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Osama Bin Laden is Dead; Wife of 9/11 Victims Reacts; What Happens to Al Qaeda Now; The Long Search for Bin Laden

Aired May 02, 2011 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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COOPER: Wolf, a lot more to cover. We are reporting now all for the next hour live from Ground Zero. And my colleague, Wolf Blitzer, is in Washington, D.C., as more details emerging this hour on the death of bin Laden, killed by United States Special Forces.

Let's listen to John Brennan, he's the president's deputy national security adviser for homeland security and counterterrorism. He talks a moment (ph) ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BRENNAN, DEPT. NATL. SEC. ADVISER FOR HOMELAND SEC. & COUNTERTERRORISM: If we had the opportunity to take bin Laden alive, if he didn't present any threat, the individuals involved were able and prepared to do that. We had discussed that extensively in a number of meetings in the White House and with the president. The concern was that bin Laden would oppose an inside capture operation.

Indeed he did. It was a firefight. He, therefore, was killed in that firefight and that's when the remains were removed.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: Well, Brennan, also described a tense situation among officials there in Washington who are monitoring events unfolding in real time. It's probably one of the most anxiety-filled periods in their lives. Fascinating descriptions, Wolf, that we have started to hear just in the last few hours. And I'm sure in the hours ahead, we'll hear even more.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: John Brennan, he really knows his staff, someone not only knows counterterrorism, but knows intelligence, worked his way up through the ranks at the CIA before the president brought him over to the White House to be the counterterrorism adviser.

I want to alert our viewers, Anderson. We're waiting for the House Speaker John Boehner. He's getting ready to speak to the news media up on Capitol Hill on the death of Osama bin Laden.

In the meantime, as we wait for Boehner, we'll, of course, have Boehner's comments. You'll see and hear them live here on CNN.

Let's bring in our White House correspondent Ed Henry.

Ed, the president was out today. He spoke about how happy he was, but all of the details of what exactly happened, he left to John Brennan.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He really did, Wolf. And, John Brennan, was very dramatic, as Anderson was saying. This is kind of a smooth behind-the-scenes player. He doesn't usually get emotional, but John Brennan really opened up before the White House press corps, described these dramatic, tense moments yesterday afternoon here in the White House Situation Room as the president and a handful of his top aides were in real time keeping up with what was happening on the ground in Pakistan with these U.S. Special Forces.

And it was very tense because they were not sure whether or not this firefight was going to end well for the U.S., whether number one, they would be able to kill or capture bin Laden. And, number two, whether or not U.S. Special Forces, military officials, would be able to get out alive. Thankfully, they were all able to survive this. They also were able to kill Osama bin Laden.

But in the words of John Brennan, he said minutes felt like days as the president and his top aides sat in the Situation Room here at the White House, monitor the situation and tried to get a handle on it.

Also interesting, when you take a step back about how this is going to affect the Obama administration's relations with Pakistan, which is supposed to be a key ally. But, as you know, it's been at sometimes a rocky relationship. This is where Osama bin Laden was hiding out just outside Islamabad.

And the bottom line is John Brennan said today on the record that he believes Osama bin Laden had to have a strong support system, as he put it, on the ground there in Pakistan. Now, whether that includes Pakistani government officials, intelligence officials, who are helping him hide, that is still -- remains to be seen. But he made it clear that the U.S. is very concerned about that.

And it was also worth noting that the U.S. did not tip off Pakistani officials before they conducted this operation. So, that suggests that there are still some issues there, Wolf, to say the least.

BLITZER: Well, he went one step further actually and he also said that the U.S. did not discuss this with the government of Pakistan until those U.S. helicopters and all of the U.S. troops and the body of bin Laden were out of Pakistani airspace. They didn't want the Pakistanis to know anything that was going on. That was a pretty dangerous decision because Pakistani military forces -- they could have scrambled, launched jets to take out those helicopters, they didn't know whose helicopters they were.

But it clearly underscores this point that you're making, Ed, how worried U.S. officials are that they couldn't trust the Pakistanis. I'll be speaking, by the way, in "THE SITUATION ROOM" later today with Husain Haqqani, the Pakistani ambassador to the United States. We've got a lot of tough questions for him to answer about this operation. He's coming in. He'll be answering those questions.

