on the broadcast tonight, the death of osama bin laden, the raid, how use special forces got him, the reaction here at home and around the world. and the reality, what does it mean for the americans fighting overseas and for those who lost loved ones on 9/11? including the new york city fire house we visited today where that day will never be forgotten. "nightly news" from ground zero tonight begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

>> good evening from ground zero in lower manhattan. osama bin laden is dead. the man who killed thousands of innocent people, the man who launched the united states into two wars in the name of that attack. the man who changed the way we have to live in this country. the man who did all of this was killed by u.s. special forces, acting on orders from president obama. we first learned his name back when there was still smoke rising from ground zero behind us here. the u.s. came close to getting him, but could not. he was villinized. he became something of a cartoonish, cave-dwelling creature over time. in the end, though, we lived ea he was living well, under deep cover, but it wasn't deep enough. as the president and his security team watched in real time, two helicopters landed on the compound in pakistan,

rappelled down ropes, and started shooting. he's been worried at sea. a chapter over while a new one begins. we have comprehensive kofrbage for you tooment, including the military operation. jim, good evening. >> reporter: the cia made it official today, that dna testing positively confirmed the navy s.e.a.l.s got their man. the massive compound that was osama bin laden's base of operation sat empty today after u.s. special operations pulled off their daring nighttime raid. it was president obama himself who broke the news. >> 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. >> reporter: it was half past midnight in pakistan. american helicopters loaded with navy s.e.a.l.s hugged the ground

to avoid detection by pakistani radar as they closed in for the kill. as the choppers approached, small armed fire erupted from the rooftops and then panic. one of the helicopters suddenly lost altitude and was forced to land in the middle of the compound. no americans were injured and within minutes, as many as two dozen commandos swarmed the complex in search of bin laden. in a firefight that went on for nearly 40 minutes, the s.e.a.l.s killed two operated on the edge of the compound. the americans then moved to the main residence, searching room by room to the top floor where they found osama bin laden and his 19-year-old son. u.s. officials say as the s.e.a.l.s closed in, bin laden opened fire with an automatic weapon. the s.e.a.l.s shot back, killing bin laden, his son, and a woman caught in the cross fire. bin laden was the last to die by

a shot to the head. u.s. officials say the milssion was to kill, not to capture bin laden, and believed there was no other way out. >> the word was osama bin laden would not surrender, and indeed, his security agents had been told to kill him if they were about to lose him to a snatch operation. >> the american commandos departed with his body. before the end of the day, his remains were aboard the aircraft carrier carl vinson where he was given a proper muslim burial at see. thousands were involved in the operation. the cia and other intelligence services tracked him down while the u.s. military took him out. >> this is what we call a clean hit and an extremely solid piece of work both from the intelligence and special operations standpoint. >> and that intelligence windfall may just be beginning. u.s. officials say navy

s.e.a.l.s recovered large volumes of computer data and hard drives. so much of it that could potentially provide valuable intelligence on al qaeda. and in fact, there is so much of it that they have created an entire task force all its own just to wade through it all, brian. >> reporter: jim, after a long night on this story and a long day at the pentagon, jim, thanks. last night when it happened, a bit in advance, a few of us, a handful of journalists received phone calls from the white house telling us to get to our offices and studios, that a big announcement was coming. and what a long night it was at the white house. our white house correspondent savannah guthrie is with us here in new york tonight. she has exclusive details, really behind the scenes as to what was unfolding that we couldn't see. >> we have learned actually that this special ops team actually practiced this raid in early april twice as a mock compound here on u.s. soil. they were prepared to take bin laden alive, but expected him to

fight and die. he was shot twice in the left eye by a commando who encountered him on the third floor of the compound and instantly recognized him as osama bin laden. >> i think we can all agree, this is a good day for america. >> reporter: the president at a medal of honor ceremony today, one day after ordering u.s. forces to take out america's most wanted terrorist. >> the world is safer, it's a better place because of the death of osama bin laden. >> reporter: today, aides are describing the incredibly tense moments inside the situation room as nbc first reported, the president was able to monitor the 40-minute operation as it unfolded. getting what a top u.s. official described as audio and visual updates from the ground. >> it was probably one of the most anxiety-filled periods of time, i think, in the lives of the people who were assembled here yesterday. >> reporter: getting word of bin laden's capture, a senior aide

said applause broke out in the situation room. the president remarked, we got him. then minutes before midnight, nearly ten years after that awful september day, the president addressed the nation. >> the american people did not choose this fight. it came to our shores. we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al qaeda's terror, justice has been done. >> "usa!" >> outside the gates, a spontaneous outpouring as crowds gathered to rejoice. on chiapitol hill, the celebratg was bipartisan. >> the last thing osama bin laden was was a small team of americans who shot him. >> reporter: they found bin laden by chaking his longtime trusting curier. a walled fortress valued over a million dollars, but yet with no phone or internet service. officials believe it was custom

