♪ he even hangs out with the camp director. just like that. [ male announcer ] the new citi thankyou premier card gives you more ways to earn points. what's your story? citi can help you write it. amidst so much horror, it was reason for hope. congresswoman gabby giffords, a survivor. tonight, her staffers give us an inside peek at her recovery and theirs. >> what kind of person would we encounter if we walked into her room right now. >> brian williams on a congresswoman and her staff, battling back. they are some of the most amazing americans that you'll see. >> her husband lost both legs in battle. >> you always hear about the casualties. you never see the wounded. >> what kind of future do they face now?

>> families will have to deal with their own war zone. >> that's absolutely true. >> tonight, a new fight for our military families on the home front. >> now is the time we need to get it together. >> tom brokaw with the first lady, joining forces. ♪ sit a spell ♪ it will take about an hour ♪ i'll tell y'all a story about me and matt lauer ♪ a rock 'n' roll legend lets loose and lets down that hair. turns out this so-called demon side. >> it broke my heart. i cried like a baby. >> slip-ups both off and on stage. >> have you considered that they were a little embarrassed, steven? >> i was on my knees. >> a look at the life of an "american idol." a wild afternoon and wardrobe advice. >> you don't think you could get away with that?

>> i know i couldn't get away with that. >> matt lauer talks to steven tyler. there's that kind of wedding. and then there's this. this is a movie featuring two women, who are best friends on stage and off. >> we used to be friends. >> until -- >> something happened. >> josh mankiewicz with "bridesmaids." plans for congresswoman gabby giffords to watch the final launch of the space shuttle "endeavour" with her husband mark kelly in command are on hold. the congresswoman was to watch the launch just months after being critically wounded in that shooting in arizona. as her recovery progresses, her determination and spirit have inspired many, especially true of those carrying on her work. here's brian williams. >> reporter: it's a perfectly average morning on capitol hill. that means beneath the gray sky and under this dome bitter

partisan divides, constant political bickering. and yet for members of the staff arriving at one of the 535 offices here, it's an extraordinary day. every day has been extraordinary since january the 8th 2011. that's because the people working here have been handed a staggering challenge -- the challenge of a lifetime. pia carusone is congresswoman gabrielle giffords' chief of staff. c.j. karamargin is the congresswoman's communications director. explain to me how personal it is on a congressional staff. you have your north star. what's that like? >> well, that's true. i mean, we serve at her pleasure. she, as you said, is a north star. she's a guiding set of values and principles that we use every day. >> the light coming from that north star, it is that sense of obligation and duty to a very important job. >> if i were to use the initials

w.w.g.d., would that ring a bell? what does that mean to you? >> from the minute this happened, "what would gabby do" was something that we said and lived by. >> reporter: in the time we've spent with the staff, as they did their best without her daily presence, "what would gabby do" was the question on everybody's mind. "what will gabby do" has been on a lot of people's minds as well. gabby giffords, of course, was shot in the head in the assassination attempt on january 8th. six other people died that day, thirteen were badly wounded. when i first met with her staff back in january, gabby giffords' life was in danger. but now pia carusone shuttles from washington to houston's tirr-memorial hermann hospital where the congresswoman has been making steady progress. at the hospital, carusone fiercely protects the congresswoman's privacy. while there, she uses a hospital conference room as an office and

consults with the congresswoman before and after the grueling rehabilitation sessions. >> what kind of person would we encounter if we walked into her room right now? >> i mean, you'd encounter the same compassionate, warm, funny, smart congresswoman that -- >> excitable. >> excitable, yeah, when she hears good news. >> so full recognition? full facial features? full verbal skills? >> no. i mean, she clearly has challenges. we're just three months after a severe injury to her brain, and we can't forget that. so she's -- she has physical and verbal challenges. but the great sense of optimism is coming from her rate of recovery. >> she's able to speak, mostly in short, simple phrases. and, as she struggles to regain function on the right side of her body, she's adapted and she is now left-handed. the recent optimism has spawned all kinds of political speculation on gabby giffords' future, including a possible

