the operation to kill bin laden unfolded in pakistan. the decision to use helicopters and put navy s.e.a.l.s into a firefight was not a unanimous one, but it was made by the president who sat stone faced in the altercation. and one high-level leader described that situation this morning. msnbc chief correspondent norah o'donnell joins me down. norah, so there is a lot of talk about the details from behind the scenes now revealed about the hours leading up to the mission, and the actual viewing of the attack, and now we see the images of the president there watching this all go down in live time. >> that's right. a lot of the fascinating details behind the scenes that we are learning. i want to update you first, thomas, on some of these internet reports that the white house has set to release photos of bin laden, and a white house official has just e-mailed me saying quote, there is no update on the decision to release the

photos. saying, quote, i have no idea what these reports are on the internet, and what they are based on. it is fair in speaking to the white house officials that they are weighing whether and when to go ahead to release those photos of bin laden, and it is clearly a delicate situation, and perhaps they will do it when the president travels to ground zero tomorrow. now, also, we are hearing from the intelligence officials that they received a mother lode of intelligence and treasure trove of intelligence on that raid on bin laden's compound and as jim miklaszewski says there are hundreds of people poring over the intelligence. and behind the scenes details of intense anxiety-filled moments inside of the white house sunday afternoon while this operation was conducted. the president's top advisers inside the situation with him, and they were able to receive live video updates and we have the white house pictures released inside the situation room which we can show you and

in the pictures you can see that the president is sitting there stone-faced directing his team. you can see hillary clinton with her hand over her mouth, and then the vice president joe biden fingering his rosary beads in some of the tense moments as a top counterterrorism official called tense moments. and they were using military commandos was a risky situation and gutsy move by the president as described by one official. they could have used b-2 bombers to drop 3,2,000 bombs, but they wanted navy s.e.a.l.s because they wanted real evidence, dna evidence that osama bin laden had been in fact killed and one of the hilos wents down and they had to detonate the helo, and on the way out, the pakistani military scrambling the jets, and they did not encounter the military jets being scrambled, because the pakistan authorities did not know that our guys were

on the ground there in pakistan. thomas? >> norah, as we talk about the photos that you have the information of the white house officials saying they don't have a time line of when or if they will do this, but we do have information about what the photos do show and one being the kill shot, and the gunshot wound above osama's eye, and it is a matter of releasing one photo that is going to satiate the curiosity of the american people as well as that of the international community? >> well, you will see in some quarters of the american media, some people are raising questions about bin laden, and further proof and wanting further proof that bin laden was killed, and just when i came out here, thomas, i grabbed off of the wires this from kabul that the afghan taliban said on tuesday, they had not seen sufficient evidence yet to convince them that the al qaeda leader bin laden was dead. this is the first comment since the white house and the president announced that bin laden was killed. so you are hearing from the afghan taliban raising the questions, so that is part of the delicate consideration going on in the white house the

release this photo. there is apparently a photo taken of bin laden when he was pulled out of the compound and it is described as a gruesome photo, because as we know that bin laden was shot point blank twice in the head, and one apparently through his left eye. so that is part of the consideration by officials. thomas? >> norah o'donnell at the white house for us. norah, thank you so much, appreciate it. residents of the abottabad, pakistan, where bin laden lived until commandos made a daring assault on the compound are expressing shock today after learning that the terror chief lived among them. they had no idea that their quiet city where thousands of pakistani soldiers are based is the hiding place for the world's most wanted man. ta zene asooen tazeen ahmad has more. >> reporter: we have been driving around and seeing check point after checkpoint, and a

mile down the road is the elite military academy. it is the west point of the usa. and in that direction just half a mile is osama bin laden's house. i wandered down that way earlier today and i walked around the area. it is down a dirt track and a newly developed area and several plots around the house that are still not built on. they are half-built houses that are surrounding osama bin laden's house which stands out not just because of the size, because it is huge in the area, and the high walls, 12, 16-foot tall, and the top of the walls are barbs fences so you cannot see into the compound at all, and you cannot see what damage was done by the operation. there is no idea what it looks like inside, because you can't see. but the people in the area, the locals in the area are flummoxed and surpriseded about what has happened here in the last few days. they said they had no idea who lived there. a couple of the people said children playing locally would throw their football over as children do, and usual will any the neighborhood they throw them