So, there are still a lot of still unanswered questions, those questions only just beginning.

Anderson, as we await John Boehner, the speaker of the House, I want to hear precisely what he has to say. I assume he will praise the president as did a written statement he released last night.

Let's continue with our reporters.

COOPER: Yes. And, obviously, Wolf, whatever -- whoever we're talking to, we'll break into that coverage. We want to bring John Boehner live.

I want to bring in Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

Barbara, U.S. forces were in that compound, we're told, for 40 minutes. Do we know how long -- actually, I heard John Boehner is about to speak. Let's listen in.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Good afternoon, everyone.

The tragic events of 9/11 10 years ago remind us that we're all Americans and that what unites us as Americans is far greater than what divides us. And I think last night's news unified our country in much the same way.

The death of Osama bin Laden is an important moment in the war against radical extremism and terrorism, an important event for peoples all around the world who've been subject to the terror of al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. And to the families who lost loved ones on September 11th, 2001, we will never forget what you lost. And for those who fought and died in the war against terror, and their loved ones, we honor your sacrifice. And to those who seek to destroy freedom by preying on innocent human life, we will not rest until we bring you to justice.

Our fight for freedom and liberty around the globe continues. We've faced a complex and dangerous threat even today. It's important that we remain vigilant in our efforts to defeat terrorist enemies and protect the American people. This makes our engagement in places like Pakistan and Afghanistan more important, not less.

I want to congratulate and thank the hardworking men and women of the United States Armed Services. I want to thank all of those involved in the intelligence community for their tireless efforts and perseverance that led to this successful evening.

I also want to commend President Obama and President Bush for all their efforts to bring Osama bin Laden to justice.

REP. ERIC CANTOR (R-VA), MAJORITY LEADER: God afternoon.

Nearly 10 years ago, President Bush stood before the nation after 9/11 and pledged to the American people that we will not tire, we will not falter, we will not fail in our quest to defeat those who intend to do us harm through acts of terror. Last night, we heard President Obama tell a very changed nation that we did not fail.

I think what this tells all of us is that success and victory sometimes takes a lot longer than we would like. Sometimes, it's a lot harder than we would like. And sometimes, it brings about more tragedy than we absolutely would even believe.

But it is our commitment to do all we can to support those in our armed services and our intelligence community and this president in his quest and theirs to defend the American people against the spread of radical Islam and the threats that it continues to pose to our country.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), CALIFORNIA: Good afternoon. September 11th --

BLITZER: I want to break away from the Republican leadership. Kevin McCarthy is going to make a statement. The Republicans, obviously, very pleased that bin Laden is dead.

CNN has now confirmed that U.S. officials are bracing for some sort of audiotape. We think it's an audiotape, not necessarily a videotape, but we'll know soon enough.

Bin Laden, apparently before he was killed, left some sort of tape to be played upon his death to the world, especially to his supporters. His supporters call this a "martyr tape." When there are suicide bombers out there, they usually record something before they go ahead and kill themselves. And then after the suicide attack, they release this videotape or audiotape, whatever it is, so their supporters supposedly will be inspired by this.

We're now told that the so-called "martyr's tape" by bin Laden has been -- is about to be formally released. We'll monitor it. We'll share it with you. We'll tell you what we know. But, obviously, bin Laden for years probably was waiting for some sort of attack, waiting for some sort of effort that the U.S. and others would make to kill him, so he had this tape ready to go.

It's going to be an interesting development in this very, very fascinating saga -- Anderson.

COOPER: Yes, Wolf. We're just also getting new information about what was found inside the compound in Pakistan. We'll have a live report from the Pentagon coming up next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, we are reminded that as a nation there's nothing we can't do -- when we put our shoulders to the wheel, when we work together, when we remember the sense of unity that defines us as Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: And welcome back. We are live from Ground Zero.

The breaking news from just a few moments ago that Wolf Blitzer was reporting that we've confirmed that there is some sort of a tape, what supporters of bin Laden would call a "martyr's tape" that he had taped in advance to be released if and when he was killed. We're not sure whether it's an audiotape or videotape. We'll try to get more details on that.

