on the broadcast tonight, hallowed ground. the president's visit to ground zero to mark the death of the man who caused it and honor the victims. and we're on the scene in pakistan where some are angry and embarrassed about the way the u.s. took down the world's most wanted terrorist on their turf. >> here at home, river rising. flooding along the mississippi could be epic, so there's high anxiety tonight for thousands of americans. and eyewitness to history. the second graders who were with president bush the morning of 9/11. they're 16 now. bin laden is dead. they have some interesting things to say about that day. "nightly news" begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening, and already tonight, we're learning about some of what was grabbed from the compound of osama bin laden. intelligence already proving useful in potentially defending against a future terrorist attack. because the end of bin laden marked the end of the era he imposed upon this country, president obama today went to ground zero in new york to mark this event, to meet with loved ones. at this moment in his presidency, it continues to play out, really just days after the initial news. we begin with two reports tonight. starting off with white house correspondent savannah guthrie, covering the president here today in new york. >> good evening. this was the president's first trip to ground zero as president. aides said they hoped the visit would provide some closure. kept it deliberately low key. he met with families privately, made no public speech, the white

house wanting to mark a milestone but not come across as trying to use this for ploliticl gain. the president today on 9/11's hallowed ground. four days after authorizing an operation to kill the terrorist responsible, the president laid a wreath at the site where more than 2,700 people died. today, no speeches, no ceremony, just handshakes and hugs. >> usa, usa! >> it was nearly ten years ago, another president stood in this place. >> and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon. >> reporter: mr. obama's visit today appeared designed to say that promise has been kept. >> when we say we will never forget, we mean what we say. and our commitment to making sure that justice was done is something that transcends politics. >> reporter: meeting with first

responders at a fire house and a lower manhattan police precinct, the president tried to resurrect the spirit of unity that prevailed on 9/11. while back in washington, white house officials now say they'll provide no further details about how the operation to kill bin laden unfolded. the administration has acknowledged in the race to get information out fast, early accounts provided by top white house officials were partly wrong. >> i think it was an error in judgment. no question it was embarrassing to the white house. the big issue was a long range flawlessly executed raid that resulted in us finally killing this mass murderer. >> reporter: but some aides are growing frustrated by questions about whether the kill was appropriate given that bin laden was unarmed. a senior u.s. official telling nbc news bin laden had an ak-47 and a pistol in his room, adding quote, they weren't raiding the girl scout troop looking for overdue library books, they were on a kill mission for osama bin laden.

we should mention the vice president also laid a wreath at the pentagon today, and tomorrow, the president will travel to ft. campbell, kentucky, where he'll meet with some of the s.e.a.l.s who conducted this operation, brian. >> there is something else here inescapable. we live in a political world where military views are viewed in a political context. a failed military raid badly hurt president carter, and is it not too early to talk about this upshot for this presidency. which brings us to the moderator of "meet the press," david gregory with us. >> such a different outcome and a different trajectory for history as well. this is a defining moment for the president. killing bin laden gives him the ultimate commander in chief moment. at the same time, it raises some tough new questions. the knock on obama, the candidate, was he was untested. >> i think it's imperative that each of us be able to

demonstrate we can cross the commander in chief threshold. >> as president, critics said he would rather apologize than assert america's greatness. lead from behind is how one aide described the obama doctrine to the new yorker magazine. >> uncertain world has been made more dangerous from the lack of clear direction from a weak president. >> but in the presidency, all it takes is a moment. >> i can hear you. the rest of the world hears you. >> reporter: for everything to change. for americans, this president's decision nearly a decade later to take out bin laden in a risky raid was his. >> the united states has conducted an operation that killed osama bin laden, the leader of al qaeda. >> they want their presidents to be men of peace, but they also want to know that if necessary, the american president can kill. >> reporter: for a still unsettled republican presidential field, the issues of the president's toughness and his leadership have been neutralized.