move up the political ladder. how do you feel about questions about the future, senate seat in arizona and the like? >> we don't spend much time thinking or talking about it except when the good members of the media ask us. >> speculation like that is so far removed from what we do on a daily basis. we've got constituents coming in with medicare issues, veterans issues, social security issues. this has nothing to do with a possible senate run. >> reporter: in fact, the day we visited, the main district office in tucson was bustling with activity. there was the annual congressional art competition, constituent visits, phone calls by the hundreds, and thousands of get well wishes that have to be answered. there was a teleconference between washington and two district offices in arizona. >> we closed 89 cases in the last three weeks. >> reporter: veterans and military families were always

important to gabby giffords. so these days her staff members act as her surrogate, and that means when the family of a deceased korean war veteran asks for help getting his bronze star, it gets done. at the university of arizona, the staff helped a blind marine veteran and a former army medic. >> i have post-traumatic stress disorder. i know that that's a very similar thing to what they're going through. and so they haven't allowed the ball to drop. in fact, i think maybe they've doubled their efforts. >> reporter: and that's what is so striking when you realize that all of this staff work is being done by people who themselves are still getting over their own personal trauma. is anybody leaning on you guys to take care of yourselves? who's being your -- >> mom. >> and why are you laughing? >> yeah, my mom. >> who's being your parent? >> it's a true testament to what type of team gabrielle giffords has put together here. because we're all leaning kind of on each other. >> reporter: and in the wake of

the tragedy, gabby giffords and her staff seem above the political fray. pia carusone can't cast votes in congresswoman giffords' name, of course, but, as chief of staff, she carries a lot of clout on both sides of the aisle. when we visited, she was on a conference call with a republican congressman from texas regarding border security issues. >> first of all, thank congressman poe for being on the call, greatly appreciate his friendship and support. >> reporter: the staff has devoted long hours working on insurance issues for victims of traumatic brain injury. and they recently supported a nationwide red cross save-a-life event dedicated to gabby giffords. >> it's the same, essentially, life-saving skills that our intern daniel hernandez used to save perhaps the congresswoman's life. >> and daniel hernandez himself? he is now back on the job. >> i'm doing as well as can be expected. we keep doing what we've been doing, which is helping the

constituents of the congresswoman while she's out. >> reporter: district director ron barber was shot twice that day. he's still recuperating at home, yet he keeps in daily contact with the office. pam simon is almost fully recovered from her gunshot wounds, but that's just physically. >> emotionally, it's going to take a very long time for all of us. we've had some tremendous losses. the loss of gabe just can't be measured. >> reporter: on the office dry erase board, his name is still there. gabe zimmerman, the community outreach director for congresswoman giffords who was killed that day, january 8th. >> when we have a constituent success, for example, there's no one in our office who doesn't think, gosh, i wish i could tell gabe this, or, you know, i'm going to go home and pray and tell gabe this. it's so vivid in our office and it's a motivating force. >> reporter: for now, gabby giffords has only been told that several people died that day, but she does not know the details.

she does not know that one of her closest aides is gone. gabe's father visited the washington office while our cameras were there. these days, the staff members hold on to a shared moment of hope that came shortly after their shared tragedy. it was at that memorial service in tucson, as the nation looked on. >> and from our seat, we could look down and see barack obama, our nation's first african american president, sitting next to daniel hernandez, a mexican american kid from the south side of tucson, sitting next to sandra day o'connor, our first female supreme court justice. a few seats away was dr. rhee, the korean american doctor who helped save the congresswoman's life. that is good that came out of this. america got to see a picture of america in all its wonderful diversity that i think left a lasting impression on our minds. coming up --

michelle obama's battle for america's military families. >> these families experience a whole array of emotional stress beyond anything they could imagine. >> tom brokaw with the first lady on how we all can help. and later -- rock legend steven tyler. inside his home for a private tour and apparently a private concert. >> do you have a lighter, matches i could hold up? come on, i want more. ♪ oh oh oh

