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American Morning
Osama bin Laden killed; Taliban Threatens Reprisal Attacks In Wake Of Bin Laden's Death; 9/11 Families of Flight 93 Not Forgotten; Americans Celebrate Bin Laden's Death
Aired May 02, 2011 - 07:00 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: 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: What a dramatic ending to a ten-year manhunt as U.S. forces kill one of the world's most notorious terror leaders, how it happened, and what happens next on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And good morning to you. Thanks so much for joining us on this Monday. It's May 2nd, a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING as the world reacts to the death of Osama Bin Laden.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: So much news to go over. It's only been seven or eight hours this news has been public. Let's head over to Ali Velshi. He's joining us from the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan. And Ali, where you are right now is just a visceral place for anyone who has lived in this country for the last ten years and has endured what we've endured at the hands of Osama Bin Laden.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Most people have not seen any of the other places that Osama Bin Laden's hand has touched. They have seen ground zero. We are here just 50 feet away from the site of the World Towers. It's crowded with media and workers.
This scene has changed dramatically in the last eight hours since news of Osama bin Laden's killing first got out. This was an area filled with revelers overnight, a couple thousand by one count. You can see the celebrations going on. Those people have gone home and workers are pouring out, cabs, cars driving around. As they come out of the subway, some of them are buying newspapers and those newspapers are filling them with the headlines of the story.
In fact, I've got in my hand here "The New York Times," the entire first page, dedicated to the - the entire front page dedicated to coverage including the famous pictures of the world trade center twin towers burning. "The New York Post," perhaps a little more direct, as it often is, says "Got him -- Vengeance at last, U.S. nails the bastard."
That is definitely the feeling that we're getting around here from a lot of people, overnight a number of people telling our reporters, young people in fact, saying this is our VE day. This is a night where people have been digesting the news and trying to get out their emotions. Now as people come to work it is a different lower Manhattan than it has been for almost the last it ten years.
We'll continue our coverage from here, from the -- from Times Square, from outside the White House, and from those places around the country where Americans are reacting to the news that Osama bin Laden is dead. Back to you.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Ali Velshi, we'll be checking in with you throughout the hour, thanks.
ROMANS: Osama bin Laden left a life of privilege and enormous wealth -- you've all known this story by now, right -- to wage a holy war on the west from remote mountain caves. He died, ironically, though, in $1 million mansion.
CHETRY: Bin laden was shot in the head early Sunday morning by a team led by U.S. Navy Seals. There was CIA involved, other special operations forces, at this compound. He was hiding in this compound surrounded by seven-foot walls in Abbottabad, Pakistan, about 60 miles north of Islamabad.
ROMANS: U.S. officials say after bin Laden's body was taken into custody and positively identified, it was buried at sea. U.S. officials say they followed all Islamic traditions in doing so. It also eliminates a burial place for Osama bin Laden to become some sort of a shrine that can attract and be a recruiting tool.
CHETRY: And the news of bin Laden's demise triggering emotional celebrations here in the United States at the White House and at ground zero. And we're also getting in some world reaction as well. This is coming to us via Reuters that basically the Taliban in Pakistan has threatened a reprisal attacks not only on Pakistani officials but on the United States as well on the news of the death of Osama bin Laden.
Also a U.S. official tells us the CIA has been watching bin Laden's compound for months now. U.S. helicopters and about two dozen Navy Seals as well as specials forces were sent in to eliminate the world's most wanted man early Sunday morning.
ROMANS: The video you're watching right now is from Geo News in Pakistan and it shows bin Laden's mansion in flames after the raid. Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon this morning. Barbara, the U.S. spent a long time hunting down Osama bin Laden, and then it looks as though fast forward from August until today, based on good intelligence, they were able to put together a plan that worked. How did it all happen? BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: You know, this is something out of a spy novel or movie but it's that painstaking intelligence work. Back in August, by all accounts, they began to identify a courier close to Osama bin Laden. They spoke to detainees at Guantanamo Bay and developed more information about this man.
They eventually tracked this courier to this compound. But it's a million dollar compound, 18-foot security walls, massive security perimeter. What is one courier and his brother doing living in such a place in Pakistan? It was unexplainable.
Then then began to realize there was another family living there besides the courier and his brother, and that family fit the profile of Osama bin Laden and who they thought he might be living with, other family members.