>> i think americans will see him as a credible commander in chief, and someone who is really capable of being president after this. but it doesn't eliminate the risk that they will believe that his policies haven't produced enough progress in their lives. >> beyond the politics, there are the policy questions. will bin laden's death spur calls for an accelerated u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan, already slated to begin in the summer? and there is pakistan, what must be done when its role in shielding bin laden becomes clear? >> if the government of pakistan through any of its institutions or officials contributed to his refuge, that should be a matter of american interest. >> perhaps requiring some strong response from the administration that realizes the end of bin laden isn't the end of the road for the war against terrorists. >> david and savannah, both from the washington bureau, here to start us off in new york tonight. thanks to you both. now let's go to pakistan, the scene of the raid, where because of the raid and how it

was carried out, strains are now evident with the united states. ann curry is on the ground at the bin laden compound. good evening. >> reporter: hey, good evening to you, brian. tonight, pakistan is reeling, on the defensive, embarrassed, for the first time, publicly angry about the way the u.s. took down osama bin laden. today, as security was tightened around osama bin laden's compound, a fury was unleashed from the most powerful man in pakistan, army chief general kiani who called sunday's raid a misadventure bluntly warning any similar action violating the sovereignty of pakistan will jeopardize the level of military cooperation with the united states. >> the pakistani military has come out defensively with respect to this entire affair because they don't have any good options. either they look like they were complicit in the behavior of the world's most notorious

terrorist, or they look like they were incompetent. >> reporter: still, in a rare admission, today, the former national security adviser called the humiliation real. saying pakistan's intelligence was caught, quote, with its pants down. do you expect the world to believe that the intelligence services, the security services of pakistan are so incompetent they did not know osama bin laden was living 35 miles from islamabad? >> yeah, this is a small town. they can make slips. they did make a slip. >> reporter: also today, pakistan's foreign secretary solomon bashir directly took on suspicions that pakistan harbors osama bin laden. >> this is a false hypothesis. this is a false charge. >> reporter: a public relations offensive of a country desperate not to lose its more than $1.5 billion a year in u.s. aid. while at the same time, dealing

with the wounded pride of its own people. many of whom refuse to believe osama bin laden was even killed here. >> we are not stupid. america, we are not stupid. we know everything, what's going on. >> reporter: today, hillary clinton acknowledged relations between pakistan and the united states are not always easy, but that cooperation will continue because it produces results. brian. >> ann curry reporting on the ground in pakistan where it's getting interesting now between the two countries. the u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s weren't on the ground for long, but they filled their pockets while they were there. they extracted a massive amount of material, including computers from bin laden's compound and what they grabbed is already yielding results and data. our justice correspondent pete williams has an early read on it. from our d.c. news room. pete, good evening. >> reporter: u.s. officials said they haven't found any specific plots in the works, but they did discover something that al

qaeda was considering. officials say in february 2010, al qaeda was talking about attacking a train somewhere in the u.s. on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which is coming up in september. al qaeda roperatives taukd about tampering with the rails, trying to get the train to come off the track in a valley or on a brinl. u.s. officials said they have long known that al qaeda wanted to attack trains because of the history of this terror group's attacks on rail targets in spain, the uk, and india. the homeland security advisory has been sent to the rail industry advising of the new information, but there's no change in the terror alert level because there's no indication of any actual plot, brian. >> it's amazing we already know that much considering it was grabbed sunday night. pete williams in washington, thanks. while the u.s. did gain a lot of intelligence during the raid, it accidentally gave away some as well. remember the initial report, one of the blackhawk helicopters used in the raid failed and was destroyed by the departing navy s.e.a.l.s.

it almost was all destroyed and then when the world of aviation saw the pictures of the tail section that was left intact on one of the compound walls, everybody realized this was nothing anyone had ever seen before. and it's widely reported now to be the world's first glimpse at the new stealth blackhawk helicopter program. most notable, the tail rotor, the unusual blades, the dish pan style covering on the mechanism designed to deflect electronic detection. they also fly much more quietly to enhance the element of surprise. the chinese are known to be in something of a race to perfect the same technology, and while the pakistanis took away the big parts, some local children were seen walking around with some of the smaller pieces of the chopper as souvenirs. and we're learning more still tonight. details about the raid at that compound. the last minutes, really, of osama bin laden's life. for that, for an update, we go back to the pentagon. nbc's jim miklaszewski.

