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American Morning
More on the Killing of Osama bin Laden; Interview with a Former Special Forces Commander
Aired May 02, 2011 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world, the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The 10-year search for the world's most wanted man is finally over on this AMERICAN MORNING.
It's Monday, May 2nd, this is a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING coming to you early with the latest on the killing of Osama bin Laden. I'm Christine Romans.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry.
We also want to welcome our viewers in America and around the world watching us today.
Hi, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Kiran, hi, Christine. I'm here at Ground Zero where crowds have been gathering all night since the news of this first trickled out. I'll be bringing you the news from Ground Zero.
ROMANS: Here's what we know about the secret mission that took out the world's notorious terrorist Osama bin Laden. The al Qaeda commander was shot in the head during a firefight with American forces early Sunday morning. One of bin Laden's sons and two of his couriers were also killed. Along with a woman described as a human shield. The operation was carried out with the cooperation of Pakistani official.
CHETRY: And perhaps most amazing is that Osama bin Laden was not found in a cave on a mountain in that border region with Afghanistan. He actually met his end in a million-dollar mansion in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. That's just an hour north of Islamabad and a major city. The CIA had been monitoring this location, we're learning now, for months. This is video from Geo News in Pakistan showing the compound engulfed in flames after U.S. helicopters and about two dozen Navy SEALs swooped in and took out the 911 mastermind with pretty amazing precision.
VELSHI: I'm down here at Ground Zero where people started gathering right around when the news started to trickle out late Sunday night. Now of course this is right where 2750 Americans died.
You can see the jubilation in the crowd. They numbered in the thousands, probably a couple of thousand people at the height of it, started to dwindle down as police started to push that crowd back just a little bit. They're now just around the corner from me in the hundreds.
But sort of two types of crowd. You see revelers, you see people chanting "USA," reciting the "Pledge of Allegiance."
Our Jason Carroll was here talking to a lot of them. I ran into a couple of students who were at Scranton a couple of hours away from here. They said some celebrations began to break out on campus. They got in a car and drove straight to New York.
But my producer Brian Vitagliano was one block down the road where it was a lot more subdued. There were people who were actually on their knees, praying. There was a bit of a somber side to this as well. And we'll see as the morning develops who else starts to show up here at Ground Zero.
Back to you guys.
ROMANS: All right. Certainly, the news has only been known for about six hours or so and how people are reacting is different.
Ali, thanks.
You know, it's believed bin Laden had been hiding out in that compound in Abbottabad since last summer. Now it's now confirmed by U.S. officials that his body has been buried at sea according to Islamic tradition.
CHETRY: And last night, President Obama went on national television to tell the world that a man responsible for so many thousands of deaths had finally been eliminated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon for us this morning.
And Barbara, as we know, the U.S. spent a long time hunting this man down, some nine years, eight months. In fact, many Americans when polled thought this day would never happen.
How did it go down?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, as you've said earlier, apparently the U.S. intelligence community and the U.S. military had been following this trail for some time, keeping an eye on this compound north of the capital of Islamabad in Pakistan.
You know, they say that originally when they saw this compound, it was fairly difficult to reach, perhaps just down a dirt road. They started seeing improvements being made and a lot of security being installed and began to believe that was the place Osama bin Laden was hiding out.
The compound by all accounts had something like 18-foot walls, inner partitions, heavy security, and they felt it became extraordinarily clear to them that it could only be bin Laden who was hiding there.
Now I have to tell you, over recent months, there had been a lot of talk amongst the kinds of sources that we talk to, intelligence officials, military officials, that bin Laden probably wasn't hiding in a cave as legend would have it, that he probably was in fairly comfortable circumstances. This would seem to indicate that.
A surgical strike, U.S. helicopters, U.S. special forces, including Navy SEALs, moving in, killing bin Laden in that firefight. A U.S. official says that his body has already been buried at sea. They of course want to ensure that there is no physical shrine to him where he would have been buried on land.
And this will develop during the day. We expect to learn a lot more, the details still being closely held -- Kiran.
ROMANS: Barbara, we know that Osama bin Laden resisted and we know that he was shot by U.S. forces. What can you tell us about those final moments of that part of the operation?
STARR: You know, I think that's really interesting, because over the years there had been a lot of talk and we followed this very closely, you know, sort of about that last hundred yards to Osama bin Laden.
There had always been talk that he had cyanide or poison with him, that he would take that, that he had weapons, of course, and he would commit suicide before he would allow himself to be taken.
By all accounts, U.S. forces shot him in the head as he was resisting. Other people of course killed at the compound. So we don't really know. It may be a great mystery whether he ever would have allowed himself to be taken alive but he was killed in this firefight by a shot to the head.
