: for bin laden the early days on the battlefield were terrifying. >> when bin laden used to hear thed to jump and he used to run away. i still remember that me and my elder and younger brother, we used to laugh. >> reporter: but several years on the battlefield would harden bin laden. fear gave way to ambition. mohammed bin laden's shy and reticent young son osama, once reluctant to lead, was now ready to command his own all-arab army in afghanistan. his mentor adamantly opposed this idea. it was the beginning of a rift that would never heal. >> bin laden went and he built up his own camps. he built up his own front. and he started doing his own battles. my father doesn't want arabs to work separately. and that's what bin laden did in 1987. >> their first test was the battle of jaji in the spring of 1987. hutaiffa azzam fought alongside osama bin laden, who was suffering from blood pressure in the thin mountain air. >> it was a very hard battle and he joined the battle for more than four days. >> reporter: the russians fell back. jaji was the first victory for bin laden's arab army.

well that's not what bin laden had in mind. before responding, bin laden had written at length about yemen and said in his mind that such an islamic state if prematurely declared is doomed to fail and that it's likely to lead to aborting the work of jihad. instead bin laden thought yemen should serve as a reserve and support base for jihadis engaged in open warfare in countries that are occupied like iraq and afghanistan. so the letter addressed is unambiguous and somewhat conde sending in its tone. on the question of declaring a state, the author wrote almost mockingly. of course we want an islamic state in which we establish god's law but only capable of holding on to it. the author reminded him that if unable to hold on to afghanistan as an islamic state, the chances of jihadis holding on to yemen are even slimmer. as to the request for a senior leader to be dispatched to yemen to assist in the operational work this was politely denied citing security related reasons even though bin laden was planning to dispatch somebody th

"cnn presents: in the footsteps of bin laden." of bin laden." it begins right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> even in death he remains the face of global terror. osama bin laden. a man who unleashed so much devastation here at ground zero and around the world. the hunt for bin laden of course ended when he was shot and killed in pakistan. a violent end to a violent man. a man of enormous contradictions. to understand how bin laden went from the son of saudi privilege to the world's most wanted terrorist, we want to revisit our award-winning documentary "in the footsteps of bin laden." here's christiane ammanture. >>> he was a young gentleman, very gentle, very polite. >> he said if i see you again, i'll kill you. >> he is the most popular muslim leader in the islamic world today. >> translator: his voice. when you hear it, it makes you want to stand up right away to join him, to fight. >> what he's good at is killing civilians. ♪ >> osama bin laden was the world's most wanted terrorist. he haunted americans and millions of others

seth myers makes a joke about osama bin laden. >> people think bin laden is hiding in the hindu kush, but did you know that every day from 4:00 to 5:00, he hosts a show on c-span? >> how do you keep an even keel, even when we look back on the videotape of that night, there's no real depiction that there's something afoot. >> you know, when i go down to tuscaloosa, i'm very much present there, because the tragedy and the devastation that had happened to the folks there, i think, consumed all my attention. so that wasn't difficult to focus on. you know, the correspondents' dinner was a different story. you know, that was a little bit of acting going on there, because my mind was elsewhere. >> i ran into many friends and acquaintances that night who subsequently remarked after the fact that -- pretty good poker player. he didn't give anything out. >> we didn't want to have any sense, anywhere that something was up. that we had had any sort of mass cancellations with respect to the dinner. i did run into one correspondent who said, you're leaving? you're leaving early. where are you going

the minor issue was killing osama bin laden. it was the right thing to do, so i think that's a minor point. that's an unmitigated good to the administration. the bigger question is going to be the president says we're coming out by 2014, combat troops out by 2013. will it work or not, and by the way, will the romney campaign then say, i have a better idea. what would it be? to stand there and win 77% of america not supporting the win. >> i have to go back to what you just said. if i know what said, you said it is political theatre in the best way. you're saying that despite the fact that many people feel the president is politicizing the death of bin laden, and you've had mitt romney attacking the president for doing so, and yet you call it political theatre in the best possible way? >> there are 317 million of us. we ought to vote for the next administration based on how the foreign policy and defense strategy in the united states are being handled. tonight we're going to hear from the commander in chief on the battlefield sayi