on duty tonight, jim, good evening. >> reporter: brian, despite earlier reports, it turns out there was no prolonged firefight, and the navy s.e.a.l.s themselves actually did most of the shooting. when the s.e.a.l.s first broke into the compound, they came under fire from bin laden's courier. the s.e.a.l.s fired back and killed him. it's the only time the s.e.a.l.s were shot at. for the first time, we're getting dramatic new details on the final seconds of osama bin laden's life. heading upstairs, the s.e.a.l.s shot and killed bin laden's 19-year-old son on the second floor. hearing the shots, bin laden peered over the railing above. the s.e.a.l.s fired but missed bin laden who ducked back into his bedroom. as the s.e.a.l.s stormed up the stairs, two young girls ran from the room. one s.e.a.l. scooped up the girls and carried them out of harm's way. the two other s.e.a.l.s rushed the bedroom door where one s.e.a.l. shot bin laden's wife, in the leg, and the other shot bin laden twice. and the al qaeda leader fell

dead. no s.e.a.l.s were hurt, and in the end, most of the 40-minute mission was spent gathering up all that intelligence, computers, hard drives, that bin laden left behind, brian. >> jim, thanks. after a break, we'll catch you up on the news from this country. the mighty mississippi mightier than usual, and it may get dire as it overflows its banks. and later, the kids who were with president bush in the class room the morning of 9/11. wait until you hear about how the day changed their lives and how they feel today. how they feel today. ey feel today. ♪ [ male announcer ] doctors have been saying it forever. let's take a look. but they've never actually been able to do it like this. let's take a look. v-scan from ge healthcare. a pocket sized imaging device that will help change the way doctors see patients. that's better health for more people.

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ron mott tonight in dyersburg, tennessee. ron, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. there's a bit of good news to report from here, at least. the water level has peaked where it stands this evening, but that's clearly not the case in a lot of other places. for the second straight spring, john and dora have stood watch as river water inched toward their house in dyersburg, 80 miles north of memphis, but unlike last year when flooding seeped inside their home, they're feeling lucky. >> the last two years when it comes to heavy rain, you think, in the morning when i get out of bed, am i going to put my feet in water? >> reporter: while the worst seems to be behind the businesses and residents here, the situation upstream is more dire, especially for farmers who make their living along the mississippi. the army corps of engineers has intentionally breached the river, blowing up levees this week along three points of the big muddy. first in cairo, illinois, then missouri, and this afternoon,

hickman, kentucky, sending torrents of water onto the prime farmland. engineers say the levees were blasted to protect people and property, but farmers say it will cost them millions in losses. ed marshall said he owned about one tenth of the more than 130,000 acres flooded by levee blasts and considers his wheat, soybeans and corn lost for the year, though he did purpose crop seasiz insurance this season, something he rarely does. >> it really upset me. in fact, the day i moved out of my office and out of my shops and got everybody out of here, i came back for one last look, and yeah, it makes you sick. >> reporter: today, he and fellow farmers attended a levee board meeting to discuss their options. >> it's been a real hardship on me and everyone who lives in the floodway, farms in the floodway. it's a hard deal. >> reporter: back in dyersburg, the richards are counting their good fortune, but they're concerned about flooding victims and those to come downriver. >> i feel for them, really, i do. i do.

i feel for them because i know what they're going through. it's just heartbreaking. >> in advance, a flooding that is expected downstream in mississippi, president obama has declared 11 counties there federal disaster areas. >> ron mott continuing in tennessee today. thanks. a quick note on oil and gas prices. after going up for 44 straight days, the price of regular unleaded hit $3.99 a gallon nationwide average today, but that could turn around soon. here is why. the price of oil dropped almost $10 a barrel today, closing below the $100 a barrel mark. that's a drop of nearly 9% in the price in one day. part of a big sell-off in commodities across the board. stocks finished lower at well. dow was down more than 139 points. another break. when we come back, remembering an event that made our world a bigger place 50 years ago today. made our world a bigger place, 50 years ago today.

