breaking news. osama bin laden, the terrorist mastermind who ordered the 9/11 attacks, is dead. killed by u.s. special forces in a raid deep inside pakistan. >> tonight, i can report to the american people, and to the world, the united states has conducted an operation that world, the united states has conducted an operation that killed osama bin laden. captioning funded by cbs good morning, everybody, and thanks for joining us, i'm betty nguyen. for nearly ten years, he was the most wanted man in the world. but no more. this morning, osama bin laden, mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, is dead. killed by u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s in

a daring raid deep inside pakistan. bin laden's body was recovered and later buried at sea. the raid happened early monday pakistan time at a fortified compound in the city of abbottabad north of the capital islamabad. pakistan television aired pictures showing what appeared to be the compound on fire following the raid. late last night, president obama summoned reporters to the white house press room to announce the successful mission. >> a small team of americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. no americans were harmed. >> the announcement triggered an outpouring of celebrations. outside the white house. at the ground zero site where the twin towers fell on 9/11. and elsewhere around the country. we'll have special coverage throughout this broadcast, along with expert analysis of the covert operation that finally ran down the al qaeda leader. but we begin this morning with joel brown in washington. good morning, joel. >> betty, good morning to you. the cia spent the last 2 1/2

months mapping out this top secret plan to kill or capture bin laden. it ended in a firefight in pakistan with bin laden and his guards, and the world's most notorious terrorist did not survive. chanting outside the white house, after getting the news osama bin laden was dead. >> usa! >> reporter: in a late-night address the president said the american military killed the al qaeda leader during a raid in pakistan. >> the death of bin laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al qaeda. >> reporter: the cia started getting leads on bin laden in august. and late last week, pinpointed his location. a secure compound in an affluent suburb outside of islamabad. sunday, president obama gave the final order to attack. >> after a firefight, they killed osama bin laden and took custody of his body. >> reporter: u.s. officials say three other men in the compound

were killed, including one of bin laden's adult sons. the mission began with four blackhawk helicopters swooping in, carrying about two dozen special operatives. one of the helicopters was forced to make a hard landing after mechanical failure. but no one was injured. in fact, no members of the military were harmed during the mission. the manhunt for bin laden lasted nearly a decade. since he masterminded the worst terror attacks on u.s. soil on september 11th, 2001. former president bush, who was in office that day, said in a statement, no matter how long it takes, justice will be done. u.s. officials are concerned about al qaeda striking back. the state department has issued a worldwide travel alert for u.s. citizens. but that's not stopping the celebrating in the u.s. >> it's one of the few days you get to rejoice and you know that justice is a real thing. >> reporter: the u.s. says bin laden's body is being handled in accordance with islamic tradition. this mission to get bin laden was the world's best-kept secret. not even close u.s. allies were told and only a small circle of

people here in washington were aware of it. betty? >> all right, joel brown in washington for us this morning. thank you, joel. joining us now is cbs news national security analyst juan zarate. juan, thanks for being with us. >> my pleasure, betty. >> first i want to ask you about this. details are still emerging now, but what can you tell us about the operation? >> well, it seems that american officials had intel leads and trails starting in august, leading to this compound well within pakistan, near the capital of islamabad. what president obama said last night was that they started getting more fidelity with respect to the intelligence, and got enough information that they thought bin laden was at this compound, a fairly large compound, and decided to execute, kill or capture operation led by u.s. special forces. this was u.s. forces alone. not with pakistani forces. the information was being kept very closely held. within the u.s. government. when i worked in the bush administration, that was

typically the case when you were talking about sensitive sources, and high-value targets like bin laden. and so, this was kept secret. and was executed in a way that appears to be to perfection. and what we have is al qaeda's number one leader dead tonight. >> this was an operation carried out by u.s. forces alone. we heard you say that. we heard the president say that. but how much help do you think those forces had from pakistan? >> well, i don't think operationally they had any help from the pakistanis. i think the u.s. wanted to keep the operation secret. they wanted to execute it as quickly and efficiently as possible. it was fairly deep in to pakistani territory, and so the likelihood that the pakistanis would have given authorization for this kind of a military operation this far into pakistani territory was probably fairly low. and so, the president made a calculated decision that it was better to go after bin laden and kill or capture him than it was to risk any sort of failing of the cooperation with pakistan by prenotifying them.