bin laden was aware that the brand was tarnished. he urged not to use al qaeda name because it would be bad for funding. if you take the picture from the documents are i was able to look at from the compound, it's an organization in great disarray. they understood it themselves. >> you actually got access to this compound. there was still blood on the ceiling, right? >> yeah. i looked up in the third floor bedroom and i thought this would be like going to hit this bunker. instead it was like visiting somebody's not very nice suburban compound. and you can see where the navy s.e.a.l.s shot bin laden in the face. and there was patterns of blood on the ceiling. it was pretty low. he was about 6'4" and the ceiling was seven foot. i looked at his toilet. it was a tiny little room. tiny little kitchen. the whole picture of the house was one of confining, not uncomfortable, but not a mansion. >> you also noticed some just for men hair dye. >> yeah. this guy, we know he was dyeing his hair and his beard. but on the shelf in the bedroom and t

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seth meyers makes a joke about osama bin laden. >> people think bin laden is hiding in the hindu kushn c-span? >> there's no real depiction there's something afoot. >> you know, when i go down to tuscaloosa, i'm very much present there. because the tragedy and the devastation that had happened to the folks there, i think consumed all my attention. so that wasn't difficult to focus on. the correspondents' dinner was a different story. that was a little bit of acting going on there, because my mind was elsewhere. >> i ran into many friends and acquaintances that night who subsequently remarked after the fact that pretty good poker player. he didn't give anything up. >> we didn't want to have any sense anywhere that something was up. that we had any mass cancellations at the dinner. i did run into one correspondent who said you're leaving early. where are you going? i said i got this thing tomorrow. >> i can't remember if you went to that correspondents' dinner. but here's the president going to tuscaloosa, correspondents' dinner. you have to laugh it up. you've got to live a little bit

when you heard that usama bin laden had been killed.ow, in an effort that once united americans divided some of them. today, president obama continued what many feel is a very long victory lap. this one extending all the way to afghanistan. chief white house correspondent ed henry begins our coverage on the bin laden anniversary. good evening. >> reporter: good evening. president will address the american people live in from afghanistan in primetime. #:30 p.m. eastern time. in a preview to the u.s. troops he again mentioned bin laden and said the battle is not over. this is the beginning of the end of america's longest war. >> we have been able to decimate ranks of al-qaeda. a year ago, we were able to bring usama bin laden to justice. >> reporter: under the cover of darkness, president obama secretly left washington around midnight for the third unannounced trip to afghanistan. a chance to mark the first anniversary of the killing of usama bin laden. aides insist the real purpose was meeting with afghan president hamid karzai, to sign

. >> we can report the president will announce that osama bin laden is dead. bin laden is dead. that's the major development tonight. something the united states has sought to accomplish since the deadly attacks on 9/11. >> i want to take a moment and show you this picture. we showed it briefly, but i want to go back here. this is across the street from the white house in washington. >> usa, usa, usa, usa. ♪ for the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ >> that was one year ago today. it's not an accident that the president is marking the anniversary of the death of bin laden by being in afghanistan. the 9/11 attacks on the united states were planned and directed and carried out by the al qaeda organization that was headquartered in afghanistan, that trained its membership in afghanistan. it was given sanctuary by the afghan government and led by osama bin laden. that's why within three and a half weeks within the 9/11 attacks u.s. forces were on the ground in afghanistan. by five weeks after that the taliban was gone from the afghan capital and four weeks after that, a m

special forces killed osama bin laden.r mission has been fulfilled in the war torn country. but is it? with me now is michael hastings. he's the author of "the operators: the inside story of america's war in afghanistan." well, pretty pressing title there, michael. what do you make of the president's speech today? is this the end of anything or even the begin of the end of anything? really an attempt to try and extricate america without too much embarrassment? >> well, piers, can i say how cool it is to be following dan rather on television? great interview. i mean, that's cool, man. some sobering thoughts he had about journalism. okay, so the president's speech in kabul, the timing, the anniversary of bin laden, what i want to point is so much of modern warfare, especially in the campaigns in iraq and in afghanistan is a public relations war. it's to convince the united states, our citizens, that we actually won or were on the verge of winning. so the timing of this from my read on it is to almost get the afghanistan war

prior to the raid against bin laden was this notion of impunity. they could go and find a way to hide out and this long arm of americanism and westernism couldn't get to them, all right? and then fifth, that they, that is al qaeda, would serve as base certain as conquest of afghanistan and included in that is western pakistan in the name of global jihad. this is important because of the mystical origins because of where al qaeda came from and how it built up at the end of the soviet jihad peer and then turned itself toward local gee s an -- jihadi activities and then came together to focus and defeat the near enemy. these five elements, three have been totally castigated by the raid. this notion of a brand name that was free from retribution or had impugnity from being captured or attacked, that was brought to its need. most of us who follow jihad,web sites so that clearly over the next two, three months, this notion of how could this happen followed by this claim and revenge for rage. the notion of impunity, living above and beyond the law that, c

