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Nancy Grace
Stealth Helicopter May Have Been Used in Bin Laden Raid
Aired May 05, 2011 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We`re out in the farmlands, the fields, cabbages over here. This is perhaps how bin Laden was able to hide away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The evidence is clear. Bin Laden is dead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don`t want to make a spectacle of this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pictures from inside bin Laden`s compound.
GLENN BECK, HOST, "GLENN BECK": Unbelievable propaganda used by extremists.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Top secret stealth helicopters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s basically sitting inside of a Pakistani military compound.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The choppers used in the raid may have been modified Black Hawks that were able to silently sneak up on their target.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The SEALs went for the kill.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re going room to room, very methodical.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There were weapons in the room where Osama bin Laden was. They believe he was moving towards the weapons.
BECK: We`re often portrayed at the root of all evil, or as they call us, "the great Satan."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These helicopters were extremely stealthy and silent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We want to restore our Islamic nation`s freedom. Just as you violate our security, we violate yours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight. After nearly 10 years and the most massive manhunt in world history, the mastermind who orders the September 11 attacks, Osama bin Laden, dead, bin Laden found ready to run, packing cash and phone numbers sewn into his clothes, so arrogant, so sure the U.S. would never find him, bin Laden unarmed, relying instead on fake walls, trap doors, SEALs predicting booby traps with explosives, a maze of halls surrounded by an electric fence.
Bin Laden`s youngest wife, a 20-something-year-old girl who was a gift to bin Laden from a wealthy Yemeni family, there with him at the time. Ironically, bin Laden, the king of terror, traced to his secret compound because of a cell phone.
Bombshell tonight. Bin Laden found wearing pajamas, acting cowardly, pushing one of his five wives toward armed Navy SEALs to protect himself. We learn bin Laden`s compound an arsenal of weapons, explosives, AK-47 machine guns and Russian handguns. Reports Navy SEALs went and waited for maximum darkness, then knocked out power and electricity in the area via a power surge before landing, landing at the compound in a Black Hawk derivative, a stealth helicopter virtually invisible and nearly silent until it`s too late.
Bin Laden`s wives zip-tied and left for local police, the Black Hawk that went down mostly exploded and left behind, exploded to protect technology secrets. But even now, is it in the hands of China?
As Pakistan tonight protests the American attack and some American Indians complain the name "Geronimo" was the code for bin Laden, today 9/11 victims converge at Ground Zero to remember and celebrate the U.S. Navy SEALs.
Straight out to Nic Robertson, CNN senior international correspondent joining us in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Nic, tell me what you can about this Black Hawk derivative.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The helicopter came down in the compound. It seemed to have struck, or the tail part of it seemed to have struck the wall of the compound as it came down. In the photographs taken right after, you can see the tail hanging over the wall. And there are photographs, as well, which shows Pakistan`s army taking away the parts of the helicopter that remain, the parts that weren`t burnt out by the SEALs when they left there, destroying the valuable technology.
But this is a very high-tech-looking aircraft. There are bits of microkevlar still lying in the fields around. There are bits of hydraulics. But the large parts that weren`t destroyed in the Pakistani military custody, as far as we know right now.
GRACE: And tonight, we go inside bin Laden`s compound. Liz, please get that video ready for me. Nic, what can you tell us about Pakistan asking the U.S. to minimize its troops there to a very minimum, an essential number of U.S. troops? Why? Why are they angry that we find bin Laden? They didn`t help us. What is their problem?
ROBERTSON: Well, they`re saying they did help. Pakistan`s intelligence services are saying they pointed the finger at this compound back in 2009. They say the CIA didn`t get back to them and inform them whatever information they derived.
Pakistan is very sensitive about the issue of the number of U.S. servicemen and women in the country here, the number of CIA operatives in the country here. It`s a delicate political issue for this government. It`s something that could bring this government here, this Pakistani government down. This government gives the United States some help, and the understanding seems to be some help is better than no help, better than a government that would be against you.
But the tensions are high. Pakistan says that the United States violated its sovereignty going into this compound, and they`re saying, If you do it again, we may not cooperate with you in the same way that we have in the past, Nancy.
GRACE: So that cooperation has been just so helpful! Everyone, with us, Nic Robertson, CNN senior international correspondent, taking your calls in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Everyone, right now, we are showing you the graphic footage of the bloody aftermath of the raid. And I want to warn you the video and photos from inside the compound may be to graphic for some of our viewers. What you are about to see is the video inside the compound. Liz, could we roll the video?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The raid on the compound in Abbottabad by a team of U.S. Navy SEALs was swift and bloody.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.
