rest, because the threat is still with us,

despite this tremendous intelligence triumph. >> thank you. questions? >> how will this change the protocol with security issues? >> well, listen, and my position this has been clear over the years when you capture someone in the war on terrorism they should be held as a prisoner of war. one of the reasons you do that is because as we have done in every war we have been involved in, prisoners of war are detainees and sources of very valuable intelligence. this case, as you know, some of the original intelligence that led to the suspicion about this individual who work careers were obtained from someone we have

had in guantanamo. -- who were couriers were obtained from someone we have had in guantanamo. in this case they help us save lives all over the world. would you tell the american people after 10 years of war in the biggest symbol of the war is dead? >> the biggest symbol -- let's put it this way, the man who was the inspirational leader of the forces that attacked us from afghanistan, osama bin laden, is now dead, but the war in afghanistan goes on, and i have already heard a few quarrels quickly withdraw because the war is over and osama bin laden is dead. i wish we could say that, but if we did that, we would repeat the mistake we have done once before

we pulled out in afghanistan in that region after the soviets did, and that and i did ultimately the caliban and al qaeda into afghanistan -- invited the taliban and al qaeda into up in a stand. i think the decisions have to be made on the facts on the ground. and i will tell you this, i think the killing of osama bin laden gives us an increased momentum in the war in afghanistan. if i were a leader of the taliban, i would be frightened right now, because the capacity that the u.s. intelligence military, particularly the special operations command, showed leading up to yesterday and in the mission yesterday, a difficult mission against the very top target -- this compound was built to house and protect osama bin laden, but the carried

it out. wherever any other leader is right now they have reason to worry. >> i just want to comment on the second part of your question, which had to do with pakistan. it seems to me that this incident shows that pakistan remains a critical, but uncertain ally in the fight against terrorism. it is very difficult for me to understand how this huge compound could be built in a city just an hour north of the capital of pakistan fit in a city that contained at military installations, including the pakistani military academy and

did not arouse tremendous especially since there was barbwire all around the top of the compound and waste was incinerated. i think this tells us once again that unfortunately, pakistan at times is playing a double game, and that is very troubling to me. >> is there anything that congress and the american government can do to change the way they have dealt with dealing allocate upf the volca presents? al qaeda presence? >> we clearly need to deal with pakistan, and one way to do that is put some strings on the

military aid we give the country. i do understand the pakistan government is under tremendous pressure internally, but the fact is that it has been own interest to work with us to defeat the terrorist threat. eventually that terrorist threats is going to turn towards pakistan itself. it has itat times already. >> there will be a lot of questions raised about what people in the pakistani intelligence agency knew or should have known about the presence of osama bin laden in pakistan itself. for years the officials of such a was he is not in pakistan, he is in the mountains between

pakistan and afghanistan. my own experience with pakistanis is this is one of the most complicated security intelligence relationships we have with any nation in the world, because on the one hand, they do give us very helpful to intelligence assistance and military assistance. on the other hand, we have a lot of reason to believe that elements of their intelligence community continue to be very closely in touch with and perhaps supportive of that terrorist groups that are fighting us and the afghans in afghanistan. this will be a time of real pressure on afghans to basically proved to us that they did not know that osama bin laden was there. >> "reuters" has reported that americans have the orders to

capture and not kill osama bin laden. is that the case? >> i do not know the answer to that. the description we have heard from officials of the administration is there was an initial attempt to capture him and put him under control, and he resisted. i do not know the exact description of how he resisted, but the navy seals, special operations command forces dealt consistent with orders that they had to kill him, and they did. >> there are apparently pictures taken of the killing. do you think that serves any purpose to release them to the public? >> that is a very difficult decision. i will leave it ultimately to the administration. unless there is an acknowledgement by people in al qaeda osama bin laden is dead,

it may be necessary to release the pictures, as gruesome as they will be, because he was shot in the head, to quell any doubts that this somehow is our a ruse that the american government has carried out. i will respect whatever decision the president makes. i will tell you this, for my own part, based on information that i have received, i am absolutely convinced that the man who was killed yesterday is osama bin laden. >> what was that information? >> dna tests for example. usehare senator lieberman's that this is a typical issue. and i absolutely know that osama bin laden was killed yesterday, but i recognize there will be

those who will try to generate that he is alive and we missed him somehow. in order to put that to rest it may be necessary to release some of the pictures or video or the dna test to prevent that from happening. >> another thing to say briefly on this is we have navy seals there. i come to put it mildly, trust the navy seals. -- i, to put it mildly, trust the navy seals. one of the difficult decisions the president had to make supported by the national security team was whether the evidence was sufficient that this was osama bin laden for a commander in chief to authorize

this raid to go forward. >> do we have any indication from the reports you have received that in the information gleaned from the compound its cells, that there may be information that could prevent future attacks in the u.s.? >> i do not know. i have not heard. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011]

>> you can see senator lieberman still surrounded by the capitol hill press corps asking more questions for he and senator collins. they brought up the issue of pakistan. as senator collins said, an important but uncertain ally in the fight against terrorism. they also talked about the issue of pictures of osama bin laden after his death. at the fox channel here in d.c. is reporting that the wife of osama bin laden said his name during the operation. on the abcnew.com is the story. white house officials debate releasing pictures of his corpse.

officials are debating what to do with them and whether they should release to the public. there is no doubt it is him said a u.s. official who has seen the pictures and reminds us that osama bin laden was 6 feet 4. the argument for releasing them is so the american public knows and can be assured he is dead. back to your phone calls as we await the next event in the aftermath of the killing of osama bin laden, which is mike rogers, the chair of the house intelligence committee. he, and i presume his ranking member, will be in the house tv gallery that is located in the new visitors' center on your screen. it is in the basement area of the visitors' center, adjacent to the u.s. capitol. in the meantime, as we wait for that news conference to start,

we want to go back to your phone calls. we will start with grand junction, colorado. go ahead. caller: i want to say it is all good he is dead, but we as americans understand the celebrating is fueling the fire. you understand what i am saying? another point is show as the pictures, we want to see the pictures. nobody will believe nothing until you show us the pictures. host: mike and cincinnati, what do you think? caller: i want to thank the military for this being accomplished. i want to thank president obama for carrying out the order. i want to thank the military for their bravery for it. i think we need to get back to the root cause of it, which is the oil, and take care of that. >> mike in cincinnati.

now west charleston, virginia. caller: i want to send out a sincere thanks to individuals involved in this operation. it is a job extremely well done. it was said that one could not find a needle in a haystack. the world is a very large haystack, and we found the needle. he was not just against christians and americans come he also went after a lot of muslims, so he had enemies all around the world, and we should not forget that. >> if you go to twitter.com/cspan, you can send as a comment or follow what all the members of congress are treatiweeting out.

olympia, washington. good morning. caller: i have been a republican for 16 years, and today is just a day where i do not know, i feel like obama really stood up as a leader in took care of business, and i guess he has my vote for the first time. also, now that i know he is not part of a muslim or whatever, he is a legitimate leader in this country, and i stand behind him. thank you very much. >> jesse in wichita, kansas. what are your thoughts on the killing of osama bin laden? caller: i want to start by saying i understand about the hype of something happening in america, but the thing that everyone needs to understand is that america will not let nothing happene. we are strong and have always been strong.

i am comfortable with the fact that i am protected here on my soil. i wanted to also states that everyone is thanking people. but i wanted to thank the army and air force that have not been mentioned that have been fighting this on the front lines for the past 10 years and have been spending so much time away from their families. they are fighting this for us, and they deserve a debt of gratitude as well. host: jack hutton tweets in with regard to showing the pictures. our next call is from anngus in canyon city, colorado. caller: i have a few things to say. thank president obama.

i think it is sad that it took this for people to start to forget the birth certificate subject, and second of all, i know everyone is scared of another al qaeda uprising, but i think we are fine. i do not think we need to be scared, because his deputy, the egyptian deputy, i think he would be more scared than anything. i think if he wants to step up and show it to the american people, i think he is ready to be hunted for the next 10 years of his life. if he wants to do that, then america will stand up and take host: we await mike rogers, chair of the intelligence committee, we will continue to

take your calls at 1:45, the white house is due to brief. then the house comes in at 2:00 p.m. and the go to the house live at 2:00 p.m. and the white house briefing, we will bring as much of it to you on c-span. but then, we will continue to play it out on c-span 3 and online. you can watch it on one of those in its entirety if that is of interest to you. the houses in at 2:00. also at 2:00 on c-span 2, senator mcconnell, the republican leader will be making a statement regarding the killing of osama bin laden. jason in baltimore, good afternoon. caller: thank you for putting me on the air, cspan. i'm glad they got obama. the american people really waited a long time for this. we pay for this in blood and we sacrificed our brothers and sisters in afghanistan and i really think we need to find

out for sure, we need those pictures, man. we paid the tax money. god bless america and obama. host: why do you want to see the pictures? caller: is the only way to rest assured that americans will be safe within their hearts. host: thank you for calling in this morning -- this afternoon. bakersfield, calif., you are on the air. caller: one of your callers said something about an uprising from al qaeda. given our presence over there still, what ever happened with the establishing of -- host: we will have to leave it there. thankfuls a lot to be

for today given our intelligence services' long-term effort to find locate and bring to justice somebody who was determined to leave their custody. i wanted to start back a little bit. something happened four years ago, a small piece of information that was set upon by our analysts and our intelligence folks across the community. for a very steady pace over time, they expanded their circle of knowledge based on that one little piece of information. it really shows you what happens when the whole intelligence community comes together to solve a problem. it was the cia. it was the national security agency, the gsa, all coming together, all putting their resources on the table too

slowly and surely tighten the noose until we found osama bin laden. i was briefed on this when i took the chairmanship back in january. there was a very small number of people who got to see all the pieces put in one place. even elements of the intelligence kennedy t. did not know they're working toward his final goal. the most dangerous part, i would suspect, is when they announced to the lead special forces that they were going to go any particular mission to get ready to go and told them of their target. apparently, there was a loud and funders cheer. that tells you the quality and commitment and courage of our special forces. they were excited at the prospect of bringing justice to the person who masterminded the slaughter of 3000 innocent americans on u.s. soil. i think that was a very, very

indicative place for us to go when it comes to appreciation of all the intelligence services and what was happening. before we get to the questions, i want to dispel the myth that because it took so long for us to get here that this was somehow an intelligence failure. i think today is certainly the wrong date to even say that. when you look at how they traveled toward this target in absolute inches and how long it took them to be operational security, i think this clearly demonstrates the new intelligence community after 9/11 and their ability to find and reach out anywhere in the world and take care of people who threaten the united states. with that, i want to open it up to questions. >> can you elaborate what you were told when you were briefed? >> we were made aware back in

early january of the compound. what they believed at that time, there was a good indication it was osama bin laden but they did not have a nap. i agreed. over time, they kept building the case. they clearly knew that someone important was using this facility. there were not sure what the target was. going through the process of the difficulty of getting to the target was a whole nother set of conversations that we had in the months that preceded that briefing. >> how do you characterize the united states relationship with pakistan? much has been said about how we could not have done this without some of pakistan's cooperation and other people say there are some we can work with and some who are at cross purposes. how do you see this helping or

hurting the relationship with pakistan? >> liaison partnerships are never called in propositions 3 you have to take the service as you find it in the country in which you find it. the isi and the government of pakistan have been helpful to the united states when it comes to counter-terrorism actions and investigations. clearly, that is so. there have been lots of places where questions have been raised. i guarantee there will be questions raised about this particular case. it will be done in a way that continues, i argue, to put pressure on the pakistani to do the right thing. they have internal politics that may not always sell as well as their ability to help us. we have to work through those issues. it does not mean that hard questions will not be asked a we have to continue to find that

relationship. >> do you think the united states [inaudible] what are your concerns now? >> anytime you can take an operational leader or an inspirational leader of which i argue he was both off the battlefield, that is a great day for our national security. the added benefit of osama bin laden is somebody who was the mastermind of slaughtering 3000 people brought to justice today, the 9/11 family's reaction and people showing up at the white house in -- and in new york city, how important they believe that was and i believe it was. think of the psychological impact to al-qaeda operatives everywhere that the united states will be patient. we will be diligent and we will reach out and touch you where we find you if you are risking the lives of our united states citizens or our allies. >> were you told in january for

the gang of eight? when we told the mission -- that the president had ordered a mission? >> it was a gang of eight briefing but it did not happen at the same time. i was up there on other business. it happened at the cia. they want to keep this as close as they possibly could given that any release of that information knowing their operational security would jeopardize and could accelerate him packing up and leaving. i was talking to mr. panetta over these four months and we knew when the present authorized the best and we had some discussion that was likely to happen and we got a call after it happened. >> where were you when you found out? >> do you feel that the killing

of bin laden that the programs are the last 10 years were successful? >> clearly, u.s. policy is to follow the law in interrogations'. i completely support that. as an old fbi agent, i support that. i believe is a great example of how important interrogations' are wherever they happen. having a some consistent interrogation policy is crucial. some argued that there was not a smoking gun that can out of any interrogation the last 10 years. exactly right, but pieces of information or able to be gleaned from interrogations' that were put together with all the other sources of intelligence to get us to osama bin laden. along the way, other pretty bad people. >> where were you when they found that -- when you found out

they got osama bin laden? >> i received a phone call. i was of traveling on an intelligence trip. i was in the united states and i received a call. we talked saturday and we talked again on sunday, as well. >> there were some reports that there were some computer hard drives recovered from the site. is there any indication that there was an intelligence trove there? do you think that is a man and is ayman al-zawahiri will emerge as the new leader? >> our folks were very good about collecting evidence they found on the scene. hopefully, that information -- is being analyzed and we will hopefully have some good news as we move forward on what that means.

