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American Morning
Osama Bin Laden Killed; Celebrations at the White House and Across the World on Bin Laden's Death; Bin Laden Brother Reacts
Aired May 02, 2011 - 06:00 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: Good evening. Tonight, 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)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: The world's most wanted terrorist killed, triggering emotional celebrations and fears of retaliation on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And good morning to you. It is Monday, May 2nd. Welcome to a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Our Ali Velshi is at Ground Zero.
Hi, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Christine. I'm here just feet away from where the Twin Towers stood. All night celebrations here as people heard the news came downtown. They're heading home. Now the workers are coming in. It's a historic day in Lower Manhattan.
ROMANS: All right. And here's what we know now about the secret mission that took out the world's most 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 officials.
CHETRY: Also, bin Laden was not found in a cave, on a mountain in that region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Instead, he met his end in a million dollar mansion in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. This is about 60 miles north of Islamabad. Officials believe that this, indeed, was a compound built to house bin Laden. The CIA had been monitoring this location for months. And what you're looking at it 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.
Ali is live again at Ground Zero with more reaction to this startling news for many that came out late last night.
VELSHI: Yes. And, of course, because it was, you know, about 10:30 p.m. on the East Coast, it was announced at a baseball game, the word got around very quickly. And what happened is a number of people started gathering here right by Ground Zero, right by the site of the Twin Towers.
Take a look at all these people who gathered here last night. There was reveling. There were sort of spontaneous recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance. There were people chanting "USA, USA."
Now through the course of the night as we were getting ready for workers to come in, the police sort of cordoned that crowd off. They're now just around the corner from me. Our Jason Carroll has been hanging around, talking to them, getting some thoughts of people. But there's been the sense it's been young people and celebrants through the course of the night, but there have been some people who have come with photographs of those who they lost in Ground Zero, in the attack on the Twin Towers on September 11th, 2001. There are those who are lighting candles who were on their knees actually praying. So this day is going to represent something different to everybody who remembers where they were on September 11th, 2011 -- 2001, but it is a set of different reactions.
Now with the sun coming up, we're starting to see the workers arrive downtown and, of course, this is the first time in almost 10 years that they will see downtown Manhattan differently than they have. This has been a symbol and a place of sadness for a lot of people and now with the towers going up here and with this news, it becomes a place of rebirth to so many.
Still, there are questions about whether this represents closure for the families of the victims who died here. Some of whom have not had their loved ones remains identified yet. So we'll see as the course of the day unfolds what people are actually thinking about it right here in New York. Back to you guys.
CHETRY: All right. Ali, thanks so much.
It is now confirmed by U.S. officials that bin Laden's body has been identified and buried at sea and U.S. officials careful to make sure they followed all Islamic religious rules and traditions in burying him at sea.
CHETRY: Right. Things like making sure that that happens before sunset among other things. But 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. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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 VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Barbara Starr is live for us at the Pentagon this morning.
Barbara, the U.S. spent a long time, as we know, hunting this man down. Tell us more details on how this operation happened, how we finally got him.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, by all accounts, Kiran and Christine, the CIA and the U.S. military had been following developments at this compound for some time. When they looked at it originally, it was a secure place, but it was basically approachable by a dirt road. Over the months it got built up more and more. They saw a good deal of security there, 18-foot walls, multiple layers of security, and it became clear to them that we are led to understand that they believed nobody but bin Laden could be there.
This is one of the techniques of the U.S. intelligence community. It should be clear to everyone, what they do is they look at an area and they look to see over time how it changes. And can they explain that change? And there was no way to explain the change at this site other than a very high-value person was living there under extraordinary secrecy. A 40-minute mission by U.S. Special Forces including Navy SEALs, a surgical strike, one helicopter went down on the way out. They destroyed it so it could not be taken. The assault teams boarded other helicopters. Everybody got out safely.
What should be noted here for the U.S. military, they have long understood that if they knew where bin Laden was, they could get into Pakistan. They could just go and go after him. The key thing for the military always was how would you get out? How would you get out of an area that was likely facing enemy fire? This was a populated area. They went in very quickly, executed the mission very quickly and got out safely. Very extraordinary -- Christine.