LISTER: Within hours of the operation, U.S. officials disclosed three other men had been killed, senior administration officials saying, quote, "We believe two were couriers and the third was bin Laden`s adult son." Late Wednesday, the first photographs from immediately after the assault were published by Reuters, and we should warn they`re graphic. The photos were taken by a Pakistani security official about an hour after U.S. forces left.
One man wearing a T-shirt bears a family resemblance to Osama bin Laden, but there`s no confirmation of his identity. The other two were dressed in Pakistani clothing. Their identities are not known, but sources have named the courier who lived at the compound as al Qaeda veteran Sheikh Abu Ahmed (ph), a Kuwaiti citizen of Pakistani decent.
Other photos taken at dawn on Monday show the wreckage of the helicopter the U.S. commandos abandoned. Experts say it design is different from known helicopter types. They say the tail assembly is unusual and could indicate some kind of previously unknown stealth capability to avoid radar. The tail rotor appears to have a cowling, possibly to reduce rotor noise levels, what`s known in military circles as "acoustic stealth."
Pakistan`s already said that the helicopters took advantage of blind spots in Pakistani radar coverage. Reuters says it`s confident of the authenticity of all the purchased images. Tim Lister, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: And now we go inside bin Laden`s compound. Take a look at this, a tape from ABC. That is the bedroom, now in disarray. You will see a pool of blood at the foot of the bed. Outside the compound, a rubble. That is portions -- are portions of the Black Hawk derivative that went down. It was partially exploded by the U.S. to keep that technology from being stolen, not just the interior of the Black Hawk derivative, but also the exterior. And even at this hour, the U.S. government still insisting it doesn`t exist.
More video from bin Laden`s compound. This is the compound that the U.S. Navy SEALs penetrated. And there you see, where one of the Black Hawks went down, it clipped one of the two fences surrounding bin Laden`s compound. Again, most of this was destroyed.
To Nic Robertson, the U.S. government is very concerned that other governments will get portions of the Black Hawk derivative and learn from it. What do you know about the exterior of the aircraft?
ROBERTSON: Well, it does look different. When you do look at that tail portion, the portion that was hanging over the compound wall, you can see that sort of cover over the tail rotor. Even the sort of -- the tail portion of the helicopter itself looks slightly different. It looks as if it`s -- as if it`s sort of just slightly sleeker than you would normally see. Very different.
GRACE: Nic Robertson joining us from Abbottabad. Now to Chris Lawrence, Pentagon correspondent joining us from D.C. Chris, what more can you tell me about this -- I`m calling it a Black Hawk derivative?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Nancy, we`ve been speaking to not only experienced Black Hawk pilots who know this helicopter inside and out, but also aviation experts...
GRACE: Hold on, Chris. Chris, there are children who are already running away with pieces of this precision aircraft. This is one of the things the U.S. has feared. Go ahead, Chris. Excuse me.
LAWRENCE: Yes, exactly. Not only the children ran away with a few pieces, but by all accounts, the Pakistani government controls the big bulk of what`s left of it.
But you know, we talked to people who said -- who know this Black Hawk inside and out and took one look at it and said, That`s not like anything I have ever seen before. They said some of the angles are more like an F-22, which is designed to reflect radar. They said it`s got more blades than a normal Black Hawk. It`s got coverings in the back that are designed to reduce its sound.
In fact, we compared the sound of a normal Black Hawk with a stealth prototype from a few years back. And if you listen to this, what this prototype might have sounded like, it almost sounds like the helicopter is going away from you, which you can imagine, if you`re sitting there in that compound, might have given you the exact opposite idea of what was actually coming in, which was the SEALs.
GRACE: And Chris, wasn`t -- it`s more like an F-22, but it`s a Black Hawk derivative. Isn`t it covered with some type of material that makes it virtually invisible? I don`t understand how that works.
LAWRENCE: Yes, nobody knows for sure, Nancy, because all we`re looking at is the wreckage of part of this. And military officials won`t comment at all about it. But there`s been a lot of speculation that it`s coated with something similar to what`s on an F-22. Now, it`s hard to make that coating work on a helicopter. But think about it. This was a one- shot mission. All it`s got to do is cloak that helicopter enough to get them in silently.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Decade-long hunt for the head of al Qaeda.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the mastermind.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bin Laden was killed very, very quickly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stealth helicopters in the raid that killed bin Laden.