♪ just love me ♪ oh oh oh ♪ just hold me ♪ oh oh oh ♪ just kiss me ♪ oh oh oh ♪ just want me ♪ l-o-v-e ♪ love, love, love

they are the force behind the force. the families of the 2 million active military men and women serving our country, and too often they are the quiet casualty of war. with missions in iraq, afghanistan, and now libya, first lady michelle obama is leading a new battle to help families stretch to ted to the

breaking point. ♪ i'm coming home, i'm coming home ♪ ♪ tell the world i'm coming home♪ >> coming home. for those whose loved ones serve and sacrifice in america's armed forces, there are no sweeter words. >> i love my brother! >> reporter: but while america's warriors are away, there is also sacrifice, tension and trauma for those who remain at home. >> these families experience a whole array of emotional stress because of long deployments, beyond anything they could imagine. >> reporter: first lady michelle obama and dr. jill biden, wife of the vice president, are speaking out in this white house interview about a new campaign with this message -- no matter how you feel about america's wars, americans have to do better for those who fight and also for their families. mrs. obama, i think a lot of americans support the troops in iraq and afghanistan. but they don't quite know how to express it sometimes.

they put a yellow ribbon on their car and they thank a serviceman, but then they go on with their lives and the families are left to deal with their own war zone. >> yes. that's absolutely true, and that's what i found. i was one of those americans that revered our troops, was grateful for their service but had no idea what their families were sacrificing for their service. >> yeah. and i know what that feels like because our son beau was deployed to iraq for a year and i know how i felt every single day. so i think i know what military families go through. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: our interview came just after a white house ceremony to launch the program called "joining forces." president obama says the first lady's inspiration for this effort came on the campaign trail where stories told by military spouses touched her heart. >> and she decided right then and there, if she was given the opportunity to serve as first lady, she would be their voice.

>> reporter: the campaign comes at an unprecedented time in american military history. during the days of the draft and in the vietnam war, heavy fighting may have meant you would be in combat for a hundred days or more. now, because the united states has been in afghanistan for almost a decade and iraq for eight years, it's not unusual for troops in the all-volunteer military to be deployed to the front time and time again and face 1,000 or even 2,000 days in combat as a target. that means unparalleled exposure to danger and stress for service members and their families. mrs. obama, if you're living on a street where you know there's a military family, what's the easiest thing that you can do? >> just start out by being neighborly, who are you? how are you doing? because i think as you get to know that family, their needs will become apparent. i mean, i talked to one military wife just the other day who said

that one mother offered to take her kids to soccer practice and gave her an hour and a half to herself, and it broke her down because she said those are the kind of things that mean so much. >> reporter: and mrs. obama reminds everyone the need to take care of service members and their families does continue when the troops leave the front lines. at ft. sam houston in san antonio, the first lady and dr. biden paid a visit to the warrior and family support center. built with private donations, it is staffed largely by volunteers who cook meals and host activities for wounded warriors and their families. >> we really are just trying to take the country along on this journey. and it's what we'd expect. you know, families that are courageous, they're proud. they are some of the most amazing americans that you'll see. >> reporter: americans like u.s.

army sergeant legrand strickland and his wife carrie. >> i walked in and i could not believe my eyes, that this whole place was set up for families like us. >> reporter: it's been 15 months since an ied exploded beneath sergeant strickland's humvee in afghanistan. it killed two comrades and left him severely wounded. doctors once gave legrand a 10% chance of living. but, after 52 days in the hospital, he beat the odds. you lost your legs. it's a traumatic injury. you had a traumatic brain injury. you're going to get well, up to a point, but it's not easy, is it? >> no. no, it's not. you know, i'm just glad to be alive. >> you think that most people are aware of what families like yours go through? >> i don't, because until i got here i didn't know. i didn't -- you always hear about the casualties. you never see the wounded. and so when i got here and i saw

all the guys, i couldn't believe it and i couldn't believe how out of touch we are with what's happening to these guys. >> reporter: and it's not only troops with obvious physical wounds like legrand who need more attention. suicide rates for u.s. army members have more than doubled. many suffering from the so-called unseen wounds of this war, including post-traumatic stress. >> the wars could stop today and we've got decades of work ahead of us. >> reporter: retired brigadier general loree sutton was once the army's chief psychiatrist. >> it really is kind of tough shifting gears from being a target to shopping at target. >> reporter: general sutton and doonesbury cartoonist and veterans' advocate garry trudeau have developed an approach for teaching people in every community to help soldiers and veterans reintegrate into life at home. >> we have to link up the public sector, the private sector, the social sector, the philanthropic