Sources also telling us that they are so positive it's him, because of what they call facial recognition. So, you know, bin Laden was a very unique presence, a very tall, thin man. That is not something, even if he had tried to disguise himself, that he could have disguised. So by all accounts they knew it was him when they killed him and they had the body in hand, they had absolutely no doubt that they got Osama bin Laden.
And, of course, here at the Pentagon in the early morning hours, this news being greeted very soberly but for the 184 souls that were lost here that morning, at least for their families there is now going to be some closure.
CHETRY: All right. Barbara, a little bit later, when we check back in with you, we'll ask a few questions about -- you said, you know, they have no doubt. Will the public, will the world have any doubt about the authenticity of what is being said. So we'll talk more about what they'll be releasing proof in a little while.
Thanks so much, Barbara.
ROMANS: More about the compound and the big walls and no Internet, no phone and how it was that U.S. intelligence began to be suspicious about that compound that led them to Osama bin Laden.
He left a life of wealth and privilege to wage a holy war on the West from the remote mountain caves but he spent the final months of his life hiding in full view in that million-dollar mansion.
CHETRY: Yes, this was a mansion that was located in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad. It's a major tourism hub.
Let's bring in Reza Sayah right. He's on assignment in Libya but has covered this story extensively as well.
So we're talking about this city. This is startling to some people as well because of the fact that there was a pretty big -- a Pakistani military presence in that city. How could they not have known that that's where bin Laden was choosing to hide?
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I think that's a question that the military officials in Pakistan are going to be asked in the coming days and weeks.
Abbottabad is a garrison city. It's a military city. You find a lot of military facilities there, military academies. This is a place many military officials go to retire and the civilian population who lives there is a population that caters to the military, so there's going to be a lot of questions, if indeed someone came in and built a large facility like this, with huge walls, and huge security.
How could it be possible that no military officials were aware of what's happening in there. So I think that's a question that's going to be asked in the coming days, in the coming weeks of course.
There's been a lot of speculation over the past decade ever since 9/11 where Osama bin Laden was hiding, a lot of speculation focused on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border. Pakistani officials both the civilian government and military officials, had repeatedly denied that Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan and they called on to the U.S., that look, if you know where he is, tell us and we'll help you find him.
So ultimately, indeed, it does look like he was hiding in Pakistan, not where most people thought he would be in the mountainous areas along the Afghanistan border, but in a relatively modern affluent, garrison town of Abbottabad.
ROMANS: All right. Reza Sayah.
We know of course that Osama bin Laden has supporters in Pakistan. No surprise there. We'll talk to Reza more later throughout the program about just how long he might have been there, where -- what his movements have been over the past 10 years and what we're learning now.
CHETRY: Fascinating. I mean it's just fascinating that nine years, eight months the search going hot and cold, the closest they got was Tora Bora and to have it be in this, as he said, a garrison city where there are a huge military presence.
We'd also like to bring in our Hala Gorani from sister network, CNN International. She'll be joining us throughout the morning as well.
I know that we're broadcasting on international and you're joining us, Hala. Welcome.
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Thank you very much, good to be with you.
Well, of course the news of Osama bin Laden's death sparked reaction and in the case of Washington, D.C., celebration and New York as well with the Twin Towers to the gates of the White House where people waved flags, sang the national anthem, and chanted "USA, USA." Listen.
It gives you an idea outside the gates of the White House what the reaction was after President Obama announced that a U.S. military operation had killed Osama bin Laden. A two-hour car drive away from Islamabad, not at all a cave in the tribal region or in Pakistan or in Afghanistan.
Let's go to the White House North Lawn, that's where Brianna Keilar is now.
And Brianna, I know you were sort of in and around that crowd of people chanting. What was the atmosphere like? What were people telling you about why they were celebrating so publicly?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They were here to witness history, Hala. That is what they said.
And I should tell you that the last of these revelers -- I mean we heard people singing, chanting. As I walk in this morning I heard someone playing a trumpet. They were here to witness a piece of history and it really struck me the contrast towards -- compared to what we would have seen almost 10 years ago on 9/11 when you saw people running away from the White House.
Last night, shortly after President Obama made his remarks, I saw people outside and they were running, walking, cabbing, biking, just scores of them, pouring down the street toward the White House, some of them carrying American flags, and they were here, many of them college students, I should say, because we're near a college campus. That they were here, as I mentioned, to witness history just like this man who brought his son to the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel that finally some vindication has been done. There's still a lot more to be done, we know that, and the threat is still not over, we all know that. But at least this is a big step.
I came all the way up from Woodbridge. As soon as I heard, I had to be here. This is where I had to be tonight. I had to bring my son with me so we can share this time together.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: So he came in from a suburb outside of Washington, D.C., but it really struck me, like I said, just how many college students there were because these are young people who were in elementary school when 9/11 happened.
And as I walked in this morning at about 4:30 a.m. the image that I know that I'll hold with me, as I walked towards the White House I could still see some people outside chanting, playing music.