back and come out and hand them back or the kids run in to get them, but here, the balls would not be returned, an instead, somebody would come out to give the kids some money instead of returning the ball. i noticed on the wall, itself, and around the house, itself, are built but not painted. there was an advertisement that said, this is a girl's school on the actual adverse and it is curious as everything is here in the moment. >> much more questions than answers. thank you, tazeen. and there are reports that bin laden was able to hide in plain sight while pakistan officials deny that. they say that years of cooperation with the u.s. led to his demise and that the al qaeda leader was nopt knowingly sheltered, but one white house adviser has expressed doubt. >> i think it is inconceivable that bin laden did not have a support system in the country

that allowed him to remain there for an extended period of time. >> let's bring in mike baker, a former covert field operations officer for the cia. mike, nice to have you here. i want to get your opinion right out of the gate. what are the chances that that is really the truth what we are hearing from the pakistani officials that they didn't know where he was especially this being a military town, and kind of alikened to what west point would be here in the states. >> what are the chances -- well, i don't know how to say this but zero to none. this is not the say it was a government conspiracy, and not like some top-level military-wide conspiracy that thousands of people knew that bin laden was held up here, but as john brennan who is a smart individual and very experienced, as he pointed out, it is inconceivable to think that there were certain individuals within isi, the intel service and the military who did not know about the whereabouts of bin laden and did not know that he was, you know, on the outskirts of abottabad, and what

is a garrison town. >> and former pakistan president pervez musharraf has praised the military's success, but with that, the criticism of the u.s. forces have breached the sovereignty of pakistan, and do you think he should shut his mouth and stay in the curby suburbs from the millions of dollars that he has gotten from the country? >> yes, about musharraf and so many others and we could marchp on and not have the issues, but the relationship with pakistan, and both with the military and the government and the isi has always been somewhat dysfunctional, right. and you know, it has the ups an downs and it is like a bad marriage at times. you have to keep going and trying to make it work. but there's no surprise here. for years and years, we have been talking and been aware certainly within the agency and elsewhere in the intel community, we have understood that there are certain elements inside of the isi and the military who have had a different agenda, and again, we have to step back and think, you know, pakistan is going to do

what is in their self-interest and just like any other nation, and just like we would, and sometimes their interests match ours, but more often than not, they diverge, and this is a good example of that. >> yes or no pictures -- do you want to see them? >> do i personally want to see them? i could careless, and i have worked long enough with the government and trust the government, and there are people in tinfoil hats who are always going to be conspiracy theorists, and they will never believe it. but they will have to put out photos and they should not drag it out and these are the foes to the release and release them. the man is dead. to tell you the truth, the cia and the intel community and the teams of the military, you know, they stopped, they celebrated and then it is back to work. they are all marching forward again. >> that is what we are doing right here, mike baker, and so good to have you on this morning. >> thank you. and now the decision to keep

pakistan out of the loop raises questions of who we believe to be in ale lie. the armed services committee chairman carl levin says that the pakistanis need to answer about their inability to identify the compound. >> the bottom line is that we are linked with pakistan, and they have corruption, and they are a weak government and in a tough location and there is an awful lot, and that i have nuclear weapons, so the bottom line, it is an important country to us, and it is a diplomatic purpose that we need. >> and the senator of the armed strategic forces, and i want to start with a piece from the pakistani president asif ali zardari says that a decade of

cooperation and partnership between the united states and pakistan led up to the elimination of osama bin laden, and the war on terrorism is as much pakistan's war as it is america's, and pakistan has never been the hotbed of fana c fanatics. how can we trust them to be our ally? >> well, it is a difficult situation, and i thought that secretary albright's remarks were very right-on. they are a important country and have nuclear weapons and at times they have provided significant support, and at other times they have worked against our interest. it is unclear to many observers and i have been in pakistan more than a dozen times whether the government, itself, has full control over its military and its intelligence services. so this is an issue where president zardari is putting the best possible face of it, but the reality is a much more complicated and much less complimentary to pakistan, but