So they began to watch and track very carefully over time they saw more security develop at this compound. We don't know exactly why President Obama decided to authorize the mission on Friday, but what we are told by a source is conditions became very clear that it was time to move. Christine, Kiran.
CHETRY: I want to ask your reaction, quickly, Barbara, to this Reuters report, and I know we're working to get more details that the Pakistani Taliban is threatening to attack U.S. as well as Pakistani targets because of the news of the death of bin Laden. How concerned are defense officials that there will be reprisals?
STARR: Look, I don't think those statements of threats are any surprise to anyone in the United States military or the U.S. intelligence community. Over the weekend the U.S. military ramped up security conditions, security protection conditions, at all U.S. military facilities around the world. The State Department taking similar action, also moving its personnel to more secure conditions, if you will, in Pakistan.
It's what they expected. It's no surprise, and they are already taking steps to ensure that U.S. personnel and U.S. facilities are secure.
ROMANS: Barbara Starr -- thanks so much, Barbara. It's almost become pro forma for the Taliban to claim responsibility for anything that happens in the region, so it will be interesting to see if they do -- if they do really have anything planned or using this as a public relations coup.
CHETRY: It's also interesting to see how much sympathy there is for Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. It's interesting that they were threatening attacks against Pakistani targets as well.
ROMANS: That's right.
CHETRY: That's according to Reuters. President Obama called his predecessor former president George W. Bush to tell him the news of Osama bin Laden's death. Mr. Bush calling it a, quote, "momentous achievement." ROMANS: The hunt for Osama bin Laden began with the Bush administration. Even in the Clinton administration, though, there were bombings on his compounds after the embassy bombings in Kenya. Remember when President Bush made this famous statement almost a decade ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Osama bin Laden is just one person. He's a representative of a -- of networks of people who absolutely have made their cause to defeat the freedoms that we understand. And we will not allow him to do so.
QUESTION: Do you want bin Laden dead?
BUSH: I want him -- I want justice. And there's an old poster out west as I recall that said "Wanted, dead or alive."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There you go. New pictures this morning of the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed. There it is. It's located more than 30 miles north of Islamabad, Pakistan.
ROMANS: It's described by officials as being the largest and most secure property in the area. It raised the attention of U.S. intelligence officials for sure. They've been watching it since last August. Osama bin Laden has been a fixture on the FBI's most wanted list now for more than two decades.
CHETRY: He first appeared on a list back in 1999, that's when he was wanted in connection with the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Those attacks killed more than 200 people.
Also brand new this hour, Reuters is reporting that the Pakistan Taliban is threatening attacks in revenge for the raid that killed bin Laden. A big question remains now that he's been eliminated, will Al Qaeda become weak and disorganized or will the terror group galvanize after his death.
ROMANS: This historic development could change the way the U.S. conducts the war on terrorism. Let's bring in CNN National Security contributor Fran Townsend, and joining us live from Washington CNN National security analyst Peter Bergen. Fran, first of all, back September 17th, 2001, to see the pictures of President Bush and the fortitude the American government had to track him down, it's taken ten years.
FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: It has. Let's remember, this was the culmination, the killing of bin Laden is the culmination of a stronger intelligence community, additional resources. I mean it takes time.
I can remember saying here on CNN, that I was -- I was confident that it was a success that hadn't happened yet. Much fun was made of me at the time for having said that. There was no doubt because I understood the amount of resources and devotion of the U.S. government and military works with the intelligence community.
CHETRY: This was not without risk. Technically, I mean this was a, by all accounts, a very well-planned raid, but there were so many things that could have gone wrong. In fact, one of their helicopters crashed. No American lives were lost, but this was very risky operation for President Obama to authorize.
TOWNSEND: Kiran, you're absolutely right. I think most Americans don't realize they hear it was 40 minutes. That sounds pretty quick in and out. This was an incredibly intense operation. Two helicopters, one as you mentioned goes down. But you're worried, you don't know what weapons are on the inside, what's the plan if one of our soldiers had been hurt. What if he hadn't been there, escaped and civilian casualties?
The decision to go ahead with the operation rests on the soldiers and the president of the United States and it took tremendous courage and fortitude for president Obama to make that decision and take that risk.
ROMANS: Peter Bergen, Leon Panetta turned a conference room into sort of the war room, if you will, or the offensive room for this and was personally directing what was going on. This was an operation that goes to the highest levels of the American government for obvious reasons.