, and obviously that obama had on osama bin laden. are they just trying to say, hey, barack obama is the better decisionmaker here, he was decisive, made the right decisi decision, and look at the result? >> absolutely. that's probably fair game. it's going to be tricky for romney to back away from past statements but he did say them. in subsequent weeks at the time he said that in 2008 and what romney did say is it was a problem that was bigger than just one person, just one man, that he would go after the whole apparatus. but he down played the importance of bin laden at that time. he did make those remarks and later said, of course, he, too, would go after bin laden. but it seems to me he said those comments. they're obviously fair game. in the moment, you have to remember president bush had spent at that point seven years himself trying to go after bin laden and failed to do so. and by that time, president bush was saying, yes, it's bigger than any one person himself. so i think now, again, it's something that romney is going to h

even after the death of bin laden. what is your feeling about the importance of a concern over domestic terrorism? one speaker emphasized it strongly. what is the panel's concern about that? >> mary? >> i'm -- on the one hand, what i've said might seem to minimize the danger from terrorist attacks, but, in fact, terrorist attacks are one of the major means that al qaeda has used in this war as a whole. so it's one of their major tactics they've used in this war. so i personally do not believe that anything i said should minimize the threat that we face for potential terrorist attacks. and i'd like to just say about zawahiri in particular. if he were smart, he would never carry out another attack on the u.s. again. because unless americans are dying, apparently we don't care. so if he were smart, he would never, ever, ever attack us again. and keep doing what has been going on in the rest of the world as one person put it to me, the garden spots of the world. this person put it dismissively. and we wouldn't -- we wouldn

bin laden really was there." and then he said... came back, "we think we have geronimo k.i.a.." >> pelley: killed in action? >> that's correct. >> pelley: what was the scene in the operations center of the c.i.a. at that moment? >> well, you know, it wasn't like we were high fiving. it was more like, frankly, we kind of looked at each other and said all of the work that had been done, all of the questions that had been raised, all of the risks that had been talked about that, you know, that in the ended the all proven right. >> pelley: two months after the raid, panetta moved from the c.i.a. to the pentagon as defense secretary. we were reminded today that al qaeda still has ambitions to strike. a federal jury in new york convicted a man of plotting a suicide bombing of new york subways. the man could get life in prison. in another terror case, five self-proclaimed anarchists are in a federal lockup tonight in cleveland. prosecutors say the men intended to blow up a major bridge outside the city but they were caught thanks to an f.b

the affiliates ignored bin laden's orders. >> so damaged is al qaeda's image, that bin laden considered changing its name. >> despite its troubles, bin laden was still able to focus on how al qaeda could explode the emerging arab spring. less than a week before he was killed, he wrote orders to his operatives. incite people who have not yet revolted to rebel against their rulers. in an interview for "rock center" secretary of state hillary clinton told brian williams, while bin laden is gone, the threat from al qaeda lives on. >> yes, there is still a lot of danger out there, but i believe we're making progress. it's not just about killing the messenger. you have to take on the message. >> the 175 pages of documents released today were carefully selected to put the worst possible face on al qaeda. and avoid the accidental release of potentially damaging secrets, but u.s. officials tell us there are as many as 15,000 of these documents so there's a lot they're not telling us. >> jim miklaszewski at the pentagon. jim, thanks, as always. >>> in domestic news, a story we may all experience

>> bin laden likes to watch ms-nbc. >> that, too.heir affiliates and weaknesses, that's good information for us to have. you don't want to tell the other side, you know that. all of this is bad policy, which frankly, is more detrimental to us as a country than the bad politics. >> sean: one thing we didn't bring up in this entire night is, our enemies now know that this president thinks that enhanced interrogation is torture. so i assume on the -- you know, as they prepare, on their side of the war, they're thinking, okay, they are teaching all of their combatants, don't worry, the united states. get yourself a lawyer. lawyer up. don't say a word -- >> exactly. you want to know how your enemy's going to treat you, if you are captured and what you are going to be dealing with. any bad guy now could be properly trained that he won't be put to the grind, you know, he won't be enhanced interrogation, which i agree is not torture by any means, and they can set boundaries by which they can speak or not speak. i would say this really impact

