i'm michael holmes. >> and i'm carol costello. we would like to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. we want to bring you up to date, up to the minute with the latest details. the al qaeda terrorist was killed inside a mansion. they swept into the building by helicopter and says bin laden was among the five people killed in a firefight. president obama signed off on the mission on friday after months of intelligence work concluded obama was hiding there. >> senior administration officials believe the compound was built five years ago for the specific purpose of hiding bin laden. sources say facial imaging techniques confirmed bin laden's identity. a u.s. government official says dna testing is also under way. the u.s. forces removed his body and they buried him at sea. we'll have many more details on how this unfolded throughout the morning. >> so much to talk about. for nearly ten years now, new york's ground zero has been an emotion no epicenter of 9/11 and all its horrible memories, but within minutes

michael holmes, thank you so much. >>> traveling thousands of miles to held children that this man hasn't even met. meet our cnn hero next. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity, and investing billions of dollars to improve your wireless network experience. from a single phone call to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible. her morning beginsve you the bewith artitis pain.e. that's a cofe and two s. . back to sore knees. back to moreills. the day one but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. st 2il can keep arthritis pain awaall day fewerillshan tylenol. th is laraho chose 2leve anfewells r day free opain. and get the all day pain relief ofleven liquid gels. >>> every day in vietnam, an estimated 23,000 children are living on the streets. an hero of the week is an australian who moved to vietnam and is now giving those kids a chance for a brighter future. >>> here in ha

the but when i brought my son michael holmes from hospital they told me he might be blind deaf or brain damaged but certainly more yet more susceptible cerebral palsy and more susceptible to respiratory infections and monia etc. and then i realized that the air was not attainment here meaning that it was unhealthy to breathe seventeen times that year the year that i brought him home i felt really like our basic civil rights are being violated that i was a certain when i opened up my window that i was getting clean air i wasn't certain that the the earth was clean i wasn't certain that the water that i was drinking was all right and i was terrified for my children. having gone. so i think there's nothing like a mother's instinct as much misery something about that we already have too much or in our air quality is bad and then i realize the basic civics lesson that. i am that somebody. that's when i got involved i said i do this for six months and now is twenty something years ago. lean is louisiana my mental action network and we've been working on public health and opportunity natural r

so there is pro and anti going on. >> well, that was a lot to cover, michael holmes. >> we have at tle. >> yes. >>> and now there is a lot of cool stuff about the spacecraft of the "endeavour" that you may not know. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp medicare supplement insurance. plus you'll get this free g

our michael holmes is going to join us to discuss what the international criminal court can actuallyn a dictator. >>> and there are also some communities who are seeing the worst of the flooding. that is happening now. in others, the water is inching even higher. we're going to take you to the flood zone. building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity, and investing billions of dollars to improve your wireless network experience. from a single phone call to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible. ♪ [ alarm buzzing ] another victim of frequent flyer red tape. [ tires screech ] seat restrictions got him stuck in a vicious circle. it's just not right! i keep earning miles, but it seems like i can never use them. the all-new rapid rewards doesn't have any of that nasty red tape. here he comes again. let's set him free! [ male announcer ] join rapid rewards and enjoy unlimited reward seats, no black

that's not straight all the other major democracies are using the first part of the system so what michael holmes you know what with respect bill that's the that that's not true there are many many many systems of election and i was for example elected under something called called the the whole system of proportional representation which if you like i'll explain to you in excruciating detail no a lot of time. but there are there are. actually are thirty countries including france which he was a very similar system to a.v. and so they use it over two ballots and not one but look what is probably the only thing and also in addition to that and i'm not sure i can say this on russia today but there are but there are ten members ten of the member states of the european union were former eastern bloc countries and they had a as it were a blank blank page but i converse or should decide which electoral system to use and none of the ten have chosen to use first past the post ok which it was because it was a signatory to the first very briefly if not a big fan of yours and i want you to be my m.p. can i