I saw, Hala, a Marine in uniform walking toward me and I stopped him and I said, obviously you came down here for this, tell me about it. He said he was in bed last night, he got a call from some friends, they said you have to turn on your TV. When he saw what had happened he got in his uniform.
This was hours ago. And he came down to the White House to witness a piece of history. He has served overseas and he said he needed to see this for himself -- Hala.
GORANI: And I was -- I was struck as well, Brianna, by the age of the people outside of the White House gates. They're in the early 20s, some looked like they were even in their teens.
I mean the memory they have of 9/11, you know, is not the same as people who are now adults. So what were they telling you about why this was important beyond witnessing history?
KEILAR: And you could hear this as you walked down the street. They just said, this is something amazing to be a part of and they wanted to celebrate, but it certainly did strike me that because they were so much younger during 9/11, their reaction to it was very different.
If you talk with someone like them, they may have been 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 when 9/11 happened. If you talk to someone who's a little older they have more conflicted emotions, I think. They want to celebrate, but they also realize the more somber nature of this.
And what we saw last night was very celebratory, I think, especially among those people who were younger and it's really their whole entire life has been punctuated by this face of terrorism, Osama bin Laden.
GORANI: And we've had some every -- interesting international reaction. Brianna Keilar, at the White House, thanks very much. I'll be back with that a little bit later.
World leaders and ordinary people around the world, Christine and Kiran, reacting to the news of the death of Osama bin Laden. I'll be back with that a little bit later. Back to you for now.
ROMANS: And Hala, we keep hearing the word closure, especially in this country, closure for the families of 9/11 victims.
President Obama delivering the news of bin Laden's death and remembering the thousands of men and women who lost their lives almost 10 years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11, that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores.
And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed, yet today's achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The families of the heroes on Flight 93 also responded to the news. The United Airlines plane hijacked by four al Qaeda terrorists on 9/11 and then you may remember it was the heroics of the people on board, they actually crashed that plane into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, saving untold other lives as that plane, some say, was headed perhaps to the capitol.
Gordon Felt, the president of the Families of -- Flight 93 released this statement.
"This is important news for us and for the world. It cannot ease our pain or bring back our loved ones. It does bring a measure of comfort that the mastermind of the September 11th tragedy and the face of global terror can no longer spread his evil."
So again, those are some of the reactions from people hardest hit and closest to the tragedy.
Ali, I know there's going to be a lot of people like that down at the site of Ground Zero as well today.
VELSHI: Kiran, the flavor of the people who have come down here is going to change. They started coming out late Sunday night when they first heard the news. And there was jubilation. There were also some people here -- and one woman, in fact, who had lost her husband in the site of the Twin Towers which is just about 50 feet over to my left.
Let's go to Jason Carroll who's just around the corner from me right now. Police have moved the crowd to that location. Jason has been here for several hours.
Jason, what have you been seeing overnight?
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Ali, you've been down here. It's been incredible to witness what's been taking place down here in the streets of Ground Zero for the past several hours.
You know it really started out coming down here. It was a makeshift celebration, people carrying flags, some of them carrying signs like this one you see here, "We got him." That's what we've really been experiencing.
If you take a look over here, some folks have been here since, you know, 11:00 last night, heard about it on the news, more and more people just sort of coming down, some of them are veterans, some of them are first responders. Spoke to a woman, Diane Masaroli (ph), she lost her husband on the 101st floor of one of those towers when it went down.
Also want to bring in this gentleman right over here in the white t- shirt. This is Chris Kaimano (ph), 19 years old.
CHRIS KAIMANO, STUDENT: You're a student at Fordham University. This all happened when you were just 9 years old. You were telling me you remember it happening, you were on the school bus in the fourth grade.
Yes. My sister told me on the way home in the fourth grade. At first it didn't seem like much. And then I got home and saw it on the news and it really -- it was shocking.
CARROLL: So you know this happened when you were so young. And now that this historic moment has happened, how does that sort of make you feel? I mean do you have a point of reference? How do you sort of celebrating this particular moment?
KAIMANO: Well, we're celebrating the death of a major threat to America, but also, remembering all the lives they took with them and now it really legitimizes everything we've done and it means that people have not died in vain.
CARROLL: You know, I've been hearing from a lot of folks who are out here all night, that in some ways tonight it gives them some sort of a sense of closure, and I'm wondering do you feel that as well? Do you sense that as well?
KAIMANO: Absolutely. I mean it's not over, but it's a giant hurdle.
CARROLL: Yes. All right, Chris, want to thank you very, very much. Again, some of the other folks that have come out here as well, you can see they still got the flags, Ali. You know, some of them I ask how long do you plan on hanging out here, they said, you know --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Forever.
CARROLL: Yes, that's what I keep hearing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Forever. USA from Ghana.