we do have to admit that they have aided us in some critical moments. >> sir, let's get down to the money, because reuters said that we have spent tens of billions sending aid to pakistan since the 9/11 attacks, and a lot of new numbers that want to talk about the numbers, new members that is, on the hill looking to cut spending, so could there be a real problem when it comes to this and how important that money is with the ongoing relationship with the u.s. and pakistan? >> well, we have spent billions of dollars, and the pakistanis and the major route for material going to afghanistan to support our forces, so there is a need to provide support and provide actually the highways literally to afghanistan. however, there's a real issue here about the capacity of the pakistan government to spend the money, their corruption, and also, we have been trying to help them develop their own infrastructure in terms of roads and other aspects that will

improve the lives of the people, and it is unclear whether they have the capacity to effectively spend that money. this is a challenge on two fronts. our budget and their ability to spend the money reasonably well and not just for their own patronage and own corruption, but for their people. >> senator, thank you for joining us this morning, and we will let you get back to work. and senator reid will go back to visit ground zero to honor the killing of osama bin laden and the deaths of those from 9/11. and the tragedy brings back memories of the first responders and for those who selflessly ran up the towers that took some of their lives, 393 lives that is. we are joined by the fire commissioner on that day. sir, nice to see you today. i want your reaction and thoughts when you heard the news of the death of osaw ha? >> well, it is a good feeling

for the families and others who have moved on and others who have not moved as far. it is always that scar that they have got, but for others, to some, it is more raw than others. i think that this helps a little bit, and gives them a little sense of justice and another compartment that they might be able to close at the tragedy. >> does it also help to bring back, to the important and the relevant information of how the people that are doing today, and the ones who survived, and are suffering now ten years later with different respiratory issues from what they suffered from that day having to run into that building? does it bring relevance to the situations of what their lives are today and help remind americans about what happened that day? >> well, you know, this is something they live with everyday and like you say, we in the news media, we go from weddings to charlie sheen to something important like this, and it does help them, i think get some of to attention they need to the issues that they are dealing with. but that is something that i think that the government and

the medical community have done a pretty good job of trying to do the best they can. >> what did it mean to you when you saw people, the crowds of people celebrating at ground zero? was that an odd juxtaposition for you to fathom in your mind? >> well, for me, i know that none of our families were down there jumping up and down with excitement. i think those are younger folks who are not as connected to it, and people around who hear about the enemy and the terrorism thing that we have going on, but for those folks that, you know, lived it, and lost loved ones, and lost a firefighter, son, husband or police officer, and people who worked in the build, they weren't jumping up and down. they were just glad in a small way that this one evil person is gone. >> your enduring motto of "never forget" lives on. thank you for coming on today. >> you're welcome. and there was a rare moment of bipartisanship to tell you about at the white house last

night, but the big question is how long will that last? we are back with much more after this. we're america's natural gas. and here's what we did today in homes all across america: we created the electricity that powered the alarm clocks and brewed the coffee. we heated the bathwater and gave kelly a cleaner ride to school. cooked the cube steaks and steamed the veggies. entertained dad, and mom, and a neighbor or two. kept watch on the house when they slept. and tomorrow we could do even more. we're cleaner, domestic, abundant and ready now. we're america's natural gas.

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welcome back, everybody. now a new segment called "sound off" which is the potential outcomes of the day's stories and the impacts across the country. my colleague is melissa harris perry who is an associate of professor of politics and as well as a cnbc contributor. she joins us from new orleans. always good to speak to you. >> nice to talk to you. >> and we are seeing the new details coming out of the white house and the administration of the plans to kill osama bin laden, and talk to us a bit about what the process reveals about president obama, and do you think in your opinion, does this operation showcase the

president in an entirely new light? >> well, you know, it is interesting in part, because we have found out the timing about when he was making these decisions. which means that as he was standing there at the white house press club, sort of making these jokes and being light and funny about the anxieties around the birth certificate question for example, we now know that he understood that there was an entire p operation afoot around bin laden, and that tells us something about the president's ability to multitask and do two things at once and to effectively be protecting the country at the the sasame time trying to operate in the domestic politics in a different realm. but for americans, it is anxiety-producing moment, because we spent the whole week talking about whether or not the president was a citizen, and at the same time he was making an enormous military contribution

to our country. >> yeah, it kind of seems frivolous in hindsight, and the events of last week, and how it ended, and then leading into the events of this week. especially, melissa, when we are hearing that osama bin laden was living in this compound for some six years. so what do you make of the hidden in plain sight phenomenon? >> yeah, i was talking to my young daughter about this, and trying to explain where, you know, the house was, and all of this sort of thing. and i realized that as i was talking to, he i was saying, it is like if he was right there in arlington, virginia, or alexandria, virginia, just outside of the capitol in this big huge house. for me, i suppose, it is the question that, you know, is it six years ago during the second bush administration, why did osama bin laden feel so emboldened that he felt he could build this enormous compound that he could live there, and that it wouldn't provoke our intelligence community, and what