sector. let's put our best minds together. >> reporter: as for sergeant strickland, he is looking to the future and he does continue to make progress. in six months he hopes to retire from the military and move his family back to arkansas. his former employer has offered him his old job as a graphic designer. >> i had friends there, and i love what i do. so, i mean, how good of a situation can that be? >> reporter: convincing employers to hire and rehire veterans and their families, along with promoting education and wellness, are three planks of "joining forces." one campaign the first lady and dr. biden hope all americans can get behind. we've been in these wars for almost ten years. why has it taken us so long to address these issues in this fashion? >> i think we've been allowed to not pay attention. i mean, we've been busy trying to downplay the sacrifice. we've changed our attitude, and we're changing our attitude about our troops, regardless of

how we feel about the war. so let's not waste our time asking why it took so long. let's just know that now is the time we need to get it together and catch up. >> and people are stepping up. companies like walmart and sam's club now say that they will guarantee jobs for military families who are forced to move to another community. you can find more information on the joining forces campaign at dateline.msnbc.com. coming up -- rocking and riffing with steven tyler. ♪ love in an elevator but off stage life's not all harmony. >> i was on my knees. this was so easy.

that was quick. no envelopes to lick. no deposit slips to fill out. a lot less paper to deal with. i like that. i just feed in my check... feed the cash right in. and... -boom. -there it goes. it read my checks, counts my cash... adds it all up. how does it do that? it even shows me what kind of bills i deposited. four twenties; one ten; two fives. -amazing. -look! there's the check -- right on the receipt. -genius. -fast. easy. i could get used to this. [ male announcer ] quick and easy atm deposits. with bank of america.

he's a rock 'n' roll icon famous for his high energy stage antics and that signature scream. well, tonight the steven tyler you don't know, surprisingly candid about why he was never a fan of "american idol" until he became a judge and the mistake for which he most judges himself. he opens up to matt lauer, who started by asking tyler about the title of his new memoir. >> i'm going to start with the title because it's the first thing that caught my attention. "does the noise in my head bother you?" what's the noise in your head? >> it goes like this. or could go like this. ♪ sit a spell, it will take about an hour ♪

♪ i'll tell y'all a story about me and matt lauer ♪ i can't even -- ♪ we'll leave it that. >> is that there constantly? >> pretty much, yeah. ♪ now, in time >> take a listen to the noise in steven tyler's head these days and you may hear something surprising, a softer side that he says comes with age and experience. you write in the book, you say you're 63 years old and it took you until the age of 60 to realize you didn't know anything. and that's okay. >> oh, and that's the best part of not knowing something. when you realize it's okay, that's when you reap the

and his striking resemblance to that other big-lipped singer didn't hurt. there were a lot of comparisons to mick jagger, and at times you capitalized on it in some ways. you picked up the accent. >> i grew my lips bigger. >> you even pretended -- you'd go around trying to pass yourself off as his brother chris. >> [ british accent ] they said, "my god, you look like mick jagger." i said "i am. i'm his brother." we'd go see them play and wait for them at the hotel in a car, and kids jumped on the car and and kids jumped on the car and broke the smashed the windshield and banged on the top. >> they thought you were the star. >> they thought i was. and i got that feeling of, "what if?" >> reporter: but it was another