it is likely because a man tells iowa terry is the next inspirational leader who has probably the greatest scope and understanding of the operation and it is likely to be him. alaki is an important player but not a senior operation and al- qaeda worldwide. my spoke -- much speculation would be a ayman al-zawahiri. yemen is an important front for us in the war on terror that we are watching closely. >> is it true that the informants were offered $20 billion and were they paid? >> no, i think that has been misrepresented. that was sort of from the old wanted poster. that had been out there on the street for a long time. there was no direct my offered

other than there have been these records that have been posted for some time if he provided information that would get to osama bin laden or other certain members of al qaeda. there has been no determination that that was done or is tight end to any reward do. >> what you're better thoughts on releasing the photos of osama bin laden? >> i think there will be a lot of talk about it. our liaison partners will have that opportunity to view those of us. that is something we have to work through. that answer has not been determined yet. we want to make sure that we maintain dignity if there was any in osama bin laden. that is so we don't inside our problems other places in the world and still provide enough evidence that people are confident it was us, been laid in. >> you said we have to work

through things. if it turns out the intelligence agency knew that osama bin laden was in pakistan, do you favor continuing an intelligence relationship with them? what about u.s. aid to pakistan which has been in the billions of dollars? do you continue favoring that military aid? >> i don't want to speculate if they did or did not. we'll ask those questions. americans have the right to know that. i would like to know what they know. at the same time, we have to remember that there are still equities that we have in pakistan as it relates to our national security. we know there are some incredibly bad people there. of the 20 senior leaders in al- qaeda, at least a dozen of them we believe to be traveling around pakistan someplace. it is incredibly important for us to maintain a relationship so that we can pursue those targets that we now are posing a threat

to the united states. that is a balance that we will have to work through. keeping a diplomat for 42 days, there has been speculation in the past about release of information to bad guys throw isi, all of those things remain or the united states and pakistan, we hope we can work our way through it but it does not mean we will not ask hard questions. >> what do you make of the obama administration taking their eye off at osama bin laden by going into iraq and afghanistan? when was the decision made to put his body out to sea? >> first of all, the information started on this four years ago. it was clearly in the bush administration. i don't draw a nexus between going into afghanistan and iraq

and not being able to get osama bin laden. the reason we had difficulty is because it is operational security. it is a million-dollar compound which is outlandish for that region of pakistan. it was built to repel any operation as it happened. there was no internet connectivity. they would use cutouts' meaning they would have people who would meet people they did not know to deliver messages to another person who did not know to work its way back to osama bin laden. it is a tricky business and we cannot walk round any place we want in the world to knock on doors. that was the challenge here. i think people want to find blame are misplaced in the sense that when you look at the incredible undertaking of the

analysts of the operators, the case officers in the cia and the folks at the nsa who got little snippets and put it all in one place and started drawing that news, this was an incredible operation that i argued few countries in the world if any could do. >> [inaudible] >> i believe it was prudent to do it and he was given a proper burial. it removes any thought there will be a shrine to osama bin laden are grave robbing or any other lasting impact for his death. i think it was the best done to lessen the impact for those who want make him more than he was. >> is there any change from the people calling to pull out troops from afghanistan? how do you expect they will treat that? >> i get a little confused when

they say one troops pulled out of afghanistan because we are pursuing al qaeda and other parts of the world when the taliban is the one fighting aus. they are the ones that gave state helsafe haven to al qaeda. we have to be careful not to find these national security issues that happen either for the positive for the-to define all the other things that we have to do. clearly, this demonstrates that this is a global war on terrorism. each place will require different operations, different planning, different intelligence techniques, different military operation techniques. right now, we are in afghanistan and this spring, the offensive is so important to beat the taliban back. they don't fight the same way we do. they rest up in the winter. is hard to get anywhere in afghanistan in the winter. this is their spring offensive.

it is a cultural fighting force that has been going on for hundreds of years. now was the time we win that fight. for anyone to try to mix up this success with what i think will be a success in the spring offensive against the taliban is i think making a serious mistake and jeopardize the long- term health of our entire national security picture. >> does this in any way allow the intelligence community to move onto other things? >> remember, while this was happening, lots of other things were happening. the great news about our intelligence service and the money we spend which is significant is that they can do lots of things at the same time. the targeting a ofalaki has not gone away.

we're concerned about him and zero aymanith zion in al-zawahiri. we had continuous operation that took out smart leadership and they are making rash decisions and any time they make rash decisions, that as an opportunity for us to be successful. all of these things are all at play at the same time. it means great victories sent a fantastic message to our allies, friends, and our enemies that we are absolutely committed to this and we still have a list. we are still working it. >> have you been briefed on any intelligence information related to retaliatory strikes that might be coming? also, can you talk about the that led to the information? >> on the retaliation, these

operations, one of the things that make al qaeda successful and sustains this long is that they are patient about how they plan and operate. operations that you see engaged in at any time in the past took months, in some cases years to plan. that is the same with 9/11. it took a long time to plan that. it is highly unlikely that you will see a rash decision to reach out for a terrorist act. that does not mean there have not been operations that have been ongoing that could come to completion any day. we know they are planning in multiple places around the world including with their leadership in the tribal areas of pakistan. that part is ongoing. the second part of your question -- the detainees, the

information four years ago? >> were they at guantanamo? >> i cannot comment exactly where they were held. we have been conducting less than a need to now but more so than, lots of interrogations'. our intelligence community have the ability to look someone in the eye and ask hard questions. that contributed to the information that ultimately led to osama bin laden being brought to justice. >> center 11 earlier today said that while he shares your view that there are many questions, he was heartened by statements from the pakistani president. do you share that view and what is the calculation of the relationship going forward? >> again, you don't see pakistan issuing condonation letters. they knew very clearly in the

bush administration and i recall being on my first year on this intelligence committee helping deliver messages to the pakistan is about how serious we took this issue, that terrorists might be provided safe haven or be planning operations from their soil. if we got to that level of certainty, something -- we were going to do something about it. this is not something became completely out of the blue for our pakistani friends. that includes isi and the government. their internal politics was trying to fight the release of the diplomat to embarrass zara zasari. you cannot enter the international country rule of law by violating the very basic principle of diplomatic immunity. we have been pretty harsh with them on that.

at the end of the day, the fact that they have not come out and condemn this in the way they have others i think it is a good sign. it does not mean that we will not ask a lot of questions, but they have internal challenges. i of thesi that trains and that -- part of the isi that trains in the tribal areas have different allegiances. >> you have been briefed on the dna testing a gave a positive confirmation of his body and the origin of the tissue samples. what kind of details to you have? >> i will might give all the details but the dna samples -- it was not a single source. there are lots of places that is

dna could have been captured through relatives or other means. this was a day that has been planned for for a very long time. one of the things that was important was to make sure that it was absolutely him. through the dna testing and other things, is clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was osama bin laden based on the science and the way they conducted themselves. all the way in the back. >> could you tell us what this episode does in terms of the president being a leader on foreign policy? >> today is a day where we should absolutely celebrate the intelligence services operations coming together, our special soldiers that conducted

the raid and the president should get kudos for a organizing the raid and taking care of osama bin laden. that is a good thing for the country as it should be. i thought was a good thing for our standing internationally on our national security front. there is a lot of issues that we will have to have conversations about and make sure that the nation's national security interests are met. i don't believe the president will do this because you don't want to use this as your national security policy, we are in trouble. it is this and then follow up and making sure that our allies overseas know who we are in the kinds of decisions we will make when we get in trouble. we have to work on the second part and will continue to work with the administration so that the american national security posture will put us in the best position to keep americans safe. >> some of the president's

critics question his timing of this. as chairman of the house intelligence committee, could you say anything that would put those credits to rest or support that? >> as somebody has been involved with this since i have been chairman of the committee, as good as they are on operational security, you have to take advantage when you can to increase the likelihood of success. i believe that this decision was made to increase the likelihood that it would be successful, that we would get osama bin laden and leave. there are some many other places we might be able to disagree with the president. today should not be one of them. this was a well-plant, well- executed, the bush administration deserves credit for where they got the investigation. the obama administration deserves credit for pulling in a

long and actually giving the order to go ahead and do it. it was not without risk. i think there are plenty of other places we can be asking challenging questions. thank you very, very much. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [general chatter] >> that was mike rogers, house intelligence committee chairman at his briefing in the capital.

we have heard this morning from carl levin and harry reid, we have heard from senators lieberman and collins and from mike rogers. still to come today is the white house briefing. that is due to start in about 15 minutes. we'll go to that live. in the meantime, we want to take your calls and hear from you. we want to get your reaction to the killing of osama bin laden. this article in the international herald tribune -- host: that as in the international herald tribune

this morning. this is to wait is from texas shamrock 10 -- now to your phone calls, texas, what is your reaction? caller: my initial reaction was that it is a good thing. stipulations with political aspects, i think that maybe osama bin laden was just a pawn. maybe he was not the lead guy. we give a lot of credit to obama -- credit to the military forces there for 10 years. god made this happen for everybody but maybe osama bin laden is not the biggest guy. maybe they threw him at us. host: who was he a pawn for? caller: the al-qaeda forces. they let us know about him from

day one. maybe it is the people we don't know about maybe those of the people that will bring more danger. host: springfield, mass., your reaction? caller: i want to make a couple of comments. i have been watching this for as long as i can remember. we have politicians that are sitting here giving us little things like computers and stuff like that. they take our votes, the tally them up, they manipulate our votes to get favre with the corporations and and everything else because it has been said on c-span 3. for those religious -- for the religious right on the right hand side, if you are a real true christian, there is no room in christianity -- ok? for all of fake christians out

there, give to caesar what is caesar's and give to god what is god's. host: don in kansas city, kan., good afternoon. are you with us? he is gone and we will move down to paulsen, calif., david. >caller: i'm sorry you have to hear from quack conspiracy theorists. i wish that the -- that people would know that terrorists don't think of american values. our values don't matter to them. i hope our government puts more into intelligence and imbedding operatives much like the israelis do. i hope that is something we can take from this is that intelligence is important and it

could take 10 more years to continue this battle. thank you for your time. host: seattle, josh, you are on the air. caller: a want to make a comment regarding the release of the photos and a burial at sea and the conspiracy rumors. think about this in the broader context and they were really looking for propaganda with the osama death./ you start to see the insurgency movement coming to a new pr level with the jailbreak in afghanistan there and the coordination that went into announcing that. when he died, you had a 24-hour time limit to bury them in accordance with islamic law otherwise you would risk offending a lot of these people

that might not agree with our values. recruiting tool to turn these people extra men get them to fight back against america. while there might be inaptitude to embrace the conspiracy would be really irresponsible to release those photos and not to treat this issue with the sensitivity for people who might not agree with that. host: let's leave it there. we have covered a lot of different advanced today. all are available at c-span.org. you can go there and see all the different osama bin laden- related events we have covered today and watched them on line. you can also go to our twitter page /cspan. com/go to twitter dot

cspan kerri you can either make a comment or you will be able to track what all the members of congress are tweeting out about this issue. have followed them and you can find them on that site. at about noon today, the president was giving out medals of honor at a previously scheduled of that body spoke about the killing of osama bin laden. >> good morning, everybody, please be seated. on behalf of michelle and myself, welcome to the white house. to our many guests from hawaii, a law. thank you chaplain carper for that wonderful invocation. i think we can all agree that this is a good day for america. our country has kept its commitment to see that justice is done, the world is safer, it

is a better place because of the death of osama bin laden. today we are reminded that as a nation, there is nothing we can't do when we put our shoulders to the wheel, when we work together, when we remember the sense of unity that defines us as americans. we have seen that spirit, that patriotism in the crowds that have gathered here outside the white house, at ground zero in new york, and across the country, people holding candles, waving the flag, singing the national anthem, people proud to live in the united states of america and we are reminded that we are fortunate to have americans who dedicate their lives to protecting ours. they volunteer. they train. they endure separation from their families. they take extraordinary risks so

that we can be safeguarded they get the job done. we may not always know their names. we may not always know their stories but they are there every day on the frontlines of freedom and we are truly blessed. i want to acknowledge before we begin the ceremony two individuals who have been critical as part of my team who are your today. first of all, things somebody who will go down as one of the finest secretaries of defense and our history, secretary bob gates who is here. [applause] and sitting beside him, someone who served with incredible valor on behalf of this country

and is now somebody who i think will go down as one of the greatest sect -- secretary of veterans affairs in our history, eric shinsecki. [applause] say that as commander in chief, i could not be prouder of our men and women in uniform. that is true now in today's wars. it has been true in all of our wars. it is why we are here today. long ago, a poet of the first world war wrote of the sacrifice of young soldiers in war. "they shall not grow old as we that are left grow old.

