that question. >> what was the most difficult part? you had to decide. this was your decision whether to proceed or not and how to proceed. what was the most difficult part of that decision? >> my number one concern was if i send them in, can i get them out. a lot of the discussion we had during the course of planning, how do we make sure there's back-up, redundancy built into the plan so we have the best chance of getting our guys out. >> craig, how much have we learned not only about execution missions like this, in doing so, we have enhanced ability for extraction if things don't go as planned. >> there's a lot of redundancy built in to get the guys out of there in a bad situation but there are no guarantees. the men going on these missions understand it's very high risk. they are willing to do it. they love their country so much they are willing to do it over and over again to provide for

our security. >> they understand risks. a lot of things we're learning and putting in place now to increase their odds of success each and every time. >> james, some folks pointed out to me that learning about missions like this goes back obviously decades and significant review after iran hostage situation with jimmy carter. how much more confident are you in our ability to run special operations today compared to a decade or two decades ago. >> i think it's much better. i think the special forces deserve a huge amount of credit as does the cia. they obviously work together extremely well here. that's not always been the case. i think institutionally we've seen very positive elements. you don't also fight the war you're given right early on. your plans kind of dissolve with

the first sounds of combat. we took a while to do what we needed to do fighting the special forces and the rest in afghanistan and pakistan border, starting to get on top of it. >> craig, a number of folks pointed out the nature of the way we're fighting counter-insurgency continues to improve the counter-insurgency model and tailor insurgency as going in with a predetermined view of war or where strategic assets are located. can you describe the distinction in terms of how you fight a counter-insurgency? >> well, no. i don't want to go into the specifics of how we do what we do, but it is important to take into consideration the multiple

aspects of fighting a war, of resisting an insurgency or problem like that. so there's multiple aspects to address and multiple agencies and units involved. and have you to take into consideration the totality of the circumstance and put together your plan and move forward accordingly and listen to experts and different positions in putting that together. >> how much more successful, the counter-insurgency is predicated on being able to think like or anticipate the decision making or mental process of the insurgent and how they relate to their resources. >> it's absolutely crucial. this is not cold war preparing for large scale military engagements and the like, this is exactly getting yourself into the shoes of the other side and understanding what they want.

this is highly ideological movement. it's certainly not islam but it's rooted in one aspect of islam. basically these guys want us all to be ruled by caliphate. if we die, we don't go to heaven, only they do. this is a religious believe in part. this fin at sichl is hard to deal with rather than the cynicism we had with the soviets. the soviets weren't true believers by the '60s and '70s. they were cynical guys with a cover story. this is not a group with a cover story we're dealing with. it's sincere islamists that want us all to go to hell. >> when you think about that opportunity to recruit at young age, six, ten, 13 years old as we simultaneously are watching

arabs spring and so many in the west are learning, james, about how much repression, repressed mothers for decades in the kitchen with unemployed husbands and children, who can't find work. huge percentages, 80, 90% of the population in places like saudi arabia don't own real estate, can't own their own home. women can't go to school. it's clear that the religious recruiting mechanism and extremist interpretations of islam have provided a platform for that. but obviously the fertile territory to recruit into that is driven more than anything, it would seem, by the oppression, deprivation and corruption that is symptomatic in almost every one of these governments. that is unfair? >> no, it's not unfair at all. people in the middle east, outside israel and most of the countries have a much greater

reason to rebel against the governments that sit over them now than we had to rebel against george iii. he was an easy going guy compared to gadhafi. >> understanding military capacity, understanding what we can do with central intelligence, how valuable is it for america to find a way to align around core values of freedom, core values of equality, core values of equal opportunity in a way that is aligned with what i suspect is a meaningful percentage of the moderate arab world and how does one even go about doing that? >> a lot of wonderful arab kids are being killed in the streets because they are standing up for freedom. we need to let them know we're on their side. we may not always in practical terms be able to physically be