'60s legend that tyler says he modeled his stage persona after janis joplin. he calls her st. janis. the people throughout history who said, yeah, steven tyler took a lot of his inspiration from mick jagger, no. you admit in the book that it was a female rocker, and it was janis joplin. why her? >> because she was what she was and she came along and -- ♪ oh, lord, won't you buy me a mercedes-benz ♪ and my voice is all crackly and rasped out like hers. you know, and it's like -- it's what i wanted to be. ♪ walk this way >> reporter: so scarves on the mike stand, the signature tyler scream, thank janis joplin for that. but the song that has defined tyler's life and career more than any other he wrote himself. he says "dream on" came to him like a piece of divine inspiration some 37 years ago. and think of the lyrics of that song. that is a song about a guy

looking back over the vast terrain of his life. >> really. >> and here you are this 26-year-old kid. it seems like it couldn't come from you. tell me about that song. >> when i wrote that song, i'm sitting up at the barn and it's like -- ♪ you know, i'm just loving that melodic stuff. just like it's going through me. and i don't know where that came from. ♪ every time that i look in the mirror ♪ what? ♪ all these lines on my face getting clearer ♪ here's the best part -- ♪the past is gone it went by like dusk to dawn ♪ ♪ isn't that the way everybody

got their dues in life to pay ♪ it's just, it was that melody which told my mouth, which touched something in my brain that made my mouth sing that. every time i look in the mirror -- >> do you have a lighter? matches i can hold up? come on, i want more. >> but you see what i mean? >> but where did the experience come from? because it's a song of experience, a song of having been there, and you were only 26. >> "lived and learned it from fools and from sages," i had read the word of "sages" in one of the books i was reading back when i first started smoking pot. then again, on the other side of it, i don't know where the hell those lyrics came from. ♪ all the feelings come back to you ♪ >> reporter: he may not have had much life experience when he wrote "dream on," but tyler was about to get it. his memoir chronicles a career full of loss and redemption and details his long battle with addiction. even by rock 'n' roll standards, back in the day, aerosmith was a hard partying band. you guys would put in your

contract there had to be a place on stage, a little cubby, where you guys could go during the concert, go in and snort coke, i mean, you actually budgeted for cocaine. i think you called it, what, 24 track tape or something like that? >> yeah. >> i mean, was there no one around who raised their hand at that point, and said, guys, this is going to come back to haunt us at some point? >> absolutely not. managers didn't care. they were glad we were making them all money. and they may get angry at that, but it was also a thing to do, i can give it up at that. and by the way, bands like aerosmith, if you looked at the '70s, how many albums we did, how many songs and how many territories, you know, we conquered, playing three shows in a row, i needed blow. i needed that cocaine. i needed that. i needed it. >> what toll do you think it took on you emotionally and physically? >> i spent a lot of time high and wasting time. looking back, i hurt a lot of people. it's really a one-way street. i still liked the ride, but it's a one-way street. >> coming up -- steven tyler reveals what could well be the most intense

relationship in his life, and it's one that might surprise you. >> is it fair to say that you two have spent as much time fighting as loving each other?

♪ hey, ja-ja-jaded >> reporter: but as he writes in his new memoir, perhaps the most influential and tumultuous relationship of tyler's life has been with aerosmith lead guitarist joe perry. the two were nicknamed the "toxic twins" for their drug-fueled battles on stage and off. here's what you write in the book about joe perry -- "we're polar twins. we're total opposites. joe's cool. freon runs in his veins. i'm hot, hot-blooded, shooting off my mouth. joe's a creep. i'm an [ bleep ]." you mean that in the nicest way, i would imagine. >> i don't mean that in a bad way. >> is it fair to say that you two have spent as much time fighting over the course of your time together as loving each other? >> well, you see, he plays guitar and he plays it in such a way where i'm addicted to it.

he's aerosmith. if he goes -- ♪ i go -- ♪ love in an elevator so it's magic. what, am i going to fight it? >> you write in the book about lsd. >> mm-hmm. >> and this is not the drug? >> oh, no. >> no. lsd is? >> lead singer disorder. >> and you had it, right? >> well, i think we all do, as lead singers, right? i mean, we front the band. so, therefore, why don't they listen to us? we know everything. >> yeah, big ego? >> yeah, of course. >> tough to work with? >> yeah. >> made trouble when you could have made peace? >> yeah. because all my life, being a big mouth, being a type "a" personality, always stopping people and going, no, no, no, wait, wait, wait you got to hear this. let me finish. let me finish. stop. slow down. now i do that for myself. >> but while tyler was busy fighting, touring, and abusing drugs with his band, he says he missed out on the childhoods of his two oldest daughters, mia and liv. in fact, liv spent the first dozen or so years of her life