ROBERTSON: This is an up and coming town. People here tell us that it`s expanding quite rapidly, an ideal place for bin Laden to move into unnoticed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were absolutely within our rights to go after the most wanted man in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sort of stealth helicopter, designed perhaps to avoid those Pakistani radars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bin Laden was, quote, "moving" at the time he was shot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There were arms directly near the door, and my understanding is he was right there and going to get those arms.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The most wanted terrorist in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Kill those Americans.
OBAMA: When we say we will never forget, we mean what we say.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anti-American hatred on line is as fierce as ever.
BECK: The video that aired on Hezbollah television shows a small boy purportedly describing his father`s suicide mission.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is the car Daddy blew up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A robust amount of intelligence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ten hard drives, five computers, more than 100 storage devices, cell phones, audio and video equipment, AK-47s, pistols, documents.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That they hope to exploit and use to track down other members of al Qaeda.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Elizabeth in Minnesota. Hi, Elizabeth. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I love you. (INAUDIBLE) show every night. My question is, the choppers -- they took two choppers in with 24 men. One went down. Twenty-five, well, bodies -- 24 and a body came out. How did they do that with the weight restrictions on helicopters?
GRACE: Well, I don`t know that 25 -- you know what? I will ask Chris Lawrence. How many people came out and actually boarded the helicopter?
LAWRENCE: It`s a great question, Elizabeth. What happened was they had a Chinook helicopter come in, so a third helicopter came in to help get the SEALs and bin Laden`s body out of there.
GRACE: Back out to Nic Robertson, CNN senior international correspondent standing by there in Abbottabad. You know, bin Laden, we now learn, was reportedly wearing pajamas at the time of the raid. Had he been asleep? What exactly are we learning went down?
ROBERTSON: Well, we know that when the SEALs landed, the first encounter they had was at the security building downstairs. A man engaged in the gunfire. He was a courier. He was killed. The SEALs went into the main building. They found the courier`s brother. He wasn`t armed. They engaged him, killed him. They killed bin Laden`s son as he was coming down the stairs. He was unarmed. But when they got to bin Laden`s room, he was unarmed but he had an automatic weapon and a pistol in there, and they shot him twice, as we know, in the chest and the head.
What -- the time of night that they chose to attack, sort of 1:30 in the morning, is a time perhaps when they could expect bin Laden to be asleep. He is a strict Muslim. You might have heard the call to prayer here just a short time ago. The calls to prayer about just before 4:00 o`clock in the morning here, and the last one`s late in the evening, as well. So they could guarantee if you take the middle between those times, bin Laden might be asleep, and that would be the ideal time to target him.
And that`s what seems to have happened. He was upstairs asleep, and he was just getting out of bed as they came through the door, Nancy. That`s what appears.
GRACE: Is it true, Nic -- we were learning that he actually pushed his 20-something-year-old wife, one of his five wives, toward the Navy SEALs to protect himself?
ROBERTSON: It`s not clear. I think that was one of the initial things that was heard, but then that was changed because it didn`t seem that it matched up with what everyone who viewed the situation said. We`ve also heard from the -- we`ve also heard from the daughter now, who says she was in the room. She`s told Pakistani authorities she was in the room and that she saw her father being shot. His wife who was there, she was shot in the leg. The circumstances, we don`t know, Nancy.
GRACE: Well, you know -- out to Jeff Mason, White House correspondent with Reuters, joining us from the nation`s capital. Jeff, you know, if one of the children saw this happen, which I hate -- I hate that that occurred -- that`s bin Laden`s fault. He`s living in a compound. He`s got five wives. I`m not sure how many were there with him, up to, like, 24, 25 people. He attacked the U.S.! He killed thousands of people! He knew we were coming, Jeff! So what do we do in face of children being there in the home? And is it true that some of these wives say they had not left the compound in five years?
JEFF MASON, REUTERS: Well, yes, Nancy. At least one wife told Pakistani officials that they`d been there about five years. So that`s a long time for him to have been there in Pakistan.