michael holmes joining me from atlanta with much insight. rity there, and the pipe bomb that was found there? >> yes, it was found on a bus with people on it, and the army went in and conducted a controlled explosion. but it was a pipe bomb. there are other suspicious devices, which turned out to be hoaxes, but it gives you the idea of the tensions there. there are 4,000 people involved in the operation of the four-day visit. and you see that automobile for the queen is bomb-proof and bullet-proof, and they are taking no chances here. >> any idea who is responsible for the pipe bomb? any clue? sxwl >> well, you have militant british nationalists who are part of the northern part and not the northern republic, and hundreds of those clashing with police in dublin and also the coded warning of a bomb in england as well in london. >> and michael, i want you to standby for a second, because i want to share some sound that we are getting into cnn of the alleged victim in the imf case. and his name is jeff shapiro who is the attorney for the alleged

michael holmes, cnn, atlanta. >>> record floods are swallowing parts of the u.s.outheast right now forcing evacuations and interstate shutdowns and people are bracing for more. that's coming up next. it's true. you never forget your first subaru. then...over time... become dull... and lose their luster because washing in the bargain brand can leave dirt from the wash on your clothes causing your whites to get dingy. new improved tide plus bleach helps to remove the dirt in one wash to bring your whites back to bright. turning white-ish to...wow. tide plus bleach. style is an option. clean is not. also try tide stain release, the in-wash booster from tide. >>> a look at our top stories right now. the water is rising by the minute and so, too, is concern for residents live ag lon the mississippi river. thousands across six states have evacuated their homes. residents in memphis, tennessee, are bracing for the worst. the river is expected to crest there around 48 feet on wednesday. it will be the worst flooding that city has seen since 1937. and if that wasn't bad en

michael holmes is here to go beyond the headlines into the dangerous situation in syria.ed like syria was immune to all of this sur moil. >> the funny thing is that the syrian leader bashar al assad literally said that his country was immune to such uprisings that we saw in egypt because his regime, to use his words, was in tune with the people. so much for that. syrian protesters been taking some bold risks against their government. these pictures are just so dramatic to watch, too. heartbreaking in many ways. lots of people have laid down their lives to make these protests. so far as many as 850 people dead. thousands have been detained. many are missing, that's according to the united nations. let's talk about bashar al assad. he has at least made promises of getting more freedoms to people. he's pledged to drop the emergency rue. he's bumped up some pay scales. though a lot of people in syria doubt that those moves will amount to much in the big picture. syria does remain one of the region's most repressive regimes an these crackdowns we have seen since protests began

michael holmes joins us with much more on this really disturbing story. >> eo it is horrible.ts and what they are is sexual assaults is what happened to these 17 women. this happened to a protest on march 9 which of course was after hosni mubarak had stepped down, but when the protesters were pushing for more reform saying that the pace of the changeover with the military running the country was too slow. and what happened for the first time, you saw the military actually target protesters, and you can see it there, and they went in and arrested, and they arrested hundreds actually, but there was a group of women that were taken into custody, and 17 of them, and amnesty international raised the allegation a few weeks after this protest said that they had been given electric shocks and beaten and strip searched and e threatened with prostitution charges, and given these virginity tests. at the time, one of the spokesmen for the army said, no, it would not happen. we wouldn't do that. but what has happened now is that we have spoken to a general who did confirm that yes, indeed

here to talk about it is michael holmes.ght he could talk about it with pakistani officials is interesting to me. >> exactly, no, it is. and of course, this came after the raid, and they picked up all of the documents there at his house where he had been hiding out all of this time, and some of the documents indicate that he had been in touch with his own lieutenants to raise the idea of doing a deal with pakistan. we won't attack pakistan as long as they leave us alone. extraordinary idea, but there is no evidence that it actually went any further than that, and the pakistani officials knew about it, and they of course they didn'tb, and the u.s. is playing it down saying it was musings, but yeah, extraordinary news. >> and here in the u.s., people are saying, look, we don't trust the pakistan government and we don't want to give them anymore money, and the pakistan government is saying we don't trust the u.s. coming here to pull off the military raids. >> yes, you heard the pakistan president saying it was an act of war to