but documents seized in last year's raid on bin laden's hideout revealed bin laden was still intent on killing americans. the documents show bin laden had ordered al qaeda to assassinate president obama or general david petraeus. kill obama or petraeus, bin laden wrote, not biden, gates or mullen. but in a documentary on the discovery channel, terrorism experts say al qaeda was incapable of such a plot, and bin laden bordered on delusi delusional. >> bin laden still very much had a vision for al qaeda. he wanted al qaeda to go after the spectacular attack. >> reporter: but relentless air strikes by u.s. predator drones had taken out most of al qaeda's top leaders. al qaeda central was in disarray and bin laden was losing his grip. in the documents, bin 4r5den was alarmed at al qaeda affiliates in places like iraq and yemen, were killing more muslims than foreigners. >> all of a sudden people start to say, excuse me, we hate the americans, and we still do, but we don't see you guys as a solution, either, because all you do is kill us. >> reporter: bin laden wrote, focus on the desired g

somewhat revealing is bin laden's concern is what many consider is bin laden's success story. he was anxious that they were attempting to complete more ambitious actions than capable of sustaining. it appears its leader had sent a letter either to bin laden or to al qaeda in which he wrote if you ever want some

the time bin laden lived there? >> well, he was at this particular house for five years in the country for nine. we are hearing from the only effective independent investigation in bin laden that he was retireed by al qaeda as early as 2003. they found him to be a liability t cutting off al qaeda sources it would be hard to keep him there. al qaeda effectively sold him out to the cia. that's how ultimately he was allowed to become vulnerable and eventually fond. looks like he was let down by absolutely everybody including his family>> pakistan was embarrassed a year ago. are the pakistani still trying to pretend it never in fact happened? >> to some extent. we have pakistani spy agency who tried to prevent us were being live on the site today. they got rid of the family a couple days ago trying to ghement out before the anniversary. just removing his house trying to put it effectively behind them. but ultimately pakistan will always be embarrassed by the fact that the world's most wanted terrorist was hiding on its

and he was talking about the politics of bin laden. >> he had an important role in taking out osama bin laden. i think politicizing it was, and trying to draw a distinction between himself and myself was an inappropriate use of the event that brought america together, which is the elimination of osama bin laden. >> at a firehouse where 9/11 heros were lost. even for willard mitt romney and his campaign, that's low. joining me now is joan walsh editor at large of salon.com. and david corn washington bureau chief nor mother jones and also msnbc political analyst. his new book is called "showdown." thank you for joining me. joan, how can they criticize president obama when their play book is politicizing national security? >> they are so brazen. the trip to the firehouse, reverend al, i shouldn't be laughing, it is kind of tragic. but they never fail to shock me. i should say something to set up this whole segment. you know more about politics than i do. but we have to understand that one rule of politician is, there are different standards for democrats and for republicans. so if a democr

on this anniversary of bin laden's killing for which we're all grateful, and bin laden was shelteredkistan. that seems undeniable and the reason the united states has not been able to act more effectively on pack tan stan is precisely this important -- has madis dependent on pakistan and as long as they're in afghanistan in such force, the more dependent they remain. >> now they'll shake hands and exchange these documents and a diplomatic procedure. paul begala is watching this unfold, watching this historic document exchange hans. paul, what do you think? >> i think david frum makes a good point. i do not see this as political at all. the war is very, very unpopular with the american people and they are weir of this war and they don't even support the president's timeline of 2014. we'll see how many troops he expects to lead there in 2024. the president, i don't think his critics have, and he's being political here because frankly the position he's taken in afghanistan has been one that's not been overly popular with the american people. the american people are a war-weary people ri

the real bin laden battle. why it's not about politics. this is "piers morgan tonight." >>> good evening. our big story tonight breaking news. president obama's surprise trip to afghanistan and his speech to americans on the one year anniversary of the mission to take out osama bin laden. >> my fellow americans, we've traveled through more than a decade under the dark cloud of war. yet here in the pre-dawn darkness of afghanistan, we can see the light of a new day on the hordes. the iraq war is over. the number of our troops in harm's way has been cut in half and more will soon be coming home. we have a clear path to fulfill our mission in afghanistan while delivering justice to al qaeda. >> plenty reaction to this momentous day coming up soon. plus my interview with a man who reportered first in the '80s. and why some navy s.e.a.l.s charged that the white house is playing politics in the bin laden battle. we begin tonight with our big story. president obama secret trip to afghanistan. coming here to break down tonight's speech is nick pat