of assistance. rond reagan was good at saying things like evil empire, mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall. we need to let people know we're with them even when we can't be with them militarily. >> when you look at the children, the women in these countries, understand the humanity of all involved with this, see the variable that is the corrupt and repressive regimes, they don't let the women go to school, all these things, how does that affect your emotions when you as a group trying to release some liberty into these worlds on your best days and at america's best? >> well, it really strikes home. you relate to your own friend and family and see that it's very real. when your boots on the ground with these folks, you see how they live and the conditions and what their lives are like. you know what it could be like

if they had a say and more of a closer model to what we enjoy here in the united states. so yeah, you do want to share more of that with them and you would like to see things improve for them and have their quality of life improved. so it makes the fight a passionate one. >> how important is the arab spring in your view to the west's emotional understanding of what the reality of the human beings, the children and the women and the elders of these countries actually is? >> it's hugely important. in some of these countries we can hope realistically they will develop into a much more positive direction of limited government of some type. maybe not full democracy but definite improvement over what they had in the past. the problem often, though, with revolutions, act one, lots of

enthusiasm and freedom loving kids taking to the streets. act two is that the reformers look like they are in control for a while. like in the russian revolution. a few months later the bad guys were pretty well organized to kill reformers. act three of revolutions sometimes is pretty bad. sometimes it works out. most of the revolutions after the collapse of the berlin wall have worked out pretty positively and certainly in eastern europe. so but we have to be careful that groups like muslim brotherhood in egypt don't take over and end up producing an islamist society that's pointed toward everybody being in a caliphate and all the rest. they could play the role that essentially the bolsheviks played in the russian

revolution. >> what can we do, if anything at all? >> work closely with moderates and reformers. we may not always succeed. they need to know we're on their side. we care about the outcome. we would welcome them as countries that espouse freedom and liberty and to the international community and we want to do what we can to help. some may be economic help even in economic times for us. >> which brings us to your ultimate issue, which is we must shatter strategic importance of oil. how much does our organization with our need to secure foreign energy resources sometimes compromise our ability to act with integrity relative to a given group of people in a given country because of our need to maintain some relations to bad guys, if you will, to gain access to the oil control. >> saudi arabia is front and center. there are very few more

oppressive governments in the world than the saudis. we have had to compromise with them on a number of things. not just to us but the world. it would be a great liberation for us not to be so dependent on oil and not to have transportation so dependent on oil. it would be a real liberating experience in more ways than one. >> craig, what's the emotion -- can you give us a sense of the feeling of camaraderie, the feeling of brotherhood you feel being a navy s.e.a.l. yourself, knowing the intensity of both the selection process to qualify for the opportunity to serve the way you have and you do, and the actual ability to execute it. can you put that in some context for us? >> well, first there's the pride and success.

and in the moment i think that's what we need to celebrate right now is that success. it's a long road getting there. these guys go through a lot. a lot of it is not known but it's important to go through this entire forging process to shape these operators and give them all of the different skill sets they need to pull something like this off an international basis. and usually on short notice. not always. there's a wide scope of operation they have to be prepared to execute and there's a lot of training that goes into that. either they are operating real world somewhere or training very hard for that. for such a time as they reach for it to make it go forward and happen. >> why is it always on such short notice? when the decision to do this happens, it's somewhat self-evident in that you don't want a long projection for an event like this, but what is the

process from the president to the navy s.e.a.l.s team to do something like this, to the extent you can even discuss it? >> i think his order is go or no-go. they have to put into implementation plans they have put together worked out and rehearsed again and again and again. they pulled it off brilliantly. that's terrific. he and they deserve congratulations. there's one potential curveball here i might mention, dylan, that's starting to show up in the press in the middle east. in that part of the world conspiracy theories are the rule not the exception. but there are a number of suggestion, since no one can believe the pakistanis did not know bin laden was there. it's less than a mile from the military academy, a suburb of

the capital. a big house with huge walls around it. it just seems very difficult to believe that someone senior in pakistani intelligence from the military and government didn't know that he was there. that spriggs has led in a number of interesting things being written in the last day or so to the thought that perhaps the pakistanis and we worked on this together to some extent, they gave up bin laden and we made some kind of accommodation with them. i don't have any idea whether that's true or not. this is a part of the world where there's deals win deals win deals. wheels, double crosses. not a straightforward part of the world. we should keep an eye and ear cobbed to pick up signals of anything like that taking place.