built to hide osama bin laden. a u.s. official said the president considered four different options, ultimately rejecting a plan to have stealth bombers wipe out the compound. instead, going for a riskier assault with the special ops forces. >> the president had to evaluate the information and made what i believe is one of the gutsiest calls of any president. >> the president gave the order and went on with business, touring storm ravaged alabama, giving a commencement speech in florida, and even going to the white house correspondents dinner. >> people think bin laden is hiding in cush, but he's hosting a show from 4:00 to 5:00 on c-span. >> the code name for the mission was geronimo, the actual

transmission from the commander was for god and country, geronimo, geronimo, geronimo. >> it was a patriotic outpouring, and it started there in the situation room. savannah guthrie from inside the white house tonight. if you were watching our coverage last night as savannah alluded to, the spontaneous gathering in lafayette park across from the white house. there was another one in ground zero in new york, but that was just the start of the raexz from coast to coast. lester holt with us, part of the coverage with more on that aspect. lester. >> reporter: think back to last night, how many unknowns were there? first, the president says he's going to go on nation tv. no one knew what he was going to say. later, when we realized it was going to be word on the death of osama bin laden, no one knew how the public would receive that information, yet surprisingly, across the country, the reaction was very much the same. >> "usa!"

>> it was the refrain echoed from every corner of america. >> as the news began to spread, crowds descended on the white house, and times square in new york. >> if the job is completed, maybe we can bring our troops home. >> reporter: from college campuses to the stands at a philadelphia phillies game. to the streets of boston, there were unabashed celebrations over the death of a villain. >> he was the mastermind of so many terrorist attacks and so many terrible things that have happened to u.s. people, so i'm happy he's dead. >> reporter: his death reminded us of the many faces and names of bin laden's victims. >> they finally got him, and of course, it makes me cry again because it brings back memories. >> reporter: emotions were especially raw today at what are now hallowed grounds, shanksville, pennsylvania. >> gives you a special feeling

just to pay homage to the people we lost that day. >> the pentagon. >> just a good day to be a united states marine and an american scitizen. >> and ground zero. >> look alt the tower. >> they came to honor jack's brother abe who was killed in the world trade center. >> finally, the purveyor of evil was brost to justice. >> off duty flight taents who lost colleagues tried to find closure here, too. >> when we heard of the tragedy, it was a question of who we knew because that was a flight that was always staffed by boston flight crews. >> and you happen to be on a layover here new york today. >> today. >> was there any question that you had to come down here? >> as soon as we heard the news, we said we're going to ground zero. >> even as a gleaming new tower rises, filling in the once scarred hole of ground zero, the outpouring and celebrations over the death of osama bin laden remind us the wound to the

american psyche is not so easily healed. at a lot of these gatherings, you hear a varamount of bravado, but also whispered under the breath that fear that what be a major blow against terror could simply open up a new chapter. thanks for that. an important part of the reporter of this entire story. so is this, quoting off the associated press, the fbi and department of homeland security are warning people that the death of bin laden will, quote, likely inspire homegrown extremists in the u.s. to try to carry out attacks in the near term. the very best possible person to talk about this issue where we are right now is the longtime commissioner of the police department, city of new york city, ray kelly. thank you very much for being with us. >> thank you, brian. >> i was driving through mid-town manhattan last night. i saw these columns now familiar to new yorkers, squad cars moving through the city, very

visible. let's say a family of four is coming to visit us here in new york tonight, what will they see? >> an increased uniform presence, certainly in times square tomorrow. you'll have it in the financial district in lower manhattan. certainly in the subway system. we have dogs, we have what we call surges where uniformed officers will go in large numbers. so they will see increased police presence. >> you and i have talked about this in plain english, because new york didn't get the federal funding you wanted, you needed, you thought you deserved, you have set up a kind of mini-cia, m mina-fbi here. you have eyes on major parts of the city. do you feel your infrastructure is up to perhaps an increased tempo from what we have seen the last ten years? >> certainly a possibility. we're doing everything we can to protect the city. the infrastructure is protected

as best we can. we have some old structures here just like about every old city has. the mayor has made certain we have the money to protect the city. he said that to me, do whatever you have to do to make it safe, and we'll find the money. so infrastructure is a long-term federal issue. bridges, highways, that sort of thing. >> you have no reason to suspect an uptick in anything right now? >> no information, no immediate threats against new york city, but obviously, this is good news with complications. we have to be prepared for some sort of retaliatory act, and we are. we're working with our federal partners to see we're ready. >> commissioner, thank you. commissioner ray kelly of the nypd. >> we'll take a break, when we come back, again, in plain english, we thought he was lisking in a cave. we were comforted by that knowledge, in fact. so how long was he living in a nice home? and how many people knew about it? and later, a new york city fire house that lost six guys on

9/11. we'll have my visit there today and their reaction to this news.