PETER BERGEN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. I mean, as Fran said, you know, a lot of resources were directed at this. It's worth noting that U.S. intelligence agencies have consumed half a trillion dollars since 9/11. And while this was a big success, it took a long time.
This is not to undervalue how difficult these things are. You know, it took 15 years for the Israelis to find Eichmann after the holocaust, a man responsible for literally millions of Jewish deaths. And the Israelis put a lot of effort into it. And, obviously, the United States has put a lot of effort into it.
I think along the way, in 2005, the CIA actually closed down its bin Laden unit, a fairly extraordinary decision, I think, that historians will not look very kindly on. That doesn't mean, of course, that the hunt for bin Laden stopped. But there was a sort of view within the intelligence community that bin Laden was less important, that we should be looking at the sort of larger ideological movement.
And I think that view, frankly was mistaken. Al Qaeda was bin Laden's idea, 9/11, the intellectual author of the largest mass murder in American history and he is basically irreplaceable. Sure, there were people who would come up, but no one of his quote/unquote "stature," his deputy Ayman al Zawahiri is not likely liked or well-regarded even within the organization.
Sure bin Laden has sons, one or two of whom are gone into the family business and one who was killed in this raid. So, you know, there will be people vying for the leadership, but no one of his stature.
ROMANS: All right, Peter Bergen, Fran Townsend thank you for your expertise.
CHETRY: During president Obama's announcement, he called it "patriotism at its finest." He also promised to continue the fight against terror. Here's more from the president's speech last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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 all our 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: As the president spoke, crowds waving U.S. flags gathered outside of the gates of the White House, some of them chanting "USA" singing the national anthem.
ROMANS: We want to bring in now Jamie Ruben, a former assistant secretary of state. How did the president, Jamie, play this? The speech was very concise, it appealed to what we all remember about 9/11 and reminded us this was a mass murderer. Ten years on how did they do?
JAMIE RUBIN, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: He did touch all the right bases, not only reminding us what a national event it was, and how it changed our psyches, he dealt with the families, extremely well, he mentioned President George Bush's name. I think that was important. Obviously he called him as well.
ROMANS: A good move.
RUBIN: A very good move, because whatever you think of President Bush, the war on terrorism was his signature action. He made took it a little far for some, but Afghanistan and bin Laden were the focus of president George Bush's presidency. And so to be able to share that with President Bush, I think was wise move to keep it as bipartisan as possible.
CHETRY: The other interesting thing is how this affects or shapes our future relations with Pakistan. As we've talked about before, the relationship has been on the decline and now the fact that where he was found seems to be a place where it's hard for many to believe that at least some element of Pakistan security forces didn't know he was there.
RUBIN: It is. It's hard to believe a lot of what happens in Pakistan when they say they're working with us on Afghanistan and yet allowing so many Taliban fighters to base themselves in Pakistan and then rush in to Afghanistan. There are serious splits within the Pakistani society from security ground, ideology ground, terrorism, all these things. And although President Obama was right to mention the cooperation with Pakistan, it does look like this was done by the United States alone and that the Pakistanis participation is limited. And I think you can understand that if you know that he's there and you have intelligence he's going to be there. I'm not sure you want to give this Pakistani government six months' notice about it.
ROMANS: Others have called Pakistan an incubator for terrorism and for extreme anti-American views. I mean, where do we go from here? Does Osama bin Laden's death change fundamentally American foreign policy at this point? Does it put an end to the period of the war on terror and now into some kind of a new phase?
RUBIN: I think it ends a phase and aspect, a part of the war on terror, whatever you call that, meaning the battle to keep us safe from ideologically motivated Islamic terrorists. This is a particular type of enemy we're facing and bin Laden represented an organization that was the prime mover behind that war. And so I think it is the end of a chapter. But it's not the end of the battle against extremist Islamic terrorism and that's why there's so many pieces left to play out. Pakistan is a big, big part of that.
ROMANS: Yes. Right.
CHETRY: Is this political cover, if you will, I guess to put it bluntly, to start getting us out of Afghanistan? I mean, mission accomplished in a way?
RUBIN: Well, I'm sure that, you know, as the days go by and after we absorb the good day that we are having today, that people are going to say, now wait a minute, I thought we were in Afghanistan because of Al Qaeda. There aren't many left. Bin Laden is gone. What is the rational for the war since President Obama did not make it a battle to defeat the Taliban per se, but rather to focus on Al Qaeda. I think that discussion is going to get a little more intense in the weeks ahead.