ROMANS: You know, Barbara, when we look at those pictures of the compound from Geo in Pakistan and you can see the burning, the burning of the helicopter before they left, it's remarkable that the level of detail and planning in this. Forty minutes, they leave one helicopter, burn it, take bin Laden's body and get out of there in other helicopters. You know, Gary Bernstein was telling us that a hundred things could have gone wrong and nothing went wrong.
STARR: Well, it is extraordinary. You know, this is what the U.S. military trains for. Sadly, it doesn't always go so well. There are many incidents people will remember all the back to Somalia and "Black Hawk Down." I think we can only imagine the level of rehearsal, rehearsal, rehearsal and training that went into accomplishing this mission. A lot of concern about civilians in the area. This was a populated area. They wanted to make sure that they injured no Pakistanis. There are no reports of civilian injuries or casualties. This may go down very badly inside Pakistan. There may be a good deal of reaction to the U.S. military going in, but no Pakistani civilians at this point reported injured or killed in this mission.
CHETRY: Do you know anything about whether or not the U.S. military is going to release a photo of a dead bin Laden?
STARR: Right. I mean, no, we do not. That is probably the next long-awaited detail that we're looking for. Because how do they know it's bin Laden?
Well, sources overnight telling us it was basically in their words facial recognition that they could determine it was bin Laden. You will recall he was a very tall, thin man, features that were very distinctive so everyone now is looking to see if a photograph is released to show the world the evidence.
CHETRY: All right. Barbara Starr for us. We'll be checking in with you throughout the morning as I know you're working your sources and getting new details. Thanks so much.
STARR: Sure.
ROMANS: All right. News of Osama bin Laden's death sparked big celebrations in the two cities hit hardest on 9/11, New York and Washington. At the gates outside the White House, people waved flags, sang the national anthem and chanted "USA."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: And the rockets' red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: That scene also repeated in other cities and colleges, in college campuses across the country and around the world even.
CHETRY: And let's go to the White House right now where our Brianna Keilar is. And we were talking about just the sound. I heard that you could even hear from inside the press room the cheers that were taking place outside of the gates of the White House. Amazing.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This really was amazing, Kiran. I was here last night. I came in before President Obama made his remarks and all was very quiet near Lafayette Park, just north of the White House. And then shortly after he addressed the nation, we just started to see this kind of organic forming of people outside of the north gates as I left at about midnight, shortly after midnight last night.
There were just people coming down the street in scores, walking, running, they were biking, they were tabbing. Horns were honking around the White House. Some of the people coming here holding American flags. Right now, there's a few people, just a few people outside of the gates, some of them waving American flags. And many of these people, college students. It's just amazing how young they would have been at 9/11. Some of them only about 10 years old.
This is really symbolic justice for this moment that defined so much of how they perceived the world and a lot of them said they were here to be a part of history, as did this man who came from a suburb of Washington, D.C., and 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 could share this time together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now things started to wind down here between 4:30 and 5:00 a.m. People started to head home. I was walking into the White House to begin my day and it was so interesting, Christine and Kiran, I saw the silhouette of a Marine. I learned as I approached him, he was a marine in full uniform. He said he's been asleep last night. His friends called him and said you have to turn on the TV, you have to see what's going on. He was out in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C., and he decided he needed to come to the White House and see this for himself. A Marine sergeant who has served overseas and was a sophomore in high school on 9/11.
CHETRY: That's amazing. I mean, that's a big reason why they're fighting, you know, in Afghanistan and all those other places. Wow. Amazing stuff. Thanks so much, Brianna.
ROMANS: You know, it's a small success, a big success rather and then small comfort, tiny comfort, for many 9/11 families. President Obama announced bin Laden's death and spoke directly to the families who lost loved ones in the attacks nearly 10 years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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 VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: You know, downtown Manhattan has become sort of the symbol for that -- that, I don't know, that legacy of 9/11 really. This is a place every year where people go to grieve, to mourn and to search for some closure. And until now, there has been no closure at least.
CHETRY: For many reasons. I mean, part of the reason is it just took so long for the actual new freedom tower to emerge, which is something that has just happened over the past few years. And Ali Velshi is down there at Ground Zero where, you know, people who lost loved ones say listen, it's unfortunately, it's our graveyard even though life eventually has to go on.
