the search is underway for those who are behind these evil acts. i have directed the full resources of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and to bring them to justice. we will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them. >> we got him, geraldo! we got him. a great day for america. a great day to be alive! >> it's surreal. it is amazing. so surreal. >> so back here, what about you? >> i love usa! i love america! >> i fought in afghanistan. >> it is awesome. finally the guy is dead! >> geraldo: it took almost ten years but when it happened it was like the whole country had won the lottery.

the man who killed some of our friends and family, threatened to close our open society and haunted our children for almost a decade is dead. and tonight from ground zero and around the world, this is a fox news special report. killing bin laden. the triumph of the nation. i'm geraldo rivera reporting and i will talk soon with these navy seal veterans and detail how their mates took bin laden down. up front tonight, why and how he came to be. the world's most wanted man. >> born to great wealth in 1957 in riyadh, saw saudi arabia, oa bin laden, the 17th of 52 children of muhammad bin laden, the country's richest mogul.uction mocon when his father dies he inherits about $30 million. he is just 13 years old. 7 years later despite the soviet invasion of afghanistan

the young man joins the religion based insurgency that later becomes the taliban. after the the soviet's defeat, returning to saudi arabia a folk hero he creates al-qaeda around 1988. his extremist views catch the attention of saudi arabia's conservative monarchy. targeted as a troublemaker he flees underground. december, 1992 al-qaeda's first attack against americans. bomb aimed at u.s. soldiers in a yemen yemeni hotel instead ks two austrian tourists. he strikes the america homeland for the first time. a truck bomb, aimed at the iconic target that obsesses him. the world trade center. the shaken tower is whole but tiks die. >> how far were you from the blast itself? >> the bomb went off. it was a very loud blast and i was thrown i would say anywhere between 8 to 12 feet across the

room. the ceilings collapsed and the walls collapsed. we were all worried and didn't know what to do. there was nothing but debris, lockers, cinder blocks all over the place. it is horrible. a really traumatic experience. >> bin laden bases his operation in the troubled african nation of sudan. >> beginning in 1992, bin laden lived in this now padlocked house, warmly welcomed by a militantly islamic a tbeem. regime. >> from sudan, bin laden launches his bloodiest attack to date, a massive truck bomb, destroying an apartment complex in saudi arabia housing u.s. servicemen. 19 americans died. bin laden has now killed at least 25 americans. >> we just caught a glimpse of a real bright light, just like an instant after that we were on blast up against the walls. >> geraldo: august, 1998, al-qaeda attacks two of our african embassies. 12 more americans are among the

hundreds dead. >> americans overseas, review the security practices and remain alert to the change in situation and exercise caution and be in touch with the american embassy and consultate and avoid large crowds and gatherings. >> snoo with the total of american dead at 37, president clinton orders the fill military retaliation against bin laden. >> the united states launched an attack this morning on one of the most active terrorists bases in the world. it is located in afghanistan and operated by groups affiliated with osama bin laden. >> geraldo: a suspected chemical weapons factory in sudan is also hit. although locals claim it is merely a pharmaceutical plant. then, comes the uss cole. >> all the lights went out. ceiling tiles came down. i immediately got up and had to grab my desk to stop from getting knocked over. like someone had taken their fist and lid rally punched a

40-foot hole in the side of the ship. >> geraldo: october 2000 when yemen.sualty in yes penn state a small boat slammed with explosives to slammed into the ves sls it side. takes the lives of 17 soldiers bringing the american dead at al-qaeda's hand to at least 54. the attack forces the navy to strengthen its defenses. >> we must search for and find the so-called seams in our force protection plans before our enemies it do. in the case of the cole we did not do so. we were not come place n complt the terrorists found new opportunities before we found new protections. >> geraldo: september of twuns and the mother of all terrorists opportunities is their scheme to use civilian aircraft as weapons of mass destruction. >> despite america being the

greatest economic power and possessing the most powerful and up-to-date military arsenal 19 young men were able by all law to change the direction of its compass. >> geraldo: now, bin laden has the blood of 2,997 more americans on his hands. >> on september 11th, twuns new york city was i have u viciousy attacked in an unprovoked act of war. >> geraldo: the killing doesn't stop there. october of 2002. bin laden continues to elude us. while his allies hit the lovely tourist town of bali indonesia, killing 200 including 88 australians, our allies in the fight against al-qaeda. >> i have constantly told the american people that the struggle against terror is going be a long and difficult struggle. that we are dealing with cold blooded killers.