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with the eyes of the world watching, the united states on its first try, sent a man into space and recovered him safely. >> that was frank mcgee on this network, and this is the 50th

anniversary of the first american in space. it was the late great allen shepherd who did it. and if there is a palpable absence of joy or national pride missing from frank mcgee's delivery in that clip, it's because we were behind. the soviets sent the first man up less than four weeks earlier. we were struggling to catch up. john glenn late became the first american to orbit the earth, and the u.s. of course won the space race to the moon. and allen shepherd became the fifth man to walk on the moon and the first guy ever to hit a golf ball on the moon. capping a brilliant career as an aviator, astronaut, and moon golfer. and you have heard the expression about when the planets are aligned, well, right now, they are. at least six of them. they're visible in something of a conga line in the dawn sky. mercury, venus, mars, your manes, neptune. most are visible to the naked eye, and they'll stay that way

for most of the month of may. >> the last known surviving combat veteran of world war i has died. claude stanley choules was the last veteran to have fought in both world wars. to his ship mates, his nickname was also chuckles. he joined the british royal navy when he was 14. he died today in a nursing home in australia at the age of 110. when we come back, what must those kids have thought the morning of 9/11 in the class room with president bush. in just a moment, they will tell you the answer. ♪ hit the road, jack ♪ and don't you come back no more ♪ ♪ no more, no more, no more ♪ hit the road, jack ♪ and don't you come back no more ♪ [ male announcer ] want your weeds to hit the road? hit 'em with roundup extended control. one application kills weeds and puts down a barrier to stop new ones for up to four months. roundup extended control

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for a body in motion. finay finally here tonight, think about the weekend president obama had. after he had given the order to kill bin laden, halfway across the planet, he went on to tour the tornado damage in alabama. he gave a commencement speech, and he followed the presidential tradition of joking around at the big media dinner saturday night in washington. because he knew he had to keep up appearances, the presidency had to go on. that was president bush's thinking when he chose to stay at that classroom reading event in florida the morning of 9/11. and we now know for those kids,

all grown up, the bin laden news this week carries special meaning. our report from kerry sanders. >> reporter: on that horrible day almost ten years ago, president george bush sat in a sarasota, florida, second grade classroom. as he and the children read a book about a pet goat, the chief of staff interrupted. >> as soon as i saw the assistant whisper in his ear, his expression changed dramatically. >> reporter: seated in the second row, this student remembers the moment with a clarity unusual for a second grader, but then, this was a moment in history, one he says that shaped his childhood. >> it gave me a new perspective. i want to be a leader. i want to travel the world, see the different perspectives of the world, the different cultures. >> and that, you think, you can trace back to that day sitting there with the president? >> absolutely. >> reporter: in class that day,

7-year-old mariah williams. she's now 16. >> i remember how it was a happy moment to a serious moment. >> reporter: many american teenagers don't remember the attack. they view it as an assignment in their history books, but for the 16 kids in class that day, they say being with the president handed them a lifelong responsibility, to make sure the facts of that moment are preserved. today, that clooszroom here is a media room, and among the books here, the yearbook with pictures the instant our nation learned so much about evil and our vulnerabilities. and it's the lesson 16-year-old chantelle guerrero said today she hopes we have all learned. >> no matter what life throws at you, you can come out in the end. >> reporter: a lesson that shaped these young people and a nation. kerry sanders, nbc news, sarasota, florida. >> that's our broadcast on a thursday night. thank you for being with us. i'm brian williams.

as always, we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. by vitac -- www.vitac.com right now it's 6:00, and why saving energy could cost pg&e customers a whole lot more. >> i fire up captain was arrested in the bay area. we have the disturbing allegations. >> an nbc bay area follow-up, a hit and run victim's struggle going back to being a normal team.