not knowing that tyler was her biological dad. rate yourself as a dad to your older children, mia and liv. you have a complicated relationship there. >> very complicated. i did get sober in '88, and i stayed sober for 12 years. and in that time i got to see really, you know, how i wasn't there for mia and wasn't there for liv. and it broke my heart. i cried like a baby. it was some years later where i said to liv, i said, "i'm so sorry for not being there when you were a baby." and she was the first one to say, "daddy, it's so all right. you're here now, and now i know i got a daddy." >> reporter: you write about this in the book -- "drugs robbed me of my spirituality and compassion, only later to find out i'd lost liv and mia as well. i cried when they forgave me for my past behaviors, but i'll be working on it for the rest of my life." >> that's what drugs did. that's what it did. and it took my children away. it took my life away.

it took my band away, took my marriages away. and i was on my knees. ♪ dude looks like a lady >> reporter: during tyler's clean and sober years, he had two more children, chelsea and taj, and aerosmith scored their biggest hit ever with a song from the movie "armageddon," starring daughter liv. ♪ i could stay awake just to hear you breathing ♪ >> reporter: but beginning in 1999, he suffered a series of health problems and found himself addicted to prescription drugs. i was reading the book, and i was thinking, steven, that there was a time in your life where you weren't the victim of yourself, you were the victim of some bad luck. you'd been clean and sober for 12 years, and then you started to have some surgeries. i think you had throat surgery, you had bath surgery. your feet were giving you problems. and here came the prescription drugs. >> um-hum. >> did you find in some ways prescription drugs harder to

kick than the drugs, the more recreational drugs, you were doing back with the band in the '60s, '70s and '80s? >> well, let's put it this way, to go out on the street or send somebody out to get a bindle of heroin or some cocaine, it's just exhausting. but a doctor, hell, i know a thousand of them. i had to delete them all from my cell phone. it's so easy to get them and for whatever ailment. >> reporter: tyler has admitted that he was high in 2009 when he fell during a concert in south dakota. the video was on youtube in a heartbeat, and aerosmith was back in the news for all the wrong reasons. >> and the stage was wet and i went, zoop! and i zigged when i should have zagged, went off and fell on my head. that took me down. >> that episode, 2009, really upset you, didn't it? >> well, it did in the sense that, because i was taking these drugs, the band didn't call me. no one called. i mean, joey kramer called. >> wait. they didn't call you because

they were mad that you were using prescription drugs? >> probably they were angry. >> have you considered that they were a little embarrassed, steven, that in some ways when you went off that stage it took the whole band down a little bit? >> oh, of course. and i almost agree to the point of i get that they were angry. i get the -- you know, i fell, you know, and it's not that any of them haven't done. it's just i get it, i'm the front man, i fell off. i was high, i owned it. >> but it hurt you that they didn't call? >> it really hurt me. ♪ >> reporter: the band was talking about replacing tyler. tyler was looking for a new gig. coming up -- >> how did you end up on one of the most popular shows on television? >> "idol" chatter.

>> good evening from washington. i'm david gregory. we will hear from the president of the united states. he will address the country in mere moments to announce a major development, we're told by senior government officials concerning the most wanted terrorist in the world, osama bin laden. we'll get details now from senior correspondent chuck todd at the white house. >> david, right now we're simply waiting on the technical issues in order to get the president on the air.

as you' been reporting and as our colleagues have been reporting, it has to do with osama bin laden and what is going to be a major development. this is going to be something that our country and intelligence communities around the world have been searching for this man in those parts, those ungoverned parks in afghanistan and pakistan. in a few moments we're going to hear from the president and h he's going to walk through whether they captured him or killed him. but it's going to be a confirmation of a huge development regarding osama bin laden, david. >> let me also report, what i've learned from government officials, this is the result of an incident that the united states initiated. so there has been an incident and a result which the president will take us through in a matter of moments. he is personally working on those remarks as he has been for some time now.