>> geraldo: but our pursuit of the world's most wanted criminal is distractded by shock and awe. it is march, 2003. the war in iraq proves our greatest distraction from the mission of capturing or killen bin laden as we fight there al-qaeda and its affiliates resurface in pakistan and afghanistan. and hit us hard in madrid, in london, in scotland and elsewhere. >> horrendous. just not knowing, looking on the news and seeing that they are dragging 13 more bodies out. >> as we fight off attacks abroad, and at home, their operational and inspirational leader continues to elude us, proving he still exists with taunting mocking video and audio recordings. it is frustrating beyond belief. will we ever catch him? >> the best people we have, i get asked this question a lot.

why can v. nt we captured him. the guy leans forward and says because he's hiding. >> snoo turns out he was hiding in almost plain sight of the pakistanis under circumstances that i personally believe make it almost impossible to believe that their high functioning highly skilled intelligence agents did not know what the terror mastermind was right under their noses. we'll talk about that and give you the most comprehensive detailed account of the seal team's raid that killed him. first, meet two heros. both navy seals. they are lieutenant commander eric who fought in iraq and afghanistan and the horn of africa. a holder of the bronze star among other medals. commander brightens runs a wounded veterans organization called the mission continues. and this is former navy sealle benjamin smith, also a highly decorated come wat combat veteo served in iraq, the middle east and trouble sphot spots arounde

world. welcome. you will be mycohefts for the whole program. joined by several hundred friends here at growndz. nice to see everybody out on this beautiful night here in new york. tell me what you will show the people the detailed account of the mission but your assessment from what you know, how did it go? >> i thought it was a flawless mission, geraldo and that came about because these men had been through the hardest mill tawrry training in the world. dedicated public servants who we have to remember they didn't just operate on sunday night. they have been in this fight for nine and a half years. doing a great personal sacrifice, sacrifice of their families, they lost friends and colleagues so for them this mission was not just about victory in the war on terrorism. it was also about justice. >> geraldo: and ben, why not use delta force, why not use a larger conventional military force? why not use a predator drone or b-52? >> i definitely feel that the choice to have the seals go in and as opposed to delta force or any other force, you know,

it is one for america. but it brought the person, the american citizen face to face with the man who killed over 3,000 people and as your show is showing, way more people than that. it showed the united states, the world that we can go in and we can do it with just a couple of people as opposed to a mechanized army of everything else. there is rangers. there was 160th. there was all of the american military intelligence services all the ways from the president did down to buck private who were involved in this. definitely one for the american military. >> geraldo: the only criticism i'm hearing and it is from people i think who are just died in the wool antiwar kind of folks is why kill him, why not say put your hands up and use the plastic ties to put him behind -- cuff his hands and take him back with you. >> this is a war, geraldo. and osama bin laden was our enemy. he attacked america. he killed thousands of americans. and i think it is just not our

place to second guess the judgment of what is one of the most highly trained commandos in the world who had to make a decision in the dark of night in a complex chaotic situation and i for someone am very happy with the result. >> geraldo: me, too, me too. we will talk more with these heros. coming up at the bottom of the hour, minute-by-minute, how the seals killed bin laden. we are live at ground zero and we'll be back in a flash. stay tuned. if i ask sheila out? of course not. we broke up 6 mths ago. but i don't think she'd go for a guy like -- [ ping! ] she says she'd love to. [ ping! ] she can't wait to see me. [ ping! ] she's wanted me to ask her out for over a year now! [ ping! ] she just sent me a video. [ girl's voice ] hi stephen, can't wait for our date! oh, can i see that? aah! [ male announcer ] in the network, sparks fly faster.

at&t isetting faster with 4g. rethink possible. at&t isetting faster with 4g. luck? i don't trade on luck. i trade on fundamentals. analysis. information. i trade on tradearchitect. this is web-based trading, re-visualized. streaming, real-time quotes. earnings analysis. probability analysis. that's what opportunity looks like. it's all visual. intuitive. and its available free, wherever the web is. this is how trade strategies are built. tradearchitect. only from td ameritrade. welcome to better. try new tradearchitect and trade commission free for 60 days.