CARROLL: Well, from Ghana, from the Bronx, from Long Island, we spoke to another gentleman from Texas. I'm hearing Jersey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, baby.
CARROLL: A lot of folks wanting to celebrate, wanting to be a part of history being made -- Ali.
VELSHI: All right, Jason.
And we've also got coverage throughout the northeast in places where people lost families. There's a gathering of people in Times Square right here in New York.
Alina Cho is standing by.
Alina, what's going on in Times Square right now?
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Ali, good morning to you. We are about 60 blocks north of Ground Zero. Of course Times Square is the crossroads of the world, about 1.5 million people pass through here every day. And there is no shortage of opinion. Especially in New York City.
Joining me now is Linda and Andy Morales (ph). They're actually here on vacation from Orange County, California.
Thank you for joining me. I actually ran into you in the coffee shop this morning and noticed your American flag there, Linda.
You were actually asleep when this was all breaking. How did you hear the news?
ANDY MORALES, FROM ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: Well, we ended up getting contacted by some friends and relatives on the West Coast to let us know if we knew that Osama bin Laden had actually been killed. So initially we were thinking oh, my god, this is very, very big news, especially in the city.
CHO: Probably couldn't believe your ears.
A. MORALES: Yes. So we turned on the television and thought, where should we end up heading to? We thought maybe going to the World Trade Center, to Ground Zero first, but there's only really one train that goes there. So we came down to --
CHO: This was much closer to your hotel.
Linda, it takes a lot to sort of get up out of bed -- I know you're still in your pajamas -- and come down here.
LINDA MORALES, FROM ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: Put anything on, let's go down there, and I said I don't know, I'm really scared. And he said no, come on, we've got to go down there. So we did. And it was -- I was overwhelmed by what I was seeing.
CHO: Are you glad you're here?
A. MORALES: It's very nice --
L. MORALES: Yes.
A. MORALES: It means a lot to the people of New York City, especially every American. Ten years ago everyone remembers where exactly they were, but even more so, here in New York, where it took place, you have a lot of, you know, New York's bravest and finest out here and they lost a lot of people and there are, like, generations of them. You know fathers, sons.
CHO: Very quickly, two-thirds of Americans had given up hope that they would ever capture or kill Osama bin Laden. Had you?
A. MORALES: Yes. At this point, it's kind of amazing, like we would never have thought that maybe he would show up. I hear now that he was hiding in plain sight, maybe just in his mansion, and that's where they had taken him down. It was a Navy SEAL operation, something like that.
But I think it's a sav on a 10-year-old wound for a lot of these New Yorkers. They've been waiting to hear something like this. And with the California mentality versus a New York mentality, we would be happy if we found out that Osama bin Laden is eviscerated, couldn't see the body, but I think the New Yorkers really wanted to see a body.
CHO: More than 2600 people killed here in New York City. I'm certainly glad to be here in New York City. I'm sure you are, too, when this news came down.
Thank you so much. Linda and Andy Morales from Orange County, California, for joining us.
And Ali, everyone certainly remembers where they were on 9/11. Everyone in New York City certainly remembers the collective shock and silence in this city that is usually bustling, but there is no shortage of celebration in the streets of New York today and certainly no shortage of celebration here in Times Square.
Back to you.
VELSHI: All right. Alina, we'll keep checking in to you.
Things are starting to busier in Times Square, even though there's a big gathering where you are. We're also about an hour away from the workers coming in to this part of New York City and that is going to change a little bit of what's going on behind us.
Right now, Jason Carroll just around the corner with me with the celebrants who are down here at Ground Zero.
Back to you, Kiran and Christine.
CHETRY: Ali, thanks so much. All right. We'll be checking in with you in just a couple minutes.
ROMANS: And if you're just tuning in right now, Osama bin Laden is dead in a daring operation in a compound in Pakistan. Not found in a cave, but actually behind 12-foot concrete walls.
We want to bring in now CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank.
Paul, your initial reaction, short-term danger for Americans, perhaps, around the world. But longer term, this is the end of the war on terror?
PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: In a short time, there is a period of danger now. Bin Laden is now a martyr and al Qaeda may seek revenge or an individual who's not linked to al Qaeda may seek to launch an attack.
But this is a huge blow against al Qaeda. Bin laden was providing the strategic direction still for al Qaeda.
ROMANS: He can't be replaced. He's can't be --
CRUICKSHANK: He can't be replaced. He's irreplaceable. There's no one within al Qaeda, someone like Ayman al-Zawahiri, the number two, will maybe take on the number one role now, but he doesn't have the charisma of bin Laden. He's a much more polarizing figure. There's no one that really replace him.
ROMANS: But he's at the moral authority of the movement, but also the tactical -- the ability to take together all of these different groups and factions, and make them al Qaeda.