ROMANS: All right, Jamie Rubin. Thanks, Jamie.
RUBIN: Thank you.
CHETRY: Good to have you with us this morning.
Our Ali Velshi is down at the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan getting reaction today from all of this news.
Hi, Ali.
VELSHI: Kiran, that discussion you were just having about closing a chapter and perhaps moving on, that's an interesting discussion for us. I'm curious as to what that means for the families of the victims who died right here on Ground Zero. When we come back, we're going to talk a little about that. We're going to discuss what the president said about it. I'm going to talk to Jason Carroll who has been here all night and spoke to the wife of a man who died here on Ground Zero. We'll discuss the victims and their families as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Welcome back to our breaking news on AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Ali Velshi here at Ground Zero which was the scene of great jubilation all night, in fact. Now things are very much back to normal, aside from the fact that there's some barricades to allow the media to do its job.
Construction has resumed on the site next to me. The newspapers are out. "The New York Post" perhaps capturing the mood around here overnight. It says, "Official, bin Laden dead. Got him. Vengeance at last. U.S. nails the bastard."
Jason Carroll joins me now. He was with us -- he was here all night.
Jason, you never got to sleep. There were at some point, there might have been a couple thousand people right here.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was incredible. I mean, you remember what it was like. I mean, the people were crammed into this area here.
VELSHI: Yes.
CARROLL: People of all different walks of life, all different ages. A lot of young people out here, but we also saw some veterans out here, some 9/11 widows that we spoke to as well, a lot of people coming out.
CROWDS: USA, USA!
VELSHI: President Obama was talking about the families of the victims. I just want to play for our audience what he had to say about the victims.
(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)
VELSHI: OK. Three themes that he hit on there. The unity of how Americans felt, how people reacted last night. You saw a lot of that displayed.
CARROLL: Yes. VELSHI: The coming together. And the fact that he talked about the families of the victims. You spoke to a couple of them.
CARROLL: We did. And, you know, look, a couple of things. First of all in speaking to one of the widows whose husband was killed on the 101st floor, for her there was a sense of closure that she felt. That's why she also wanted to come down. She wanted to experience it.
VELSHI: Right.
CARROLL: But it was also a bittersweet moment for her because she never thought that there would come a day where she would actually feel like, hey, Osama bin Laden would be gone, and two, that there would be an actual celebration down at Ground Zero. But she really felt the need to come down here and take part of it.
VELSHI: That was quite something. It was a mix of emotions there, Jason. Also, we don't want to forget those people who went down on United Flight 93, the 40 people who died in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, or near Shanksville. Jim Acosta is there for us this morning.
Jim, what's the situation out there right now?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, it's a lot more subdued out here in Pennsylvania and I can tell you if we were just standing on an empty field a mile from here wouldn't mean very much. But obviously, we're standing on hallowed ground in the global war on terrorism. This is as you mentioned where Flight 93 went down, taking with it 40 passengers and crewmembers who were on board that aircraft that day. And not many people here so far this morning.
What I can tell you is that some folks have come by and left a sign. There's a sign on this fence behind me, and it says "Osama bin Laden is dead, God bless America" signed by Don and Timmy. And so just one of the sentiments out here. But one of the things you have to remember about this site is that, you know, this was really one of the opening skirmishes in the war on terrorism as we all remember. And today and looking at everything that's happening across this country in New York, here in Pennsylvania and in Washington, just bring back a flood of memories. But remember on this flight, Flight 93, is where the passengers stormed that cockpit, forcing the hijackers to bring this plane down here. It is where Todd Beamer, remember him, he was one of the passengers on board, who apparently said, "let's roll" that became one of the battle cries of this war on terrorism. And so I think throughout the hours, as the day goes on, Ali, you will see more people out here. At this point, it's a lot more subdued.
And one thing we do want to mention is that this land behind me is now going to become a national park. There are already National Park Service signs up. And right now, the national park is in the process of building a memorial that will stand on this ground and the opening section of that memorial is slated to open on September 11th, 2011, on the 10-year anniversary of 9/11. So Shanksville or this plot of land just outside of Shanksville certainly not forgotten after what happened on September 11th, Ali. VELSHI: Jim, you make a really interesting point about that being the opening salvo or one of the opening skirmishes on the war on terror because those people on United Flight 93 didn't know at the time that that was what was happening.