Also, just in to CNN: a U.S. official telling CNN's Pam Benson that the U.S.'s code name for Osama bin Laden was Geronimo.

Let's get the latest from the Pentagon. Barbara Starr is standing by at the Pentagon.

This -- Osama bin Laden had a code name "Geronimo." How -- what do we know about that?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, very little, Anderson. That's just coming to light as facts continue to unfold every hour since this all emerged last night. I think what people are watching very carefully, Anderson, is to learn more about how the attack itself unfolded against that compound.

What is so extraordinary, really, is the fact that everybody got out safely in terms of the U.S. troops. You know, you'll recall over the years, there was the failed mission in Iran to rescue the hostages. There was the failed mission in Somalia.

U.S. Special Forces really revamped how they did business. It's all about training and practice -- practice, practice. They practiced against a mock-up of this compound.

This was never about getting into Pakistan. This was about getting out of Pakistan safely once you got your target. And that's what they achieved here.

Very few details really coming to light, but this helicopter assault, by all accounts, really went off absolutely flawlessly because everybody did get out.

You know, they found Osama bin Laden basically in an upstairs room in this compound. That's when the firefight broke out. And, you know, to put a fine point on it, that's when Geronimo met his fate -- Anderson.

COOPER: Barbara, obviously, there are facts that we don't know at this point. But I just want to ask you a bunch of different questions. And if you don't know, just say you don't know.

Do we know how many U.S. forces were actually involved in the operation?

STARR: Well, you know, if you -- that's a really good point, because if you start counting the team and the backup, it was fairly extensive. We don't know exactly how many, but certainly not insignificant number of Navy SEALs on the ground, several helicopters, helicopters flying overhead as support helicopters, and what we know, of course, is that there were a number of other aircraft overhead at some distance, fixed-wing fighter jets, Predators, drones monitoring the situation, other helicopters to engage in search and rescue.

Everybody was ready to move in with significant firepower and force if something had gone wrong. And that's what John Brennan was talking about when he watched that one helicopter go to mechanical failure -- really, I think it's fair to say everybody took a deep breath because they didn't know what was coming next, and they had everything to move in and engage in a very significant military operation with significant force -- pardon me -- to get the team out if they had to, Anderson.

COOPER: Do we know how many people were killed inside the compound and was anybody taken alive?

STARR: No. No one was taken alive. There were a number of women and children there that were basically taken to a safe area while the U.S. troops were there. And they were left behind. They were deemed to be noncombatants.

We know bin Laden is dead. We know a woman said to be his wife is dead. And a couple of other men that engaged in the firefight. That woman was said to be used as a human shield by bin Laden, hiding behind a woman as U.S. forces basically came through the door. And that firefight erupted, Anderson.

COOPER: Do we know for a fact that he was using her for a shield or that she was trying to protect him of her own accord? Do we know the details on that? STARR: Well, we -- I'll tell you that we don't. But we do know that U.S. officials have described her as being used as a human shield.

So, I think there was probably some indication in this final end game. She really wasn't doing this of her own volition. It may have been a combination of both. One of the women there is said to be bin Laden's wife.

So, these are people that he was living with on this very secure compound.

COOPER: And just two other very quick questions. Did they take any intelligence, any documents or anything that might be of value? And was the courier who was the end point to this, was that person killed as well?

STARR: I think the courier was. I think that's the assessment at this point.

But you raised something very significant. They wanted to get in and out very fast, 40 minutes on the ground. But indeed, they gathered a significant amount of intelligence, basically computer material, other material on the -- in that compound and the CIA now is establishing a task force to review all this intelligence material, to see what they have and see if they can find any of the other bin Laden associates, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Mullah Omar, is there anything in all of that that tells them where these other al Qaeda and Taliban leaders are hiding. That's something that they want to move on very quickly, if there are clues in everything that they gathered up.

COOPER: All right. Barbara, thanks. We'll continue with that reporter.

Let's go to Wolf in Washington -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Anderson.

I want to bring in retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Ed O'Connell. He's joining us from Los Angeles. He spent 20 years in the Air Force as an intelligence officer with chief of targeting for the U.S. military central command during the war in Afghanistan, worked for then-General Tommy Franks.