>> geraldo: it is a very rare thing when some people across the world observe the loss of life with something other than regret. but this man, the late osama bin laden, had chosen his fate long before in a life filled with cruelty. if he expected mercy when our forces found him, that was

asking much more than he was ever known to give. this was a man who rejoiced in the suffering and death of others, who set in motion all of the horror and grief of 9/11 and considered it just a start. he was a teacher of evil and now for him, the lesson is over. >> well, i think in terms of the impact of the killing of osama bin laden in it terms of the situation in afghanistan, i think that there is a possibility that it could be a game changer. >> geraldo: a game changer because analyzing the documents that we have seized from the compound, it it is obvious that bin laden was still in charge of al-qaeda operations jrgs because of the nature of their missions, the seals that flew them, our deep secret unit, even when the president visited with them on friday no photographs were allow the but they are legend and before we

trace their mission in this case, craig chased their distinguished hi history. >> the raid on osama bin laden's compound in pakistan has been called the most famous covert operation since the september 11th 2001 attacks, given credit for the raid, the navy seals. what about the seals history? we are at the navy seal museum in fort pierce, florida. fort pierce is the birth place of the seals. from 1943 to 1946, thousands of brave volunteers trained here to become members of the underwater demolition team or udts, the most elite commando force in the world now known as navy seals. >> this is a plaque commemorating those lost during world war ii. >> our mn, the mcdus, naval combat demolition teams went

in. they trained here on the beaches of fort pierce and went to england and went in from the normandy beaches. in omah omaha, they were hit h. it was is 52% casualty rate which is quite a significant number. >> the seals history unfolds through artifacts. apollo training craft recovered by them. desert patrol vehicles. vietnam ue helicopters and underwater delivery vehicles used for secret insertions in the middle east, sul surrounding the museum including a memorial for seals who made the ultimate sacrifice. >> they captured the importance of the navy seals is the rescue of the mersk captain held captive. captain pill phillips was actually here when the boat

first came here. they all fired at the same time so that the bad guys didn't have a chance to duck down and take cover and they took them all out at the same time. >> they have five medal of honor winners tworks since september 11th twuns i 2001? >> that's correct. the four seals that went in and only one survived. >> and the ship has now been dedicated to him today. >> that's right. that is a proud moment for all of us, yes. and, of course, monitorin monso saved his own seal teammates by throwing himself on a grenade. they lined up all of the seals and his coffin passed and as it passed they -- they took their

triedens off and stuck it t. on the coffin. it was quite moving. >> you are still moved reflecting on it. >> yes. >> geraldo: how did the families of the medal of honor winners, how are they responding to this event, the takedown of bin laden? >> dan murphy, michael murphy's dad says it opened up old wounds that are still raw but they took down a really bad guy and the fact that it was navy seals that took out osama bin laden is almost like payback and for that he is happy. >> and quickly, the fort pierce museum, how is business? >> business is very good. navy seals are the new rock stars of the war on terror, let me tell you that. >> geraldo: at the bottom of the hour, the blow by blow from the seal raid that took out the terror master. we'll be right back.

my number one concern was if i send them in can i get them out. and a lot of the discussion we had during the course of planning was how do we make sure there is backup, how do we make sure there is redundancy built into the plan so we have the best chance of getting our are guys out. >> they did not hesitate, risking everything for us. for our freedom and security. >> geraldo: you are looking at the soaring world trade center. the new building after months and months of delay, look at it how it soars, 64 stories into the new york sk skyline. heading up at the rate of one floor every week continuing here at ground zero.