ACOSTA: That's right.
VELSHI: It became evident to them only on the flight. And, of course, they will not know that they were some of the first Americans to fight back on this attack on America, on September 11th, 2001, on this morning.
ACOSTA: That's right. According to -- that's right. And according to the 9/11 Commission, Ali, and all of these memories coming back as well, according to the 9/11 Commission, those passengers and crewmembers on board Flight 93, perhaps, saved the United States Capitol or the White House from destruction. It is thought that the hijackers on board that aircraft were going to crash that plane into either the Capitol or the White House. So they were certainly heroes that day, Ali.
VELSHI: Yes. All right. Jim Acosta in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Our coverage from around America and around the world continues on CNN AMERICAN MORNING. It's 26 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
CHETRY: Twenty-nine minutes past the hour. And we are following breaking news this morning.
The world's most wanted terrorist is dead. Osama bin Laden killed early yesterday morning in a raid by CIA operatives and Navy SEALs as well as other U.S. Special Forces. The Al Qaeda chief died in a million dollar mansion in a city called Abbottabad, Pakistan, about 60 miles north of Islamabad. He was shot in the head. His son, two couriers and a woman described as a human shield, were also killed in that raid.
ROMANS: The death of bin Laden triggering fears of retaliation. Reuters is now reporting that the Pakistan Taliban is threatening attacks and revenge for the raid that killed the Al Qaeda leader. The State Department also quickly sending out a very strong warning, Americans around the world should be on high alert. U.S. officials are particularly concerned about security at U.S. embassies abroad.
CHETRY: Also, news of bin Laden's death sparking emotional celebrations. Crowds across areas like outside of the White House at Ground Zero in New York, in Times Square, in Boston, cheering, chanting "USA" singing "God Bless America." Hundreds of students also packing into Boston Common with noisemakers waving American flags.
And we have a little bit of new information to tell you about right now. According to our Barbara Starr, DNA matching is now underway on the body of Osama bin Laden. It's not been completed yet. They say there are photographs of the body with a gunshot wound to the side of the head. Shows an individual that is Osama Bin Laden, but again they have not made a decision when to release this photo or if they're going to release that photo.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: And of course, Osama Bin Laden has already been buried at sea, according to the U.S. following all Islamic traditions and rules.
To Ali Velshi now live at the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan. It strikes me, Ali, there are thousands and thousands of people who didn't even get a burial at sea. There are no remains for their loved ones.
For all of them, this is all closure, but very, very painful all the same.
VELSHI: Yes and that's an interesting point. We've been discussing closure all morning and for some people, the fact, this is a big part of it, the fact that Osama Bin Laden is gone, but for a lot of them, they don't know where the remains of their families are, or at least they haven't been identified.
I want to bring in Mike Barrett to the conversation right now. From D.C., he is a former director of strategy for the White House Homeland Security Council and a former intelligence officer.
Mike, you have been sort of warning in and amongst all of this that while we celebrate, while people are happy that Osama Bin Laden is gone, not only is the threat not gone.
But for the moment, at least for Americans here and abroad, the threat might be peaked, the threat might be getting worse, tell me about that.
MICHAEL BARRETT, FORMER DIRECTOR OF STRATEGY FOR THE WHITE HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY COUNCIL: Well, I think that's exactly right. I mean, one of the things -- we don't want to be overly alarmist about this. We certainly don't want take anything away from the tremendous victory of our military and intelligence assets that are basking in the glow of some really well-done work today and justifiably so.
But we have to be aware, I think what we're likely to see is fairly amateurish attacks, over the next two to three weeks. Certainly U.S. interests primarily abroad so U.S. visitors and workers that live overseas should be particularly careful.
If they frankly, if al Qaeda had the ability to do something domestically, they wouldn't be waiting for a time to do it. They would be carrying it out.
I think we're not necessarily at a huge state of alert in terms of a massive attack, something on the scale of 9/11, but we certainly want to be prepared and it's just important that all Americans are a little extra vigilant. VELSHI: Mike, variously over the last 10 years, we have said that Osama Bin Laden is key to ending terrorism or that Osama Bin Laden doesn't matter. Which is it?
BARRETT: Well, actually, in a sense it's both. I think he matters a lot on an emotional level and on a personal level. There's awful lot of us, you know, thousands of Americans who got up every day in the morning, first thing we did look to see if there's been a terrorist attack and doing that for 10 years.