the mission to kill bin laden was run from c.i.a. headquarters, and the man in charge that night was leon panetta. we asked clarissa ward to return to the site of that compound to learn more today about the state of al qaeda. >> reporter: for six years it was the hiding place of the most-wanted man in the world. we arrived in abbottabad to find bin laden's former home is now a playground. we arrived in abbottabad to find bin laden's former home is now a playground. pakistani authorities leveled the house in february. kakar met bin laden in kabul in 1996 when he was a spokesman for the taliban. he is one of few people with close contacts to militant groups in the region. what was your impression of him? >> reporter: but one year after bin laden's death, kakar says al qaeda's forces in pakistan have been diminished to just a few hundred by continuing u.s. air strikes. how much of an impact does osama bin laden's death have on al qaeda? how much of an impact does osama bin laden's death have on al qaeda? >> reporter: this inexperienced

of the death of osama bin laden. now, this week americans remembered that momentous day, but as we did, well, so president obama chose to politicize the matter, both here, at home and abroad. now, the move has many people outraged, including a group called veterans for a safe america. now, take a look at this. >> osama bin laden has been killed. >> there will be no parades. they have already gone back into the shadows, without the outside world even knowing their names. >> kireport, i directed leon panetta. i was briefed, i determined at my direction, i called the president. i was the commander in chief. >> we don't need to spike the football. i said i would go after bin laden if we had a clear shot at him and i did. >> suppose the navy seals had gone in there, suppose they have been captured or killed. the downside would have been horrible. >> that campaign ad is one of the most despicable things you can do. >> i said that i would go after bin laden if we had a clear shot at him and i did. and i did. and i did. and

this was a year after osama bin laden was killed in pakistan. after the president left, there was a car bomb in kabul which killed seven people including children. let's get the latest now. >> air force one touched down in afghanistan in the middle of the night on the anniversary of the killing of bin laden. the president only briefly illuminated by the flash of camera said he wanted to spend the day with troops in harm's way. >> a year ago we were finally able to bring osama bin laden to justice. that could have only happened because each and every one of you, in your own way, were doing your jobs. >> he will also stining new -- also sign a new document marking the end of the war and there will be money and training and no permanent military bases. it was 4:00 a.m. in afghanistan but primetime in america. the president had a message for his countrymen. the goal of defeating al qaeda was in reach and the war coming to an end. >> my fellow americans, we traveled more than a decade under the dark cloud of war. but here, in the predawn hours of afg

referring to bin laden. all of a sudden, oh, yes me too me, i would have totally gotten bin laden. only i wouldn't have spent any money and i wouldn't have tried at all. if there is one person who wouldn't have tried to get mitt get bin laden was mitt romney. >> as far as my personal role and what other folks would do, um i just recommend that everybody take a look at people's previous statements in terms of whether they thought it was appropriate to go in pakistan and take out bin laden. i assume that people meant what they said when they said it. that's been at least my practice. i said i'd go after bin laden if we had a clear shot at him and i did. if there are others who have said one thing and now suggest they would do something else, then i'd go ahead and let them explain it. >> i love that smile on his face. it's like, yeah, i don't know, man. i said i would get bin laden and he's in the bottom of the ocean. and romney it was a disastrous quote for romney. it's not just romney but the entire republica

this was something that appeared at one stage to be abhorrent even to bin laden.s a letter written sort of essentially telling him to tone it down, and then telling al qaeda supporters we need to follow this guy because he was out of control, but the al qaeda leadership, bin laden, couldn't do anything about it. and he's gone on to write to other groups in somalia and yemen don't attack tribes because that's what he did in iraq, which was his overthrow. we saw the sunni awakening that helped to use to crush al qaeda in iraq. so he's learning all these strategic lessons but he wants to make sure they understand. >> so much to get in, nic. including this. a word of warning. al qaeda still has a future in the u.s. and the u.s. is still a target. time understanding my accent. so to make sure people get every word of the geico savings message i've been practicing how to talk like a true chicagoan. switching to geico could save you hundreds of dollars on car insurance... da bears. haha... you people sure do talk funny. geico®. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen perc