commander eric brighten and benjamin smith, both navy seals. good to see you guys. say hi again. the secrecy, benjamin. is this a good thing the fact that we probably will never know who fired that fatal shot into the head of bin laden? >> i think it is. but i mean i think secrecy on a grander level as a society. i mean since world war ii, you know, loose lips sink ships, a couple of words here will kill thousands overseas is what we really need to be considering now. let these guys alone. we don't need to know where they train, what they do, they do the job and get it done. we need to leave it where it goes. just chalk it up to american exceptionalism. >> geraldo: i like that. how about giving praise where praise is due. >> you know, seals have a reputation for being humble warriors and i certainly consider these men heros. i know that everyone in the seal community considers them to be heros. and they certainly know that they have the recognition and

the praise from every single american and i think for them that is enough. these guys are real warriors. they are professionals. they trained for this and they are are happy to know that they accomplished the job. >> geraldo: how would they feel about the apparent fact that some of the information that led to the takedown of bin laden was obtained through enhanced so called interrogation? >> i'm not sure how they feel about this. i know for me, what is most important to me is that we were able to accomplish the mission. this is something that we have been working together for for nine and a half years. i have lost friends, other friends have been wounded and disabled and the most important thing is that we built from all of those intelligence sources patiently to accomplish the mission and that is really what matters for me. >> geraldo: i don't like waterboarding and the rest of that but with the case of khalid shaikh muhammad i make an exception to my own rule. >> geraldo: two minutes away

from the most up to date significant military mission in modern military history being profiled in a way you have not seen yet. facts and circumstances you have not heard. stay tuned. whoa, i should get mom a samsung fascinate. bright, colorful screen, high-speed downloads, hd video. she'll want videos of grandkids. i'm not ready for kids. what would i name it ? brian's good. a brian will make eye contact, work with his hands, return e-mails. okay, mom's getting a phone. get mom a new samsg fascinate for $99.99 and unlimited data for only $29.99 on america's largest high-speed wireless network. verizon.

the frontline plus killing force is there annihilating fleas and ticks. ♪ visit completekiller.com and get a coupon for frontline plus. from america's news

headquarters, i'm marianne rafferty. a developing story out of california. the scene of a deadly shooting. a happened in the town of fairfield some 40 miles northeast of san francisco. and police are telling fox news three people have been killed and another injured inside a home. investigators are saying it may have been sparked by an argument among roommates. the suspect the gunman among the dead and police say he apparently took his own life after shooting the others. libyan government forces destroiing four large fuel tanks in the rebel held city of misurata. it is the last western city still in rebel control and has been under siege for more than two months. coalition aircraft continued bombing targets and continued enforcing a u.n. no fly zone. i'm marianne rafferty. now, back to "geraldo at large". for all the latest h headlines, go to fox news .com.

>> geraldo: the best information we have and this information is brand new, just within hours, is that osama bin laden escaped during the phoney cease fire last week. was always a rouse. they never intended to surrender. it was during that cease fire that osama bin laden we are told made it over the white mountains into prablg sta pakid living under the protection in deep secrecy of a tribal leader in the city o in pack pakistan. >> geraldo: that was nearly ten years ago and osama bin laden never strayed very far are from where america lost sight of him in torah borah in december of 2001. hear how seal team 6 finally took down the world's most wanted war criminal. >> good evening. tonight, i can report to the american people and to the world that the united states has conducted an operation that

killed osama bin laden the leader of al-qaeda. >> geraldo: back up 8 hours to 30:00 sunday afternoon on the east coast of the united states. it is monday, may 2 in afghanistan. taking off from an undisclosed secret base closer to the pakistani border than the sprawling bagram base 250 miles away and armed with precise details obtained by the largest intel collection ever, four sound sur pressing stealth helicopters, two large chinooks and two blackhawks. the night stalkers lift off. onboard are two dozen of our finest warriors, navy seal team 6. flying fast and quietly, the aerial armada crosses the pakistani border untexted. their target, the strange walled compound lying just one mile from a major pakistani military facility in the city

of abotabad. in pakistani officials have been notified for fear someone will compromise the mission or tip off thenmy. >> we made the decision that we would not inform them and that we would conduct this operation unilaterally on the part of the united states. >> conditions on this night are near perfect. there is no moon. visibility is around 3 miles. the relatively silent choppers are virtually invisible against the clear black sky. the night stalkers are care arerying seal team six to its rendezvous with destiny. >> it was as dark a night as we could choose so that the helicopters could go in with minimal possibility of being sioux sighted and identify. >> just as they reach their target disaster nearly strikes. one of the modified blackhawks, perhaps weighed down by the