This looks like a very, very risky but sophisticated operation. How much rehearsal goes into something like this?

LT. COL. EDWARD O'CONNELL, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Oh, extraordinary, Wolf. I think, probably, you're talking about months now. Unlike what we had in Tora Bora where you had a quick reaction situation, this was more of a preplanned situation, where you had target intelligence packages that we call tips, for instance, of showing people what door to turn, what door to go into, what wall to climb. So, quite a bit of operation.

BLITZER: Well, talk about Tora Bora. You were there at Tora Bora. That was the last time that U.S. intelligence suspected they were closing in on bin Laden. So many years later, almost 10 years later, now, they finally get him.

Why did Tora Bora failed and this particular mission succeed?

O'CONNELL: Yes, I think there a lot of differences -- good question. I think there, we had very difficult terrain.

Remember, we're at 15,000 feet. So, to move people from Task Force 11, who is the Delta Force, on site there, to another location to sort of chase bin Laden and his over watch people was very difficult.

This was quite different terrain. This was more of an urban setting, large compound. There you had a number of sort of rat mines, as we call them, very difficult to track. Also, very difficult to pick up signals intelligence, which is all we really had to track bin Laden.

And I think what happened is in Tora Bora, we got into a tangled web of good intentions, you might say. It was CENTCOM, CENTAF, General Franks' folks. We had Task force 11 and who is Delta Force, who took over at some point. You also had CIA members in there.

Everyone thought his death was imminent. I think we had a little bit of overconfidence at the time. And then, of course, he slipped away.

BLITZER: These U.S. military helicopters, they brought the Special Operations forces, the intelligences operatives from Afghanistan into Pakistan. I assume that's the way they came in because they flew out back to Afghanistan. Would they have U.S. military insignia? Would they be painted like U.S. military helicopters? Would they have something neutral? Or would they pretend to be Pakistani helicopters, based on your experience?

O'CONNELL: I think they were probably blacked out. That's what we called it. You'd probably black out the insignia before you went in on the mission and -- or you would have some deception going.

But I think that we didn't want to get to tricky here. Let's stick with the playbook. This has been pre-rehearsed. So, it was clear cut in that case.

BLITZER: In this particular case, there were two helicopters that were going into the compound. One of them failed. They had to destroy that helicopter. But we're told there was a third helicopter that came in and assisted in getting the U.S. military personnel, the intelligence operatives and bin Laden's body out of there. That was pretty smart to have a backup.

They may have had more than just one backup helicopter?

O'CONNELL: Absolutely, Wolf. We learned a lot from Desert One which was a failed Iranian hostage mission. Also, we learned a lot from Roberts Ridge, which was some problems that we had earlier on, Operation Anaconda, which was after Tora Bora that next spring.

So, yes, we always want to have helicopters in reserve and not knowing the exact details right now. But I can tell you what -- we probably had a couple observation points there from our CIA folks outside the perimeter of the compound. Very likely, we had on site eyes on watch, probably positive ID by Predator hovering above.

And there's no doubt in my mind we had a gunship standing off at a certain range, and the gunship very good at nighttime operations.

BLITZER: This was happening at 1:00 a.m. And 40 minutes on the ground. I assume all of the U.S. personnel had night equipment so they could see what's going on at night. It's not an easy operation at night. But they had the advantage certainly of surprise coming in as they did, having the helicopters come in at 1:00 a.m. -- although those helicopters, as you know, Ed, they are very, very noisy.

O'CONNELL: Absolutely. Absolutely, Wolf. Probably had the HH- 53s we used there.

But, yes, very noisy, so you have to minimize the surprise time. So, you've got a very short window that you're operating in. Almost when you're over the walls or near the walls, you're going to start hearing tremendous reverb from those blades. So, absolutely, a very difficult mission and very precise situation.

BLITZER: Do you believe -- I know what John Brennan, the president's counterterrorism adviser, said that they did have a contingency plan to bring bin Laden out alive. Although my suspicion always has been, I don't know what yours is, that they didn't want to bring him out alive, they didn't want to take him to Guantanamo, they didn't want to start a trial for Osama bin Laden and give him a lot of publicity. That if there was any opportunity to kill him and kill him in a firefight, that was -- that was the goal.