And as far as what you were saying about children, it`s hard to know who exactly was there. But certainly, what the White House is saying, what U.S. officials have said, is that the one wife did rush against the U.S. commandos. And so she played a role at the end.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A mass murderer of people around the world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That killed 3,000 of our citizens.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The fact that Osama bin Laden had this cash on hand suggests he thought he would have some time to get away, he had a plan and that he would have been receiving outside help.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There had to be justice.
OBAMA: God bless the United States of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One president stood at Ground Zero making a promise. And now, nearly one decade later, another president stands at Ground Zero to complete the promise.
ROBERTSON: It was up there on the second and third floor where bin Laden was killed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With some individuals, this now may be an added incentive to conduct attacks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s certainly no doubt the world`s most wanted terrorist is dead, but questions remain over how he died and how he was able to escape detection for so long while hiding in plain sight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You are about to see footage of the bloody aftermath of the Navy SEAL raid. I want to warn you that the video and photos you are about to see are graphic. But this is the reality of the SEAL raid, the raid that ended in the assassination of the world`s most wanted terrorist, the man who ordered murder in the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Within hours of the operation, U.S. officials disclosed three other men had been killed, senior administration officials saying, quote, "We believe two were couriers and the third was bin Laden`s adult son." Late Wednesday, the first photographs from immediately after the assault were published by Reuters, and we should warn they`re graphic. The photos were taken by a Pakistani security official about an hour after U.S. forces left.
One man wearing a T-shirt bears a family resemblance to Osama bin Laden, but there`s no confirmation of his identity. The other two were dressed in Pakistani clothing. Their identities are not known, but sources have named the courier who lived at the compound as al Qaeda veteran Sheikh Abu Ahmed, a Kuwaiti citizen of Pakistani decent.
Other photos taken at dawn on Monday show the wreckage of the helicopter the U.S. commandos abandoned. Experts say its design is different from known helicopter types. They say the tail assembly is unusual and could indicate some kind of previously unknown...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. April in Arkansas. Hi, April. What`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you?
GRACE: I`m good. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The question is his wives. Will they face any prosecution?
GRACE: Excellent question. What do we know, Rita Cosby?
RITA COSBY, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well, we know about this wife. And again, remember, Nancy, he had five wives. This was supposedly his favorite wife. She was introduced to him, she was brought in through a sheikh. It was an arranged marriage. There was paid a dowry to the family. And we`re told that this wife, apparently, is talking quite a bit. She`s in Pakistani custody right now.
The problem is, as you know, the Pakistanis are not necessarily helping us with this and have so far refused to turn her over. In fact, what they`re saying, Nancy, is they would repatriate her to her home country, which is Yemen.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLENN BECK, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: If sex is used to influence teenagers, then cartoons are meant to reach an even younger crowd.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The education in the Middle East of demonizing the Jews is such an epidemic that they show cartoons all throughout the Middle East. And you have children watching this cartoon.
BECK: Educating through hate. Celebrating death.
If anybody who desecrates Islam, they issue a fatwa. Death to you, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But if moderate Muslims believe, like you do, that bin Laden and others are an enemy of Islam, how come there isn`t a fatwa on --
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls.
Out to Diane in New Hampshire. Hi, Diane. What`s your question, dear?
DIANE, CALLER FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE: Hi, Nancy. How are you?
GRACE: I`m good. What`s your question?
DIANE: I have a question. I would like to know if you -- if you believe -- do you believe that that secret compound was actually a secret compound to the Americans? To president --
GRACE: I think that it was --
DIANE: To President Obama.
GRACE: I believe that it was not a secret to Pakistan.
DIANE: I don`t either.
GRACE: I mean bin Laden was practically living in a Pakistani military compound because this area was a favorite of Pakistani military retirees. Come on, please. A double fence, an electric fence, black SUVs going in and out all day long. Many of the wives never leaving the compound. They wouldn`t let children. They kick a ball on to the property, come retrieve the ball. They`d pay them to go get another ball.
I mean come on. They knew.
As far as it being a secret to our president and our government, I mean, years ago, even I who know nothing about military intelligence said, hey, he`s in Pakistan. Hello. He`s not living in a cave. He was in a cave back in Tora Bora, but no more.
This guy has been funded millions and millions of dollars by terrorists all over the world. I think the U.S. government was wise in waiting and making sure that this was bin Laden`s compound.
And again, let me go to an expert. Let`s go to Jeff Mason, White House correspondent with Reuters. Then we`ll go to Chris Lawrence, CNN Pentagon correspondent.