And so I think it brings some peace of mind, but I think we should also not fool ourselves that somehow it ends the war on terrorism. This war will be a decade's long, generational struggle. So it's very important.
It's a tremendous victory for our forces. Again, these are unsung heroes. We're never going to know the names of the Navy SEALS and others who carried this out. While we should be very happy that chapter is over, we should also be very aware that this war will continue.
And our counterterrorism workers and our military, you know, over the last few years, they've faced some criticism for not being able to get Osama Bin Laden and you're right they're unsung heroes.
Mike Barrett, thanks very much. Christine and Kiran, that's very much the tone that we're hearing over the last few hours, down here at Ground Zero, a number of people very happy that Osama Bin Laden has been killed. Others saying this isn't the end of the war on terror.
ROMANS: All right. Ali, thanks so much, Ali.
CHETRY: There are also fears of retaliation this morning with Osama Bin Laden dead, the State Department is now sending out a strong warning that Americans around the world should be on guard.
ROMANS: They're particularly security concerns at U.S. embassies abroad. Foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty is live with the State Department.
Jill, what are they saying this morning about what kind of precautions Americans should take around the world?
JILL DOUGHERTY, FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, all of the embassies around the world are on high alert and what they're saying to Americans, really almost in any country, as a result of this, that they should be very, very careful in going to any type of public areas, demonstrations, certainly, to be avoided, keep in touch with the U.S. embassy and in some cases in some countries, the embassies will be closed.
In fact, in Pakistan itself, three locations, plus the U.S. embassy in Islamabad are closed Monday for public regular business with the public, but they will be providing emergency services for U.S. citizens. So the main thing is to be in touch and to make sure that they really know if they have a problem they can go to the U.S. embassy and to avoid these areas. In fact, they're saying there could be spontaneous protests that could break out at any time and that is the main concern.
CHETRY: Yes. As you were alluding to, concerns specifically in Pakistan as well, apparently the Pakistani Taliban threatening retribution, both against U.S. interests there, but also against Pakistani officials. How concerned are they?
DOUGHERTY: Right, exactly. It's across the board and you know, I did speak with the U.S. embassy in Islamabad this morning and they're saying, three cities in particular that they are pointing out, plus Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar.
All three of those councils are closed for public business, and certainly the concern would be that there could be attacks on the embassy or there could be demonstrations that break out in the city.
No one wants to be caught up in that and in addition to that, of course, we have this worldwide warning for Americans to be very careful.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks so much, Jill Dougherty. We're going to get a chance to talk to the first secretary of Homeland Security.
CHETRY: Position created at the time.
ROMANS: That's right.
CHETRY: Tom Ridge is going to stop by next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: We have some breaking news as we continue to follow the killing of Osama Bin Laden. We are learning that DNA matching is under way on samples from the body of Osama Bin Laden. Barbara Starr has new details for us this morning at the Pentagon. Hi, Barbara.
STARR: Good morning. Again, the U.S. official confirming to CNN that DNA matching, indeed, is under way at this hour. Samples from Osama Bin Laden being matched with DNA from relatives.
They, however, don't feel that this is absolutely essential, we are told. The reason they are so convinced that they have Osama Bin Laden dead, killed in this attack, is there are photos, we now know, photos of Osama Bin Laden deceased.
We are told if those photos are released, the world will see an Osama Bin Laden and a face that they will recognize that on these photos there will be some distortion. There will be evidence of a gunshot wound to the head.
Perhaps in the side of the forehead area, so there will be some distortion in these photos, but it will be a recognizable face to the world that coming to us from a U.S. official who is seeing the photos.
It still remains however a decision for the White House to decide whether or not they are going to put those photos out in public. Kiran, Christine --
ROMANS: That's something presumably they'll be deciding in the near future because some people say they would like to see for themselves as we have seen others that have been captured or killed, by U.S. forces, and there already are sort of fake pictures floating on the internet and stuff. What are the advantages and disadvantages of revealing those pictures?
STARR: Well, let me underscore that. Officials in Washington have seen some of these photos circulating on the internet and they are all fakes. That no one has seen these photos in public yet and I think that's right.
I think it goes to world opinion. We saw photos of the dead sons of Saddam Hussein many years ago in Iraq. We have seen photos of other deceased insurgent leaders put out in public. What it does, it may be unpleasant to look at, but it shows the world in the view of the United States that they've gotten the man they're looking for.