h.l. not weary them nor the years condemn at the going down of the sun in the morning, we will remember them." today we are joined by two american families who six-day get to go -- who six decades ago gave us one of their own, classes.first plac they did not grow old. these two soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice when they were just 19 and 21 years old. age does not weary them in the hearts of their families. they remain forever young. living sons, protected brothers, hometown kids who stood tall and america's hometown. in america's uniform. today we remember them and we

honor them with the highest military decoration that our nation can bestow, the medal of honor. in doing so, we honor their families who remind us that it is our extraordinary military families will also bear the heavy burden of war. we are joined by members of congress who are here. we are very grateful for you. we're also joined by leaders from the army and our armed forces including chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, admiral mike mullen, and the vice chairman, general jim cartwright. there they are right there. [applause] this is not in the script but let me acknowledge that without

the leadership of bob gates, mike mullen, hoss cartwright, today and yesterday would not have happened. their steadiness and leadership has been extraordinary. i could not be prouder of them and i am so grateful if they have been part of our team. [applause] host: that was president obama from about noon. on your screen now is the white house briefing room. jay carney is due to come out at 1:45 this afternoon eastern time. we will bring that to you live, the house cavils and at 2:00 p.m. this white house briefing will continue on c-span 3 uninterrupted. you can also watch it on line at c-span.org and also a 2:00 p.m.,

senator mcconnell on c-span 2 will be making a statement on the senate floor regarding the killing of osama bin laden. time for more of your phone calls now. raleigh, n.c., what do you think? caller: i have been watching with great dismay some of the pundits on this issue of the taking down of osama bin laden. i am amazed that with such venom and ideas they are espousing, why don't they simply moved out of the country and go to iraq or iran and live there in peace? i think the president has done a commendable job and our forces are second to none. i give thanks and praise that i live in this united states of america, thank you. host: from bloomberg.com ---

winchester, ky -- caller: i am enjoying the show. my name is boot snixon. they are talking about the burial at sea. i'm sure when the united states put him in the carrier into the water, i'm sure they had the gps coordinator. did they put him in a capsule to keep the body down?

did they put a gps detector in there for a later day? i'm curious whether they did something like that. host: that was boots in winchester, ky. la grange, georgia is next. caller: i wanted to say that i'm really glad that obama has been eliminated. and everything. i am concerned now that he's has been took care of who is going to take his place and what kind of attack can we expect from him? i also think it took too long for the military to be able to capture him. i know they have a well thought out plan to capture him and bring justice to everybody but i

think they should have thought about this more. after the first year, they were not so gung-ho about trying to get everybody together to get him. i am glad that he is gone now. host: ramon, new mexico, what are your thoughts? caller: first and foremost, i want to say thanks to all our troops, men and women of our armed forces. secondly, i want to caution people as far as them wanting to see the body. if he was shot in the face, as they say, with a high-powered rifle, i don't think most of the country understands the graphic nature of those photographs and i'm not sure what they want to see. secondly, as far as burying him

at sea, he was infectious human waste. throwing into the ocean was probably the best thing for everybody. those in my comments, thank you very much. host: fox news reports -- next call on the killing of osama bin laden -- leadville, colorado. caller: i have a question.

last night on the abc news they said bin laden was in u.s. hands. how was the burial at sea accomplished? host: are you asking that question why? caller: because i am curious. it is a concern. was pakistan involved in that? how? host: from the cbs local channel in dallas --

we are waiting for jay carney to start his briefing. he was supposed to start at 1:45 and he should start at any moment but let's hear from lakewood, washington. caller: first of all, thank you so much for the programming that you guys offer and the opportunity to have my voice heard in the conversation. i want to say what a wonderful experience is to be an american citizen. that should be with the topic of conversation is about after we have been through so much, 9/11, almost a great depression, representatives being shot in supermarket parking lots, just all the different things that happen in the news. it is sometimes a disheartening. through all the different trials that americans had to be tested,

we always come through. it seems like nine years, i think the man in those helicopters were very young when this started. we stay true to our values and our principles. again, this is the american spirit that we have seen play out once again. host: we appreciate your call. next is john in miami. caller: i would like to say thank-you united states for killing of some of ben laden but i like the muslim religion. osama bin laden is dead and they say they will attack the united states, the islamists. i'm very confused about this. what does the united states gained by knowing osama bin

laden is dead? . lumberton, texas, you are on the line. caller: i know many people are talking about if we release the

pictures, they may and forced more retaliation. they will not get his body or the shrine they want. that will release enough retaliation. releasing the pictures probably will not do more damage. they all already mad as for not getting the body back. i think we have enough problems here in the united states that we have done as much as we possibly can and we need to handed over to them, give them the best of luck and bring the troops home and protect our homeland. host: washington times.com -- touchdown.

nashville, tenn., randall is on the line, what is your reaction? caller: we have not heard anything about any kind of resistance of when this happens. i'm wondering whether osama bin laden had any bodyguards. host: next call is michigan, judy? caller: i wanted to thank our troops for everything they have done for us and hopefully they will be here for us in the retaliation that we know we will all feel. thank you. host: 20 two people were living in the compound according to news reports. three men were killed, a carrier, possibly the son of osama bin laden, osama bin laden

himself and a woman who was used by a shell by one of the men. that is according to the news reports. they are pretty consistent. stone county, arkansas, you are on the line. caller: god bless america today as he has done since their founding and in the name of our founding fathers, we believe in peace, prosperity for all. justice has been served for the attack. the self-proclaimed a murderer is dead and he had got his just reward for his actions, his humanity and mankind. furthermore, any of the brethren and sisters of the world over can take relief that no more lives will be taken from their children.

they will not fear that their children are taken up by hamas or jihad or other peace-loving people of earth and we can all work together. i want to thank the administration of the united states for taking action and for the navy to fulfill the mission. host: we appreciate that call. this tweet -- new york, go ahead. caller: i think the burial at sea was brilliant. there will be no shrine for others to bowed down and worship. he is just gone. i think that is fitting and i figure was brilliant, thank you. host: what do you think about the previous caller who was wondering if the u.s. but a gps on him for tracking purposes?

caller: that's possible and there is nothing wrong with that. at first, i was skeptical about his burial at sea. everybody wants more. sometimes more is not good for us. i think it was brilliant how they handled it and if they need to, the tracking would be a good idea. they could bring it up but he is gone and that's it. host: we are still waiting for jay carney to begin his white house briefing. it was due to start 10 minutes ago. you can see people standing around. we have five minutes until the house comes in session. we will continue taking your phone calls until the house comes into session on c-span. on c-span 2, senator mcconnell is due to make a statement at 2:00 p.m. on the killing of some of them lay down and on c- span 3, the white house briefing in its entirety. you can watch any of these on c-

span.org. a powerful network coverage is happening there. plus, everything we have covered so far about the killing of osama bin laden you can't you at your leisure at c-span.org. kitty hawk, north carolina. caller: i want to make a comment about radical jihadism. our presence of their -- over there made these people mad. we need to get the heck out of there. we were in vietnam for 10 years, lost 50,000 miles, and what did that result? nothing. communism is dead other than china and china wants us. this is just a quick fix. foreign policy has to look

forward and backward. we must try to get along with these people and maybe that will change their attitudes toward us. host: bonita springs, florida. caller: i think it would be a wonderful gesture or president obama to invite maybe president bush and we'll throw in president clinton, too, to the front porch of the white house and say a big country thank-you for all of us for this. i guess it was bush back in 2004 that they got a hold of this career and they followed him around. it has been a joint effort on the entire country and we have a wonderful day today, god bless america. host: rosemont, minn., what are

your thoughts? caller: the american people have been waiting for 10 years for this to happen. i was 20 years in the u.s. navy but is there going to be evidence showing this was actually osama bin laden? the people would probably like to know that host: do you think the photos should be released? caller: i think they should be released. host: what about any potential video of the raid itself? caller: that would be nice but i don't think it is necessary. i think would be light -- nice to let the people know because they have been waiting for 10 years and they should have closure. many people don't believe this just like they don't believe we landed on the mound. on. host: this call is from bridgeport, conn. caller: i don't know why he had a religious service done when

our people were killed in the world trade center. they should have just left him where he was. thousands of our people did not have the closer they needed. host: malik in lancaster, california, go ahead. caller: my biggest concern was the killing situation. i am a religious man. i am not a muslim. i'm a christian. when does. eye make an exit -- when does the public eye make it acceptable that people can just be killed. ? we hunted this man down but we did not bring it to justice, we kill them. when do we start throwing people in the sea? this seems like out of the movie "transformers." i'm a 40-year-old man.

i'm not basing my theory on a movie. i don't understand what the world is coming to. host: just to let you know, jay carney has just walked out into the briefing room at the white house which is beginning on cspan 3. you can watch it live on c- span.org. the house is just about to come into session as well. they have been gone for the last two weeks over the easter recess. this is their first time back in two weeks. we take you live to the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c. may 2, 2011. i hereby appoint the honorable ted poe to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker

of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the prayer will be offered by the guest chaplain, the reverend andrew walton from the capitol hill presbyterian church, washington, d.c. the chaplain: let us pray. we come together in thanks and gratitude. thankful for the wonder and mystery of life itself and grateful for the abundance of the universe in which our lives unfold. we return today to a familiar yet changed place. gone are the door meant days of winter and -- dorment days of winter and phasing blossoms of spring. still with us are days of transition as seasons collide. too often in fury, chaos, and even death.

yet beyond the storms once again we see the rich fullness of creation, feel the warmth of the sun touch fresh earth, smell fragrant breezes, and taste the produce of the land. as individuals but more so collectively we remember that we are called as caretakers of the cosmic home humanity shares. that when one suffers, we all suffer. when one falls, we all fall. may our response to this call be one of possibility and potential , inspired by imagination, wisdom, and trust. but mostly by love unveiled in our common spirit both human and divine.

amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentlewoman from michigan, mrs. miller. mrs. miller: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? >> to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for one minute. mr. mccotter: thank you, mr. speaker. today we do not revel over the death of bin laden the bucher.

we rejoice in the rye -- butcher. we rejoice in the triumph of justice. we thank our citizen soldiers, against intelligence community, and obama administration for finishing this mission. and we forever remember the fallen and comfort the families who see grievously suffered on september 11, 2001. now let us press our efforts against al qaeda and their terrorist cohorts, including hamas, hezbollah, and the tyrannical iranian regime. for while our world has witnessed justice, our world remains dangerous and we must be ever vigilant against such clear and present threats to our liberty and security. we have dispatched a murderer not his movement. we have won a battle not our struggle. but in so succeeding, we have served notice to every terrorist, tyrant, and tyrannical regime that we will

win. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? mr. cohen: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized for one minute. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. i think every member of the house probably wants to do the same thing mr. mccotter did and i'm going to do. that is to congratulate and thank the commander in chief, the president, our armed forces, our men and women in the military, and the team for the outstanding job they accomplished. finally the mission is accomplished. the mission after 9/11 was to get osama bin laden. and our troops did it and they did it in a spectacular fashion. i have always been proud to be a member of this house and to be an american. never more proud than last night and today when i think about our soldiers who put them seve's in harm's way to truly protect our conditiontry -- country and keep our freedoms because osama bin laden did all he could to hurt our country and take away our freedoms and he has taken freedoms away.

as mr. mccotter said, we will win, we will endure. victory will be ours. i thank the men and women of the united states armed forces for the mission they accomplished. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield the bamming of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? mr. wilson: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized for one minute. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, last night the president hailed the success of navy seals to achieve the death of mass murderer osama bin laden. bin laden de-- declared war on americans and british citizens years ago by being an architect for terrorists worldwide culminating in attacks that killed nearly 3,000 american civilians on american soil. his death is the testament to our resolve of the professional military, counterterrorism, and intelligence officials to achieve ultimate victory over terrorism. their combined sacrifice and commitment played a pivotal role

in closing this war of the global war on terrorism. the entire nation will be forever entitied to their service which promotes victory and peace. american families still face many threats of extremist challenges in places like afghanistan and iraq which bin laden identified as the central fronts in the global war on terrorism. bin laden's death is not -- does not end the war but it does serve as evidence that the american forces can penetrate the heart of the most extreme terrorist organizations and bring their leaders to justice worldwide. in conclusion, god bless oiler troops, we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from michigan rise? mrs. miller: unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. miller: mr. speaker, nearly 10 years ago, 19 cowardly terrorists acting on orders of osama bin laden murdered nearly 3,000 innocent. and yesterday justice was

delivered to osama bin laden at the hands of navy seal team 6 and the incredible professionals at the c.i.a. this justice, mr. speaker, has been long in coming and is a direct result of the eternal vigilance of our intelligence professionals, the brave men and women in our military, our national security leaders, our president, and the american people. this nation will always stand strong and united against our enemies. we will not back down and we will never surrender. this should stand as a message to us, terrorist enemies. if you choose to stand against freedom and liberty and if you choose to murder the innocent, no matter how long it takes, we will hunt you down and bring you to the same justice that was received by osama bin laden. mr. speaker, today let us all say a prayer of remembrance for those we lost on 9/11 and those we have lost in defense of freedom and let us say a prayer of thanksgiving for those brave american men and women who have continued to protect liberty,

freedom, and democracy around the globe. god bless america. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, as we all understandably join in extending congratulations to the president and navy seal team 6 and all those who have been involved in the amazing accomplishment of last night, i think it's very important for us to look back almost 10 years ago. i just got off the phone with former speaker dennis hastert who reminded me when the attack took place on september 11 11, 2001, president bush and he and others came together to do everything that we possibly could to ensure the united states of america would never face the kind of attack that we did on september 11. our former colleague, porter goss, chairman of the

intelligence committee, went on to serve as director of central intelligence. our former colleague, jane harman, going back to the time when president clinton was president, so many people, so many people have been involved in this effort to ensure that we would not face the kind of attack that we did. mr. speaker, i think it's very important to note on this day that we have been successful in the past 10 years. we of course as reports have come forward need to remain vigilant, but i want to extend congratulations to all of those who played a role in ensuring our safety. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from alabama rise? >> to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from alabama is recognized for one min. -- one minute. mr. bachus: i thank the chairman. i just returned from my home state of alabama where we lost over 250 of our citizens. the loss of life would have been much greater had noaa and dr. jane and her wonderful staff not

given us an early warning. but some of our storms hit at night and people were unaware of it. and i'm joining several of my colleagues today to reintroduce legislation that brad ellsworth and i have introduced in the last two congresses to have mobile -- or weather radios installed in manufactured housing. this would save many lives. the advocate, one of the advocates of this lost her 2-year-old child. the senate has not passed this legislation but we are going to try again this year. if we are successful, will save lives. the cost of these radios is less than $10. the cost of not having them as we found out this weekend in alabama is the loss of many lives. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise?