>> is it unfair to add to that conjecture, it's not without basis the location, not only pakistan have known, again, may have been this speculation you just offered but that saudi arabia on some level -- in other words, it's hard for some people to look at that and not feel like there are a lot of folks in a lot of places who knew something. >> possibly. but the pakistanis, i think, would have to be front and center. it's in their country. the location, the nature of the building the nearness of the military academy. the fact there's a building like that necessarily that would be something people in other countries would know. military, leadership, pakistan wouldn't know, that's a lot harder to believe.

>> what is it that the united states would wan from pakistan in exchange for the acknowledgement, at the very least -- forget whether the u.s. knew or not -- to the extent it's difficult to excuse pakistan from their awareness, what is it we could get from pakistan in an agreement going into the next 10 years that would be strategically beneficial to america and for that matter the middle east. >> i don't know. these things are rarely a contract signed on dotted lines. they tend to be more understandings and so forth. if the pakistanis knew, then the fact there might be some chance they had glanced aside as our operation came in exchange for our working together with them on something in the future, it's got to at least be discussed. it may be wrong. everything may be just as the public story is being described now. but i think most of us who served in the intelligence side

of things have a propensity for getting inside the skin of the other side and trying to figure out how we might manipulate the situation. it occurs to me if pakistan did look aside, it would be in a situation where it could say we really ought to work together on a and b, united states. i just don't know. i raise it only as something that's in the middle east press and is worth talking about not as a conclusion that any of us should reach. >> i respect you for bringing it up. quite honestly, hard for anybody whether you're the director of central intelligence like you are or a casual reader of the newspaper to look at that facility and not at least ask the question who knew that house was there and how long did they know it was there. one of the things we learned, obviously, by virtue of the navy s.e.a.l.s team's work getting into that house, a meaningful

accumulation of intelligence, including indications of at least a plan for a rail attack on the tenth anniversary of september 11th. how consequential is the intelligence cache that came out of that house? >> it's hard for any of us to know from the outside. my reaction to the fact that leak by unnamed official, the fact we had achieved this great victory, acquiring the computers and the rest, if these are significant, why in the world would we talk about them? why wouldn't we say we have nothing to say about what we were able to pick up. then on background say, we don't really think we got much. if it's really important and really significant and we can use it without the enemy being aware that we have it, why in the world would we talk about it? i don't understand that.

>> craig, what do you view as the role of the navy s.e.a.l.s? we're going to see withdrawal or drawdown in afghanistan, restructuring of some kind of u.s. military, that is clear. leon panetta moving over to take over for bob gates, general petraeus taking over navy intelligence. the s.e.a.l. demonstrated at the highest level our capabilities. in this type of form, i understand that your view is not necessarily that of a former general or strategic planner in this institution but you're awareness of the capabilities of not only groups like your own but similar ones, how do you envision the relevancy of those types of groups over the next decade? >> well, probably increasingly important because of their

ability to go in and solve problems that can't be solved diplomatically or other means, they are kind of like the specialized tool in the president's toolbox. when all else fails, they are his final option to go and execute his executive order and bring about a positive result in a negative situation. so with increasingly dynamic global situation i would expect the s.e.a.l.s teams to play an ever increasing role. >> do you agree with that? >> yes, i think the special forces, s.e.a.l.s especially have a very, very needed and bright future in this crazy world we seem to have stumbled into. >> am i right, we're talking about the afghanistan withdrawal, the president talking about it in july, really as a restructuring of sorts. to the extent it presents an opportunity for restructuring, around what core values and core assets would you anticipate that will happen?