white house officials have been monitoring developments out of pakistan, which, of course, is where the intelligence community believes that bin laden has been hiding for many years, an incident coming out of that region. a lot of speculation about just what happened to bin laden, captured or killed. but that is the subject of what the president will speak about tonight, chuck. this is something we know the president has been focused on. his national security team, chuck, amping up efforts in recent months. >> it's been the predator drones, as you know, david. >> as we can say, we can report -- forgive me for one moment, the president will announce that osama bin laden is, in fact, dead. that osama bin laden is dead. that is the major development tonight. something the united states has sought to accomplish since the deadly attacks on 9/11. attacks in new york and washington and, of course, pennsylvania. and tonight, as a result of the

u.s. operation, tonight the president will announce that osama bin laden has been killed many years after 9/11. he was elusive up until this point. indeed, the intelligence community can report that he has been not just trying but often frustrated with a trail that had seemed to go cold for some time. >> absolutely. and as you know, the cia had taken this over, the predator drones. this has been a military operation deeply resented by pakistan. in fact, pakistan/u.s. relations have been almost fractured by this. there have been high-level meetings, military and intelligence within the last two weeks here in washington at langley and the cia over the drone attacks. but the u.s. has insisted this is an american prerogative. it's caused deep nationalistic

pro-tiss in pakistan. but since 9/11, he has been public enemy number one. osama bin laden, in fact, was connected to the 1993 attack on the world trade center. he has been wanted for all the terror incidents since 9/11. he's been not only the founder of the egyptian-born doctor who helped him found al qaeda, but has been previously in leading the mujahidin with american help. then the blowback, of course, of using the same weapons against the u.s. in the terror attacks that ensued. but osama bin laden, the capture or death of osama bin laden has been a prime target. and for leon panetta and the military to accomplish this, as

panetta has been nominated to become the new secretary of defense, is going to be an extraordinary achievement indeed. we don't know the exact circumstances, but as you have reported, the news you have broken tonight is that american action, military action, and many of these actions are cia, are involved with the agency, rather than with the pentagon per say. but these are combined activities. >> let me just get in here, andrea. i just want to bring everybody up to speed on the very latest. the president will announce in mere moments that osama bin laden is dead. this is a result of a u.s. action. he's been killed by u.s. personnel. i'm told by top government officials that, in fact, the united states has bin laden's body. that the united states has bin laden's body. they will confirm that it is him and that he has been killed by a u.s. action. as we have been describing, this is a huge development. one that the administration has been working as a previous administration has since 9/11,

often under the radar, despite frequent questions about bin laden's location. this is something that resulted, according to sources out of a u.s. military action in pakistan, something the white house officials have been monitoring throughout the day. there's been speculation within the region about what may have happened. and indeed, the president is now preparing, currently writing his remarks. presumably prepared to deliver them, as he's getting ready to do in just moments late on a sunday night here on the east coast, following a major development. chuck todd, again, the latest details, military action has killed bin laden. the united states has his body. >> eand david, the fact that th united states has his body doesn't necessarily mean it was a drone attack. the drone attacks make it so you don't put personnel in danger. but the fact that we have the body could tell us a little bit more about the action itself. david, you know, the last few

times that we've gotten briefings here at the white house from the national security folks having to do with al qaeda, almost all of it has had to do with al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, and whenever we would ask well, what is the status with the hunt for bin laden. they said look, we're always going after him, always looking for him. but they have made him less effective for a long period of time. that he hadn't been able to direct the type of terrorist attacks he was able to direct obviously before and up until 9/11 and that the more operational part of al qaeda was the -- was al qaeda in yemen. but that didn't mean they were stopping their efforts to try to get bin laden. >> general barry mccaffrey, a decorated veteran of the gulf war, a end a military analyst f nbc news. general mccaffrey, describe your reaction. this is a huge development on the part of the united states