>> to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute. mr. gingrey: mr. speaker, thank you so much. today is a great day in the history of our country. i can't remember a better day. thinking back to maybe 1980 when our ice hockey team beat russia in the semifinals, went on to win the gold. that was the height of the cold war. shortly after khrushchev took off his shoe and said we will bury you. it was a great day we had in 1980. but today the -- finally we got him moment in regard to, yes, i'm talking about osama bin laden. i want to take an opportunity, mr. speaker, to commend the president, commend the c.i.a., commend our military, commend the navy seals, the brave men and women that affected this-affected this. let's not forget the intelligence officers that worked so diligently at guantanamo bay, guilt mow, not torturing but get -- gtmo, not

torturing, but getting information. to find the best friend of osama bin laden lived in his neighborhood in pakistan. that's how we got him. intelligence is how we got him. it's a great day. let's all take credit. let's commend the president. we should be tremendously proud today of this accomplishment. this guy, this monster that caused 3,000 people to die on 9/11, and 17 of the u.s.s cole. and men and women since then, god bless them. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the house will stand in recess subject to the call of the chair.

and justice has been done. and today i want to say a few words about what this means for our efforts going forward. first, i want to offer my thoughts and prayers to the thousands of families who were killed in osama bin laden's campaign of terror and violence, from the embassy bombings in africa to the strike on the u.s.s. cole to the attacks of september 11, 2001 and so many more. these were not just attacks against americans although we suffered grievous losses. these were attacks against the

whole world. in london and madrid, bali, istanbul and many other places, innocent people, most of them muslims, were targeted in markets and mosques, in 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 serve our country and have worked tirelessly and relentlessly for

more than a decade to track down and bring osama bin laden, this terrorist, to! -- terrorist, to justice. from our troops to our intelligence experts to our diplomats and law enforcement officials, this has been a broad, deep, 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 coops 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. indeed, we must take this opportunity to renew our resolve and redouble our efforts. in afghanistan we will continue taking the fight to al qaeda and their taliban allies while working to support the afghan people as they build a stronger government and begin to take responsibility for their own security. we are implementing the strategy for transition approved by nato at the summit in lisbon, and we are supporting an afghan-led political process that seeks to isolate al qaeda and end 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, bin laden had also declared war on pakistan. he had ordered the killings of many innocent pakistani men, women and children. in recent years the cooperation between our governments, militaries and law enforcement agencies increased pressure on al qaeda and the taliban, and this progress must continue. and we are committed to our partnership.

history will record that bin laden's death came at a time of great movement toward freedom and democracy, at a time when the people across the middle east and north africa are rejecting the extremist narratives and charting a path of peaceful progress based on universal rights and aspirations. there is no better rebuke to al qaeda and its heinous ideology. all over the world we will press forward, bolesering our partnerships, -- bolstering our partnerships, having peace and progress and relentlessly pursuing the murderers who target innocent people. the fight continues and we will never waiver. now, i know there are some who doubted this day would ever come, who questioned our resolve and our reach. but 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 heroism and humidity that marked the difficult days after 9/11. in new york where i was a senator, our community was devastated but we pulled through. 10 years later that american spirit remains as powerful as ever and it will continue to prevail. so this is a day not only for americans but also for people all over the world who look to a more peaceful and secure future, yes, with continued vigilance, but more so with growing hope and renewed faith in what is possible. thank you all very much.

>> we want to get international perspective from osama bin laden's death. we'll hear from british prime minister david cameron and then ban ki-moon. >> this news will be welcomed right across our country. of course, it does not mark the end of the threat we face from extremist terror. indeed, we'll have to be particularly vigilant in the days ahead but it is, i believe, a massive step forward. osama bin laden was responsible for the death 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 death of many, many british citizens, both here and in other parts of the

world. i'd like to congratulate the u.s. forces who carried out this brave action. i'd like to thank president obama for ordering this action. and i think it's a moment when, too, we should thank all of those who worked day and night, often with no recognition, to keep us safe from the threat of terror. but above all today, we should think of the victims of the poisonous extremism that this man has been responsible for. of course, nothing will bring back those loved ones that families have lost to terror, but at least they know the man who is responsible for these appalling acts is no more. >> the death of osama bin laden -- it is a watershed moment in our common fight against terrorism.

the crimes of al qaeda touched most of the continents, bringing tragedy and loss of life to thousands of many, women and children. the united nations condemns in the strongest possible terms the terrorism in all its forms, regardless of its purpose and -- this is a day to remember the victims and families of victims here in the united states and everywhere in the world. the united nations will continue to fight against terrorism and we'll lead its campaign to fight against terrorism. i remember personally, vividly the day of september 11, 2001. i was in new york on that dark

day, and the united nations has continued to lead this campaign with all leaders to fight against international terrorism. i thank you very much. >> heading to capitol hill now for reaction, senate majority leader harry reid and the chairman of the senate armed services committee, carl levin, came to the microphones today. >> i'll take a few questions. we served in the house of representatives. he's been very generous with his time with me and i sit down and talk to him fairly regularly. down in the new classified briefing center here in the capitol. and so i've been following this with director panetta for

sometime where the general aspects of what they're looking at which was confirmed last night and when i received a call from the white house about 9:30 and then shortly thereafter the president called me and outlined what had taken place. which most of you know what took place at this stage. the president was very somber in his relating to me what took place. and when he talked about the facility i had in my mind's eye about what i'd been briefed by panetta in more general terms. today, americans across the country are welcoming the news this awful man, this man who epitomized evil, has been brought to justice by american

forces. his death is the most significant victory in our fight against al qaeda and sends a strong message to terrorists around the world. we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the courageous men and women in our military and our intelligence community who put their lives on line. carl didn't have a chance to tell you this but i went to a funeral in boulder city where a young man by the name of paton was killed. he was a navy seal, and as we've learned these were seals that went into this operation. what they do is so courageous. the finest special operation forces in the history of the world are trained by our great country. so these men and women in the military who -- in the intelligence community who put their lives on the line to make this happen is remarkable.

and i can't help but get -- young paton boy who i played ball against his dad, his uncle -- out of my mind. this was the direct result of president obama's efforts to refocus on afghanistan and pakistan as a central battleground in our fight against terror. over the past 1/2 years the obama administration has significantly escalated our military, diplomatic, intelligence and economic efforts to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al qaeda in pakistan and afghanistan and around the world. we know that the fight against terrorist who is want to harm america is not over. we know that. but as we remember those who were 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, with our intelligence community and support them as i know the american public does. carl. >> when secretary gates reached me while i was waiting for a plane at the detroit airport last night about 10:00 or so, i, my first reaction was great, satisfaction and relief that a true mass murderer had been brought to justice. i thought to myself that justice is a long memory and has a long arm. i was also -- i just -- i was stunned by the capability of our special forces, the amazing performance of our men and women in uniform that they were

able to pull this off. they never cease to amaze me in their skill, their confidence and their bravery. thinking about this coming into baltimore and washington last night, i was also thinking about the the methodology of bin laden, that he cannot escape justice and did not and also that while people were thinking about this mythological character in caves along the border between pakistan and afghanistan he was in comfort for many, many years . a big place. while the mignons that he sent out to kill people are doing their devillish deeds.

and much more -- much difficult circumstances and he himself arranged many years ago. so the other thought i had flying back was the memory and the remembrance of those who are lost to 9/11 and also those who had been lost to terror before and after and that the war will continue, that this is a victory but it is not the final victory over terrorism. this morning's statement of hamas condemning the killing of bin laden, calling him a martyr , we it reinforce our resolve that this war has to continue to be fought but the myth of bin laden has been punctured. >> questions.

[inaudible] >> the president has a timetable to bin withdrawal of pakistan out of afghanistan. he's indicated that he's going to stick with that. i think that's appropriate. >> there are reports that oil prices are dropping and that stocks are up. is there a connection between this and if it is how much consumer confidence do you think will have with the threat of terror diminished? >> 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 have gone up, that is hopefully a trend, but i'm not confident that will be the case. i'm glad that everyone's happy, that this man has been brought

to justice, but i think that international economic community is relieved that this man is out of circulation. we know there are other terrorists out there, but this is a real shot in the arm of people of good will all over the world. >> chairman levin, can i ask of pakistani officials, given where bin laden was found, did it put a question in your mind that pakistan officials knew where he was? >> well, i think that 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 was actually -- this facility was actually built for bin laden and its closeness to the central location of the pakistani army. i think the army and the intelligence of pakistan have plenty of questions that they should be answering and

hopefully they're being asked by the pakistani government. but i do think that the pakistani president's statement was a very reassuring statement when he very specifically said that he thinks it's a great victory and that it's a success and that he congratulates us on the success of the operation. so we assured by his statement, not necessarily suspicious that he knew or that the civilian leadership knew but i must tell you, i hope that he will follow through, the president of pakistan, will follow through and ask some very tough questions of his own military and his own intelligence. they got a lot of explaining to do. >> question about funding. there's now discussion about what's the future of funding for the war in afghanistan, so forth, in the wake of the

killing of osama bin laden. and second, you've talked about interrogation of terrorture. one. leads has come out that c.i.a. methods of interrogation -- how far should interrogation be allowed to go? >> i don't have any basis to believe that this -- any leads were produced by illegal activities on our part. i don't have any basis to know that. my views about the fact that torture produces misinformation, not good information, are pretty well-known. i have no basis. >> what about the question of funding? [inaudible] >> no, i think that we have -- our two committees, the armed services committee, the

appropriations committee have a job to do. they're looking for any waste in the pentagon. secretary gates is doing the same thing. i think we'll continue to do the work we need to do. >> did the president communicate to you what the threat level is now and, chairman levin, did you hear from secretary gates about what the -- >> all the information that i have is that all of our embassies around the world have been put on alert status and rightfully so. >> u.s. officials said early this morning said that -- path of decline that would be hard to reverse. do you feel confident in that? >> i certainly hope that's the case but i think we better -- we should be very cautiously optimistic in that regard. i think that we still have a lot of work to do. that this -- it's a shot in the

arm and it's going to be good for everybody. thanks. >> so senator levin saying that pakistani army and intelligence operation will have to answer for osama bin laden's presence miles from the country's capital. the white house briefing happening live right now on c-span3 and c-span.org. white house counterterrorism advisor john brennan saying at the briefing that the u.s. forces who killed osama bin laden would have taken him alive if they had the opportunity. we're going back to capitol hill now with more reaction. here are senators collins and lieberman speaking to reporters. >> good afternoon, everybody, and thanks for being here. senator collins and i wanted to

come here today most of all to say thank you to the men and women of the american and intelligence military and homeland security communities for what they did for all of us yesterday. the fact is that today is a safer and better place because of the brave patriots who worked together yesterday to kill osama bin laden, a mass urder. -- murderer. for a lot of the last decade, the homeland security committee of the u.s. senate, which senator collins and i have been privileged to be leaders of together, has concentrated on doing everything we possibly could to make sure that the lack of coordination within the united states government that facilitated the attacks against

america on 9/11 was ended. what happened yesterday was in some sense the exact opposite of the mistakes and failure to cooperate that led to the 9/11 attacks against the united states. because from everything we can determine, every element of our government, military, intelligence, homeland security , worked together as a team and the result was the end of the life of osama bin laden. i want to thank all of them and also particularly express my gratitude to president obama for his leadership as commander in chief. and speaking this morning with one of the members of our national security team, and i want to point out that this was not a political appointee, he said to me that president obama

throughout the preparations and deliberations and decisionmaking that preceded the successful attack on bin laden yesterday, that president obama was cool and decisive and that the decisions that were made were not easy ones. so i want to express my personal gratitude for president obama for the leadership he gave this great team of ours. notwithstanding how well the team performed yesterday, i simply want to say briefly that our senate committee on homeland security will continue to monitor and investigate every element of what our government is doing to protect the homeland security of the american people because the enemies are out there and the enemy will continue to attack the american people here at home, where we live and where we work. in that regard, let me make this point. there is much commentary on the

fact that there may now be a heightened level of danger for a limited period of time. as individuals or groups seek revenge for the murder of osama bin laden. first, i want to reassure everyone that all of our hurept -- homeland security and intelligence agencies are alert to those dangers. and using every tool that they have to detect and if necessary prevent such an attack. my own great concern in the days ahead is that a so-called lone wolf, a single individual who has been radicalized, will now mobilize himself or herself to take action here at home against the american people. and, of course, as we know in our committee, having spent a lot of time particularly

investigating the murder of 13 americans at fort hood by hassan, these are the most difficult cases to see and stop and so my appeal to the american people is, please be alert. this is a classic, if you see something say something moment. if you see suspicious behavior, call the police immediately. and that includes if you see suspicious behavior by somebody who's a friend or a family member. final point i want to make is this. i'd like to put the death of osama bin laden in the broader context of the peaceful democratic uprising that are occurring now in the arab world

. for the war that we were drawn in on 9/11 against islamist extremism and terrorism will not end the death of that one man even that one man who most visibly propagated this political ideology that is corruption of a great religion. this war against islamist extremism and terrorism will end when the ideas bin laden propagated, which i call islamism, lie discredited and abandoned alongside its totalitarian twins, fascism and communism. in this respect it is fitting that bin laden was killed just as democracies are being born in the arab world.