VELSHI: Kiran and Christine, nothing has been simple down here. In fact, even the name of the freedom tower was discarded because of concerns that that would make it even more of a target again. Now it's going up right around the corner as people come to work and they get out of the subways, this is one of the free newspapers they get "Metro." And it says, "Got Him." That all it says on the front.
I want to bring Jason Carroll in. Jason has been here all night with a crowd that was actually right here where we are. The police moved them behind barricades right around there. And you were actually interviewing a guy who had a sign that says "we got him." And speaking to what President Obama was just talking about, what we just heard him say, you spoke to the wife of somebody who died here. She had his picture. Is there a sense that they achieved some closure?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think for a lot of people that I spoke to, Diane Masoroli (ph), that's the widow that you're speaking about, lost her husband, Michael, on the 101st floor, for her, finally is a sense of closure. Also, I spoke to a veteran. He felt it as well. I spoke to a student, 19 years old.
VELSHI: Yes.
CARROLL: He felt it as well. But for some other people, there's -- it's really a bittersweet sort of a moment for them, a bittersweet time as they're down here. But still, the overwhelming sense that I got from people is a sense of relief, a sense of coming together, being able to be down here at a site where people in the past felt like there was a time that no one would be able to come down here and celebrate. People finally tonight feel --
VELSHI: And they really were, Jason. I guess they heard the news, whether it was on the news or whether it was through some sports coverage, because it was announced at the Mets/Phillies game, people came down here and they were fully celebrating.
CARROLL: Oh, yes. And it was interesting to hear how they came down. You spoke to someone who came in from Scranton.
VELSHI: Yes.
CARROLL: You know, we ran across people who said, oh, we saw you on television, we wanted to come down. People who live in the neighborhood, people who came from Long Island --
VELSHI: Yes.
CARROLL: Staten Island, Jersey just wanted to come down and be a part of something.
VELSHI: Yes.
All right. And there's still here now. What's happened is that crowd has thinned out a little bit. A lot of the revelers from late night are going home. Now you've got workers coming in and they are coming in to a Lower Manhattan that is different from any day it has been almost for 10 years now.
CARROLL: Absolutely.
VELSHI: This has been a symbol of something that -- something terrible that happened to America and it seems like things are changing down here -- Kiran, Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Ali and Jason.
We want to show you some new pictures of the aftermath of this compound in Abbottabad that we've been telling you about. This is where Osama bin Laden was found by U.S. Special Operations Forces in a 40-minute raid. We've been showing you pictures of sort of a burning in the nighttime outside of there. They actually set a helicopter on fire so they had nothing to leave behind.
CHETRY: Right.
ROMANS: And that fire burning at night. Now, these are the pictures in the daytime. You can see the brick walls around it. It looks as though this were - was built especially for Osama Bin Laden, an hour north of Islamabad. This is where he was living. No telephone lines in, no Internet, pretty secluded behind the walls there.
And U.S. officials and the president and the U.S. officials have been watching this for months now, since last august.
CHETRY: Yes. It's astounding just to see those pictures and to know where he was not hiding in plain sight, but nowhere where they thought in terms of the mountainous region of -
ROMANS: Right.
CHETRY: -- Afghanistan and Pakistan, those hilly regions where it was so difficult to launch operations.
Well, we want to now bring in our CNN Terrorism Analyst, Paul Cruickshank. A pretty startling information that you have for us this morning. Actually, you got an e-mail from Osama Bin Laden's brother just moments ago.
PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Yes, a first reaction of sorts from the Bin Laden family. This comes from Yeslam bin Laden, Bin Laden's older brother, they were very close, and he just e-mailed me to say that the family was not informed of this beforehand and he says, "I ask that his body is released so that he is buried among his own." A very short statement from the family acknowledging Bin Laden's death - Kiran. CHETRY: Isn't that - isn't that already too late? I mean, he's saying that he was not - they were not notified of the death of Bin Laden? And they also said that he - his body was buried at sea.
CRUICKSHANK: Well, that's information we understand. The Bin Laden family appears to be calling for Bin Laden to be buried among his own. That's what they're saying this morning.