They had to nail this down. And from my understanding, they got some of the information from Guantanamo Bay. They go, here`s a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy, blah, blah. They get a first name of the courier.
They first had to find him in all of the world by the first name. Locate him and then start tracking him. It`s taken years to not only find him -- we believe he`s been living there nearly six years -- but to verify that it was him and then arrange this assassination.
Would you agree with that?
JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, REUTERS: Well, it certainly has taken years. And the White House has also been very clear that no one particular fact or one particular aspect led them to find that compound. There have been lots of different bits of information over the years that led to that.
GRACE: Out to Leone Lakhani joining us from Islamabad. She`s a CNN correspondent joining us tonight and taking your calls.
It is now my understanding that bin Laden`s wife, the young woman that was a gift from a Yemeni family, I believe bin Laden paid like a $5,000 reverse dowry on her. In other words, paid for her.
Where is she tonight? Is she -- is it true that she`s --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Not being allowed to question any of the wives or children? Is that true that Pakistan will not let us question them?
LEONE LAKHANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As I understand, Nancy, they are in conversations, and according to officials on both sides, it`s not off the cards and they are working on access. And they are saying it`s a complicated issue, but they are working on it and they`re probably going to come to an agreement.
But she is in custody in Pakistan in the moment. She is being interrogated by Pakistani officials at the moment. And she did basically make a few new revelations. She said she lived at the compound with her family for five years. We are not sure if bin Laden was there the entire time, whether he came and went.
She also said that they never left the compound. So we got a few new revelations from her and there`s more emerging from her every day.
GRACE: And back to Melody in Nebraska`s question. We understand that as the U.S. spied on the compound, they never saw bin Laden or the wives come and go. They never left.
They saw what they described as a tall -- a very tall man, especially for that region doing prison walks. In other words, walking around and around and around outside the compound. This compound built especially for him.
Now, you know, Leone Lakhani just told us a very complicated issue with U.S. getting to speak to all of these witnesses, these wives that were there.
What`s so complicated, Michael Griffith?
MICHAEL GRIFFITH, INTERNATIONAL LAW ATTORNEY/CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY (via phone): As I`ve said a couple of days ago, if you`ve got a mansion, particularly in a -- you know, in a major city, it`s difficult to know who is living there. You know, Nancy, they could be drug dealers. And could you imagine how the United States would feel if, let`s say, Mexico went over after one of these drug dealers, four helicopters landed in the middle of Tucson, Arizona?
GRACE: No, no, no. Michael, Michael, your comparison is not correct. That`s apples and oranges. You can`t compare the world`s number one terrorist who committed crimes on the U.S., on the U.S. people. He is a mass killer of U.S. citizens to a drug dealer living in the U.S.
GRIFFITH: Nancy, Nancy --
GRACE: No, no. It`s not OK.
GRIFFITH: Countries are not permitted to send planes into other countries without the permission of a government. It`s against international law. I agree with what happened, but you can`t do it, though. That`s why I think --
GRACE: Then how can you agree with it? You`re not even making any sense.
GRIFFITH: Well, that`s why I think Pakistan was in on it with us.
GRACE: OK. Well, you know, Doug Burns, that`s not at all what the U.S. government is saying. They are not saying that Pakistan was in on it. In fact, they are saying we didn`t tell Pakistan.
DOUG BURNS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, there`s no question that this is an exception to Michael`s rule. OK. Technically, you have a violation of international law. But do you want to tell me one lawyer who`s going to argue with a straight face that you can`t go in and take out the top enemy war combatant against this country?
I mean come on. There`s no argument there.
GRACE: We are taking your calls. I want to go back out to Rita Cosby.
Rita, up to 25 people inside that compound. Apparently the U.S. is not getting to talk to any of them.
RITA COSBY, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST, AUTHOR OF "QUIET HERO": You know, it is not surprising, Nancy. I`ve covered a lot of stories involving Pakistan and Afghanistan. That whole part of the world. And often in the past, Pakistan has taken people and not shared information.
Sometimes the U.S. will pass a question along. They`ll sometimes ask the question. So far we are not getting access to any of them. And they could be a treasure trove.
GRACE: To Jeff Mason from Reuters joining us tonight. We also learned how involved bin Laden still is in terrorist plots. We learned that there is -- excuse me there is a planned attack on the U.S. rail system for the 10th anniversary.
MASON: Yes --
GRACE: Of September 11.