so this was an american operation, drawn up over time, and executed to perfection today. >> put this into perspective for us. when it comes to taking out osama bin laden, how does that affect al qaeda as a whole? >> well, folks have tended to dismiss the importance of bin laden, often referring to him merely as the figurehead of al qaeda. i think that diminishes his role a bit too much. he is the inspirational, symbolic leader of not just al qaeda but the broader sunni extremist and terrorist movement. he has led the ideological innovation for al qaeda, putting america as target number one for all of the terrorists around the world. and most importantly, this kill of bin laden comes at a time when al qaeda has been struggling to remain relevant amidst the arab revolutions and amidst some internal fractures and debates about the future of the movement. so this isn't just important

because you've killed the symbolic head of the group. this comes at a strategic time when al qaeda has been struggling for its relevance, and when the united states really takes the strategic steps to begin the end of al qaeda, i think in a fairly robust way. >> what do you think the expected reaction is going to be in the arab world when it comes to the death of osama bin laden? not only the arab world, but also within al qaeda? should we expect more attacks? >> well, i think the state department has put out a warning just notifying the embassies around the world in conflicts to prepare for potential attacks. i think you have to be wary of potential spikes of threats and attacks coming from al qaeda or al qaeda affiliates or those who are bin laden supporters of some sort. that said, you know, bin laden has been losing popularity over time not just the arab world, but throughout muslim communities. and so, there may be some who have admired him, and admired

him for facing up to the world's superpower in the united states. but i think many folks who've been victim to al qaeda terrorism in iraq, in morocco, in turkey, and all around the world, will not shed too many tears over the demise of bin laden. >> meanwhile the state department has issued a travel alert for american citizens abroad. what are they worried about, specifically? >> well, i think any time there's a major event like this in terms of terrorism, where a senior al qaeda figure, the most important figure, bin laden, is taken out, you have to be worried about potential attacks, and threats coming to american citizens, and directed at american citizens from al qaeda affiliates themselves. al qaeda has global reach. i think one of the things to keep in mind is this does not end the threat from al qaeda itself overnight. you have groups in yemen, north africa, central asia, even elements of the leadership still in pakistan who could perpetrate attacks and who have tried recently.

so we've got to be wary of that. the state department clearly is cognizant of that and i think that's why you see the warnings being put out. >> cbs news national security analyst juan zarate, we appreciate your insight. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you, betty. >> and we will be right back with more special coverage of the death of osama bin laden. this is the "cbs morning news." swollen joints, , i've been in your shoes. one day i'm on p of the world... the next i'm saying... i have this thing called psoriatic arthritis. i had some intense pain. it progressively got worse. my rheumatologist told me about enbrel. i'm surprised how quickly my symptoms have been managed. [ male announcer ] because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu.

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new york. that is where randall pinkston is right now and joins us live. good morning, randall. >> good morning, betty. throughout the night they've been coming here to ground zero, hanging american flags, singing patriotic songs, shouting usa, usa, even drinking champagne, marking the death of america's most wanted terrorist. ♪ crowds marched in the streets around ground zero to celebrate the killing of osama bin laden. among them, army captain patrick valdell just back from afghanistan. >> i'm proud of the guys willing to go out there and take care of business. >> reporter: it didn't take long for news to spread after president obama's statement late last night. >> let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 that we have never forgotten your loss. >> usa! >> reporter: times square looked more like a party as hundreds took part in the celebration. >> it's a great hour for usa. great day for usa. >> reporter: in philadelphia, instead of the game, baseball fans were glued to their phones. while some broke out in chants

of usa, usa! new york city mayor michael bloomberg called the killing of bin laden a critically important victory and nowhere was that victory felt more than here at ground zero, where nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks. >> now that he's finally dead, it's -- it feels good. >> reporter: michael carroll lost his father, a firefighter, on 9/11. he said bin laden's death won't ease his pain but it does bring some closure. >> to feel excited about somebody's death, we have feeling, but when it comes to him, it's all right. >> reporter: for many americans, this is a day they waited for for nearly a decade. a moment some thought would never come. and with the celebration, a cold, hard reality, many saying that osama bin laden's death is important, but the threat continues. reporting live from ground zero, i'm randall pinkston, back to you, betty. >> all right, cbs' randall pinkston, thank you for that. there is more continuing coverage of the death of osama bin laden, that's just ahead.

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shows thunderstorms on the rise in the midwest. clear skies can be seen in the southwest. northern plains, and parts of the northeast. while the northwest gets another wave of rain showers. later today, a slow-moving storm system will spread from texas to new york. there is sunshine from the northern plains to the southwest. it will be in the 40s and 50s ie southeast. the u.s. operation that killed osama bin laden was conducted by a small group of americans at a mansion north of the capital of pakistan. jerry van dyke is a cbs news consultant on afghanistan and pakistan. he spent years in the area, and in 2008 was held capti days by the taliban. he joins us with some insight. good morning to you, jerry. >> good morning, betty. >> as i mentioned, you spent some time in that same area where bin laden was killed. what is that location like? >> it's not a suburb of islamabad, as people are saying. it's about an hour and a half north of the city. it's up in the mountains.