ROMANS: It's interesting, because here is somebody who has - who has an international notoriety as a mass murder and a terrorist, yet within the Bin Laden family, some have tried to distance themselves from him and his - his mission against the West. Yet, one of his brothers is very close to him, that he would still like his body.
It's an interesting - I don't know, a contradiction, really.
CRUICKSHANK: Absolutely. Obviously nothing, this brother, nothing to do with al Qaeda at all. But - but still, you know, it is his younger brother, somebody he was close to, and is now making this call this morning.
CHETRY: And just help to remind people, what - what is the situation? I mean, this was a prominent Saudi family. He made much of the fact that he renounced this life of riches and wealth and decided to actually follow what he felt was his fundamental pure brand of Islam. What has been the reaction from most members of his family?
CRUICKSHANK: Well, I'm not aware of - not from what most members of the family are saying, but obviously this has come as a surprise to them, that he's survived all these years, that he hasn't been targeted. And you're right. He came from a very rich family but he gave it all up. And that was part of the Bin Laden myth, part of the Bin Laden aura, that he was a man on a run, he was in Afghanistan fighting the Soviets, on the run from the CIA and other intelligence agencies.
But I think the fact that he was living in this million dollar compound in a subtle part of Pakistan, will that, perhaps, damage this aura? That's the question we're going to ask.
ROMANS: Also raises questions about how he was supported, who was supporting him, what kinds of ties and lines did he have to his own family and also to others who are prominent people in the military as well since this was so close to a military area. All right. Paul Cruickshank, thank you so much, Paul.
CHETRY: We'll check in with you throughout the morning as well.
And meanwhile, still to come, there are new warnings for Americans now that Bin Laden is dead. Fears of reprisal attacks, especially Americans living overseas asked to be on alert. We're going to have the latest on that, coming up.
It's now 19 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROMANS: Will the death of Osama Bin Laden, the most hated terrorist in the world and a mass murder, also bring an end to the war on terror?
CHETRY: A lot of big questions this morning on that front.
We're joined by CNN National Security Analyst, Peter Bergen. Peter actually interviewed Osama Bin Laden back in 1997. He joins us live in Washington. Peter, I know you've been up all night. Welcome to the program.
For those who were just waking up to this news this morning, give us your initial reaction upon learning that, A, this was a successful raid, and B, that he was found this quite busy city - military city of Abbottabad.
PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, first of all, I think most Americans recognize that the war on terror, quote-unquote, "couldn't really be ended without the death of Osama Bin Laden." He founded al Qaeda in 1988. He's the intellectual author of the largest mass murder in American history and in fact the largest terrorist attack in history. And with him being out there, there was no justice for the victims of 9/11 and we have dealt a crippling blow to al Qaeda, the organization.
I don't want to pretend that Jihadist terrorism is not going to be a feature of our lives and other countries' lives, but this is a very, very major change in the whole way this is going forward.
When you join al Qaeda, you don't pledge an oath of allegiance to al Qaeda, you pledge a personal oath of allegiance to Bin Laden. When an al Qaeda affiliate joins al Qaeda, they don't pledge an oath of allegiance to al Qaeda. They pledge a personal oath of allegiance to Bin Laden himself.
This is a very charismatic led organization. There is no one in the wings with his charisma to take over. He has a deputy, but Ayman al- Zawahiri who's disliked even by people within the organization.
Bin Laden, I mean, I've interviewed a lot of people who know him, both detractors and admirers, but there's a kind of universal feeling among people who admire him, they use the word "love." Now, love is a very strong word used about somebody. This is somebody who is widely admired by his foot soldiers. There is no one in the wings to replace him. He does have 11 sons, one of whom we know was killed in this attack. The Bin Laden family name is a rather powerful one.
Some of his sons have gone into his family business already. Assad Bin Laden, one of his older sons, for instance, has had a sort of minor leadership role in al Qaeda. You can imagine one of them trying to step up. (INAUDIBLE) Ayman al-Zawahiri, the number two, will try and move in. But just as al Qaeda in Iraq was led by Abu Massab al- Zarqawi after his death, the organization didn't do very well.
These organizations require a charismatic leader at their helm and Bin Laden was not only the leader of al Qaeda but the wider and global Jihadi movement.