Osama Bin Laden has one of perhaps the most recognizable faces in the world, so this is a photo that the world will want to see.
CHETRY: I can't see how they get around not releasing this for people to see. There are many people who said they will not believe this until they see the pictures. So hopefully we'll get new news on that. Barbara Starr for us with the information that you found about the DNA matching, thanks so much.
STARR: Sure.
ROMANS: If you're just waking up, the 10-year manhunt is over, Osama Bin Laden is dead and in the end, it was not a U.S. air strike that got him, it was a bullet in the head.
CHETRY: President Obama shared the news with former President George Bush yesterday, and joining us now is the first secretary of Homeland Security under the George W. Bush administration, Tom Ridge, former governor of Pennsylvania as well.
Welcome, governor. Thanks for being with us this morning. Ten long years since 9/11, your reaction to the news that our military and intelligence got Bin Laden?
TOM RIDGE, FORMER SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY (via telephone): Well, it hopefully brings some closure to a painful decade for the families of those who perished on 9/11. Hopefully his death, his termination, is a reminder to the rest of the world that America made a commitment to meet his brutality with justice and the special operations team did that.
I would also like to think, you know, we've had a lot of young men and women perish and also come home with serious injuries in this war against these terrorists and hopefully they'll now see their families will understand their death and injuries sustained were not in vain.
We made a commitment, we showed our resolve and at the end of the day, he could hide for so long, but we finally found him and we closed one chapter and unfortunately I think there will be a more couple to be written. The ideology did not die with Bin Laden.
ROMANS: And I think that's a really good point. So many people talk about how he was the moral center of this moment, but there are others who have tried to pick up the mantle. Do you think that some of the, I guess, zeal of the movement is gone with him out of the picture?
RIDGE: Well, it will be difficult to assess. I think that we've seen over the past couple of years, new leaders have emerged, new training locations have emerged. We've seen new profiles of different kind of terrorists, home grown terrorists. We've seen that in the United States.
So again, I think there will be those who will pick up the cause. It's more than symbolic that some may say he was the inspirational leader.
But many leaders, many more individuals have been recruited and the challenge to identify and find them and to deal with this global scourge of terrorism is, frankly, I don't think terribly diminished by the fact that we've brought him to justice and killed him.
CHETRY: Governor Ridge, the military is saying no decision has been made on whether to release a photograph of the dead Bin Laden. Do you think they should?
RIDGE: Well, I think it's -- I think there will be enormous public clamor for it. It's probably a fairly grotesque photograph, given the press reports of how the individual died. I'll let the president and military make that decision.
I know there are some people that are wondering why we would bury him at sea and it's an appropriate place. To build a shrine or celebrate his martyrdom and some people believe within that group, in the middle of the ocean.
ROMANS: All right, Tom Ridge, first director of the Department of Homeland Security, an agency that was built in the aftermath of terror attacks against the United States. Thank you, sir.
CHETRY: We want to go to Ali Velshi now who's at the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan.
Good morning, Ali.
VELSHI: Good morning, Kiran. Good morning Christine.
I'm here with Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, a well-known face in America.
Imam, last night in President Obama's speech he said this war has never been with Islam and that Osama bin Laden was not a Muslim, he was a terrorist.
Was he right in saying that?
IMAM FAISAL ABDUL RAUF, FOUNDER, CORDOBA INSTITUTE: Absolutely. There's no doubt in my mind and in many Muslims' minds, that (INAUDIBLE) quite specific, that no soul is responsible for the sins or the crimes of another. And by killing people who are not responsible for certain crimes, he has violated the fundamental principles of Islam.
VELSHI: What should Muslims feel with the death of Osama bin Laden?
RAUF: Well, Ali, the sense I get from many people is a centric (ph) sense of relief. It's a major milestone that's been reached right now in a number of areas. A, in healing the national discourse in America between America and Islam, which really 9/11 created a big, big tear and a big wound, And that wound has never quite healed. And with the killing of Osama bin Laden, it's a major milestone in bringing out this healing and this sentiment you felt among Americans in Washington, D.C., here at Ground Zero, expresses the fact that there's a sense of healing beginning to take place. It's a very important thing for Muslims.
The other thing is that the era of terrorism is over. Whether it's --
VELSHI: You think it's over? You think this is -- it's more than symbolic, that it actually ends something?