does that say about the failures going on in the intelligence community at the end of the second term? >> well, he started nesting so to speak. >> it is extraordinary. >> and the hindsight being 20/20 and you watched the correspondents dinner and seth myers' joke, and saying that he was hosting an hour on c-span in the afternoon was osama bin laden, and it is basic as that, the man hiding in plain sight? >> well, again, i think that the part of the people are feeling excited and happy about all of this, but as we become more sober and reflect, you know, listen everyday that he had an additional day of life and of relative ease and pleasure when people in this country and around the world frankly were suffering from the decisions that he had made everyday of justice delayed was justice denied, and although we are pleased about the outcome, we have to ask whether or not it should have really take then

lo -- taken this long, and what kind of failures were in place at the end of the second administration that made it take so long. >> melissa, always great to have you on, melissa harris-perry, great to have you on. >> thanks. >> and terrorism at home, and that is the question that many are asking in the wake of osama bin laden's death. we will explore it right after this. mom! mom! mom! [ male announcer ] you know mom. we know diamonds. together we'll make this mother's day one she'll never forget. that's why only zales is the diamond store. the new blackberry playbook. it runs all this at the same time. ♪

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the u.s. attorney general is cautioning al qaeda may be seeking payback, speaking to the house judiciary committee. eric holder stressed that bin laden's threat does not eliminate the threat of terrorism. >> we cannot become complacent, a and the fight is far from over. just yesterday, i ordered the department's prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to be mindful that bin laden's death

could result in retaliatory attacks in the united states or against our interests overseas. >> nbc news justice correspondent pete williams joins me with more. so, pete, attacks from al qaeda are long-planned organizationally, and so are the authorities more concerned in light of the news that there could be lone wolfs who try to act out in their own accord? >> well, two answers, thomas. that is traditionally the case with al qaeda, but not in recent years. in recent years the pattern is they try whatever they can do for a smaller effect that doesn't take such planning as the big set piece operations, and secondly, you are right about individuals who may not be connected with al qaeda, is, the so-called homegrown threat is up, too. so the kind of warning that eric holder is talking about has been going on worldwide. as a matter of fact, the head of interpol is calling on all of the 188 member countries of interpol to be on what he called full alert, either for acts of retaliation or attempts by al

qaeda to prove that it still exists in his words. homeland security and dhs have urged local police departments to be on extra vigilance and many have done so on their own. we saw it first in new york city and seeing it in philadelphia and here in washington, police at subway stations and on trains and around sensitive sights in the financial districts and anything where they think that could be targets of opportunity or iconic targets that somebody might want to try to attack. the threat, of course, the current threat that the country has faced, if you look at the attacks in the country, thomas, for the last couple of years, it has not been inspired by bin laden or even directed by al qaeda, the traditional al qaeda that has been hiding out in pakistan. the bigger threat is thought to be the al qaeda group in yemen who does not take orders from bin laden or the taliban in northern pakistan who apparently has something to do with the threat that we were chasing a year ago which is the attempt to set off a car bomb in times

square, so that the professionals in the field don't expect that in the short run in the immediate term that the threat of the death of bin laden will do much at all to the terror threat except perhaps for a while make it more intense. >> pete williams in for us this morning. thank you. in one place. credit and debit purchases, checks, bills, and other financial information. it lets you see the details as well as the big financial picture. so you can do more with your money. see what a complete view of your money can do for you at pncvirtualwallet.com. ♪ pnc bank. for the achiever in you. woohoo! whoa. haircolor is a chore no more! you gotta come see what's new. c'mon! tadaaa! welcome to haircolor heaven. aa-ah-ahhh! courtesy of new nice 'n easy colorblend foam.