CRUICKSHANK: That's absolutely right. Bin laden was always a unifying figure for al Qaeda. This organization has a lot of centrifugal forces, a lot of rivalries, different ideologies, different agendas. Well, bin laden was able to unify al Qaeda by launching this jihad against the United States. But --
CHETRY: He was able to say it was basically -- he wanted to get back to a seventh century Muslim empire that was borderless, which is -- which was extremely, you know, apparently attractive to many people.
But what I want to ask you about, Paul, is we've covered this so long. I mean nine years, eight months, you know, since 9/11, trying to get our hands on him. How surprised are you that this is where he'd ended up, Abbottabad, a military, garrison city, as Reza Sayah describes it, not the borderous mountain region of Afghanistan that we've so long talked about? CRUICKSHANK: Well, I think that not complete surprise that senior Western officials have been increasingly indicating that he could be in Pakistan proper, hinting that elements of the ISI may have known where he was.
But the fact that he was killed in this settled area of Pakistan, in this compound, this million-dollar compound, is something which is deeply embarrassing for Pakistan. There'll be a lot of questions they have to answer. How could they not know where he was?
CHETRY: And that's the other question. I mean, there was conflicting reports, U.S. officials, defense officials, saying that this was kept very close to the vest, that very few people even in the U.S., you know, powers knew about it. Pakistan saying they were in on it, the entire time. Little bit of a conflicting situation there.
CRUICKSHANK: Absolutely conflicting and CNN has not been able to resolve that conflict. Perhaps we'll hear more about it today and there will be lots of questions that can be asked of Pakistani military authorities today.
ROMANS: All right. Paul Cruickshank, thank you so much.
So much to talk about, so many more questions about this and where we go from here on that.
CHETRY: Well, we have some breaking news coverage that continues in just moments, including the spontaneous celebrations that are taking place across the U.S. and the world after news, after nine long years and eight months, Osama bin Laden killed by U.S. forces.
ROMANS: And as Paul suggested there's short-term danger for American, American interests, and of course that's something that embassies and American facilities around the world are taking very seriously. New security warnings after the death of bin Laden. What the State department says about possible reprisal attacks. We'll tell you what's next right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back. Twenty-eight minutes past the hour. We're following breaking news for you on this AMERICAN MORNING coming to you a little bit early today because of it.
Osama bin Laden is dead and his body already buried at sea according to U.S. officials. The mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks was killed in a firefight with U.S. forces in Pakistan Sunday.
In a late-night speech from the White House President Obama announced the leader of al Qaeda was shot to death in a compound about 60 miles from Islamabad in the city of Abbottabad.
ROMANS: And as the president spoke, crowds waving U.S. flags gathered outside the gates of the White House. They cheered "USA" and sang the national anthem. Word of bin Laden's death also spread quickly during a game between the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies. The crowd began chanting "USA" at the top of the ninth and the celebrations continued throughout the inning.
CHETRY: Well, that was a -- that was a game that was actually in Philadelphia.
We also have an iReport from Penn State University, what looks like hundreds of students cheering and singing the national anthem.
I mean we were remarking, and these were kids that were basically 8, 9 years old, 10 years old, when 9/11 happened.
Also at the University of Delaware, a similar scene as students poured into the street at the University of Delaware, celebrating as well.
Listen to them chanting "USA."
ROMANS: News of bin Laden's death providing a financial boost to markets around the globe overseas. Japan's NIKKEI closed up and in Europe where trading is currently under way. Markets in Germany and France, both higher.
Here in the U.S. where the 9/11 attacks shut down the New York Stock Exchange for four days, the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 futures are all positive.
We also want to mention the U.S. dollar, it's up from a three-year low this morning.
CHETRY: There's also fascinating details emerging about how exactly our U.S. forces got him, how they got their hands on Osama bin Laden after really, as you point out, decades. After 9/11, of course, we ratcheted it up, but he's been on the run, and we've been looking for him for a very long time.
CHETRY: Bombing his compounds even in the late 1990s. President Clinton -- three presidents now have had concerns about Osama bin Laden, ratcheting up bin Laden over the years, and now --
ROMANS: How did they finally do it?
CHETRY: Now he is dead. Also new warnings after his death that may have many Americans on edge. We'll tell you about concerns in the short term about potential reprisals on Americans. .
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: He had the blood of thousands of Americans on his hands. Now Osama bin Laden's own blood has been spilled at the hands of America. Good morning. It's Monday, May 2nd., This a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.
I'm Christine Romans.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
We also want to welcome our viewers watching from around the world this morning. Ali.
VELSHI: Christine, Kiran, I'm down at Ground Zero where people have been gathering in the last seven hours since the news broke, at the White House, in Times Square, and here at Ground Zero. I'll be covering the crowds that are here and what they're saying about this.
ROMANS: All right. The latest now on the U.S. mission that eliminated the world's most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden. The al Qaeda chief was killed yesterday, shot in the head during a fire fight with American forces in Pakistan. One of his sons, two of his couriers were also killed, along with a woman described as a human shield.