additional stealth snap on technology clearly seen in the crash photos loses lift as it was about to drop the seals in the compound. to those gathered if watch in real time at the white house situation room the sickening moment no doubt brings to mind the memory of the wreck that boarded the helicopter raid to free the hostages in iran in 1979. >> the fact that the helicopter hit the wall, the second problem was there was about a 15-degree difference in the temperatures. they had the helicopter fully loaded and when they came in to hover so that they could fast rope down they couldn't hold the hover. >> geraldo: the entire mission in his hands the quick thinking pilot manages to lift his stricken craft, landing hard alongside the compound wall. immeant disaster averted but with the helicopter ruined, plan b is implemented. >> we planned for these things ahead of time, that is part of our standard planning. so there would be a bunk plan

and a contingency for what to do with that vehicle whether it be destroyed, leave it behind. i'm sure it was a calculated decision and they moved on. >> geraldo: miraculously, noneste have been hurt in the hard landing. instead of being forced inside they are forced to knock down the compound door. valuable seconds extended and the guard inside alert. >> the seals meet armed resistance immediately. it is not the intense fire fight initially recounted but at least one of the three men inside opens fire on the invading seals who respond decisively windy a deadly force. in seconds all three men are dead. including bin laden -- even as that resistance is overwhelmed the sailors tasked with capturing or killing bin laden entered the main building housing the family with lived comfortably on the second and third floor in the compound 8 times larger than any other

home in the area. it is from here presumably that the terror masterminds erected al-qaeda, prepared for his taunting videos by dying his beard and then watched himself on television as these captured images reveal. other video just released shows the fury of the final assault on o the compound. the seals bypassing a brick wall used to screen his living quarters and then locating their target jrgs afte after n, 7 months and 21 days the world trade center killer is in the cross hairs of american justice. >> by the time they found bin laden, i think that this was all split second action on the part of the seals? >> geraldo: in his bedroom the notorious tall man attempts to hide behind hi 29-year-old wif. the youngest of his wive. he is wearing a traditional loose pa j pajama like out fit.

inside his room the equivalent of $750. it is not a lot of money but perhaps enough to grab a ride in case he has to make a quick escape into the night. >> he is a disciplined man. we treat him as a thug and gangster but he was an insurgent for almost 30 years. he knew his business well. >> geraldo: in the final moments a clearly frightened eitherfused bin laden each pushes his wife or she voluntarily charges his attackers. >> in the room with bin laden a woman rushed the u.s. assaulter and was shot in the leg but not killed. >> geraldo: in the tu multiof the moment his wife identifies bin laden. both are shot. she in the the leg and the mass killer in the head and body. skeptics call for the release of the death photos. aren't the graphic images of the other men seen on the scene enough? they show what being shot at point blank range by high powered weapons wielded by

expert marksmen look like. >> here is bin laden, living in this million dollars plus compound, living in an area that is far removed from the front, hiding behind women who were put in front of him as a shield. i think it really just speaks to how false his ney raytive has been over the years. >> geraldo: ger rageronimo is . 3:55 sunday afternoon, may 1 eastern time here in the united states. >> he was engaged in a fire fight with those that entered the area of the house that he was whether or not he got off any rounds i don't know. >> the women are moved to safety and the stricken chopper retrieved by the seals before they return to afghanistan where bin laden's body is flown to the aircraft carrier karl vincent in the arabian sea. prepared for burial.

>> muslim prayers are said. >> i can't think of anything better for osama bin laden than to have met his end at the hands of the american military and to be buried at sea. that is exactly where he belongs. >> geraldo: it is 2:00 a.m. eastern time on the morning of may 3, 2011 when osama bin laden's body is committed to the sea. >> hold it. hold it. bin laden is dead. confirmed. urgent confirmed. bin laden is dead. multiple sources. osama bin laden is dead. happy days. happy days, everybody. >> yes! >> this is the greatest. this is the greatest night of my career. the bum is dead. the savage who hurt us so grievously and i am so blessed, i'm so privileged to be at this desk at this moment. >> the american people did not choose this fight. it came to our shores. and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens.

we will be relentless in the defense of our citizens and friends and allies and be true to the values that make us who we are. and on nights like this one we can say to the families who have lost loved ones to al-qaeda's terror justice has been done. remember where you were when you got the news? >> i just hand r landed at the philadelphia airport and opened my phone and said obl is dead,. >> and i got messages from navy intelligence officers and special teams and everybodies incredibly proud of what happened? happened. it was a great moment. >> and ben smith? >> i was watching the geraldo show. >> geraldo: great taste. and your respond?