back here at ground zero, lower manhattan, as you look at live picture of what is going to be the memorial, the old fool footprint of the buildings. we received news president obama will visit ground zero on thursday of this week. it was his predecessor, george w. bush who made history by grabbing that megaphone on that awful day and addressing the workers. the president again will visit here on thursday. returning to what i said before the break, a lot of americans thought osama bin laden was frankly living in a cave, on the run all these years. we were surprised, a lot of people were, to find out he was living in a very nice home, the best in that area. the question is, how many other people knew about it? our chief foreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell

in our washington bureau has been working this aspect of the story all day. good evening. >> reporter: good evening. in the end, osama bin laden wasn't underground in a remote mountain cave after all. he was living in luxury in a suburb of pakistan's capital, on land controlled by the military, hiding in plain sight. in this sleepy military town, only 35 miles from islamabad, bin laden's million dollar compound was a mcmansion with 12-foot to 18-foot walls topped by barbed wire, dwarfing the neighbors, many of them retired military. there were other red flags. the luxury home eight times the others around it had no phone or internet access. the bin ladens even burned their trash. in these pictures, the neighbors are almost next door, and less than a mile away, pakistan's military academy, the equivalent of our quest point. >> it is a little incredible. my personal view is they

certainly probably were aware of it. >> reporter: u.s. intelligence concluded it could have only been built for bin laden, so how could pakistan's army and spies not know this? >> it could have been a case of eyes wide shut where they were aware of it and decided to keep their eyes open but closed as far as america is concerned. >> there are a lot of questions asked about the role of the pakistani intelligence agency and as well, the pakistani military. >> reporter: the neighborhood certainly noticed the raid, blogged in realtime in twitter at reallyvirtual. helicopter hovering above abbottabad at 1:00 a.m. is a rare event. now i'm the guy who live blogged the osama raid without knowing it. since 9/11, the u.s. has poured almost $20 billion into pakistan without getting a reliable ally. in 1998, after bin laden bombs two u.s. embassies in africa,

bill clinton couldn't get pakistan to cooperate in going after the terrorists. after 9/11, colin powell told pakistan's leaders they had to target al qaeda, but little happened. last year, hillary clinton said was many were thinking. >> i believe somewhere in this government, are people who know where osama bin laden and al qaeda is. >> reporter: today, the president's anti-terror chief said it's unconceivable bin laden didn't have a support system inside pakistan and he acknowledged people are wondering if that support came from pakistan's government, adding, understandably. >> andrea mitchell with that aspect of the story. andrea, thanks. when we come back, we'll have the story of how those who lost a lot of brothers on 9/11 are greeting this news from overseas.

. . . back here at ground zero in new york, while 9/11 changed life in america for all of us, it staggered the new york city fire department. 343 firefighters ran into the world trade center and never made it back out. today, we revisited a fire house in manhattan that lost six men that day, engine 23. just to see how they were reacting to the news that the mastermind overseas was gone. >> first thing i thought of were the families of the six guys who worked there, hoping it would bring them closure to some degree. great day for the country. >> and those six are with you every second.

they're on the wall, they're on the kitchen table. they're on the rig. figuratively and literally, that's a big part of their presence, is really felt here. >> yes. yes, it is. when i got to the fire house, it was one of the first things instilled in me. never forget those guys. they live on forever. >> it's a sad day that should always be remembered and never be forgotten. >> do you feel a generational pre-9/11, post-9/11 difference? >> i came on after 9/11, and we did lose a lot of experience, but we're pretty resilient. >> i think it shows a lot of resolve by the u.s. and by the fire department by bouncing back, and the commitment we have to the country to get these guys. >> a lot of people on ground zero last night were using the word "justice" and it seemed kind of appropriate. do you agree with that? >> yeah, justice was served last

night. >> when you heard the news, what was your reaction? what does it continue to be today? >> everybody was texting. it was all over the news. it was good to hear. about time after ten years. they got him, so it's a relief for all of us. it's a new era, we're ready to go, and that's what we're here for. >> right at the end of our conversation, duty called. it was time for the men of engine 23 to answer the alarm again. our thanks to the men of 23 engine in manhattan, the place they call the lion's den. some of the best guys you could ever know. we're back with more news right after this.

our chief foreign correspondent richard engle has been stationed overseas covering our nation's dual wars since virtually right after 9/11 happened here. richard, it makes sense to ask you about reaction throughout the arab world. >> reporter: the reaction has been very strong, brian. there's a hope that this marks the end of america's war on terrorism, which has been so costly, as everyone knows, for the united states, but also incredibly costly for the middle east. over the years, the al qaeda organization has killed more

muslims than anyone else, and people here blame al qaeda wherever they're profiled at airport said. people in the region simply want to move on, brian. >> richard engle in what has been called the third front, libya these days. the news that was at the top of the broadcast until this. a word to ow viewers, depending on your station, this is an hour-long of nbc news. if it doesn't air where you live, find us on the web. for us and for now, i'm brian williams. good evening. you're watching a special hour long edition of "nightly news." after brian williams we will join you at 6:30 as the bay area reacts to the death of osama bin laden.