The operation was carried out with the cooperation of Pakistani officials. Bin Laden was hiding in a million dollar mansion in a compound in Abbottabad. That's in Pakistan, about 60 miles north of Islamabad.
CHETRY: The CIA had been monitoring this location for months. We hard the president say he first got word this past August about the potential lead of where Osama bin Laden may be. You're looking at video now from Geo News out of Pakistan. It shows the compound in flames after U.S. helicopters and about two dozen Navy Seals swooped in and, again, shot the 9/11 mastermind in the head.
The mission took 40 minutes. The compound where bin Laden was found was surrounded, they say, by seven-foot walls. U.S. helicopter -- a U.S. helicopter did crash during that raid. Mechanical problems are being blamed for that.
That helicopter was then destroyed by U.S. troops for security reasons. But again, no U.S. forces were killed in that very daring and very, very difficult operation. Ali.
VELSHI: All right. Kiran, we've been gathering our people in the United States at several locations and around the world, where people have been gathering, as soon as they heard the news starting late Sunday night.
Here at Ground Zero, I'm just a few feet away from where the buildings were standing. Right around the corner from me is a gathering of people, though. You can see here on this video, this gathering was quite large and quite jubilant through the course of the night. What's happening right now, behind me, is we've got street sweeping machines. We've got busses having rolled through. The police have set up barricades, moved the folks who are here celebrating around the corner a little bit, and preparing for workers to start coming in.
There's also a crowd that's been gathering in Times Square in New York. Alina Cho is there. We've got crowds gathering outside the White House. There is a spontaneous celebration.
The crowd has mostly been younger people and students, some of whom would have just been in school when 9/11 happened. But they've got some sense that this is a momentous, momentous occasion. They've been coming out. As I said, those crowds are starting to thin. We'll see what starts to happen as workers come in, as the sun starts to set down here at Ground Zero.
It is definitely a celebratory sense, a sense that this is a historic day for at least New Yorkers. Kiran, Christine.
CHETRY: All right. Ali Velshi at Ground Zero, we'll be checking in with you throughout the morning.
ROMANS: Fears of retaliation and Americans on guard. With Bin laden dead, the State Department is sending out a strong warning that bin Laden sympathizers may target Americans.
CHETRY: Yes. There are particular security concerns at U.S. embassies abroad. Right now, we're going to bring in foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty, who is live for us at the State Department. So in the short term, I guess there are fears of reprisal attacks.
What is the State Department saying about that this morning, Jill?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, definitely. Not only at the embassies around the entire world, but also for U.S. citizens. And they've issued a very broad warning for the entire world, you could say.
Here it is. I'll read it for you. "The U.S. Department of State alerts U.S. citizens traveling and residing abroad to the enhanced potential for anti-American violence given recent counter-terrorism activity in Pakistan. Given the uncertainty and volatility of the current situation, U.S. citizens in areas where recent events could cause anti-American violence are strongly urged to limit their travel outside of their homes and hotels and avoid mass gathers and demonstrations.
"U.S. citizens," they say also in this U.S. State Department warning, "are encouraged to enroll in the Department of State's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program." That's called STEP. That's on the website. And you can receive all sorts of travel information, latest updates on the security issues.
So that is definitely the warning. And you know, I would have to say here at the State Department, Secretary Clinton is one person who was affected. Remember, she was a U.S. senator from New York. She has a personal remembrance of this and has spoken out about it a lot.
In fact, she was one of the officials who, a while ago, was warning and saying that in the Pakistani government, there had to be people who knew where Osama bin Laden was. So, we'll look forward, perhaps, a statement, some type of comments today. But certainly Secretary Clinton, who was involved in all of the meetings, planning this operation against bin Laden, will take it very personally. It's important to her.
ROMANS: Jill, that's such a good point. Six days after September 11th when the stock market reopened, it was Hillary Clinton who was on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, a lot of people including John McCain and others, who were visibly shaken by the events that had happened here in New York. And you just think of how much time has passed and this event now. And there she is running the State Department.
And you're right, how personal it must be for so many American officials involved in this.
DOUGHERTY: Yes, it's definitely true. She's spoken out on it. I think you would have to say that she's taken a pretty hard line all along. And, you know, the fact that he is now gone must be of great satisfaction to her because of the constituents whom she represented back then.
CHETRY: Jill, one other quick question about U.S./Pakistan relations. Is this something that's going to be discussed in the coming days? I mean, the fact that he was found basically in the midst of a very heavily populated military city?
DOUGHERTY: Absolutely. I mean, this is one thing that is a gigantic question mark, I think you would have to say. Relations between Pakistan and the United States already have been on edge. There have been a number of incidents. You would have to say on many levels, a lack of trust between the two sides.