But based on your experience at Tora Bora and over the years, what do you think?

O'CONNELL: I think you're absolutely right. I think the probably mission one was to kill him if we had positive ID. But, look, we learned a lot from Saddam. Remember, as you well know, all these months we had Saddam on trial. I think that's where I link up with Anderson.

I first met him I think at Camp Cropper. And remember them bringing Saddam back and forth every day and all the international media and so forth. So, it turned into quite a circus.

Also, we were a little afraid of making him a martyr. Now, in my view, though, that's a little bit of faulty reasoning because I think this is fascinating what we're seeing right now in history, we're seeing a double scoop of history almost. You've got sort of the "Arab Spring" and you've got the "U.S. Spring" -- these sophisticated people around the world that are not going to fall for this sort of mass- murdering propaganda machine we call al Qaeda anymore. So, really fascinating events taking place. BLITZER: Lieutenant Colonel Ed O'Connell, retired, United States Air Force -- Colonel, thanks very much for joining us.

O'CONNELL: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Anderson, we've been reporting now for a while that there is a tape, either a videotape or an audiotape of bin Laden that have been prepared maybe years ago that was going to be released upon his death. He's now dead and we're now told that the tape is about to be released.

Here's an ethical question that we at CNN and journalists indeed around the world are going to have -- I'm getting, since the last 20 minutes or so since we've reported this, a lot of appeals to us from my Twitter followers and others -- please, please, CNN, don't play that tape. Don't let bin Laden and al Qaeda have the satisfaction of playing that tape, report about it, but we don't want to see him. We don't want to hear him, we've had enough of him, we don't want to play into his hands. We certainly don't want to let people be energized, crazy people out there, fanatics who support bin Laden and al Qaeda be inspired by his words if they are released.

It's just an ethical question that I think most news organizations are going to be facing in the coming minutes and coming hours. Do we play the tape or just report about the tape? There's no clear answer, Anderson.

COOPER: Well, I can tell you my answer and on my and any program that I'm associated with, I would not play that tape. I see no reason to do it.

Obviously, throughout much of the world that tape will be played and if people want to hear that tape, they can -- they can get it. They won't certainly be hearing it from me. I think this guy is a mass murderer and there's no reason we should hear his voice ever again.

Pakistan's former military chief is criticizing the U.S. for the raid, targeting bin Laden. That's right. He's criticizing the U.S. for the raid. I spoke to the former President Pervez Musharraf. You'll hear his candid about the raid coming up in just a moment. That's next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRENNAN: Al Qaeda is something in the past. And we're hoping to bury the rest of al Qaeda along with bin Laden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: I want to talk about what effect this operation will have on the U.S. relationship with Pakistan. A short time ago, I spoke with the man who is Pakistan's president on 9/11, Pervez Musharraf. Remember, he's the one who insisted all along that Osama bin Laden was not in Pakistan and was, in fact, in Afghanistan all these years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Mr. President, for years, U.S. officials, intelligence officials have been saying that Osama Bin Laden was in fact in Pakistan. You have been denying that for years now, categorically saying that no, he was in Afghanistan. Do you now admit that you were wrong?

PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, FORMER PAKISTANI PRESIDENT: No, I don't think I was every denying. I was asked everywhere, and my first response invariably, always, was that I don't know. I don't know where he is. I used to --

COOPER: No, actually, sir, that is not true. You said repeatedly he was in Afghanistan.

(CROSSTALK)

MUSHARRAF: And I used to ask what intelligence do you have? He could be in Afghanistan. But I never - I always said he could be in Pakistan or Afghanistan. I never said no that he was not in Pakistan --

COOPER: Actually, sir, that's not true.

MUSHARRAF: I never said that.

COOPER: Actually, sir, that's not true. You said in interviews that you believed he was in Afghanistan, that he was not in Pakistan.