the peaceful youth-driven democratic revolutions now taking place in tunisia, egypt, libya and syria are the clear repudeiation of bin laden-ism. it turns out, contrary to what bin laden prove sized, that his extreme ideaology is the weak course and democracy is the strong horse after all. to rid our world not only of bin laden but of bin laden-ism, it is critical that we together now do everything in our power to help the democratic forces in the middle east succeed. for it will be at the hands of his fellow arabs and fellow muslims that bin laden is finally and firmly consigned to the ash heap of history. senator collins. >> thank you.

let me just echo senator lieberman's comments by starting with my tremendous gratitude to everyone who was involved in this critical mission, from the president and his national security team to the extraordinarily courageous navy seals and intelligence operatives who executed this very dangerous operation flawlessly and with such great courage. i do -- i could not help but think last night when i received the call from the director of the national counterterrorism center that that center did not even exist prior to our 2004 intelligence reform and terrorism prevention act.

when michael leighter called to tell me that osama bin laden had been killed, he talked about the extraordinary effort and cooperation. and prior to 9/11 of 2001, just the opposite existed. there was not cooperation. information was not shared. the silos prevented people from acting together. in this operation we saw exactly the opposite. we saw our intelligence officials working with our special forces working with our homeland security officials. everybody working together to undertake and successfully carry out this extraordinary mission. i also agree with senator lieberman that while this is an extraordinaryly significant --

extraordinarily significant development with the mastermind of al qaeda, the argument tect against -- architect against the attacks in our country, and islamist jihadists around the world now being killed, it is not the end of our fight against islamic extremism. we must continue to not let down our guard. we must continue to be vigilant , and i agree that one of the concerns that i most have is that a homegrown terrorist will choose this moment to strike in an attempt to retaliate for osama bin laden's death. and that is why i was particularly pleased that at midnight last night the

department of homeland security , in conjunction with the f.b.i., put out a situational awareness alert which went to state and local law enforcement , homeland security officials across this country giving them some intelligence information, telling them that they should be prepared for an increase in attacks, perhaps the expediting of plots that are now under way. and that they should be on the alert for that to happen. well, not too long ago, there would have been no communication between washington and state and local law enforcement, much less a system that went out in a very timely way to provide this kind

of information. so i think it shows how far we have come in the past decade, but we must not rest because the threat is still with us despite this tremendous intelligence triumph. >> thanks very much, senator collins. any questions. >> in light of the information that came out about where bin laden was, how will this change the protocol with interrogations considering the information came from guantanamo detainees? >> well, listen, in my -- my position has been clear. over the years when you capture somebody in the war on terrorism -- one of the reasons you do that because as we've done in every war we've been involved in, prisoners of war or detainees are often sources of very valuable intelligence.

the information that led to this came from somebody we have -- at guantanamo saw, encourages us to treat people we capture in the world is what they are, prisoners of war. they are not common criminals of the united states. they can help us save american lives. in this case they helped us save lives all over the world. >> what should you tell the american public about the war in afghanistan and the tragedy of afghanistan and pakistan up to 10 years of war and now the symbol of that war is that -- >> yeah. the biggest symbol of the -- let's put it this way. the man who was the inspirational leader of the forces that attacked us from afghanistan, osama bin laden, is now dead. the war in afghanistan goes on.

we had some calls that the war is over because bin laden is dead, if we do that we'd repeat the mistake when we pulled out of afghanistan in that region after the soviets did and that invited ultimately the taliban and al qaeda into afghanistan and from afghanistan they attacked us on 9/11. i think any decisions made about afghanistan have to be made based on the facts on the ground in afghanistan. i tell you this, the killing of bin laden gives us an increased momentum of the war in afghanistan. if i were the leader in afghanistan, i'd be afraid right now because the capacity of the united states intelligence military, particularly our special

operations command showed leading up to yesterday and in a mission yesterday a difficult mission against a very tough target. i mean, this compound was built to house and protect osama bin laden, but they carried it out. and so wherever omar is and any other leader of extremist earnt american groups are right now, they got reason to worry. >> i just want to comment on the second part of your question which had to do with pakistan. it seems to me that this incident shows that pakistan remains a critical but uncertain ally in the fight against terrorism. it's very difficult for me to understand how this huge compound could be built in a city just an hour north of the

capital of pakistan in a city that contained military installations, including the pakistani military academy, and that it did not have tremendous suspicion, especially when there were no internet and phone connections, there was bashed wire all on the -- b arbed wire all around the compound. this tells us that unfortunately pakistan at times is playing a double game. and that's very troubling to me. >> senator, is there anything that congress and the american government can do to change the way pakistan has dealt in dealing with some of the al qaeda presence in this country? otherwise conditions on funding or anything in the upcoming war bills? >> well, we clearly need to

keep the pressure on pakistan, and one way to do that is to put more strings attached to the military aids that we give the country. i do understand the pakistan government is under tremendous pressure internally but it is in pakistan's own interest to work with us to defeat the terrorist threat. eventually that terrorist threat is going to turn towards pakistan itself. it has already. >> add, inevitably in response to your question, there will be a lot of questions raised here in congress about what people in the pakistani intelligence agency, particularly new or should have known about the

presence of bin laden in pakistan itself. he's not in pakistan. he's in the mountains in the waziristan between pakistan and afghanistan. my own experience with pakistani, we have with any nation in the world, because on the one hand we do give us military assistance. on the other hand we have reason to believe that the intelligence community continue to be very closely in touch with and perhaps supportive of terrorist groups that are fighting us and the afghans in afghanistan. this has got to be a time of real pressure on the afghans to basically prove to us that they

didn't know that bin laden was there. >> reuters has reported that americans had orders to kill, not captured, osama bin laden. do you know if that's the case and why was that the case and if it was is there any concern that we've lost valuable intelligence by not taking the -- >> i don't know the answer to that the description we heard from officials of the administration is there was an initial attempt to capture him, to put him under control and he resisted. i don't know the exact description of how he resisted but the navy seals, especially operations command, were consistent with their orders to kill him and they did. >> do you think there are apparently pictures taken of the killing. do you think that it serves any purpose to release those pictures to the public? >> that's a very difficult decision. i'll leave it ultimately to the

administration, the president. there is a problem here, though, unless there's an acknowledgment by people in al qaeda that bin laden is dead, then it may be necessary to release the pictures, as gruesome as they undoubtedly will be, because he's been shot in the head, to quell any doubt that this somehow is a reuss that the american government has carried out. so my own instinct is probably necessary to release those pictures. but i will respect whatever decision the president makes. i will tell you this from my own part based on information that i received, i am absolutely convinced that the man killed yesterday was osama bin laden. >> what's that information? >> d.n.a. tests, for example. that's pretty conclusive.

i share senator lieberman's views that this is a difficult issue. i, too, have absolutely no doubt that osama bin laden was killed yesterday. but i recognize that there will be those who will try to generate this mess that he's alive and that we missed him somehow. and in order to put that to rest it may be necessary to release some of the pictures or video or the d.n.a. tests to prevent that from happening. >> the other thing to say briefly on this is that we had navy seals there. to put it mildly, i trust the navy seals. i believe that they brought back information that from my point of view convinces me this was definitely osama bin laden. one of the difficult decisions the president had to make,

supported by all of our national security team, was whether the evidence was sufficient that this was osama bin laden, for him as commander in chief to authorize this raid to go forward. so there was a lot leading in that direction. >> do you have any indication from the reports you received from officials, information from the compound itself, even if osama bin laden was killed, there may be information to prevent future attacks in the u.s.? >> i don't know. i don't know anything in that regard. >> thank you very much. >> thank you all. >> staying on the senate side of the capitol, majority leader harry reid and mitch mcconnell came to the senate floor about an hour ago to comment on the killing of osama bin laden last night that happened at a compound 60 miles from the pakistani capital of islamabad. >> late last night we learned

the news we've been longing to hear from the worst morning of memory, the administration brought osama bin laden to justice. this was an american mission ordered by president obama rand accomplished by america's brave and brilliant military and intelligent professionals. last news instruct world but this success should surprise no one. america's special >> we or the best trained, equipped, and best lead. every day of the year they risk their lives for our sake, for our safety. they are the most professional and provision forces on the planet. they brought down the most wanted mass murderer on earth. their success is the most significant victory yet in the fight against al qaeda and terrorism. it sends a strong and unmistakable message to terrorist. threaten our country, our people, and our interest.

president obama insisted that we refocus on afghanistan and pakistan as a central battlefields in our fight against terrorism. those tremendous military, diplomatic, intelligence, and economic efforts are the reason we woke up this morning in a world that is no longer the home of osama bin laden. the end of his life is not the end of the fight. yesterday's operation was a measure of justice but it does not define it absolute victory. america welcomes the success of our fellow citizens. even as we breathe a sigh of relief, we are not really do our duty to be vigilant, be persistent, defeat our enemies, and make our nation strong. the leader of al qaeda is gone, but his organization is not. our enemy is widespread and

motivated. the truth is, it may be more motivated today that it was yesterday. our troops continue to fight and our intelligence professionals continue to work. their families continue to sacrifice. we continue to support all of them and each other. we also pause today to lend a shoulder to those whose grief never ends. the significant measure of justice is but a small measure of comfort to those who lost loved ones in america and around the world, in new york, virginia, pennsylvania, and american embassies in africa, the trains in london and madrid, and so many other places. bin laden step does not bring back the thousands of innocent people who were killed and which made whole families incomplete forever. it is an important milestone that reminds the world, america does not suffer the wicked.

our result is often tested but is unbreakable. because of the hard work of courageous americans in our military and law-enforcement communities, along, hateful chapter in america's history closed yesterday. today we welcome the spring of a new optimism and renewed patriotism. the chapter now behind us ended with justice. we hope the chapter ahead of us will bring security and peace. >> mr. president, today americans " to good news. nearly 10 years after the united states sent out to kill or capture osama bin laden, justice has indeed been done. the man who orchestrated the 9/11 attacks and he reveled in the horror of that day is dead. those who follow his twisted vision are again on notice. america is in pursuit.

this has been a long time coming. for two decades, osama bin laden and the al qaeda network he created sustained and have been at war with the united states. the path of terror extended from the first world trade center bombing to the bombing of the towers and the u.s. embassies in kenya and tanzania to the horrors of 9/11 and through two long and difficult wars that followed. 9/11 may be the day that this pattern of violence became suddenly an undeniably clear. bin laden's destructive path was already launched by then. for the past 10 years, america has been determined to bring this monster to justice. from the beginning of this fight, the mission has been clear, to deny all, and any of its affiliates around the world a sanctuary from which they could plan, prepare, or launch

another attack on u.s. soil. the effort to prevent that long feared attack has been an undeniable success under two administrations in the ongoing war on terror. a few short years after 9/11, al qaeda had gained enough strength to once again pose a serious threat to the nine states. meanwhile, the taliban had reestablished its headquarters in pakistan and had gained enough strength to return to afghanistan and risk the success of our mission there. as the years went by, osama bin laden's ability to elude capture had become a greater source of frustration to us and a source of propaganda to his followers. over the years, americans have become all too familiar with bin laden's dark pronouncements from his perverse declaration three years ago before 9/11 that it was the obligation of every muslim to kill and fight americans and their allies, whether civilian or military, in any country, to his declaration

after 9/11 that he had calculated the number of innocents he could kill that morning, and that he was the most optimistic planner of them all. last night, those pronouncements ended at the barrel of a gun. the last thing osama bin laden saw on this earth was a small team of americans who shot him. so americans can be proud of the efforts of our military and intelligence communities and the focused efforts of two administrations in fighting al qaeda, and now in capturing it self-appointed leader. this is indeed a signal achievement, a huge victory in the war against terrorism, a day of great pride for our country. the president made the right call, and we thank him for it. we can never bring back those who died on 9/11 or those who have given their lives in this long and difficult work, but all americans can say with renewed

confidence today that we have kept our pledge, and that this is a war we will win. some will recall that osama bin laden launched this for many years ago on the false assumption that america did not have the stomach for the fight. while it may have taken longer than we hoped, last night he and his followers learned just how wrong he was. we take great satisfaction in knowing that osama bin laden will no longer be able to carry out his evil plans, that he has made his last video, and that whatever -- whenever someone suggest that the u.s. has grown weary, complacent in this war, we have shown how determined we are to fight it to the end. history is full of fallen despots and madmen who underestimated the resolve of the united states. last night we added one more to their ranks.

but we do not rest, because we'no s determination to attack -- we know al qaeda is determination to attack the united states did not end on september 11 that it did not end last night. we continue to fight, knowing that al qaeda remains committed to attacking our homeland and our allies. we were reminded of this just last week when police in germany arrested three men associated with al qaeda who were planning an attack there. since the beginning of operation enduring freedom, we have matched the terrorist threat with the valor of our armed services and counter-terrorism professionals. the men and women of the central intelligence agency's counter- terrorism center have a and selfishly devoted themselves to prevent attacks against us and in hunting down bin laden. last night there determined efforts met with success, and we are deeply, deeply grateful for their efforts. as for the broader war, the death of bin laden may create

the opportunity to renew our efforts with pakistan to bring fresh pressure on al qaeda senior leadership. president obama noted in his remarks last night that it was essential for pakistan to join us in this fight. today is the day to redouble our efforts in pursuit of al qaeda. in the coming weeks and months, the same counter-terrorism professionals will focus on determining what bin laden staff means for the threat posed by al qaeda -- what bin laden's death means for the remainder of al qaeda's senior leadership. but today, the world knows once again that wherever al qaeda lurks, wherever they lurk, we will find them. it may not be days from now. it may not be months, but those who plot harm to innocent americans and our allies will be captured or killed.

for them, justice will be done. anyone who lived through the horror of 9/11 remembers exactly where they were on that terrible september day. now they will remember where they were when they first heard the news that the man behind it had been killed by a brave american forces inside pakistan. we will remember where we were when, after years of effort, we finally got our man. america did not seek this fight. it came to us. but ever since 9/11, we have been determined to fight al qaeda to the end. we knew from the start it would require patience and great sacrifice. that effort has paid off. thanks to the skill and perseverance of many brave men and women, we have done what we said. america has not wavered. has not lost sight of the mission, and we will prevail.