it's what the british used to call a hill station. it's very hot in islamabad. you go up in the mountains in abbottabad, which is where pakistanis go like the british before them, when the british ruled that area, to get away from the heat. it's also an area where there are many pakistani military forces. it's right next to a place called mansera which is right next to kashmir and this is where pakistanis train their militants who fight in kashmir. it's a very delicate area. not an area where americans are normally allowed. and it's very, very surprising that osama bin laden would be in this area without ever having been seen by anybody else. >> well, i want to get to that. because given that it is a heavily populated area, how surprised are you that the u.s. is actually able to kill him there? >> they clearly had information, not just from here, but inside pakistan itself, clearly in that town itself. there -- i can't emphasize this enough, that there are two major pakistani military bases there.

how in the world could someone who does not speak urdu, the language of that area, a group of arabs, live in that region, in that compound, for so many years, without ever having been seen? very clearly that they had, that is to say the bin laden group there, had help from the outside. where did they get their food? when i was a prisoner of the taliban, we had to be very careful about them -- or our jailers did, about the amount of water that even flowed out from our compound, because it wou be seen by more people there. if there's more water flowing out there are more people than normal there, what is going on? how does someone hide in that area, particularly with a $25 million to $50 million bounty on his head, without somebody knowing it. >> big picture now area, what does bin laden's death mean for al qaeda and the taliban? >> what it means for both groups is that they will certainly, without any hesitation, continue to fight. the taliban are different from the mujahadin, they fought as

america's allies in the 1980s against the soviet union. i think they're far more radicalized. they're far more concerned. they're far more dedicated because this is a religious struggle. before it was a nationalist struggle. al qaeda is seen, and many before in the 1990s when al qaeda and the taliban were working to the that al qaeda was in charge. now the taliban are in charge. but the people who had me and everybody i talked to along the afghan/pakistani border all those many years i worked there said that there's really no difference at a fundamental level between the views of the pakistani taliban, and al qaeda. they will both will continue to fight. >> all right. cbs news consultant jerry van dyke. thanks so much for being with us. and his book "captive: my time as a prisoner of the taliban" is available in stores and online. when we return, more of our special coverage on the death of osama bin laden. this is the "cbs morning news."

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on the "cbs morning news," here's a look at today's weather. a storm system is moving slowly

from texas to ohio. on the west coast, there will be light showers over washington and oregon, with plenty of sunshine in the states to the south. now, recapping this morning's top story. the death of osama bin laden. it happened early monday, pakistan time, at a heavily fortified compound in a city north of pakistan's capital islamabad. a team of u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s raided the compound, shot it out with bin laden and others, and killed the al qaeda leader. late last night, president obama summoned reporters to the white house press room to announce the successful mission, which followed months of intelligence work and planning. >> a small team of americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. no americans were harmed. >> bin laden's body was recovered and u.s. officials say it was later buried at sea. the announcement of bin laden's death triggered celebrations outside the white house, at

the ground zero site where the twin towers fell on 9/11, and elsewhere around the country. this is the "cbs morning news." oh, bayer aspirin? i'm not having a heart attack. it's my back. it works great for pain. [ male announcer ] nothing's proven to relieve pain better than extra strength bayer aspirin. it rushes relief to the site of pain. feel better? yeah. thanks for the tip. it rushes relief to the site of pain. it's real fruit juice; crisp, sparkling water; and no added sugar. and they come in these really cool cans. you want one? i'll wait a bit. all right. mm. refreshing. i couldn't sleep right. next day it took forever to get going. night after night, i sat up. sprayed up. took a shower... or took a pill. then i tried drug-free breathe right advanced. and instantly, i breathed better! i slept better. it felt...better. thank you, breathe right! [ male announcer ] breathe better, sleep better, feel better.

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in the war against terrorism as we'll tell you, marty has the first morning weather. >> let's take a look at the day. it's going to be a mostly cloudy day. i got to be honest for you, the radar has some moisture r tour on it. i'm show you radar, don, take it away. >> big breaking news this morning as the world's most famous terrorist has been killed. all the latest details on the death of osama bin laden. what happened after police arrived at where a hand had

opened fire on his wife. how a television show almost ended in disaster. the new workweek and report on traffic in a couple minutes.

wjz hd and wjz.com, baltimore. >> good morning maryland. now, don scott. marty bass, and the latest breaking news from wjz's news team. your first morning weather and your traffic control with sharon zsa bat a, wjz, maryland's news station. >> americans are celebrating the death of osama bin laden, as soon as the president announced the news overnight people ran into the street around the country, this was the scene in new york. more on the death of a terrorist in a few minutes.