>> in the first instance i hope he didn't pull many forces out because it looks like we're beginning to make progress in afghanistan. i'd hate to see us snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. if he is able to hold onto enough sources to improve the situation in afghanistan, and along the border perhaps, hope, hope, hope with pakistani cooperation, then that would tend to mean, i think as time goes on, an ever increasingly important role for special forces of all kinds. for training, training afghan forces and getting a great deal of lempverage out of the forces they have. >> craig, how long does it take to become a navy s.e.a.l.? for a young person, if somebody looks up to somebody like you and wants to think about that type of a thing, what is

somebody in for when they make this type of decision that you've made? >> well, you're having to prepare yourself to become some of the hardest and fiercest men on the planet. you have to have a strong body and mind to get the skill set to join those warriors and do what they do. i would start by hardening your body and hardening your mind, imagine what it is you're going to have to be capable of doing. get in the best shape you can and go and apply and join the guys. >> all right, listen, let's join the vice president. >> i get the honor of introducing the general. i was back here on february 11th to welcome home of the brigade combat team in afghanistan.

135 got off the plane that night. the only thing more exciting watching you get off was watching your families watch you get off. it's an honor to have you back here. many of you have just gotten hoep home in the past few weeks so welcome home. i know from the experience that your families want more than anything to spend time with you. so every time i show up at a welcome home ceremony i'm always worried about getting in the way. i remember my son came back from iraq after a year. there's all these ceremonies and i was like, hell, man, stop. i want to see my kids. anyway, i get it. let me say how much gratitude the president and i have and all americans do for you all. you guys have been in a fight from the beginning. the risk you've taken, the incredible sacrifices you've made. your comrades you lost. the losses you personally endured. you've been to some of the most in hospitable terrain in the world.

i've been there, in those mountains. i get a helicopter going down, 8, 900 feet, all i have on is a vest, bulletproof vest, i'm out of breath climbing 40 clicks, 40 feet. you guys are in packs running around. i'm in awe of the job you do. in awe of the job you do. as i said back in february, i want to also thank your families. they made sacrifice as well. those intangible sacrifices. those missed births, birthdays, missed graduations, missed occasional funeral. perhaps more than anything else just being missed, just not having you home. there was a famous poet, john milton. he said they also serve who only stand and wait. your families serve as well. the rest of america owes your families a debt of gratitude as

well. so all the families that are listening -- [ applause ] i want to say their service is as real as yours and it's as appreciated. to the soldiers here, you are the most capable warriors. let me say this without any fear of contradiction. you are the most capable warriors in the history of the world. there has never, never, never, never been a fighting force as capable as you are. it's my job today and my honor to talk a little about the man that i get to work with every day. we just got to spend time with the assaulters that got bin laden. [ applause ]

by the way, i shouldn't say this. the president is going to be mad i'm taking so long. today was, quote, grandfather's day. i went by earlier this morning before i came here to my granddaughter's spring play. after it was all over, she said, pop, come back to my classroom. she said are you going somewhere in air force one. she said where are you going? i said going to fort campbell. we're going to see the guys out there that got osama bin laden. absolutely true story. pop, my pop is going out to see the whales. not the s.e.a.l.s the whales. if they are that good, they have got to be big. you guys are the gorillas, i want to tell you. i've watched, been around a while great presidents. i've watched presidents make difficult decisions. they have all had to make difficult decisions. sitting in every meeting getting

ready planning for this mission assault, the mission to get bin laden, i saw something extraordinary. i saw a president who was told the odds weren't much more than 50/50 that he'd be there and we could do this. but they were considerably less than 100%. i and the rest, secretary of defense sat around and he asked our advice. we gave him our advice. we told him a little of this and that. finally he just looked at us and said, i've got faith in these guys. he walked off on his own without anybody giving him any guarantees at all and he decided. because he believed not only in the s.e.a.l.s but he believes in all of you. he has absolute total faith in all of you. he made that determination. you know, it was an amazing thing to watch. but it was because he had absolute confidence that you are there. he decided when he got into office because of the fight you all were in from the beginning