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i cannot believe this is happening in my lifetime. i never thought i would see mishg like this. you have wall street going through the roof and main street paying all of the bills. it is harder for them on education. it is harder for them on health care, and the money is flowing up and the control is flowing to the top and the tax breaks are flowing to the top, and they want to know why america is upset. i need two shows.

hi, everybody. good morning. i'm thomas ronlts. here is what is topping the news o. on the same day that moammar gadhafi buried his son, the swiss government said it identified $14 million of potentially illegal assets linked directly to him, and another $470 million tied to egyptian president hosni mubarak and they are to freeze assets of both men as well as ousted tunisian president as well. a black box of a plane that crashed into the atlantic killing over 200 people was

found. it surfaced below the ocean's surface. police are hoping that the discovery will help them find out the exact cause of that crash. congressional leaderers are meeting with leon panetta later today for a full briefing of the killing of osama bin laden. president obama has been getting high marks from both sides of the aisle for green lighting the mission. hear what some bipartisan leaders had to say last night. >> as americans learned that the united states had carried out an operation that resulted in the capture and death of osama bin laden, we -- [ applause ] >> and now we are bringing in capitol hill correspondent luke russert, and we see that the president was getting a standing ovation to that statement, and house speaker boehner was applauding when that crowd, and so was chairman ryan and a host of other top republicans. it is a good solid moment of unification, but that bipartisan goodwill is not going the last too long especially with what is coming up concerning the debt ceiling. >> no, it is not, thomas.

if you look at the comments this morning from the majority leader eric cantor, he was quick to praise obama for being able to apprehend osama bin laden and eventually killing him, but he was quick to be critical of the democratic policies when it comes to natural oil production here in the united states. what we will see is a pivot here on capitol hill from what i am hearing from the republicans is because barack obama was able to pull off this killing of bin laden that has eluded america for ten years, it is difficult to attack him as being an inadequate leader which is the argument that you heard about against him in the budget, and where is the leadership, president obama, and that issing? that the republicans would say, but now it is pifting to, okay, we see that he is a leader, but he is not focused on the economy enough, and the policies are poor and more attack on the policies than the individual, himself. and in terms of what is happening here on capitol hill, this is very much this week going back the what we have seen all along and bills brought up by the republicans to increase oil production offshore and increase drilling and another part to repeal the president's

health care law, and things they say are detrimental to the nation's economy, but the one risk that capitol hill lawmakers do not want to make is that right now when you have a feeling of bipartisanship and unity, they don't want congress to come across as being the petty bickers so that many feel are reflected in the polls. that is what is going to happen here going forward and we will see how long the bipartisanship lasts, thomas. >> yes, we can time wit with a stopwat stopwatch, i believe, luke russe russert. thank you. >> yes. and we all remember the plans to de-fund planned parenthood, but conservatives running the states are trying to finish the job. indiana governor and possible presidential candidate mitch daniels is taking the first major step saying he will sign legislation to cut off all government-funding for planned parenthood in his state, and a move that has many wondering if politics is playing too much of a role in women's health. betty cochran is the president and ceo of the indiana chapter

of planned parenthood. betty, good to have you on. here is the national reality for everyone who may not understand what planned parenthood does and this was checked by po litti-facts. so only 3% of the services are abortion-related, so how big of a negative is this for your women in the state individually and then we can talk about it on a national level from there. >> well, it is a huge concern for the state of indiana, because as many as 22,000 of our most vulnerable are at risk of losing their medical home across state at our 28 locations. and what we are talking about here is basic preventive health care, pap tests, annual exams, breast exams, std testing and treatment and birth control. >> betty, we have to touch on the politics that are involved in all of this, and mitch daniels as i said, considering a run for president, and he is taking a lot of heat for

publicly saying that we should call a truce on social issues, and he didn't campaign on this, and so are you afraid that it is linked to higher ambitions and not really what is happis happe within the border of indiana? >> well, it is really disappointing to see governor daniels going in this direction. it's further demonstration that, that party seems to feel like it has to pander to that minority, and it's a sad day to see him join that. >> betty, just in the finally, do you think that when we have the topic of planned parenthood, the title itself, are you having a difficulty, because it is a branding issue that people don't understand the basics off what you do? >> actually, i think that people do understand, and i think that one positive outcome of this dialogue that started with congressman pence on the hill, and it has now been at the forefront here in indiana is that we have had an extraordinary opportunity to educate about just exactly what it is that planned parenthood