>> coming up in a half-hour, we will hear president obama today at a medal of honor ceremony banking and outgoing defense secretary gates and others for their part in the capture and killing of osama bin laden. next come more from capitol hill. we'll hear from the chairman of the house intelligence committee. representative mike rogers says more than one dna sample was used to identify osama bin laden, and that is clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was him. >> thank you for coming this afternoon. it is a great day for america. one down, to to go. we have a lot to be thankful for today, given our intelligence service's long-term effort to find and located bring to justice somebody who was bound and determined the to evade our custer -- our custody.

something that happened four years ago, a small piece of information that was set upon by our analysts and our intelligence folks all across the community, and for a very steady pace over time, worked to expand their circle of knowledge based on that one little piece of information. it really shows you what happens when the whole intelligence community comes together to solve a problem. it was the cia, it was our national security agency, the nga, all coming together and putting their resources on the table to slowly and surely tighten the noose until we found osama bin laden. i was briefed on this in taking the chairmanship back in early january. there is a very small number of people who got to see all of the pieces put in one place. there were even elements of the

intelligence community that that did not really know they were working toward this final goal. at the very end of it, the most dangerous part, i would suspect, when they announced to the elite special forces that they were going to go on a particular mission, to get ready to go, and tell them of their target, apparently there was a loud and thunderous cheer, which chose to the quality and commitment and courage of our special forces, that they were excited at the prospect of bringing justice to the person who masterminded the slaughter of 3000 innocent americans on u.s. soil. so that was a very, very indicative place for us to go when it comes to appreciation of all the intelligence services. before we get to the questions, i want to dispel some myths that because it took so long for us to get here, that this will

somehow intelligence failure. i think today is certainly the wrong day to even say that. when you look at how they traveled toward this target in absolute inches, and how long it took them to beat what was really very good operational security, i think it clearly demonstrates the new intelligence community after 9/11 and their ability to find and reach out anywhere in the world and take care of people who threaten the united states. with that, i want to open it up to any questions you may have. >> can you elaborate on what you are told in the brief? >> we were made aware back in early january of the compound, what they believed at that time were good indications that it was osama bin laden, but they did not have enough. over time, they kept building the case. they told us where rework. they clearly knew that someone

important was using this facility in the furtherance of terrorist activities around the world, but just were not sure what the target was. going through the process of the difficulty of getting to the target was another whole set of conversations that we had in the months that preceded that briefing. >> there has been much said in the past 12 hours about how we could not have done this without some of pakistan's cooperation. there are some good can work with and some that work at cross purposes. had you see this helping or hurting, and what is the relationship with pakistan and their intelligence groups? >> liaison partnerships are never all in propositions. you have to take the service you find it in the countries in which you find it. the isi in the government of

pakistan have been helpful to the united states when it comes to counter-terrorism actions and investigations. clearly that is so. there have been of the places where questions have been raised, and i can guarantee there will be questions raised about this particular case as well. but don in a way that continues, i argue, to put pressure pakistan to always do the right thing. the have internal politics that may not sell as well as their ability to help us. we have to work through those issues to continue a relationship. >> at this point do you think the u.s. is truly saver with bin laden out of the picture, and what are your concerns with that going forward? >> anytime you can take an operational leader or an inspirational leader of the

battlefield, is a great day for our national security. the added benefit of bin laden to someone who was the mastermind of slaughtering 3000 people being brought to justice, you can see the reaction of the 9/11 families and the people who are showing up at the white house and in new york city, how important they believe that was. think of the psychological impact to al qaeda operatives everywhere that the united states will be patient. we will be diligent, and we will reach out and touch you were refined you, if you are risking the lives of our united states citizens or our allies. >> were you told in january -- win real toll that the president had ordered the mission? >> it was a gain of eight briefing. did not happen all at the same time.

they wanted to keep this as close as the public -- as a possibly could, knowing their operational security could jeopardize and accelerate his packing up and leaving. >> when you told about the mission? >> i have been talking to mr. panetta over these four months and over the weekend. we knew when the president authorized it and we had some discussions that was likely to happen, and then got a call after it happened. >> u.s. officials say the first information came from information developed over the past decade. the thing they should come back into u.s. policy for the u.s.? >> as an old fbi agent, i support that. i do believe it is a great

example of how important interrogations' are, wherever they happen. having a consistent interrogation policy is crucial. some would argue there was not a smoking gun that came out of any interrogations' in the last 10 years. exactly right, but pieces of information were able to be gleaned from interrogations that were put together with other information to get us to osama bin laden and along the way to other very bad people to whom justice has been needed. >> were you when you found out that they did get bin laden? >> i received a phone call while i was traveling on an intelligence trip. we talk saturday and then we talked again on sunday as well. >> the research reports that

there were some computer hard drives recovered from the site. is there any indication that there was an intelligence trove their? are you confident that zawari will emerge as the next leader? >> on any criminal scene there is evidence, and our folks were very good about collecting the evidence that they found on the scene. hopefully, that information -- it is being analyzed and hopefully we will have some good news as we move forward on what that means. it is likely that the next leader -- my speculation would be zawahiri.

it is important to stay vigilant on this, and then yemen is an important front for us in the war on terror that we are watching closely. >> you said that the informants were offered $20 million. >> i think that has been misrepresented. there was the old wanted poster put up, $25 million for information leading to the rest of osama bin laden. they have been out there on the street for a long time. there is some confusion. there was no direct money offered, other than there have been these rewards posted for some time, if you provided information that you could get paid by the united states. there has been no determination that that was done or that this

was tied in with any reward. >> what are your thoughts about ?oephotoseleasing the foe >> is something we will have to work through. i don't think that answer has been determined quite yet. we have to make sure we maintain dignity, if there was any in osama bin laden, so that we don't in flame our problems other places in the world, and still provide enough evidence that people are confident that it was osama bin laden. >> you said we have to work through things with pakistan, but if it turns out that there intelligence agency knew that bin laden was there and had known that for some time, do you really favor continuing intelligence relationships with them? i would also like to know about u.s. aid to pakistan, which has been billions of dollars.

a lot of that has been military aid. >> i don't want to speculate if they did or they did not. we are going to ask those questions. i think americans have the right to know that. the same time, we have to remember there are still equities that we have in pakistan as it relates to our national security. we know there are some incredibly bad people there. of the 20 senior leaders in al qaeda, at least a dozen of them we believe to be traveling around pakistan. is incredibly important for us that we maintain a relationship so that we can pursue those targets that we know are posing a threat to the united states. that is a balance, and we will have to work through it. keeping a diplomat for 42 days, all of those things -- there has been some speculation in the past about release of information to bad guys.

we hope we can work our way through it. it does not mean we are not going to ask hard questions. >> what do you make of the obama administration's continued assertion that [unintelligible] and also when was the decision made to bury the body at sea? >> first of all, the information started on this for years ago, it was clearly in the bush administration. i do not draw a nexus between going into afghanistan and iraq and not being able to get bin laden. the reason we had such difficulty is because it is operational security. the way he conducted himself and operated -- think about this, a million-dollar compound, which is out blandish in that region

of pakistan -- which is outlandish, that was built to repel any operation just as it happened perino internet connectivity. they would have people they did not note to deliver it in permission to people they did not know, which would eventually work its way back to osama bin laden. it was a very tricky business in the, and we don't get to walk around any place we want in the world, knocking on doors and doing an investigation about where osama bin laden is. that was a challenge. people who want to find blame today are misplaced. in the sense that when you look at the incredible undertaking of the analyst, the operators, the case officers, the folks at the nsa who got little tidbits and put it all together in one place and started drawing that news. this was an incredible operation that i argue few countries in the world could do.

i believe it was prudent to do it. he was given a proper burial. it removes any thought that there will be a shrine to osama bin laden or grave robbing or any other lasting impact from his death. i think it was best done to lessen the impact for those who want to make him more than he was. >> is there any change in the people who are calling for people out of afghanistan? >> i get a little confused when they say they want troops pulled out of afghanistan, because we are pursuing al qaeda in other parts of the world. when the taliban is the one that is fighting us right now, and they are the ones they gave it safe haven to al qaeda to operate and plan the 9/11 attacks in afghanistan. we have to be very careful not

to find these national security issues that have been either for the positive or the negative, to define all the other things that we have to do. clearly this demonstrates this is a global war on terrorism. each place will require different operations, different planning, different intelligence techniques, different military operation techniques. right now we are in afghanistan. the string offensive is so important that we beat the taliban back. they don't find the same way we do. the rest up in the winter. it is hard to get anywhere in afghanistan in the winter. this is their spring offensive. it is a cultural fighting force that has been going on for hundreds and hundreds of years. now is the time we win that fight. for anyone to try to mix up the success with what i think will be a success here in the spring offensive against the taliban,

our offensive against the taliban in afghanistan this spring is i think making a serious mistake and jeopardize in the long-term health of our inter national security picture. >> was bin laden dead, does this in any way allow the intelligence community to move on and shift onto other things? >> remember, while this was happening, lots of other things were happening. the money that we spend, which is significant, means we can do lots of things at the same time. there are others we are concerned about. the good news is, with this change, there is likely to be changes, and if you study the way we defeated organized crime in america, or at least put them back on their heels, it was by these continued operation that took out sr., smart leadership, and they are making rash

decisions. any time they make rash decisions, that is a time for us to be successful against what they are trying to do. these things were at play all at the same time. it means great victory and sense of fantastic message to our friends and allies and to our enemies that we are absolutely committed to this. we still have a list and we are still working its. >> have you been briefed on any intelligence information related to retaliatory strikes that might be coming as a result of this? if you could just talk about the detainees that led to the information about the courier network. what do you understand about that? >> on the retaliation, one of the things that made al qaeda successful and sustained as long as they have is that they are patient about how the plant and operate. operations that you see engaged in at any time in the past took months and in some cases years

to plan. the same with 9/11. it took a very long time to plan that. it is highly unlikely that you will see a rash decision to reach out for a terrorist act. however, that does not mean there have not been operations that have an ongoing that could come to completion any day. we know they are planning in multiple places around the world, including in the tribal areas of pakistan. that part is ongoing. the detainees -- at cannot comment exactly where they were held, but we have been conducting less than we need to now, but more so then, lots of inter -- lots of interrogations.

that did contribute to the information that ultimately led to osama bin laden being brought to justice. >> and that you touched on it briefly, but the senator said he was heartened by statements coming from pakistan's president. what is your view of the relationship going forward? >> again, you do not see pakistan issuing commendation letters. i recall being on my first year on this intelligence committee, helping deliver messages to the pakistanis about how seriously we took this issue that terrorists might be providing safe havens or be planning operations from their soil, and if we got to that level of

certainty, we were going to do something about it. this is not something that can completely out of the blue for our pakistani friends, including the isi and the government. their internal politics were trying to fight the release of a diplomat. had nothing to do with the united states. you cannot enter the international country ruled lot of violating the very basic principle of diplomatic immunity. we have been pretty harsh with them on that. at the end of the day, the fact that they have not come out and condemned it in the way they have others, i think it is a good sign. it is not mean we are not going to ask a lot of questions, but they have internal challenges as well.

part of their isi may have different loyalties than other areas. >> have you been briefed on the dna testing that a positive confirmation of his body? of the report came from a hospital in boston. have you been briefed on that? >> i will just say that the dna samples were not single sourced. there are lots of places that his dna could have been captured or relatives or other means. this was a day that has been planned for for very long time. one of the things that was important was to make sure that it was absolutely him. i think through the dna testing and other things, it is clear

beyond a shadow of doubt that this was osama bin laden, based on the science and the way they conducted themselves following the raid. >> could you comment on what you think the episode does in terms of the president's standing as a leader on national security? >> again, today is the date that we should absolutely celebrate intelligence services operations coming together, our special elite soldiers and folks that went to conduct the raid, and really the president should get kudos for organizing the raid to go in and take care of bin laden. it is a good thing for the country, as it should be. i thought it was a good thing for standing internationally on the national security fraud. that being said, there are a lot

of issues that we will have to have conversations about -- on the national security front. -- ifn't want to use this this is your national security policy, we are in a lot of trouble. is this an is follow up and making sure that our allies overseas know who we are and the kinds of decisions we will make when we get in trouble. we will continue to work with the administration so that america's national security posture wore wide puts us in the best position to keep america safe. >> some of the president's critics question the timing of this. as chairman of the house intelligence committee, could you say anything that would either put those suspicions to rest or support that? >> as somebody who has been involved with this at least since i have been chairman of the committee, as good as they

are on operational security, you have to take it vanish when you can -- you have to take advantage when you can to increase the likelihood of success. i believe the decision was made to increase the likelihood that it would be successful, that we would get osama bin laden and leave. there are so many other places that will not be able to find to disagree with the president. today should not be one of them. this was a well-planned, well executed -- a bushel administration deserves credit for where they got the investigation, if you will. -- the bush administration deserves credit for where they got the information, if you will. it was not without risk. there are plenty of other places we ought to be asking challenging questions. thank you very much. i appreciate it.