And to have this happen will open up all sorts of questions, quoting Hillary Clinton again, they must have known.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks so much.
ROMANS: An interesting contrast in events over the weekend. While President Obama was delivering one liners at the White House Correspondent's Dinner on Saturday night, behind the scenes he was directing the special mission to track down Osama bin Laden. His demeanor at that annual event, calm and lighthearted, relaxed even, no one would have known the historical event that was set to play out thousands of miles away, except for the president and a few others.
It's interesting, too, Kiran, because he authorized the mission on Friday. Then went down south to look at some of the tornado damage. So all of this is under way on a pretty big news weekend. And the president and a few other people were the only ones who knew it was about to unfold.
CHETRY: It's quite notable to think he walks and chews gum at the same time, I guess you could say. A lot going on.
Inside the mission to get bin Laden, we have new details. A former CIA commander who led the 2001 attack that almost nabbed the terror leader is going to be joining us live with more details about how this successful mission went down.
ROMANS: And it's been about seven hours since the news became public and now traveling with lightning speed around the world. World leaders speaking out about Osama bin Laden's death. We're going to tell you what the reaction is around the world straight ahead.
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CHETRY: Forty five minutes past the hour. Welcome back to a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING, coming to you an hour early this morning and from around the world. We would like to welcome Hala Gorani from our sister network, CNN international. She'll be joining us throughout the morning as well.
Good morning, Hala.
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Good morning to you. We've been getting international reaction from officials, from world leaders, as well as just from ordinary people around the world.
The hunt for Osama bin Laden has been going on for more than ten years, arguably since the mid-90s. Early Monday, troops stationed in Afghanistan watched and listened as President Obama announced that bin Laden was dead.
You can see all eyes fixed on the television as the president says that there is a long way to go in the fight against terrorism after having announced the death of Osama bin Laden.
Years of intelligence and months of sniffing out bin Laden led operatives to a pretty wealthy neighborhood, relatively speaking, in northwest Pakistan, a northwest Pakistani city.
There have long been strained relations between the U.S. and Pakistan. But President Obama made certain to point out that their role in this mission to take down the terrorist leader was a significant one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Over the years, I have repeatedly made clear that we would take action within Pakistan if we knew where bin Laden was. That is what we've done. But it's important to note that our counter- terrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding.
Indeed, bin Laden had declared war against Pakistan as well, and ordered attacks against the Pakistani people.
Tonight, I called President Zardari and my team has spoken with their Pakistani counterparts. They agree that this is a good and historic day for both of our nations. And going forward, it is essential that Pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al Qaeda and its affiliates.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right. Reaching out to Pakistan and its leaders there. The reaction to bin Laden's death is coming in fast and fierce. World leaders are speaking about the historic impact. This is the first official statement by the Pakistani government. "Osama bin Laden's death illustrates the resolve of the international community, including Pakistan, to fight and eliminate terrorism. It is Pakistan's stated policy that it will not allow its soil to be used in terrorist attacks against any country. Pakistan's political leadership, parliament, state institutions and the whole nation are fully united in their resolve to eliminate terror."
The Afghan President Hamid Karzai said this, "if the international troops are the true allies of Afghans, now they should come up to say that killing of the Afghans, women, children and elders, was not a good idea in the last many years, and it was happening on a daily basis."
The British prime minister, David Cameron, welcomed news of bin Laden's death. Here is his reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINIESTER: This news will be welcomed right across our country. Of course, it does not mark the end of the threat we face from extremist terror. Indeed, we'll have to be particularly vigilant in the weeks ahead.
But it is, I believe, a massive step forward. Osama bin Laden was responsible for the death of thousands of innocent men, women and children, right across the world, people of every race and religion. He was also responsible for ordering the death of many, many British citizens, both here and in other parts of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Reaction from David Cameron, the U.K. prime minister. France's President Sarkozy called it a major event in the struggle against terrorism. Germany's foreign minister said it was good news for free-thinking men.
And Italy's foreign minister said it was a victory of good against evil, justice against militancy.
And the Israeli President Shimon Perez also reacting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHIMON PERES, ISRAELI PRESIDENT: The world will become a better world without him. It doesn't mean this is the end of all terrorism and all dangers. But one that was (INAUDIBLE) finally his own justified end.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: Shimon Peres there. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the "state of Israel joins in the joy of the American on this historic day in which Osama bin Laden was killed. This is a resounding victory for justice, freedom and for all the joint values for all the countries that fight side by side determinedly against terror."
Reaction from Japan as well. A spokesman for the Japanese prime minister released this statement: "we regard this as part of a united effort to fight terrorism. Japan has been working on assistance to both Pakistan and Afghanistan in proactively tackling the issue of terrorism."
All right, Kiran and Christine, that's world reaction for you. Back to you for now.
CHETRY: All right. Hala, thanks so much.