ROMANS: You know, Peter, it's interesting, because you've got the so- called Arab Spring and now you have the death of Osama Bin Laden. Do those two things together signal a real shift to you? You say it's the end of the war on terror. Do they signal a real shift to you about - about where we go from here?
BERGEN: Well, I think, you know, what was very striking, was we hadn't heard from Osama Bin Laden at all about the Arab Spring, which is extraordinary because he's commented on the most minor developments in the - in the Muslim world.
For instance, in January, he came out with a tape talking about the recent decision by the French parliament to ban the all-enveloping burqa garment in public. So, you know - and nothing was too small to catch his eye.
CHETRY: Right.
BERGEN: The fact that he didn't comment on after all the most significant event in the Middle East since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I was pretty interesting, suggesting that perhaps he was aware that his - perhaps some of the secrecy surrounding his location may have been penetrated.
And, you know, the striking thing about the Arab Spring, is there's not a single picture of Osama Bin Laden being carried by the protesters in Bahrain, in Cairo or anywhere else. Al Qaeda's ideas is not part (ph) of this. The outcomes would not be to their liking. And, you know, we've got this enormous I think punctuation mark with Bin Laden's death as well the Arab Spring, indicating that al Qaeda - you know, Bin Laden called these guys the small men on the wrong end of history. Well, history just got a lot shorter for everybody involved with the death of Bin Laden and the arising of the Arab Spring.
CHETRY: You're right. You bring up a great point about that.
Peter Bergen, we're going to be checking in with you throughout the show. Thanks so much for joining us this morning.
BERGEN: Thank you.
CHETRY: You know, the other interesting point also, is just about how this - what this means for President Obama? I mean, some of his biggest detractors are admitting this took a lot of courage and the fact that this happened politically is big for him, but also the implications of our future involvement in Afghanistan certainly going to be under the microscope as well.
ROMANS: That's right.
Also, we're going to take a look at how the raid went down. And the high security alert now for Americans. I mean, some fears of possible reprisals.
You're looking at pictures right now of that compound where Osama Bin Laden was killed last night, news just seven or eight hours old.
Twenty-six minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
(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 is responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Celebrations erupting outside of the White House, also at Ground Zero, on that news as the president announcing to the world that Osama bin Laden has been killed.
Good morning to you. It is Monday, May 2nd. We're following all of the latest developments on this in a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans.
And our friend Ali Velshi is at Ground Zero covering all the developments there.
Hi, Ali.
VELSHI: Good morning, Christine.
You know, while Osama bin Laden has been responsible for so much tragedy and so much destruction around the world, in a lot of ways, the world's eyes are focused right here on Ground Zero. Right now, I'm about 50 feet away from the site of the former Twin Towers.
There's an array of media here. There are people who are coming to work as they get out of the subway, subway entrances all around me. They're getting one of these free newspapers that says, "Got Him" -- in case you didn't know, in case you somehow made it all the way to work today without knowing that several hours ago this announcement was made by President Obama.
Just around the corner from me, you'll see some more barricades. One set of barricades here, another set over there. Beyond that, there are a small group of people, some of whom have been here all night. In fact, at one point, they numbered in the thousands. Revelers, partiers, people chanting "USA, USA."
There was a bagpipe player here.
Our Jason Carroll who's been here all night was speaking to one very young man -- in fact, the crowd was overwhelmingly young -- one young man who said this is our V-E Day. There were people here celebrating who would have been in school, junior school, when 9/11 happened.
So, this is really quite a change. There are people getting out, coming to work in Lower Manhattan for the first time in almost 10 years, where Osama bin Laden is not looming large over America's security, over the world.
This is a strange day for people. For some people it is entirely and plainly celebratory. Others are a little bit dismissive of it because they're saying this doesn't end terrorism. And yet, others are saying for relatives of people lost in 9/11, here at Ground Zero, they have not yet got closure. In some cases, the remains of their loved ones have not been identified and that this doesn't settle the matter.
So, a lot of mixed emotions right here at Ground Zero, in Lower Manhattan, but a lot of jubilation overnight as well -- Kiran, Christine.
CHETRY: All right. Ali Velshi for us -- thanks.