does do, and how important it is that we stay out there and provide the services to people in need, especially in this economy. >> yes. >> and i think that people do understand, and i think that the support is deep and abiding, and i think that we will see that. >> betty cockrum with planned parenthood in indiana. thank you so much. >> thank you. i want to bring you up to speed on the cleanup efforts in the south following the second worst tornado outbreak in u.s. history. people are returning to schools, and the cleanup is massive and counties unaffected are reaching out to those who sustained losses. in georgia, officials estimate in addition to the 15 lives lost, there are $75 million in damage to uninsured property alone. the destruction touched 16 counties in that state, and governor nathan deal has ordered a review of the state's weather

warning systems now. to alabama, the power is still off in hardest hit areas there. police in tuscaloosa are working extra shifts to keep looters from preying on victims. and the university of alabama has called off the rest of the school year and the final exams in the last week of the school year are canceled and graduations postponed up till august. joining me from tuscaloosa is the university president grant cochran, and it is good to see you. what are you seeing in tuscaloosa in terms of the cleanup? are there still major areas without power, and if so, how are all of the people who are living there coping with this? >> i think that right now, we have seen, we have seen an outpouring of volunteers around the tuscaloosa area. and so many donation distribution centers and delivering meals. we have seen, really, the compassion of the tuscaloosa community come out in the aftermath of the storms. >> grant, what is the mood like

for the university kids? you know, in light of all of the damage to the school, the institution, itself, what's the mood from the campus? >> you know, though the university insfra trufrastructu not directly affected, i have seen university students encouraged to go home sticking around to help out the tuscaloosa community and really make a difference and contribute in whatever way possible. >> for the students who are adjusting to the way that the school has adjusted the school year, we heard reports that students they get a choice if they want to accept their grades as they are currently or if they want to take their finals late in the summertime. so which way do you think that the students will lean on this? >> you know, that is a student by student, class by class basis. in terms of choosing not to take finals, i think that any ua student here at the university would definitely take as many finals as possible if the we

could avoid the devastation that we have seen around the community. >> grant, you have said that you have seen a outpouring of support from volunteers coming in to help, and student helping student and neighbor helping neighbor, has be there sufficient help from the federal government? >> i think that there has been, and their presence here is definitely defined. it was definitely here in the first few days following the storm, and i think that has only contributed to what we have seen in terms of the recovery here in the community. >> grant cochran, thank you so much and send all of the best to the students down there that you represent and we appreciate your time this rn morning. >> thank you. roll tide. >> and president obama put the bulk of the operation to kill osama bin laden into the hands of the cia director leon pa net tashgs and t netta,and he spoke this morning. here is a sample of the interview. with brian williams. >> reporter: is the world safer? >> brian, i don't think that

there is any question that, you know, when you get the number one terrorist in the world that we are a little safer today than we were when he was alive. but i also don't think that we should kid ourselves that killing osama bin laden kills al qaeda. al qaeda still remains a threat. they are still going to try to attack our country, and i think that we have to continue to be vigilant and continue the effort to ultimately defeat these guys. we have damaged them. but we still have to defeat them. >> and you can see more of brian williams' interview with leon panetta this evening on "nightly news with brian williams." we are awaiting the president to arrive at an event at the rose garden at the white house honoring the teacher of the year from maryland. we will take a look at the elite team who conducted the dangerous raid that killed osama bin laden.

welcome back, everybody.we now as president obama is going to be honoring the teacher of the year, which is chemistry teacher michelle sheerer working with science students. it is an annual contest, and yesterday joe biden held a reception for the annual teachers of the year which took place at the u.s. naval observatory which is the vice president's residence, and the president will join them there after the official photos are taken for the celebration to take place momentarily. so the final phase of the killing of osama bin laden reportedly involved the navy s.e.a.l.s team six, and the members of this unit themselves have earned the reputation of the best of the best. george lewis has a look at the

ze s.e.a.l.s and the part of the military that are themselves, secret. >> reporter: they are shrouded in secrecy and the names of them are secret from the public. but the navy s.e.a.l.s the best of the elite warriors reputation has never been higher. the operation that resulted in the death of osama bin laden is only the latest and most note-worthy chapter in the story of the legendary fighting force. it all starts here with a high-intensity training course designed to push s.e.a.l. candidates to the limit. in scenarios that test mental toughness, physical fitness and extreme courage. whether on land, in the air or under water, s.e.a.l.s ha ve to demonstrate their ability to stay calm whether under water or in fire. >> well, it is a scenario change-up that is delivered to the platoon as they go through an exercise, and all of those things make you much more capable to survive the unforeseen when you get