and this administration. u.s. military action, we believe in pakistan has resulted in the death of osama bin laden. >> well, it's an enormous shot in the arm to the armed forces. we have to remind ourselves, we've had 47,000 killed and wounded confronting terrorism since 9/11. so i think this is very good news. very much look forward to what the president has to say about the tools we used to get osama. it won't in the short run affect the war in afghanistan dramatically, but it's definitely good news for america. >> andrea mitchell, it's worth also reminding our viewers, the president gets a presidential daily briefing, as well as a threat matrix of major threats against the united states. and there has been a question about the extent to which osama bin laden has been able to direct what al qaeda was capable of as a centralized terrorist organization or a splinter

organization that operates anywhere almost anytime after it effectively got shut down in afghanistan and forced across the border, where most of al qaeda operatives are believed to be, which is in that rugged land between afghanistan and pakistan. >> and, in fact, even if he is not directing operations, and if he's not operational. he's inspirational. as general mccaffrey points out, the fact that he has been killed by american forces is such a major shot in the arm and such an important factor right now, especially considering the military reputation, the importance of what is going on in the middle east, and the frustrations, frankly, for our military in many parts of the world, setbacks in afghanistan, problems now in iraq. this would be a huge defeat, psychological and operational. most of the threats in the matrix, as you've pointed out, have been coming from yemen.

the fact is, though, them having his body, we've long known -- we've had his dna on record, held by the united states so that we could always, if there was some sort of an attack and not a way of identifying him, being able to say we have bin laden. but the fact that we actually have his body means, as you, you know, accurately point out, this was a military operation with boots on the ground and not just done from the air. and that is hugely important. >> i want to keep reminding our viewers that we are standing by. we will hear from the president of the united states. he will address the united states momentarily from the white house. you see pictured on our screen, speaking with white house officials throughout the night, the president has been working on remarks, going through details of something they've been monitoring all day at the white house in secret. and now we can report that osama bin laden is dead, as a result of a u.s. military action, that the united states has custody of his body.

this now a decade after 9/11, which killed 3,000 people at the world trade center and in washington. and, of course, a hijacked airliner brought down in pennsylvania as well. a major development that the president, his national security team have been working on. and a previous administration as well, chuck todd. president bush saying notably from the white house after 9/11, this was a figure wanted dead or alive. but chuck, before i go to you, let me bring in our chief correspondent, richard engle. your reaction from a part of the world tonight that will take this news as a huge development, as it is throughout the world. >> this is nothing less than breathtaking. this ends a chapter, the global war on terrorism which has defined a generation, which has defined the u.s. military

missions in afghanistan and iraq. so many people, so many soldiers have been waiting for this moment. i know incredible numbers of troops who have been wondering what they're doing in iraq, wondering what they're doing in afghanistan year after year, deployment after deployment. and now when they hear that osama bin laden is dead, they will feel that their sacrifice has been for something. and they will say that the united states -- mabt's not saf safsaf safer, maybe it's a symbolic moment, but the reason they signed up for military service, and so many young men and women signed up after 9/11, was to achieve a victory against osama bin laden. this is a turning point for the global war on terrorism. and in many ways, the global war on terrorism which has defined our generation, which has defined the way we live, every

way we get on airports, we get on planes, the way we live our day to day life may be changing right now. and i think this is an incredibly significant development, david. >> richard, from your reporting, from your experience on the battlefield and throughout capitals in the arab world, is this the end of something? terms of those people that osama bin laden reached? or is it perhaps the beginning of something? does his death make him a martyr? >> i think this is the end of something. we have seen for the last decade extremist islam ride an incredible crest of popularity, and now with his demise which i assume we're going to hear the president announce very soon, we could be turn into a new phase. the arab revolutions, which i'm witnessing right here are

starting. and if the 1990s were defined by islamic radicalism and the last decade was defined by the global war on terror, the next decade could be defined by a new period which is the period of arab democracy, the period ofab unity. and if people assume that osama bin laden is dead and a new era is beginning, then i think there is a chance for not only a turning point for the u.s. foreign policy, which i mentioned before, the way the united states conduct our daily lives, but in a new way for the way the middle east operates. we look at the middle east in terms of historical periods. the last decade was defined by our war against bin laden. our war against terrorism, our war against fear. this new decade which is being