ROMANS: The very latest now to tell you about, the U.S. mission that finally took out the world's most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden. The al Qaeda chief was killed yesterday. Shot in the head by American forces in Pakistan. One of his sons and two of his couriers were also killed, along with a woman being described by the U.S. as a human shield. The operation carried out with the cooperation of Pakistani officials.
CHETRY: Right. You know, we're hearing that members of their intelligence service, the ISI, were on site. Now, how much they knew about this prior to the mission taking place is still not known.
ROMANS: Bin Laden, you know, of course, was hiding in a million- dollar compound, a mansion in that compound in Abbottabad, in Pakistan. It's about 60 miles north of Islamabad.
And, Kiran, this is a town that is a big town. It's not as if he were hiding in the mountains in a cave. He was in a very large city, very -- just an hour from Islamabad.
CHETRY: Sure. And said to be a military city at that -- military academy, places where former military go to retire.
Meanwhile, we're learning also that the CIA had been watching this location for months. There's video from Geo News in Pakistan showing the compound in flames after the two U.S. helicopters and about two dozen Navy SEALs swooped in and shot Osama bin Laden. Still not clear who fired the shot that killed him. We know it was U.S. forces, but still not knowing exactly who that person was.
ROMANS: And we think what you're seeing there is a burning helicopter. The American military set the helicopter, one of the helicopters they came in on, on fire, actually, after the mission.
CHETRY: It crashed because of what they say mechanical failure, and they wanted to make sure that any traces, any intelligence that could be gathered from that was eliminated. So, again, they burned it. The mission took 40 minutes. The compound where bin Laden was found, surrounded by seven-foot walls and then there are other reports of another 12-foot wall around that.
A U.S. helicopter as we said, did crash. The helicopter was then destroyed by U.S. troops, of course, for security reasons.
ROMANS: All right. Fears of retaliation now the next step in this story. With bin Laden dead, the State Department is sending out a strong warning: Americans around the world should be on guard for near-term dangers or reprisals because of this. CHETRY: There are particular security concerns at U.S. embassies abroad.
Foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty is live at the State Department and also just some interesting news that even before this raid took place --
ROMANS: Right.
CHETRY: -- apparently, some embassies in Pakistan -- I believe it was Peshawar -- they were told, some of the members were told to leave because of kidnapping concerns. Very interesting.
ROMANS: It looks as though they were preparing for the potential of some trouble this weekend.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. There has been a lot of concern. And just a few minutes ago, I was on the phone with the U.S. embassy in Islamabad and they pointed out that they've just issued a warden notice and that is to American citizens in that area, especially in Pakistan, as you can imagine.
They said, in Pakistan, at the U.S. consulates in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, and in Islamabad, at the U.S. embassy, they're warning that there could be spontaneous protests, as they call it, could erupt at any locations, perceived as Western, including restaurants and areas where foreigners tend to congregate and they could turn violent. So, at all four of those locations, they have shut down the embassy. It's still functioning, but that is for anybody, you know, public from the outside, they will still deal with emergency situations for U.S. citizens.
And then, as we have been reporting worldwide, there's a travel alert for Americans who both live and are traveling around the world, to be very careful, and maybe we can put that up. You can listen to this.
The main part of it saying, that given the uncertainty and volatility of the current situation, U.S. citizens in areas where recent events could cause anti-American violence, are urged to not travel outside of their homes, not travel outside of their hotels, and avoid any type of mass gatherings, because as we know, they could turn violent.
CHETRY: All right. Jill Dougherty with the latest news, very interesting news about the U.S. embassy in Islamabad issuing that alert. We'll have much more coming up. ROMANS: So, Osama bin Laden was hiding deep in some caves somewhere in the mountainous regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. That was the prevailing theory of Osama bin Laden all these years.
CHETRY: And I guess they got some hint that was not the case in August and have since worked on those leads. How did the terrorist leader go unnoticed in such a populated area of Pakistan?
Sajjan Gohel joins us from London now, a terror expert working with the Asia Pacific Foundation.
Thanks so much for being with us this morning.
Were you surprised to hear it was, in fact, in Abbottabad?