ROMANS: It took nearly ten years to hunt down Osama bin Laden. He escaped an attack by U.S. special forces in Afghanistan back in 2001. Coming up, we're going to talk to the former CIA commander in charge of that special operation. He's going to give us an inside look into this mission to take down bin Laden.
CHETRY: And is this it for al Qaeda? What about the future? We're going to be talking to Peter Bergen in our next hour, an expert on all of this, to weigh in on what this means down the road for al Qaeda.
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CHETRY: Seven minutes to the top of the hour on this special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. New details on exactly what happened as U.S. forces closed in on Osama bin Laden. It was a brief but intense fire fight that killed bin Laden. Two dozen Navy Seals storming his compound.
They traded gunfire for nearly 40 minutes before finally killing bin Laden, one of his sons and two couriers that were bunkered with him. We're told the CIA had been laying the groundwork for months and that the military, quote, finished it off.
ROMANS: For more details on this mission to take down bin Laden, we're joined now by former CIA commander Gary Bernstein. Bernstein was in charge of the special forces invasion in Tora Bora, Afghanistan that almost killed bin Laden back in 2001. Really, this guy has been on the radar screen for American officials since the '90s when we bombed in Afghanistan some of his training compounds and the like.
He has endured and survived after three presidents. This one nailed him.
GARY BERNSTEIN, FORMER SPECIAL FORCES COMMANDER: Well, the president deserves great credit for going through with this. Had he gone into Pakistan and had sent helicopters that deep in and dropped -- crashed a helicopter and there was mechanical problems -- the Pakistanis would have stated that the Americans were invading Pakistan. So it was a great risk to the president what he did.
CHETRY: Hundred things could have gone wrong.
BERNSTEIN: Many things could have gone wrong mechanically. There could have been people on the roof of that building with RPGs. Someone could have leaked something.
Many things could have gone wrong. This is the ultimate gut check for a president to pull the trigger on something like this. It really is.
CHETRY: What do you think of the fact it seemed -- I'm not saying it was easy. But when you talk about bin Laden being killed, maybe two or three that were close with him and a woman that's reported to be used as a human shield, it doesn't sound like they had a lot of backup around them.
BERNSTEIN: Well, they were trying to maintain a low profile, clearly didn't want to have a lot of people involved with them. The more people involved, the more likely a leak. He survived for ten years in this fashion, which is a long time given the resources that were expended against him.
Most people don't realize the complexity of Pakistan; 175 million people in Pakistan, 24 different militant groups, over 900,000 people trained in terrorist camps in the --
(CROSS TALK)
BERNSTEIN: -- incubator for terrorism. This is a very tough place. And, you know, any time the Pakistanis stated that bin Laden was inside of Afghanistan, it was laughable. It was laughable when they made those statements. We knew he was in Pakistan.
CHETRY: Why ten years of false starts? Intense resources -- we were in Afghanistan.
BERNSTEIN: There are areas in the federally administered tribal area where he probably was for a period of this that the Pakistani army hadn't been in for 40 years. A year and a half ago, they sent in thousands of troops for the first time in 40 years.
It's a lawless place. It is a place where narco-traffickers and militants, you know, run the place. And it was a perfect place for him to go. You have to remember that this is -- we were fighting and we continue to fight a war in Pashtunistan (ph). That is the southern part of Afghanistan, with 13 million Pashtuns, and 29 million Pashtuns along the border of the northern part of Pakistan. And they supported bin Laden.
ROMANS: Lets' talk about the raid. When you were going after him in Tora Bora, a very different kind of operation then in Abbottabad, which is a big city, you know.
BERNSTEIN: In 2001, it was a chase. In 2001, Kabul collapsed. He fled the city. We chased him down to an area and were engaging him while he was on the run, and we were on the run. And we had very, very small number of people. I mean, we went in with eight men initially.
You know, and those eight guys raised the force of a couple thousands of the Afghans. And then one special forces team joined us. And then finally Delta force came in with about 40 guys.
There were never more than 60 people -- 60 Americans involved on the ground there. And it was in a conventional battle. This was much different. This was a raid run by JSOG, probably, Joint Special Operations Group, using the Seals, using special operations force.
They had time to set it up. Back you have to go back to the fact that it requires good intel. And the White House has to believe the intel and has to have the courage to go forward, and they did.
I'm no political supporter of the president of the United States. I'm a Republican. I ran for the Senate here. But you got to give him kudos for this.
He and his national security team stepped up and made the hard call and they took the risk.
CHETRY: Gary Bernstein, always great to talk to you. We'll see you again shortly. Thanks so much.
ROMANS: Again, the U.S. has killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Barbara Starr is going to tell us exactly how it was done.
CHETRY: We're also live at the White House, where President Obama just hours ago came out in that address announcing indeed that this had happened, that Osama bin Laden was killed. We're going to have more details from the White House and reaction coming up. Three minutes to the top of the hour.
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