joining us with a little bit more on this to help sort it out the michael holmes. what do we know?ch, really. this came from an afghan intelligence source who said that the taliban founder was dead. they said his trusted his source. this was a usually reliable guy. everyone else is saying no. there's one of the very few photographs of him, too. this was a guy when he set up shop in afghanistan and founded the whole taliban regime also banned photography. there's hardly any photographs of this guy around. he blew up the borders, remember the big statues in the mountains and everything. what we're hearing from everyone from nato to the pakistan intelligence is there is no evidence that he's actually dead. they just haven't heard from him. those in afghanistan hadn't heard from him in five days. what's interesting if they haven't heard from him in five days there's admissions that there are talks going on. that's something that people have been going on for a long time, too, is getting reconciliation talks. >> do we know much about his whereabouts? >> he's been in pakistan, or thought

michael holmes joins us for his take on this. what is the latest on the attack first of all?sort that out first. bin laden's followers had vowed revenge as we know after he was taken out by the u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s and today we had twin suicide bombings ripped through a military training camp. they were recruits in the northwestern part of the country and you can see the aftermath. 80 of them killed and recruits who had just finished their training. >> and hasn't the military actually launched strikes against the taliban in this area? >> yes. there are a lot of military attacks and air attacks for more than a year in that particular area. the pakistan taliban are not really the same as the afghan taliban. there are similarities and lot of support, but they do liaison, but there are different factions within the waziristan area, and the northwestern frontier and other tribal areas, but the main target is the pakistan government because of the alliance with the united states. >> so what are the pakistan taliban fighting for if it is different? >> well, the post 9/11 support for

michael holmes joins us more on who he is and michael what have you been able to find out about him?n in egypt. he was a foreign specialist officer and he's had a pretty prominent role in al qaeda for some time. he actually fought against the soviets during the soviet/afghan war. so he has been around. he's part of the organization. >> i understand he was pointed as a caretaker. >> this is interesting. they were told they needed to move quickly. the jihadist community was growing restless about the lack of a formal announcement of a successor and now there's a school of thought that because he's egyptian, that's another reason to have it as temporary. the leadership wants to see how he's accepted because many in the al qaeda want someone from the arabian region. >> this raise as question of what impact it might have on bin laden's long-time deputy and apparent successor. >> these how that plays in, that whole egypt thing. maybe they're seeing how that goes. in the meantime there's very little evidence that al zawahiri has the car is ma of bin laden nor respected the same. loved by th

michael holmes joins us atlanta to talk about this. michael, when was this recording made?it was done in the islamic calendar but we're sure it was may before he was killed on may 2nd. with all of these tapes, we're unable to absolutely confirm the authenticity of it but it does call for the downfall of those tyrants and replace with those based on strict islamic law, referring to the arab. one point he asked what are you waiting for? save yourself and your children, because the opportunity is here. so that's what we're hearing on the tape. >> and, who is the audience, would you say, for this tape? these uprising occurred in spite of bin laden and al qaeda. >> reporter: yeah, which probably annoyed him a lot. they were caught off guard, like everyone else, you know? not sure who is listening to this except the more extreme islamists. as you mentioned, those leading the revolt moving or in the direction of democratic reform, democratic governments, which, as i said, would be anowing to al qaeda because they missed the boat on this. trog poiinteresting to point out came out o

michael holmes of cnn international joins me now with two big stories. talk about the peace initiative. >> yeah, a couple of things are happening in libya today. one interesting one that came about that we heard about is eight generals have apparently defected. they are now in italy, and we got that from sources. >> how do you lose eight generals? >> you would think that you would notice, right? but they are not the first. he has lost several senior military commanders over the course of of the civil war, but eight is a large number and unprecedented, and it will further weaken the ability to carry out his side of the civil war. >> and this comes about because the military is ordered perhaps to turn its guns on civilians? >> i don't know for sure, but my hunch is they that see the writing is on the wall, and they don't want to be on the losing side of this, and the other thing is in terms of the peace initiative is that the president of south africa has gone up there to have a chat with the libyan government, and he says he is not there to talk about an e