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> just getting word that house speaker jon baker will hold a briefing at 4:00 p.m. eastern time, 20 minutes from now -- house speaker john boehner will hold a briefing at 4:00 p.m. eastern time. many briefings in washington last night after the announcement of osama bin laden capture and killing. a ceremony honoring two korean

war veterans and others, president obama talked about the raid in pakistan and the people it took to make it happen. >> good morning, everybody. please be seated. on behalf of michelle and myself, welcome to the white house. to our many guest from hawaii, a aloha.s thank you for that wonderful invocation. i think we can all agree this is a good day for america. our country has kept its commitment to see that justice is done. the world is safer and is a better place because of the death of osama bin laden. today we are reminded that as a nation, there is nothing we

cannot do when we put our shoulders to the wheel and when we work together, when we remember the sense of unity that defines us as americans. we have seen that spirit, that patriotism in the crowds that have gathered here outside the white house, at ground zero in new york, and across the country, people holding candles, waving the flag, singing the national anthem. people proud to live in the united states of america. we are reminded that we are fortunate to have americans who dedicate their lives to protecting ours. they volunteer, they train, they endure separations from their families, they take extraordinary risks so that we can be safe. they get the job done. we may not always know their names. we may not always know their stories, but they or their

everyday on the front lines of freedom, and we are truly blessed. -- they are there every day on the front lines of freedom. there are two individuals who have been critical as part of my team who are here today. first of all, i think someone who will go down as one of the finest secretaries of defense in our history, secretary bob gates is here. [applause] sitting beside him, someone who served with incredible valor on behalf of this country, and is now somebody who i think will go down as one of the greatest secretaries of veterans affairs in our history. [applause]

i have to say that as commander in chief, i could not be prouder of our men and women in uniform. that is true now in today's wars. has been true in all our wars, and is why we are here today. long ago, a poet of the first world war wrote of the sacrifice of young soldiers in more. they shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old. age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn, that the going down of the sun in the morning, we will remember them.

today, we are joined by two american families who six decades ago gave a our nation one of their own. private first class in read -- these two soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice when they were just 19 and 21 years old. age did not wearing them. in the hearts of their families, they remain forever young. loving sons, protected brothers, hometown kids who stood tall in america's own towns, in america's uniform. today we remember them and we honor them with the highest military decoration that our nation can bestow, the medal of honor. in doing so, we also honor their families who remind us that it

is our extraordinary military families who also bear the heavy burden of four -- a heavy burden of war. we are joined by leaders from the army and armed forces, including admiral mike mullen and vice chairman general kurt right. -- general car righcartwright. let me just the knowledge that without the leadership of bob gates, mike mullen, hoss cartwright, we would not be

here today. i am so grateful that have been part of our team. [applause] >> the white house says it has made no decision on whether to release photographic proof that osama bin laden is dead. we hear some discussion about that on this morning's washington journal." will show as much of this as we can before we have house speaker john maynard live at 4:00 eastern. >> we are joined by michael shroyer. he is the former been sought not -- chief and then served as an adviser to that unit's. 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. caller: i am not sure if this is how i feel when i see people celebrate industry, like in washington and new york and boston. it almost reminds me when the terrorists in the countries that hit us are out in the streets during our flags. maybe i'm looking at it different. i think this could be feeling fire for future terrorism. i don't know, maybe i am looking at this wrong. guest: i think you're exactly correct is a natural reaction to be out and cheering. 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 have tried to prevent people from celebrating. i fear more the american people thinking that killing bin laden ends it all.

we have a long road to climb before this one is over. host: a crowd gathered outside the white house last night after hearing that osama bin laden had been killed. seattle, washington. caller: i think a former operative was killed. i think 9/11 was an inside job. look at the 9/11 timeline 3 it is online. that is what i think. i think -- host: that is your opinion. we have got some phone calls about it this morning. guest: osama bin laden and al qaeda attacked us on 9/11 because we fail to calm in 1998 and 1999. the idea that the cia and the u.s. government would attack their own people is a ludicrous idea. that is held tightly by a number

of people. host: patricia from tennessee. caller: i wanted to say thank you. i have the most respect for anyone who serves our country. thank you for the future -- for the freedom. hold your heads high. give thanks to all the men and women. if ec summit in a uniform or sticker, shake their hands and say thank you. without them, we would not be able to voice our opinion -- if you see someone in a uniform or sticker, shake their hands and say thank you. guest: i think that is a good sentiment. the people who serve us to deserve our thanks to this. they are understaffed, under

resource, and they have done a remarkable work. host: reaction from the associated press wire. 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 w hear from john boehner.

>> the tragic events remind us that we are all americans, and what unites us as americans is far greater than what separates us. ? yesterday's news was much the same. the death of osama bin laden was a moment in the fight against radical extremism and terrorism. an important event for those around the world who have been subjected to osama bin laden. to the families who lost loved ones on september 11, 2001, we will never forget what you lost, and for those who fought and died in the war against terror and their loved ones, we honor your sacrifice. it can to those who seek to destroy freedom by preying on innocent human life, we will not rest until we bring you to justice.

our fight for freedom and liberty continues. it is important that we remain vigilant in our efforts to defeat the enemies and protect american people. this makes our engagement in places like pakistan and afghanistan more important, not less. i want to congratulate and thank the hard working men and women of the united states armed services. i want to thank all of those involved in the intelligence community for their tireless perseverance that led to this. i also want to commend president obama and bush for all of their efforts to bring osama bin laden to justice. >> good afternoon. nearly 10 years ago, president bush pledged to the american people that we will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail in our quest to defeat

those who intend to do us harm through acts of terror. last night, we heard president obama tell a very changed nation that we did not fail. i think what this tells all of us is that success and victory sometimes takes a lot longer than we would like. sometimes it is a lot harder than we would like, and sometimes it brings about more tragedy than absolutely we would even believe. but it is our commitment to continue to do all we can to support those in our armed services and our intelligence community to defend the american people against the spread of radical islam and the threat it

poses to other places. >> freedom is not free. last night told the entire world that america has the resolve. it may take us a decade, but we will continue. the same resolve we have with any challenge this country faces. i congratulate all of those who were involved. it does not happen overnight. those individuals that did the work before, what president bush did it, and the work that president obama did. he had a decision that he had to make, and we thank him for the decision. to the navy seals, going in and helicopters, one breaking down, and still carrying out the mission.

this continues to show results as we fight terrorism. >> few events have been in blazoned in the hearts, minds, and souls as 9/11. occasionally, american justice will be delayed, but it will not be denied. today is a day to celebrate, and today is a day to congratulate. for all of those who labored all of the many years in the intelligence community to the enlisted personnel, to the incredible courage of the navy seals and certainly all of the way to the commander in chief president obama, congratulations are in order, but one thing that is not changed after today is that the price of liberty remains eternal vigilance. thank you. >> thank you, all. >> but house republicans with

their reaction, and president obama called speaker john boehner personally to tell him that american special forces killed osama bin laden. we go now to the white house briefing. they are saying that the u.s. forces would have taken a lot if they would have had an opportunity. this is a little over 40 minutes. i wanted to remind you that the house is coming back again at 6:00 p.m. eastern. we will have live coverage here on c-span. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

>> ok, see you. bye. >> the house is expected in at 6:00 p.m. eastern time, a vote at 6:30. we will hear now more about the osama bin laden killing in islamabad, pakistan. there are questions whether they knew where he was. at a briefing today, secretary of state hillary clinton said that pakistan helped lead the u.s. effort to get the al qaeda leader.

>> good morning. has president obama said last night, osama bin laden is dead, and justice has been done. today, i want to say a few words about what this means for our efforts going forward. first, i want to offer my thoughts and prayers to thousands of families whose loved ones were killed in the osama bin laden campaign of terror and violence, from the embassy bombings in africa to the strike on the uss cole to the attacks of september 11, 2001, and so many more. these are not just attacks against americans, although we suffered grievous losses. these were attacks against the whole world. in london and madrid, istanbul, and many other places, innocent people, most of the muslims,

were targeted in markets and mosques, in subway stations and 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 lost olf the victims or fill the voids they left, but i now hold their families can find some comfort in the fact that justice has been served. second, i want to honor the president for honoring those brave men and women who serve our country and worked tirelessly and relentlessly for more than a decade to track down and bring osama bin laden, this terrorist, to justice.

with our troops and our law- enforcement officials, this has been a broad, very impressive effort. here at the state department, we have worked to forge a worldwide anti-terror network. we have drawn together the efforts of friends and allies on every continent. our partnership, including our close cooperation with pakistan has helped put on president pressure on al qaeda and its leadership. continued cooperation will be just as important in the days ahead. even as we mark this milestone, we should not forget that the battle to stop al qaeda and its in the kit of terror will not end with the death of bin laden.

indeed, we must take this opportunity to renew our resolve and redouble our efforts. in afghanistan, we will continue taking the fight to al qaeda and the taliban allies, while working to support the afghan people as they build a stronger government and begin to take responsibility for their own security. we are implementing the strategy for the transition approved by nato at the summit in lisbon, and there is an afghan-led political process that seeks to isolate al qaeda and end the insurgency. our message to the taliban remains the same. but today, it may have even greater resonance. you cannot wait us out. you can make the choice to

abandon al qaeda and participate in a peaceful political process. in pakistan, we are committed to supporting the government as they defend their own democracy from violent extremism. indeed, as the president said, the bin laden sab also declared war -- the bin ladens have also declared war on the innocents. in recent years, the cooperation between our governments, military, and law enforcement agencies increased pressure on al qaeda and the taliban, and this progress must continue, and we are committed to our partnership. history will record the great efforts toward democracy at a time when the people across the

middle east and north africa are rejecting the extremist narrative and charting a path of peaceful progress based on universal rights and aspirations. there is no better rebuke to al qaeda and its his ideology -- it's heinous ideology. investing in a positive vision of peace that -- peace and progress and relentlessly pursuing those who target the innocent. the fight continues, and we will never waver. i know there are some who doubted this day would ever come, who questioned our resolve and our reach, but 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 heroism and humanity that

marked the difficult days after 9/11. in new york, where i was a senator, our community was devastated, but we pulled through. 10 years later, the american spirit remains as powerful as ever, and it will continue to prevail. so this is a day, not only for americans, but also for people all over the world who look to a more peaceful and secure future. yes, with contingent -- continued vigilance, but more so with growing hope and renewed faith in what is possible. thank you all very much. >> now, we are going to the

white house press briefing. they will do everything they can to make sure no one can deny claims that the al qaeda lead there was killed. this is about 40 minutes. >> good afternoon, everyone. i have with me a guest to talk about yesterday, and if you have any questions on other subjects, i will do about 10 minutes after mr. brennan is finished, take those questions. i just want to make a point before john comes up that as

many of you know, there is a very clear idea about the approach he would take as president towards osama bin laden. in august 2007, he said if we had actionable evidence, and president musharraf's will not act, we will. in july of 2008, he said we must make it clear that we will take out high level terrorist targets like bin laden if we have them in our sights. he repeated statements like that again, and i want to be clear that this is an approach that he always thought he would take as president, and once he took office, he made sure that we will revitalize our focus on osama bin laden and the hunt for

him, so with that, i would like to invite john up to take your questions, and i will be standing here if you have questions on other topics. thank you. >> the associated press. is there a consideration to take bin laden alive >> -- alive? >> the individuals involved were able and prepared to do that. we had discussed that sensibly with a number of meetings at the white house. the concern was bin laden would

oppose any type of operation. indeed, he did. it was a firefight. therefore, he was killed in the firefight, and we certainly were planning for the possibility, which we thought was going to be remote, given that he would likely resist arrest. >> the most likely outcome? >> we are trying to make sure that we are able to accomplish the mission safely and securely for the people who were involved. we're not going to put our people at risk. there was a premium in making sure that the personnel were protected, and we were not going to give the cohorts any opportunity. he was engaged, and he was killed in the process, but if we had the opportunity to take him alive, we would have done that.

>> is anyone able to explain how bin laden was able to hide and the pakistan these had no idea he was there? >> clearly, this was something that was something considered as a possibility. pakistan is a large country. we are looking right now at how he was able to hold out there for so long and whether or not there's any type of support in pakistan that would allow him to stay there. we know that the people at the compound there were working on his behalf, and that is how we ultimately found our way to the compound, but we are now less than 24 hours away from this, so we're talking with the pakistanis on a regular basis, and we will look get these to find out what type of system and benefactors bin laden may have had. we are pursuing all leads in this issue.

>> such an elaborate compound? >> i think it is inconceivable that bin laden did not have a support system in the country that allows him to remain there. i am not going to speculate about what type of support he may have had inside pakistan. we are closely talking to the pakistan is right now and leaving open opportunities to continue to pursue whatever leads may be out there. >> also, one of the things that a lot of people think about is what doesn't mean for those in afghanistan? >> i think the accomplishments that we were able to realize yesterday.was a defining moment in the war against al qaeda, the war on terrorism, by

decapitating the head of the snake known as al qaeda. i think it will have a very important reverberations throughout the area on the al qaeda network, in that area. this is something we have been after for 15 years. it goess -- goes back before 9/11. we are open to bury the rest of al qaeda with bin laden. >> would you describe how you would monitor the goings on? and very tense scene. how are you getting your information? >> the principal's convened yesterday around midday. in early afternoon, the

operation got under way. when the operation did get underway, the president did rejoined the group, and we were able to monitor on a real-time basis the progress from the commencement to a target to extract the remains and then the egress off of the target. it was, probably, one of the most anxiety phil period of time. the president was very concerned about the security of our personnel. that is what was on his mind throughout, and we wanted to make sure we will get through this and accomplish the mission, but it was clearly very tense, a lot of people holding their breath, and there was a fair degree of silence, and when we were finally informed that those individuals who were able to go

in that compound and found individual that they believed was bin laden, there was a tremendous sigh of relief. who we believe was in that compound was in that compound and was found, -- >> was a visual or radio reports? >> we were able to monitor the situation in real time, and we were able to have regular updates and to ensure that we had real time visibility into the operation. we are not going to go into details about what type of visuals we have or what type of things that were there, but it gave us the ability to actually track in on an ongoing basis. i understand there was a moment of real tension, with the

helicopter, and the pakistanis were scrambling their jets to come to wehre the -- where the amr -- americans were. was there thought that they would take action against the navy seals? >> we did not talk about them until after they were in the pakistan airspace. they were reacting to an instance they knew was taking place. we were concerned. we were watching and making sure that our people and our aircraft were able to get out of the airspace, and bank for, there was no engagement of pakistan

forces. this operation was designed to minimize this. it was done very well. thankfully, no pakistan forces were engaged, and there were no other individuals who were killed aside from those at the compound. >> can you talk about the information that you found there? was it a bank vault? >> the people who were on the compound to the advantage of their time there to make sure that we were able to require whenever we thought was appropriate and was needed. ,e're in the process right now of looking at whatever might have been picked up. we feel that this was a very important time to continue this against al qaeda and take advantage and to continue to work to break the back of al qaeda.