that the number one priority was to get osama bin laden. he knew the risks, the significant risks and most importantly special operations risks to people risking their lives getting there but didn't hesitate nor did your guys. bob gates said something interesting. i've known bob a long time. he said it was one of the gutsyest decisions made and getsyest operations. here to introduce your commander in chief, a guy i'm proud to serve with, one of the country's leading warriors, 10th airborne division general jeffrey colt. ladies and gentlemen, the general. >> thank you, sir. i can only try to tell you today just how proud of you that this division and this local community are. but more importantly today,

you're going to get to hear from the commander in chief just how appreciative he is of all your service and your sacrifices. please join me in this great privilege of welcoming the president of the united states, barack obama. [ applause ] [ cheers and applause ] >> hello, fort campbell.

101st airborne division air assault, hello. general colt, thank you for that great introduction. it was great because it was brief. more importantly, thank you for the extraordinary leadership that you've shown here at one of the largest army bases in america. and let me just say, i make a lot of decisions. one of the earliest and best decisions i made was choosing one of the finest vice presidents in our history joe biden right here. thank you for the beautiful invocation. i want to thank general for welcoming me along with your

command sergeant lewis, the quartet and 101st division band, all these troopers behind me. you look great. you know, they kind of hesitated. we've got a lot of folks in the house. we've got military police and medical personnel. we've got the green berets, fifth special forces group. i think we've got a few air force here. oh, well, we thought we did. there we go. okay. come on. and of course the legendary screaming eagles are in the house. and although they are not in the audience, i want to acknowledge

the 160th special operations aviation regiment, the night stalkers for their extraordinary service. now, i've got to say some of you are starting to look a little familiar, because last december when we were at bagram, i was out there to thank you for your service, especially during the holidays. and we had a great rally, a great big crowd. seemed like everybody was there from the 101st. since then i know we've had quite a few homecomings. destiny, strike, and some of the

division headquarters, the gladiators. on behalf of a grateful nation, welcome home. of course our thoughts and prayers are with general campbell, command sergeant major schroeder and all the screaming eagles and troops that are still risking their lives in theater. and i am so pleased that ann campbell and marla schroeder and some of the inspiring military spouses are here. where are they at? right over there. we are grateful to you. god bless you. there they are. thank you so much.

this happens to be military spouse appreciation day. we honor your service as well. now, i didn't come here to make a really long speech. i know you're hearing that of yeah, it's hot. what i really want to do was come down and shake some hands. i came here for a simple reason, to say thank you, on behalf of america. this has been an historic week in the life of our nation. [ applause ] thanks to the incredible skill and courage of countless individuals, intelligence, military over many years, the terrorist leader who struck our nation on 9/11 will never

threaten america again. yesterday i traveled to new york city. and along with some of the 9/11 families laid a wreath at ground zero in memory of their loved ones. i met with the first responders, the firefighters, the police officers, the port authority officers who lost so many of their own when they rushed into those burning towers. i promise that our nation will never forget those we lost that dark september day. and today here at fort campbell, i had the privilege of meeting the extraordinary special ops folks who honored that promise. it was a chance for me to say on behalf of all americans and people around the world, job

well done. job well done. [ applause ] they are america's quiet professionals. success demands secrecy. but i will say this, like all of you, they could have chosen a life of ease. but like you, they volunteered. they chose to serve in a time of war knowing they could be sent into harm's way. they trained for years. they are battle hardened. they practiced tirelessly for this mission. and when i gave the order, they were ready. in recent days, the whole world has learned just how ready they were. these americans deserve credit for one of the greatest intelligence and military operations in our nation's

history. but so does every person who wears america's uniform, the finest military the world has ever known. and that includes all of you, men and women of the 101st. you've been on the front lines of this fight for nearly 10 years. you were there in those early days driving the taliban from power, pushing al qaeda out of its safe havens. over time as the insurgency grew, you went back in some cases a second time, third time, fourth time. when the decision was made to go into iraq, you were there, too, making the longest air assault in history, defeating a vicious insurgency.