RAUF: Well, I think this is a sign, this is a turning point. Maybe not that it's over but we've reached a turning point in the methodology of terrorism --
VELSHI: Right.
RAUF: -- and we see it both in what happened last night and what was happening in the Arab world. Whether the terrorists are non-state actors like Osama bin Laden or state actors like, you know, Gadhafi in Libya or other heads of governments and states in the Arab world, on what we're seeing right now, the Arab world is saying, you know what, we don't want terrorism. Whether it's from one --
VELSHI: So the deep well of support that these people sometimes get, that you don't think they're going to get from Muslims?
RAUF: I believe right now with what's happening, I mean, a lot of the people that bin Laden was able to recruit were people who were suffering in their own countries. They felt that they were victims of their own leaders.
VELSHI: Yes.
RAUF: And now when they have an opportunity to create a better life, I mean, al Jazeera, a few weeks ago, there was a Libyan young 21-year- old said I don't have a job, I don't have a future, but now I can dream again.
VELSHI: Right. RAUF: And it's important to give people in the Arab world this sentiment. And that's why I'm grateful to our president for not only having the focus to bring bin Laden to justice, but also in his very, very careful support and very continued support of the rise of Democratic aspirations in the Arab world, whether it's in Egypt, Tunisia, in Yemen, in, you know, and how we're engaging to make sure that we bring about a government that really speaks to the will of the people, that expresses the will of the people as their constituents.
VELSHI: Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, thank you for being with us today.
RAUF: Thank you, Ali.
VELSHI: Kiran and Christine, back to you.
CHETRY: Ali, thanks.
U.S. troops also celebrating news of Osama bin Laden's death. Many of them losing loved ones in Afghanistan and in Iraq, of course, thrilled to hear that one of the main targets finally killed. We're going to have more on how troops were reacting.
ROMANS: And stocks overseas are up and stock futures are up in the U.S. Oil prices are down two percent. Why? Because there's a big uncertainty and negative for the world and for world economies, Osama bin Laden and his movement. Osama bin Laden is gone, stocks are up, oil is down. We'll have more on that after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: A lot going on this morning. Here's what you need to know to start your day.
The world's most notorious terrorist is dead. Osama bin Laden killed by Navy SEALs Sunday morning in a mansion in northern Pakistan. U.S. officials say his body has been buried at sea.
News of bin Laden's death providing a financial boost to markets. The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 futures are all positive. The U.S. dollar also up from a three-year low this morning.
Libyan government forces are stepping up their attacks on rebel- controlled cities. Libya also reports a NATO air strike killed one of Moammar Gadhafi's sons and three of his grandchildren.
More heavy rain for parts of the U.S. that are already saturated. Right now this storm system stretches from Texas to Ohio.
And NASA pushing 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.
You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING is back right after the break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, it was 10 long years. That's the time that we've spent on the hunt Osama bin Laden. And early Monday, troops stationed in Afghanistan watched and listened as President Obama announced indeed that U.S. Military forces as well as CIA killed bin Laden.
All eyes fixed on the television, not a word. No one moving, no one speaking. The mood's actually somber compared to some of the scenes we've witnessed in places like New York City's World Trade Center sites.
ROMANS: Now to much different, much more emotional moments at West Point.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Senior Cadet Chuck Nad (ph) shot this video when he announced Osama bin Laden was dead. Everyone went wild. There was absolute jubilation as everyone at the academy heard the news. Nad says while curfew was 11:30 at night, the cadets were out in the common areas until about 1:00 a.m..
CHETRY: Well, word of bin Laden's death also spread quickly during a game, a Major League Baseball game. The New York Mets playing the Philadelphia Phillies in Philadelphia when the crowd heard the news.
Here's a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: (CHANTING).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The crowd in Philadelphia began chanting "USA" in the top of the ninth and the celebrations continued throughout the inning.
CHETRY: Also, interesting worldwide reaction coming in from some governments around the world. According to reports Saudi Arabia saying that they the death of Osama bin Laden will help stop "misguided thoughts" un-quote, behind terrorism. And also coming from Iran, which is also interesting. Iran saying that the death of bin Laden eliminates any excuses for United States presence in the Middle East.
ROMANS: Interesting.
All right. We're going to have your top stories, more on the death of Osama bin Laden. and what it means for the war on terror and U.S. strategy right after this.
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