michael holmes is going beyond the headlines.ea with two other former leaders as part of nelson mandela's group, independent group they call the elders, to try to highlight concerns around the world. what do we know about the current u.s. policy when it comes to north korea and food aid? >> let give it some background. the u.s. suspended aid to north korea a couple years ago because, as we heard jimmy carter talk about, it was suspected that the donated food was being diverted to the military, or the elite, and not reaching those most in need. some u.s.-based charities have said north korea is now going to run out of food by the middle of next month this is why jimmy carter is so concerned. north korea has had another harsh weather year. another poor harvest, leaving them severely vulnerable to starvation. that's a big word, starvation. it's not the first time. food has been a major issue for north korea since the mid 1990s. that's when 1 million people died, starved ed td to death. we often hear of the effects of malnutrition th

michael holmes is joining us more to talk about this.helicopters as well. what is going on? yes, and britain as well, but they have backed off. france will send in the helicopters, but one of the difficulties with y s with viese isolating of the units that are tucked in between buildings and it is is hard for the f-16 to hit, but if you send in the apache, they will better target the ground forces, and they are slower and lower, so they are targets, themselves. >>are stepping it up? >> yes, there were 19 in the area of the storage area, and they say it was a meeting place of gadhafi and volunteer supporters, and they were releasing rockets where the libyans say 118 were wounded, and they say that while the arrest warrants with the international criminal court have now been issued. >> and what about the rebels being invited to d.c.? >> well, while all of this bombing was happening there was a u.n. envoy down in benghazi and opffering them the chance t open up a embassy, and that is the game, legitimacy. >> and now moving over to hosni mub

michael holmes will give us a look at the terrorist's last address. [ marge ] psst. constipated?ium, an ingredient that works more naturally with your colon than stimulant laxatives, for effective relief of constipation without cramps. thanks. [ professor ] good morning students. today, we're gonna... 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. >>> we continue to monitor that room in the white house. president obama has a scheduled, pre-scheduled, medal of honor ceremony. but this will be the first time he will meet the public and face cameras since announcing the death of osama bin laden last night. certainly we will break in live if the president is speaking about the events and we will tell what you news comes out of that event, as well. that it's live from the white house. it should be just a matter of minutes. >>> it was just hours after the twin tours fell many americans heard osama bin laden's name for the first time. but his history dates back well b

michael holmes. >> he's been on the run since, what, '95 indicted for genocide and a bunch of other thingsanizing the rape of women as well. the big one, he oversaw the siege of sarajevo, for one, the big one was srebrenica. and that was in 1995, when his troops went in and basically, well, literally massacred between 6,000 and 8,000 bosnian muslim men and boys. the other thing that made this worse, the srebrenica declared a u.n. safe haven. people were meant to be safe there. there was a dutch u.n. contingent there, very small, very lightly armed, and basically overrun. his men went in and butchered people. there's all kinds of evidence. there's video evidence of this happening. that's one of the videos there. it doesn't end well. >> where has he been? do they know for last 15 years? >> the thing is, there's a fringe, a nationalist fringe in serbia that supports him and thinks he was a patriot and only looking after the interests of serbia, and so he's had friends who have been looking after him all of this time. there are reports of him on ski fields, reports of him going to relatives' b

michael holmes is here to bring us the latest on this. claiming responsibility? >> they say it's a revenge killing for the death of osama bin laden. two u.s. consulate officials were slightly wounded. a motorcycle rider was killed there. i think nine civilians also wounded. luckily the u.s. officials were in an armored vehicle, two armored vehicles. they were slightly hurt. this is the latest in a bit of a surge of violence since bin laden's death. >> we've been seeing quite of bit of that. also there was another u.s. drone attack in pakistan. what happened there? >> it's a bit of an uptick what we're seeing. this happened in a tribal area in north waziristan. we heard that place before. four militants said to have been killed. we've seen 6 drone attacks in the past 15 days according to a cnn count. there's a huge source of tension between the pakistanis and united states. we're seeing more since bin laden's death. >>> turning to syria. after prayers today, more violence. >> i can't get over the bravery of the protesters. they're going ou