ultimately giving iraquis the chance to secure their democracy. you've been at the forefront of our new strategy in afghanistan. you know, sending you -- more of you into harm's way was the toughest decision that i've made as commander in chief. i don't make it lightly. every time i visit walter reed, every time i visit bethesda, i'm reminded of the wages of war. but i made that decision because i know that this mission was vital to the security of the nation that we all love. i know it hasn't been easy for you, and it certainly hasn't been easy for your families. since 9/11, no base has deployed more often, and few bases have sacrificed more than you. we see it in our heroic wounded warriors fighting every day to recover and who deserve the absolute best care in the world.

[ applause ] we see it in the mental and emotional toll that's been taken. in some cases good people, good soldiers have taken their own lives. so we're going to keep saying to anybody who is hurting out there, don't give up. you're not alone. your country needs you. we're here for you to keep you strong. and most of all we see the price of this war and the 125 soldiers from fort campbell who have made the ultimate sacrifice during this deployment to afghanistan. every memorial ceremony, every eagle remembrance is a solemn reminder of the heavy burdens of war, but also the values of loyalty and duty and honor that

have defined your lives. so here is what each of you must know. because of your service, because of your sacrifices, we're making progress in afghanistan. and some of the toughest parts of the country, general campbell and 101st taking insurgent and their leaders off the battlefield and helping afghans reclaim their communities. across afghanistan, we've broken the taliban's momentum. in key regions we've seized the momentum pushing them out of their strongholds. we're building the capacity of afghans, partnering with communities and police and security forces which are growing stronger. and most of all, we're making progress in our major goal, our central goal in pakistan, in afghanistan, and that is disrupting and dismantling and we are ultimately going to defeat al qaeda. we have cut off their head -- [ applause ]

even before this week's operation, we put al qaeda's leadership under more pressure than at any time since 9/11. on both sides of the border. so the bottom line is this. our strategy is working and there's no greater evidence of that than justice finally being delivered to osama bin laden. but i don't want to fool you. this continues to be a very tough fight. you know that. but because of this progress, we're moving into a new phase. in the coming months, we'll start transferring responsibility for security to afghan forces. starting this summer we'll begin reducing american forces. as we transition we're build a

long-term partnership so al qaeda can never threaten america from that country. as your commander in chief, i'm confident we're going to succeed in this mission. the reason i'm confident, is because in you i see the strength of america's military. and because in recent days we've all seen the resilience of the american spirit. this week i received a letter from a girl in new jersey. she wrote to me on monday after the news bin laden had been killed. and she explained how she still remembers that september morning almost 10 years ago. she was only four years old. her father, glen, was trapped inside the world trade center.

in those final frantic moments, knowing he might not make it, he called home. and she remembers watching her mom sobbing as she spoke to her husband and passed the phone to payton. and in words that were hard to hear but she's never forgotten, he said to her, "i love you, payton, and i will always be watching over you. so yesterday payton, her mom and her sister avery joined me at ground zero. now payton is 14. these past 10 years have been tough for her. in her letter she said every since my father died, i lost a part of me that can never be replaced. she describes her childhood as a little girl struggling to shine through all the darkness in her life. but every year more and more payton is shining through. she's playing a lot of sports

including lacrosse and track just like her dad. she's doing well in school, mentoring younger students, looking ahead to high school in the fall. so yesterday she was with us, strong, confident young woman, honoring her father's memory even as she set her sights on the future. for her and for all of us, this week has been a reminder of what we're about as a people. it's easy to forget sometimes, especially in times of hardship, times of uncertainty, coming out of the worst recession since the great depression, haven't fully recovered from that. we've made enormous sacrifices in two wars. but the essence of america, the values that have defined us for more than 200 years, they don't just endure, they are stronger

than ever. we're still the america that does the hard things, that does the great things. we're the nation that always dared to dream. we're the nation that's willing to take risks. revolutionaries breaking free to head west, innovators building railways, laying highways and putting a man on the surface of the moon. we are the nation and you are the division that parachuted behind enemy lines on d-day, freeing a continent, liberating concentration camps. we're the nation that all those years ago sent your division to a high school in arkansas so that nine black students could get an education. that was you, because we believed that all men are created equal, that everyone deserves a chance to realize their god-given potential. we're the nation that has faced tough times before. tougher times than these.