overseas. >> reporter: in this exercise the s.e.a.l.s are taught to react quickly in a dark environment. as the hoods are pulled off of their heads, they have seconds to assess the situation and respond accordingly. s.e.a.l. teams have have carried out missions in afghanistan since shortly after 9/11 and in 2009 pulled off the spectacular rescue of american merchant captain who had been taken hostage by somali pilots. >> thank you, guys. a drink to the s.e.a.l.s. >> reporter: back here at a bar in coronado owned by a former s.e.a.l., the gratitude and surprise of bin laden's death. >> you can count on the navy s.e.a.l.s and the special forces to do all of the hard jobs. it is thankless, because you can't name who they were, but pretty sure they are proud of what they just did. >> the s.e.a.l.s don't expect parades or medals and in fact, not even their families know the details of what they do while

deployed overseas. >> well, there is a lot of times, too, when they say they can't talk about that, and we don't know half of the stuff, but, what they can share, they do when they get home. >> reporter: rear admiral ed winters in charge of the s.e.a.l.s sent out this e-mail. today we should all be proud that the handful of courageous men of strong will and character have changed the course of history. the fight is not over. so we may not know what they do, but we like to have them around. that was george lewis reporting. now, back for a live look at the white house where president obama is expected to speak shortly honoring the national teachers of the year, and the state teacher of the year award, and again, a person from every state, one teacher being honored today and then the national teach over the year is michelle sheerer of maryland who is the top teacher for this country, and we will be back with much more after this.

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it is time for the flip side, a chance for us to go behind the headlines. president obama is taking time to honor the national teacher of the year at the white house. the 2011 winner, michelle shear, a chemistry teacher in frederick, maryland, shear's 14 year career focused on making science available to students with learning disabilities and brought the first ever ap chemistry course to a school. she beat out three finalists. she was selected for the national title. she'll be joined by teachers of

the year from all 50 states when the president joins her in the rose garden. that will do it for me today. i'm thomas roberts. i'll see you back here 11:00 a.m. eastern every week day morning. contessa brewer is here to pick things up. a wide gait now so i can be on the same level. there you go. >> usually he yells at me for not putting on my high heels before i come out here. do we need to see these pictures or the video of osama bin laden? how important is the u.s. relationship with pakistan? senator bob casey joins me live to talk about that. and a former navy s.e.a.l. talks about that tricky mission. and why officials blew up a levee to force flooding in one danger zone. there it is. be right back. me even more on my hotel? well, hotels know they can't fill every room every day. like this one. and this one. and oops, my bad. so, they give expedia ginormous discounts with these:

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all right, we're following breaking news now out of southern california where it looks like los angeles police are chasing this white car. they tried to pull the guy over in the boil heights area of los angeles, that's between the i-10

and the i-5, sort of in the 60, near the pomona freeway. they tried to pull him over and apparently this guy just took off. so now they're chasing him through the surface streets, currently we're told they're in alhambra. we don't know what the original traffic violation was, but we're keeping our eye on the scene now as we continue to follow this police pursuit there in southern california. with the wide shot, you can see the patrol cars, some distance behind this car, now picking up speed on some of these other highways. keep our eye on that. good day, everybody. i'm contessa brewer covering the big news coast to coast. and the big story we're watching today, inside bin laden's lair. new details about how navy s.e.a.l.s got him and what the death of the world's top terrorist means for the united states and its security. new video today of the massive compound where osama bin laden hid, possibly for years. nbc's tazina med talked to

neighbors who were puzzled over the strange behavior of the mysterious residents. >> they said they had no idea they lived there. >> reporter: gruesome photos from inside the home, showing the bedroom and the blood-soaked mattress where he died. but we haven't seen pictures of bin laden's corpse. u.s. officials could decide today whether to release them. >> additional release of information or any type of photographic evidence is something that we have to take into account in terms of what the reaction might be to it. >> reporter: we're seeing new pictures showing the tension-filled room at the white house, as president obama and his national security team watched live video of the special ops raid. >> it was one of the most anxie anxiety-filled periods of time in the lives of the people who were assembled here yesterday. the minutes passed like days. >> reporter: today, a newly created intelligence team is pouring over a treasure trove of computer discs, seized