MASON: I saw that report as well. It just goes to show how important it was to the United States to get Osama bin Laden. And that also goes to show a little bit of what they gleaned from the equipment and electronics that they took out of the compound.
GRACE: What all was taken, Jeff?
MASON: Everything from hard drives, it sounds like, cell phones, electronics, things like that. Things that they can look at and one general described it as something that would lead to a treasure trove of information.
GRACE: So long story short, here`s bin Laden planning another attack to commemorate the September 11 murders of U.S. citizens. The single worst attack on American soil.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: When it comes to furthering the extremist agenda suicide missions are one of the most effective tools they have because they leverage the extremist`s best weapon, propaganda.
Now what you`re about to see is shocking video, some of it taken from extremist Web sites that we can`t ensure the authenticity of. But in the first clip while the terrorists claim to be attacking Americans, the Defense Department says it has no knowledge of such an attack, but that is not the point.
The message of this video and all the others like it is to incite other radicals and instill fear in the rest of us.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. With me right now is Assistant Chief Joseph Dorsey with MARTA PD. Also Cynthia Ramirez, dog handler with Whit.
Thank you for being with us, Chief Dorsey. Explain to me the relevance of this is that in the assassination of bin Laden, the SEALs actually took a dog with them, a dog trained to smell bombs, and attack anyone that was armed with a weapon.
As we see Whit performs, explain how it works.
JOSEPH DORSEY, ASSISTANT CHIEF: Well, basically the handler would take the dog on a search pattern and the handler would stay in control of the canine. The canine would search all different areas that the handler pretty much direct the dog to.
The dog would actually hit on an odor and he would pretty much sit on that odor and that signifies to the handler that that`s a possibility of an explosive.
GRACE: Miss Ramirez, Officer Ramirez, please go through that with me one more time. We`re seeing Whit the dog.
And explain for me one more time, Chief Dorsey. I want to see Whit perform with Officer Ramirez. Go ahead.
DORSEY: Yes, basically, Officer Ramirez is going to take Whit on a search pattern. She will stay in control of the dog and have the dog search the areas that she needed the dog to search. Once the dog hit on a specific odor, then the dog will actually sit on that odor which signifies to the handler that the dog has hit on an explosive odor.
GRACE: To Bill Harlow, former chief spokesman, CIA, what can you tell us about the new information that bin Laden in his PJs, surrounded with AK- 47s? Are you surprised that there were not more explosives in the home?
BILL HARLOW, FORMER CHIEF SPOKESMAN, CIA (via phone): Not necessarily. I think what he was doing was sort of hiding in plain sight. If he had had a lot of guards around the compound that might have been a tip off to observers from the outside. You wouldn`t be able to miss them coming and going.
So what he was doing, I think, was maintaining very low profile by having a very few number of people in the building with him and trusting that we wouldn`t catch on to him. That theory is good as long as it works but as soon as the U.S. forces arrive, then he`s pretty much a sitting duck.
GRACE: Right now with us, Sheri Vukosa who lost her husband, her beloved husband Alfred on September 11th.
Sheri, thank you for being with us. I know that you`re hearing the growing controversy that the assassination of bin Laden wasn`t legal. But what I asked tonight was, was Pakistan hiding him? That doesn`t seem legal to me.
SHERI VUKOSA, HUSBAND DIED AT WORLD TRADE CENTER DURING 9/11 ATTACKS: I don`t know. I don`t, you know, keep up with the political aspect of what`s going on.
GRACE: Tell me -- tell me about Alfred.
VUKOSA: He was 37 years old. He worked for Cantor Fitzgerald. We have two children, 11 and 16. And he was a good husband, devoted father to our children.
GRACE: Tell me, Miss Vukosa, how your children have done? How are they doing since his death?
VUKOSA: They have reached many milestones and it`s been very hard raising my two children alone. My youngest son, he was 24 months. He has no memories of his father, and he often asks what`s his dad like. Tell me about him. And it`s very painful for -- to see a child grow up without knowing his father.
GRACE: What do you tell him? Where do you tell him that Alfred is?
VUKOSA: It took me many years to tell him -- to explain what happened to his father. And finally, I told him that, you know, he died in the World Trade Center.
GRACE: To Frances Townsend, CNN national security contributor, former Bush homeland security adviser.