but when our union frayed, our depression came, our harbor was bombed, our country was attacked on that september day, when disaster strikes like that tornado that just ripped through this region, we do not falter, we don't turn back. we pick ourselves up and we get on with the hard task of keeping our country strong and safe. see, there's nothing we can't do together, 101st, when we remember who we are, and that is the united states of america. when we remember that, no problem is too harry reid and no challenge is too great. that is why i am so confident with your brave service america's greatest days are still to come. god bless you. god bless the 101st. and god bless the united states of america. >> the president with an emotional, passionate

celebratory tone as he greets thousands of american military returning from the theater of war in the middle east on a day of great victory for america on the very specific task tied directly to the events of 9/11 of capturing or killing the mastermind behind those attacks, osama bin laden. the president thanking individuals and groups in that room. prior to the speech having spent time with the special operations team, not just individuals on this team, by the way, but one dog also involved with that mission. i'm sure that dog is one that is eating a steak at this hour, as i hope that the men themselves, and women who made this happen are. we're joined by tory berman and coming up on a week since the

news of sunday night. the broader conversation the world as we know it, america as we know it, in a simple context, how has the president done this week with this news? >> it's been an extraordinary week for him, even going back to what seemed like a low moment when he releases the birth certificate pinned against the wall by a carnival barker. many said why did he have to do that, why now? why this guy making him do that? then the humor he attacks it with at the white house correspondence dinner sort of brings him back. and the strength and intelligence and courage that he shows in the attack of bin laden not carpet bomb but do a precision attack. and then the dignity he showed to the arab world and bin laden in particular by not releasing some gory grotesque photograph which would be spiking the football. many of us calling, including me, we want to see this picture. we want to see this guy dead. that's not what we do, not how i play the game.

even though many of you want it, that's not how i'm going to do it. we've seen so much of obama's character this week. and i'm proud he's my president right now. >> you are saying, ari, the president does particularly well when the news is good. when there's a way for him to ride, he's one of the best to ride it. in this case he may have created this very wave himself by the decision to actually run in mission. >> the good news fits into the obama narrative, conquering obstacles, being one nation, rising above the noise and partisanship. at these pivotal moments when we get osama bin laden, he makes the rest of the people, the donald trumps of the world look small. he does rise up and reach these big moments. >> especially in comparison to the republican debate that happened last night, which at moments was quite petty, he was incredible this week. i want to touch on something tory was saying that i 100%

agree w to me the decision to release the photographs or not release the photographs had less to do with the pragmatic arguments, what would it do in the arab world, et cetera, et cetera, and everything to do with who we are as a nation. i believe we are an exceptional nation. the foundations of that exceptionlism lie in the way we treat our enemies, even when they don't deserve that respect. for their on this earth, we treat them with respect. we see today al qaeda is also admitting bin laden is dead. it was unnecessary to release these gory photographs. >> an interesting to happen before the speech occurred in the conversation with james woolsey, basically asserting that the narrative as we go into next week will start to turn to who knew this guy was there, how long did they know this guy was there, and what kind -- your friend, your enemy?