>> what about in terms of the volume? >> we are trying to determine. it was not necessarily quantity. frequently, it is quality. >> can you tell us how close the u.s. has gotten to him aside from tora bora? >> we had a very credible information about where we thought he was. i think what this operation demonstrates is that there are some very, very good people who have been following bin laden for many years. they have pulled on every thread, and as a result come off they were able to track this and continue to build on the fact that he was at the compound. there is much greater confidence

that we had in this body of intelligence. still though, there is nothing that confirm that bin laden was at the compound, and therefore, when president obama was faced with the opportunity to act upon this, the president had to about this strength of the information and then made what i believe was one of the most gutsiest call as of any president in recent memory. >> -- >> counter-terrorism works in doing what is called analysis. it is tedious and painstaking, in terms of taking a little bit of data and trying to correlate it with something else, and as a result of the information we have, in a very generic way,

over time, they were able to piece together information and get the name he was known by, his nom de guerre, the name that he was associated with, and the track until we got to the compound in islamabad, and over the past six months, trying to make sure we had the best visibility in terms of what is understood -- happening at that compound, the body of evidence kept accumulating to the point where the president said i want to rev operations against this compound. i want to know the pros and cons are. i want to have options, and i want to take into account the safety and security of the american people that are conducting this operation, that we look at it from the standpoint of limiting collateral damage and look at maximizing success. the president made the decision, and the results, i think, speak for themselves.

>> osama bin laden was actually involved in the firefight. did he get his hands on a gun, and did he fire? >> he was engaged in a firefight with those that entered the area. whether or not he got off any rounds, i do not know. here is bin laden hill has been living in this million dollar plus compound, calling the attacks, living in an area that was far removed from the frog, hiding behind women who were put in front of him as a shield. i think it speaks to just how false is narrative has been over the years. again, looking at what bin laden was doing hiding there, while he was putting other people out there to carry on a tax, i'd think this speaks to the nature of the individual he was.

-- carry-on attacks. >> what was the most anxiety filled? but if there's any deviation, it causes anxiety. but those who carried it out plan for all contingencies, one that helicopter was seen to be unable to move, they went to plant -- plan b, and they did that seamlessly. seeing that in a condition it was not supposed to be, i know it was a concern we had that now we are having to go to the contingency plan, and thankfully, they were able to carry that out, as they were the initial plan.

we were able to monitor the situation in real time. >> can you describe and reaction by the president? when it became clear that this was osama bin laden and that he had been killed? do you remember the president's words? >> this is one of the things we had to do throughout the course of the operation. when we heard that the individuals, that was one data point. then there was hiked, preliminary dna analysis, so there was a buildup. at what point do you feel confident that you have the person you are after? there is more a growing sense of confidence and a growing sense of accomplishment. there was no ah-ha.

korea made a decision last night because we felt that it was good enough to go out to the american people to say that we got him. but so they used human shields when the american personnel went in? >> there was family at that compound, and there was a female who was, in fact come in the line of fire that reportedly was used as a shield to shield bin laden from the incoming fire. >> i am wondering where you are at this point on the idea of bin laden to show the world that he exists. >> we are less than 24 hours.

we have released a tremendous amount of information to date. we will continue to look at the information we have and make sure that we're able to share what we can, because you want to make sure that not on the american people but the world understands exactly what happened and a convert is that we have that was conducted in accordance with the mission design. at the same time, we do not want to do anything that is quite to compromise our ability to be successful the next time we get one of these guys and take them off of the battlefield. >> releasing a photograph 42, it might avoid conspiracy theories throughout the muslim world? >> we are going to do everything we can to make sure that nobody has any basis to try to deny that we got osama bin laden, and therefore, the releasing of the information and whether that includes photographs is something to be determined. >> the debate about whether to release when it comes to visual

evidence? >> i think there is both. first of all, what falls into the category of things that you potentially released to the public, whether it be those dna results, whether it be the comments about the conduct of the operation, what happens, the intelligent space, and then you have to take a look at it from the standpoint of what is the upside and downside? it is based often on intelligence and on the very sensitive and capable forces that we have available to us in the u.s. government. we want to make sure that we are not doing anything to expose something that will limit your ability to use the same intelligence sources in the future. >> has anybody secured this? have they gone in to secure this compound? >> i was looking at this a little while ago, and i think the pakistan military police have that compound now under control, and clearly, it is the

site of yesterday, therefore, it would not be my presumption that the pakistan authorities would be in control of that compound. >> there are two individuals who work there. the individuals who were identified a worthy gatekeeper courier. it is in my understanding in his name. >> you called it just now, this implies a there was some disagreement. this was not unanimous. >> people will see that there is either in sufficient circumstantial evidence to go forward with something like this, which involves a

unilateral operation in another country to go after some that you will need is osama bin laden, and there are differences in views. the course of action, the types of things that you can do as well as from a standoff position. the benefits of doing that from a remote location, like we have done in the past in certain areas, as well as what other risks associated going in. >> the president wanted to make sure in the end that he had all of the principles. i have been following bin laden for 15 years, and i have yet was confidence in the people, particularly at the cia to have been tracking him. this is different.

what we see is different, than anything we have seen before. i was confident that we had the bases to take action. i also have the confidence that the u.s. team that went in there has exceptional skill to do this very capably, so i was a supporter, and i know there are others who were supporters, but the president had to look at all of the other things, what would have been the downside. what would have happened if the helicopter went down, so we decided this was a report to the security of the american people that he was going to go forward with this. >> can you tell us more about the role of how the u.s. is interacting with pakistan and how they were actively investigating these things? >> they are in regular contact now with their pakistan counterparts. we're continuing to engage with

them and engage with them today. as we learn more about the support system. i will point out that we have had differences of view on counter-terrorism and what we think they should and should not be doing. at the same time, i will say that pakistan has been responsible for capturing and killing more terrorists inside pakistan than any country, and it is by a wide margin, and there are soldiers and security officials as well as others that have given their lives. although there are some differences, we believe that their partnership is critically important to breaking the back of al qaeda and eventually prevailing. >> can you tell us, john, where it happened? >> it the bin laden remains, it

was done with strict conformance with islamic practices. it was prepared in accordance. early on, we made provisions for that type of burial, and we wanted to make sure that it was going to be done, again, in strict conformance. i am not going to go into details, but that burial has taken place. it took place earlier today our time. >> when was that decision made? was it months or years ago? was it part of the plan all along? >> the course of action, and the subsequent decisions that would have to be made, have been developed over the course of the last several months. there was a working group that was working this on a daily

basis over the last several weeks, looking every decision, based on what type of scenario would unfold, what actions be made. it was looked at from the standpoint of if we capture him, what would we do with him? where would he go? if he was killed, what would we do with them, and where would he go? it was determined it was in the best interests of all involved that this burial take place according to islamic requirements at say. there is a requirement in islamic law that individual be buried within 24 hours. when inside a pakistan, he was removed from pakistan. there were certain steps that had to be taken because of the nature of the operation. we wanted to make sure that we were able to do that in the time period allotted for it. going to another country, making

those arrangements would have exceeded our requirements, in our view, so therefore, we thought the best way to ensure that his body was given appropriate -- an approach islam a burial was to take those actions that would allow us to do that burial at sea. >> did you consult a muslim expert? >> hef we consult the appropriate experts, and there is unanimity that this would be the best way to handle it. >> how secure is that? are you confident that the body is not going to -- >> burials at sea take place all the time. the u.s. had the ability to make sure that that burial would do

it that was in compliance with islamic law, so that burial was done. >> we evaluating aid to pakistan? there are a number of questions, and dennis alisa. >> just a quick question about the burial, and then something else. >> it was done with the appropriate people there. >> the president is going to speak tonight. at the dinner.

what is he going to say that is different than what he said? >> there has been 20 hours of information since what he said last night. i think what he is going to do is give the congressional visitors hear an update on that. last night, we did not have some of the analysis that was done. now, we of confidence that this was bin laden. in many respects, how was kept so closely held, why it was done in this fashion, -- >> did a decline? is that true? >> once we heard that there was bin laden, there were steps that

we agreed to that necessary to ensure that that was the most appropriate thing to do, and we touched base with the right people. i am not going to go into any details about who he may have consulted with the aftermath of his death. >> mr. brennan, can you give us any details on whether there were previous operations that were called off at the last minute or perhaps the inability to identify his body positively? >> whether there is going to be an assault on the ground or some type of option. we discussed all of the pros and cons, and through that process of discussion, the options were narrowed down, until the president decided this was the best option, because it gave us

the ability to minimize collateral damage and insurance that we knew who it was that was on the compound as opposed to taking some type of strike there and also as a way to do it be good to respect the sovereignty of pakistan and also to allow us to engage with them immediately after the fact, as opposed to something else. given the fact that this was done without consultation, are you concerned in your line of work it will be very difficult to reestablish a good working relationship with intelligence authorities there? >> there is dialogue going on with our counter-terrorism counterparts in the aftermath of this. they are expressing understanding about the reasons we did this. they are appreciative that it

was done without having pakistan is outside of the compound. but if the u.s.-pakistan relationship, which is a strategic relationship -- it goes on a number of levels. counter-terrorism is one of them. we do not always agree on some of the things we want to do, but through the dialogue, and i think we get where we need to be. this is one more incident that we will have to deal with, and we look forward to continuing to work with our pakistan colleagues, because they are more on the front lines of the battle. >> how certain are you that there will be some type of retaliation, revenge? if you still have the color coded alerts, would this be the time? >> janet napolitano, the secretary, i think she has put

out a statement saying we do not have a credible reports that would require an elevation of the threat status. in any instance like this, i think the prudent steps afterwards to make sure that we have our vigilance, that we are taking appropriate measures so that our security posture is strong, but i think there is always the potential for terrorist groups to strike out. the al qaeda narrative is becoming increasingly bankrupt. there is a new wave sweeping through the middle east right now about this premium, and so al qaeda, bin laden, old news. we are hoping that this is going to send a message to those individuals that are out there that militancy is not the way to the future. >> never able to return?

>> this is a strategic blow to al qaeda. it is a necessary but not necessarily sufficient blow, but we are determined to destroy it. i think we have a lot better opportunity now. this creates fractures within it. it is not charismatic. he was not involved in the fight earlier on in afghanistan, and i think he has a lot of detractors within the organization, and i think we're going to see them doing this more and more. >> there is a replica of compounds. can you tell us anything about where and how that was put together? >> you can imagine that for something as important as this and something as risky as this, every effort would be made to do the practice runs and to understand the complexities and the lay-up of the compound.

there were multiple opportunities to do that in terms of going three exercises, to prepare for it, so that once they hit the compound, they had already simulated that a couple of times. again, i am not one to go into details about where or when, but when they hit the compound, they had already trained against it numerous times. >> can i just ask you, this was so big, how did you know where to find obama? a bedroom or a dining area, something like that? >> the outer features of the compound were studied intensively, and there were certain assessments made about where individuals were living and where bin laden and his family were, and they were upgraded in accordance with that, and they did not know when they got there what some of the internal features would be, but they had planned based on

several features of the compound, and whoever it was that did the assault on that -- >> a family compound? >> absolutely. >> is the president korea to make any appeal about a concern for unity? >> i will address that. i want to get a few more, because john has got other things to do. let me go to april, and maybe two or three more. >> how many civilian casualties were there? the two al qaeda facilitators, the carrier and his partner. and a woman who was shielding him, and was presumed to be his

wife. i was not there. there was an effort to shield bin laden. >> i want to ask you a couple of questions. because you are saying is a strategic blow, the head of the snake taken off, is that your mindset? >> i think every day, they are trying to stop whatever attack may be out there. so they go into each day believing they can have another day without a terrorist attack, so this does not mean that we are putting down our guard as far as that is concerned.

it may be a morally wounded tiger that still has some life in it, so we have to keep the pressure. we will not relent. >> since the death of bin laden, do you think the administration has been up front? >> there are a lot of people in the pakistan government. i am not want to speculate if any had foreknowledge of him being in islamabad. we're talking to pakistan is about this. they seemed as surprised as we were that bin laden was holed up in that area.

>> if the president still firmly committed to a visiting pakistan this year? >> i am not going to address the president's schedule. i think there is a commitment about the pakistan korea a lot of it depends on availability and the schedule. they need to be able to realize their potential to have a life that is full of security as well as prosperity. al qaeda and other militant organizations in that country, too many pakistan people have suffered and what the president wants to do and what we're trying to do is to see if we can help the pakistan government to provide a line staff for the populace. populace.