SAJJAN GOHEL, TERRORISM ANALYST: No, I wasn't surprised at all. If you look at all the key players within al Qaeda, the leadership, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is captured in Rawalpindi, in an army compound, Abu Zubaydah in Faisalabad, Ramzi Bin al-Shibh in Karachi -- all of them were hiding in urban centers. It had become a fabled myth that al Qaeda was hiding in the tribal areas, in the caves.
Some of the trainers were definitely based there. The people going there for training were also traveling to the tribal areas, but not the leadership. They needed to be near communications, access to resources. And it was inevitable that bin Laden would be found in a major city. In fact, I mentioned that on CNN AMERICAN MORNING back in 2004.
ROMANS: You know, it's interesting because when you talk about the tribal areas and the caves and that kind of, I guess, myth of the al Qaeda story, it's really 10 years ago when that was what was happening. It was after fighting the Soviets and all of that.
And you say that moving into the urban areas, there was a lot of support, logistical support in the urban areas for al Qaeda leaders, is that correct?
GOHEL: Very much so. They were getting support from local terrorist groups, like the Lashkar-e-Taibi, that planned the Mumbai attacks several years ago. They were also getting support from elements within Pakistan's own security operators, the military, notorious intelligence agency, the ISI.
It's partly why the U.S. started conducting its own operations like the drone strikes in Pakistan without letting the authorities know because they were worried about leakage of information. Bin Laden could not have been living in an urban center without the knowledge of elements within Pakistan's intelligence establishment.
CHETRY: And so, what is the fallout from that? How does that affect U.S./Pakistan relations?
GOHEL: We're seeing the gradual decline in relations between the United States and Pakistan. It's moving from frenemies to outright enemies. There's total lack of trust. In the past, we would see public support, private pressure. Now, we're seeing public pressure. There's open criticism in the United States about the leadership in Pakistan.
In many ways, the problems began under the former military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, who allowed terrorist groups to set up base inside his country. He did nothing to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure and we've seen bin Laden captured.
Now, the question is where are his deputies, where is Ayman al- Zawahiri? Where is Abu Yahya al-Libi? Are the Pakistanis in knowledge of where their whereabouts are?
ROMANS: Do you -- just very quickly, I mean, a couple other assessments this morning, he was irreplaceable, and this that al Qaeda cannot continue as it is without him as the moral center of this group. Do you agree with that?
GOHEL: Bin Laden was an ideological leader. His doctrine remains. His message remains intact, even though he may be dead.
Al Qaeda central may not necessarily be able to recover, but there are many terrorist groups that will continue his legacy and have the means and capability of planning transnational attacks. So, it's important in terms of symbolic value, but unfortunately, it doesn't stop transnational terrorism.
ROMANS: All right. Sajjan Gohel, thank you so much for your time this morning and your expertise.
CHETRY: It's interesting. I mean, the implication of Pakistan not being our ally anymore is a big question as well for our national security.
ROMANS: He says from frenemies to outright enemies.
CHETRY: Yes. It's scary.
The leader of the free world making what might be the most important announcement of his political life. We're going to hear what President Obama had to say about the death of Osama bin Laden.
It's now 41 minutes past the hour.
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
CHETRY: Forty-four minutes past the hour right now. Welcome back.
We're doing a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING today because of the death of Osama bin Laden -- the killing of Osama bin Laden, at the hands of U.S. troops. It was very, very interesting last night, to hear the president in this surprise announcement come out and speak about this late in the evening. ROMANS: That's right. It will no doubt be an announcement that will define his presidency. From the White House last night, President Obama said the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks and the terrorist responsible for thousands of American lives was gone. Here's another look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OBAMA: Good evening.
Tonight, 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 whose who's responsible for the murder of thousands of men, women, and children.
It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory: hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky, the Twin Towers collapsing to the ground, black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon, the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction.
And yet we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world: the empty seat at the dinner table, children were forced to grow up without their mother or their father, parents who would never know the feeling of their child's embrace -- nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts.
On September 11th, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together. We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. We reaffirmed our ties to each other and our love of community and country. On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family. We were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice.
We quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda, an organization headed by Osama Bin Laden which had openly declared war on the United states and was committed to killing innocence in our country and around the globe. So, we went to war against al Qaeda, to protect our citizens, our friends and our allies.
And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of Bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network. Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to Bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground.