>> after all you have been through. >> of course, i want proof. we are not the afforded that. situations being as it may -- >> but no, i'm very happy that, you know, he is dead but you know what, it as tie score right now. the game has just started over. >> tell me more about that. >> and these people are pissed and they will be coming for us and a lot of exposure of strategy and tactics and the conjecture you are seeing in the media is -- could possibly get our own people hurt and killed and stuff like that and people have to remember are, again, we -- the american people it is operational security. we have to support our military by keeping our mouth shut and celebrate by all means, please, but keep in mind that it is a dangerous world. we are in a war.

>> geraldo: we are, indeed, in a war. coming up, reaction from pakistan to the violation of its sovereignty, allegedly, and the president gives credit where credit is due.

♪ [ male announcer ] you plant. you mow. you grow. you dream. meet the new definition of durability:

the john deere select series -- a four-year limited warranty dozenof attachments, and endless possibilities. what will you create? our best deals of the season are happening now. learn more at johndeere.com/greentagevent. that weight watchers online was for guys, too. i'm like, it's not rainbows and lollipops. ter i read this beer cheat sheet, i knew what the difference was between a light beer and a dark beer as far as points go. i use the grilling cheat sheet --

you drag it over onto the grill and it gives you a point value. this is a plan for men. i lost 109 pounds. "aww, man, you're on weight watchers online. that's funny." and i go, "really? i look a lot better than you right now." [ men laugh ] [ male announcer ] hurry, join for free today. weight watchers online for men. finally, losing weight clicks. can stop frequent heartburn before it begins? heartburn happens when stomach acid refluxes into the esophagus. prilosec otc uses a unique delayed-release system that protects the medicine as it passes through the stomach's tough acid. then it gets absorbed into the body, turning off many acid-producing pumps at the source. with just one pill a day, you get 24-hour heartburn protection all day and all night. prilosec otc. heartburn ne. power on.

it is easy to say that the interservices intelligence or elements within the dwoft were were in cou kahoots with al-qa. this is a false hypothesis and a false charge. >> snoo they are embarrassed that osama bin laden was hiding in their country. although pakistanis seem more outraged that the u.s. raids violated their sovereignty. but they are searching for palkotsts now as greg pal cot reports. >> we spent much of the past week in abbottabad. the scene where osama bin laden was captured and killed. and we have a little bit better of an idea of how this one-time al-qaeda leader was able to hide in plain sight. the walls ofle compound are 18 feet tall, topped with barbed wire. the windows are bricked up or

tinted. no wonder u.s. sources reportedly say they never got good photographic evidence of bin laden inside. it was reported the cia used comings and going at the compound to be followed a pattern of light could be assembled. neighbor ares we spoke with claim they never caught sight of the former terror leader either but they, too, were picking up evidence something was not quite light. one told us those inside must have been security minded. balls bounced over the wall never came back. charity appeals turned away at the door. now, the place has turn inside a tourist attraction. there are even rumors the pakistan government would like to blow the place up. the pakistani government announced they arrested 40 people for uss augusta bin laden as they claim they,aa too, are trying to figure out how a good neighborhood went very bad.

>> geraldo: greg palkot, thank you very much. i think it is impossible for pakistan not to know. they have a very highly evolved intelligence service. this thing was less than a mile from a huge mill tawrlr militad military university and just seems like from a human perspective you would think that somebody would know he was there. i think the good message here is that american forces combination of commandos and intelligence professionals were able to cut through all of that and it took a long time but with patient courageous perseverance they were able to track him down, build an intelligence package and then execute and that is what is great about this. >> geraldo: apologize to the pakistanis or say cre screw yo? >> i don't think there is anybody we should apologize. i'm glad we went after bin laden and most americans i know are glad we went after and got bin laden. >> all right. hear that. the seals and their night pilots getting theow

props they deserved in secret. while others getting their props on tv. we will hear from the 101st airborne, next.