Frances, every morning when my husband leaves, I pray to God he`ll come back because -- that nothing will happen to him because it would be so hard to raise the twins alone. And when I hear Sheri speaking, it makes me all the more disgusted at people arguing that this assassination of bin Laden was not legal.
I think Pakistan harboring him is the illegality, is the outrage.
FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR, FORMER BUSH HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: That`s right, Nancy. I mean, look, we`ve got to be focused on the right issues here. And in this country we often get involved in this crazy political debate that`s really not -- to your former guest who lost her husband, what she cares about is justice, right?
Nothing is going to bring her husband back, but at least if there`s justice, she can explain -- she can try and explain what`s good about this country to her children who are left behind.
Look, what we know about this -- about what`s what was going on in Pakistan, bin Laden only had 500 euros and two phone numbers and three male guards, one of whom was his son with him.
Make no mistake. He had that little because he didn`t think he had to travel very far. He obviously had a support network nearby in this town which is very close to their version of West Point. And populated with retired military personnel.
I mean, it is inconceivable that at some level of the Pakistani government they were not complicit. And so we need to understand that given the billions of dollars that we`re paying to Pakistan in aid.
GRACE: Well put, Frances.
To Richard Marcinko, founder of SEAL Team Six, now a retired U.S. Navy commander. What can you tell us about this stealth helicopter?
RICHARD MARCINKO, FOUNDER, SEAL TEAM SIX, RETIRED U.S. NAVY COMMANDER: Well, basically, it is designed to have a low signature for radar. So it`s a coating, we do it through our boats, we do it through our ships. And looking at this -- when it went down, the aerodynamically it`s been designed. The concern about the tail section.
One, obviously, it is tailored for lowering the signature of the sound. Having the extra blades gives it the lift and a different whine pitch to make it quiet. And part of the tail I would think functionally these birds have a capability of being carried by carriers.
And if you do that you have to be able to fold the rotor blades so they can fit on the elevators and go below deck. So there`s a functional reason for the design besides the low radar signature and the sound, I would think, on that tail section.
GRACE: So do you think China already has the technology in their midst?
MARCINKO: Yes, you know, they could -- certainly anybody could reverse engineering and if you get enough of the coating, you can do the chemical breakdown on it and see what it`s made of. Then you have to go through the process of figuring out what do you do that --
GRACE: Right.
MARCINKO: -- you counter it.
GRACE: To Ben Levitan, our telecommunications expert. How difficult is it going to be to get the information off all of bin Laden`s memory sticks, his computers, his hard drives? How well encrypted do you think they are?
BEN LEVITAN, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERT (via phone): Well, all his stuff is going to chronicle with the FBI, Nancy. And these people are the best of the world at decoding, decrypting this stuff. I would guess it has -- were not even -- the ones that were, were probably not sophisticated to encryption. We`ll get everything.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Nearly a decade since the single worst attack on U.S. soil, the mastermind behind the September 11th attacks finally dead.
Tonight, we will not forget.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sean, it`s me. I just want to let you know I love you and I`m stuck in this building in New York. A plane hit the building or a bomb went off. We done know. There`s lots of smoke. I just want to let you know that I love you always.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell us what happened on the day, if anybody got out and if anyone made it, please call us. We`re looking for her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Animals can get on airplanes. I feel so bad for all the people who lost people in this. This is just so terrible.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My mother was a one-of-a kind lady.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Her mother, just 49 years old, on American Airlines Flight 11, the first to crash into one of the World Trade Center towers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was the most fun person I have ever known.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just said, I want to let you all know that I love you very, very much, in case I don`t see you again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said that -- that the plane has been taken over by hijackers. And then I said, we love you very much, too, Mark, let me go get your mother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What a wonderful thing that is, to make people laugh. He did that. He lived so well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is impossible to think of her as gone, and I think it will take a long time for me to absorb that and I know all of her friends feel that way.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Eleven-year-old Rodney Dickens had never stepped foot on an airplane before until yesterday. His family never dreamed his very first trip would be his last.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The day I found out, my own baby, is a casualty of the war. Whoever did this, I just want to say this to you, you`re not a man.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Thank you for inviting us into your homes.
And tonight, a happy birthday to California friend, Barbara. Loves mysteries, traveling. Here she is with her son, Brett, our show`s superstar and director.
And happy birthday to Illinois friend, Susan. Loves music, traveling, Chicago Bears. Never misses a show nor do her dogs, Jesse and Canine.
Everyone, thank you for being with us. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