I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located Bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside Pakistan. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action and authorized an operation to get Osama Bin Laden and bring him to justice. 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. For over two decades, Bin Laden has been al Qaeda's leader and symbol and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies.
The death of Bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al Qaeda. His death does not mark the end of our effort. There's no doubt that al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must, and we will remain vigilant at home and abroad. Finally, 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. The cause of securing our country is not complete, but, tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to.
That is the story of our history, whether it's the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for our all citizens, our commitment to stand up for our values abroad and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place. Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
Thank you. May God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: That's the president of the United States about seven hours ago announcing that Osama Bin Laden was dead.
CHETRY: Many people hearing it when they were watching major league baseball, and they heard it in the crowds, certainly, a huge reaction here in the U.S., and we'll bring you more of that.
Also, we're going to continue to cover our breaking news, but we want to take a quick break to update you on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ROMANS: After the break, why officials want to blast a hole into a levee that's holding back the Mississippi River from rising waters?
And another setback for the space shuttle "Endeavour." Details on when it will finally launch.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROMANS: A lot going on this morning. Here's what you need to know to start your day. Breaking news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS (voice-over): President Obama announces Osama Bin Laden is dead. U.S. navy seals cornered Bin Laden in a compound outside the capital of Pakistan. He was shot in the head. A U.S. official says he was buried at sea.
The army corps of engineers planning to blow up part of a levee along the rising Mississippi River. It will save the town of Cairo but also flood thousands of acres of Missouri farmland.
Congress returns this morning from a two-week recess under pressure to deal with the nation's debt ceiling. The treasury estimates the government will reach its borrowing limit in about two weeks.
And NASA pushes back the launch of space shuttle "Endeavour" by at least a week. Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is back in Houston, but she says she plans to return to Florida to see her husband lift off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS (on-camera): You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING back in 60 seconds.
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ROMANS: Justice has been done. Those are the words of President Obama as he announced that Osama Bin Laden, the biggest face of terrorism worldwide, is dead.
CHETRY: And there's been reaction pouring in from all over the world. Zain Verjee is keeping track of what the world's newspapers are saying this morning about this event. Good morning, Zain. Good to see you.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Good morning. Good to see you, as well. Let's go straight to the U.K. This is "The Telegraph" "The butcher of 9/11 is dead. The killing of Osama Bin Laden is a massive blow to Islamist terrorism." It goes on to say this, "There can be no doubt that this is a massive blow to the al Qaeda network, but there can be no room for complacency."
Take a look at the headline on "Haaretz", Benjamin Netanyahu saying this, "Killing of Bin Laden is resounding victory for justice." Now, this article also quotes the Israeli president, Shimon Perez, saying, "this is a great achievement for the American security establishment, a great achievement for the U.S. president."
And then, check out the headline here in the "Financial Times." Security experts warn against complacency. An international security expert basically says "Operatives will fill his shoes and the intellectual aspect of the movement is still well and truly kicking." -- Kiran. CHETRY: The other interesting thing, we've talked a lot about, you know, the tragedy of 9/11 and what happened in this country, but Osama Bin Laden was responsible or claimed responsibility for attacks that killed countless other people in many other countries in the world.
VERJEE: Absolutely. He did. Among those, my own country, Kenya. I was there when the embassy bombings happened in August of 1998, and there's going to be a lot of relief that he has been killed like this. One point, though, that keeps coming out from people that I talk to is, essentially, that al Qaeda is more an ideology. The ideology is still alive, even if the actual formal structure of the organization isn't as strong as it once used to be.
And it's that dangerous ideology that inspires groups like al Shabaab and Somalia, al Qaeda in the Maghreb, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Many people now bracing and worried that in the short term, there could be some kind of reprisal attack -- Kiran.
ROMANS: Zain Verjee, thanks so much. Zain points out the embassy bombings in 1998, that was the first time the U.S. started to use its firepower against al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden, and you think how long he has escaped the grasp of the western U.S.
CHETRY: Right. The world trade center, the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, I mean, on and on, but yes, we're going to continue to follow the latest on this. Again, the news that came out just a mere about eight hours ago, that Osama Bin Laden killed at the hands of U.S. forces. We're monitoring reaction and potential new threats out there this morning. We're going to be right back with AMERICAN MORNING.
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