>> geraldo: a rousing screaming eagle, 101st airborne reception for the commander in chief and for the vice president. president barack obama after visiting the families, the 9/11 families at the world trade center. the vice president visiting the pentagon and now here given credit where credit is due. the president of the united states. >> of course, our thoughts and prayers are with general campbell, command sergeant schroeder and all of the screaming eagles and troops

that are still reportin riskinr lives in fear and i am so pleased that ann campbell and marla sloade schroeder and some inspiring military spouses are here. we are grateful to you. god bless you. there they are. thank you so much. >> geraldo: general campbell, congratulations to all of us. the president on friday visiting the screaming eagles, visiting your home base and saying hi to mrs. ca campbell. how are you feeling in light of this great strict torrey? victory? >> it felt really good but we still have a lot of work to do. we are appreciative that the president thanked the soldiers and families at fort campbell. we still have a lot of work to do here in afghanistan. i will come back if two weeks but still have three brigades that will remain in afghanistan all the way through next february. >> geraldo: it is now becoming

clear, general, that osama bin laden was much more than just a figurehead. that he was an operational leader, the documents and computers seized are indicating. do you anticipate that al-qaeda and some of the more radical elements in the taliban will now be without a rudder that this might have an impact on the battlefield itself? >> i think as secretary gates said the other day this is a potential game changer but there are other folks in the al-qaeda organization that will try to stand up to take bin laden's place. a great feat and we ought to celebrate that a little bit. >> geraldo: on a personal note, i spoke with mrs. campbell at fort campbell and here is what she had to say to you. >> geraldo: this is general campbell's better half, his wife ann. are you excited as the days dwindle down? >> very excited. a little over two weeks. it has been a long year but a good deployment. our families are doing great but we're ready.

>> geraldo: you suffered so much here, so many lost. how are the families faring? >> they are doing remarkably well. they are incredible source of strength every day. i don't know how they do this but they are just -- these young spouses are truly phenomenal. the stories of the the things they do for each other just warm your hert and bring tears to your eyes. it is just incredible. >> geraldo: do you think the country truly appreciates the magnitude of the sacrifice? >> i don't think they can unless they spend a day in their shoes. i don't think they can begin to understand the depths of emotions that we go throo thrn a daily basis and just the true sacrifices that these families do unless you spend a day in their shoes. >> geraldo: and the fact the president gave to give credit where credit is due? >> very, very nicely done. it is a good thing to do to honor these people.

our commander in chief, a good thing to do. >> geraldo: and your partner in crime is watching this right now, do you have a message? >> keep your head down and be safe. we still got two more weeks to go but we are waiting for you to come home. home. >> thanks very much. i'm glad ann is back there with all the great support in the community. we are going make the days here count and happy mother's day. >> geraldo: happy mother's day. let's celebrate this victory. air assault general, come home safe. >> thanks very much, geraldo. >> geraldo: think of all of our country has been through since the 9/11 attack. the thousands of g.i.s dead, the thousands more grievously wounded, the countless service families who lost so much time together. the billions of tax dollars spent on security and defense. what osama bin laden did to us and the rest of the free world is a sin. what he did to the 9/11 families, it is a sin. but he didn't beat us.

we didn't forget. we didn't back down. thanks to seal team 6 he is dead and we are not. that is it for us. thanks for watching, everybody. we'll see you next time. captioned by closed captioning services, inc. ♪ i'm proud to be an american where at least i know i'm ♪ ♪ ♪ when you're resonsible for this much of the team, you need a car you can cot on. ♪ it's got a calculator. thanks, dad.

this is the neighborhood. you get elm street and you get main street. thank you. and that just the first quarter. so you want a slide in your office ? or monkey bars, either one. more small businesses choose verizon wireless than any other wireless carrier. where's susie ? is she expecting you ? because they know the small business with the best technology rules.