my joke all week, with friends like saudi arabia, who needs pakistan? how does the president play that, because he has such momentum and such leadership. but that question is going to be asked in the white house press room next week. that question is going to be asked on this show next week. that question is going to be asked in the newspapers next week. it's unclear how that's going to play out. >> the president is all about unity. this is an incredible moment of unity bringing the country together as he's been noting in no way since 9/11. we all feel proud as americans and unified and together as one. next week we break down to the more political global issues of pakistan, how could you have not known? the guy is in the gigantic billion dollar place, eight times larger than any other place around, burning trash. no telephone or internet -- >> basically he's living under military protection. he's basically living inside the

surveillance of the pakistani military. >> i'm sorry, i'm wondering what is the diplomatic conversation between the americans looking at the pakistanis like, come on, you guys, we know you knew. >> to be fair, you know, we don't know everything that everyone knew and the conversations that went on behind the scenes and not, but it does stretch the imagination to believe they didn't know anything that was going on. very interesting breaking news today was pakistan arrested about 40 people who they believed were involved in harboring and sheltering bin laden there. to me that's a symbol they are saying, look, we do care about terrorism. look what we're doing now. >> questions about not only what pakistan knew but internally for us. what is the end game make what are we doing in pakistan in what's going on with libya? completely knocked off the front page is libya right now. >> i'll wrap this up, which is why ultimately i agree with james woolsey's point we have to

shatter the strategic importance of oil, it ends up compromising our own values, our own integrity and putting us in bed with people we don't want to be in bed with. if we turn our attention to shattering oil as a decade as a group as sure as we turned our attention to getting bin laden that will for ourselves and our children create a universe we want to be involved in. i want to take a break. i'll look back on an incredible week in american history after this. and maybe up to 8 in a day. or...choose aleve and 2 pills for a day free of pain. enjoy the flight. there's another way to minimize litter box odor: purina tidy cats. our premium litters now work harder to help neutralize odors in multiple cat homes. purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home.

the new blackberry playbook. it runs all this at the same time. ♪ why can't every tablet do that? but i wasn't winning any ribbons managing my diabetes. it was so complicated. there was a lot of information out there. but it was frustrating trying to get the answers i needed. then my company partnered with unitedhealthcare. they provided onsite screenings, healthy cooking tips. that's a recipe i'm keeping. ( announcer ) turning complex data into easy tools. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

i think one of the things we'll see in the 2012 presidential election, when one of the republicans stands up and says i disagree with obama on taxes but he's as much as an american as i am. the problem is they won't say that. >> >> the president's announcement monday night, as we all know capturing osama bin laden a priority for barack obama well before he became

commander in chief. >> if we have osama bin laden in our sights, we will kill bin laden, we will crush al qaeda. that has to be our biggest national security priority. >> breaking news out of washington at this hour. president barack obama in about 15 minutes from now is expected to make a surprise announcement. >> we can only speculate on what that might be. >> white house officials not saying -- >> president obama will announce tonight that -- i'm sorry i'm being told to hold it -- >> the united states has conducted an operation that killed osama bin laden. >> this is truly one of those moments people will remember where they were when they heard it. osama bin laden is dead. >> this is an incredibly significant blow. >> this is nothing less than breathtaking. >> it's not natural to celebrate the death of someone but somehow it feels natural tonight. >> the united states carried out an operation and ultimately captured the death of osama bin

laden. >> revenge is not a good feeling, but this is good. >> it was a dark cloud looming over this place as long as he was alive. now that he's gone, the sun has come out. >> a major step psychologically to say we're on our way soon enough. we're going to finish what we started. >> the big story today, of course, osama bin laden is dead. >> i know that unity we felt on 9/11 has frayed a little bit over the years. >> there is no closure. there's justice that bin laden is no longer a threat to us. >> part of this, helped us achieve our goal and also helped us keep our citizens safe. i couldn't be prouder of all of you. >> on nights like this one we can say to families who lost

loved ones to al qaeda's terror, justice has been done. >> extraordinary events and an extraordinary opportunity for all of us. they say that we make worse decisions when we're afraid because the blood leaves your brain and goes down bo your legs. as a nation we have made made decisions based on that fear in the decades since 9/11. if anything comes from all of this, it will perhaps be, i hope, a reduction in the amount of fear that effects the totality of all our decision making such that we can move forward in a way that addresses our best interests, our equal opportunity not just in rhetoric but in actual enterprise, our entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to do the hard things that aren't just military operations but structural operations and real policy decisions in the way we run our own country. that's it for