MUSHARRAF: Well, no, I always put a doubt in that, that I don't know. That I never had that information. And so, I'll tell anyone who said he was in Pakistan also did not have intelligence. It was not based on any intelligence, because guess what --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: We'll have more of my interview tonight on "AC 360." A special two-hour edition of "360" live from Ground Zero, tonight at 10:00.

I want to bring in Mike Baker, former CIA covert ops. Officer Mike (ph), thanks for being with us. As you digest the information and details that have come out in the last hour, what really stands out to you about this operation on the ground?

MIKE BAKER, FORMER CIA COVERT OPS OFFICER: Well, I think the amount of work that goes into this, basically leading up to those few minutes that actually take place on the ground. I mean, this started with tidbits of information being pulled from detainees. And then the enormous investigative effort. It's an incredibly labor intensive to try to run those leads to the ground and try to decide which are credible and which are not. And then once you develop capable, actionable intelligence, saying look, we've got credible information on this compound, then the work of creating mock-ups, creating basic scenarios. Planning and training. And of course, the SEALs and the agency paramilitary personnel and others, if they are not doing their training, this is what they live for.

So, it's all that work that goes into just that brief moment on the ground to take him out.

COOPER: It does seem in this world of high-tech and where you have signals intelligence and electronic intelligence that human intelligence still plays a crucial role. We don't know the full details at this point, but given that there were no computers going into this compound, no phone lines, they must have had eyes on the ground for a long period of time watching this compound.

BAKER: Well, sure, that's a very good assumption. Without going into sources and methods. But once you get sufficient information to do that risk versus gain and say look, we have incredible information, then you've got to go everything from surveillance, technical surveillance to - if you can, setting up observation posts so that you can monitor and get that absolute visual confirmation, regardless of what type of surveillance you're talking about.

And then the clock is ticking. Then you've got an issue here. We want to take as much time as possible to plan and train for the op. But at the same time, we don't want to take a chance of losing him. So, it's a very tense time from the moment of actual visual confirmation to the time when you make your move.

COOPER: We heard the president using the term actionable intelligence and for a long time, formerly President Bush would say it and even candidate Obama said it. That if the U.S. had actionable intelligence about the location of Bin Laden, they would act, whether or not Pakistan was part of that deal.

In terms of actionable intelligence -- what exactly does that term mean? I mean, what kinds of things would they look for to guarantee this is the real deal?

BAKER: Right. Well, nothing happens in a bubble, right? So, if you have a detainee in a detention center, whether it's Gitmo or elsewhere, and you get information off that individual indicating, for example, a nickname or alias used by someone who you believe might be in one of the circles around Bin Laden, then that's actionable intelligence.

You take that out and try to corroborate it with other intel you're getting from a variety of sources in other parts of the world. You determine, do you keep working it or throw it away and look for other bits and pieces?

So, you're pulling all this together, and you're basically just - it's a -- I don't want to oversimplify it, but it's almost a forensic effort. It's this effort to peel apart all of the various aspects to finally burrow into the point where you say, you got something here. And now we can develop the scenarios to take out the target.

COOPER; A lot of people have -- I've been getting a lot of tweets about this. A lot of people today are wondering how is it possible that someone in Pakistani intelligence or in the military did not know Osama bin Laden was in this location, given that this compound was built, huge walls, concertino wire, the guy is a foreigner in that country.

You know, I've been in Pakistan a number of times. There's a lot of surveillance out on the streets. People are curious of anybody who is building a compound. I just don't understand how no one in that area allegedly knew about this.

BAKER: Oh, they knew. I mean, that's the short answer, but you're absolutely right. In a place like Pakistan, anything that's going on is more interesting than what is happening in most people's lives during the course of any day. And also, we know that the government, the intel service ISI, military intelligence, you know, they keep a very close watch on what goes around.

And also this area is a secure zone. It's a militarized zone. You know, key military academy located, what, a thousand yards perhaps from where this compound sits. So, it is just simply not believable to think that some elements - it's not a government-wide conspiracy. It's not as if the entire government, military intelligence service knew about it. But certain elements, people within likely ISI and military, were aware that Bin Laden was in that compound and for their own reasons, whatever those might be, they sympathize with him. Payoffs, whatever it might be, they chose to protect him.

COOPER: Well, I cannot get enough of the details of this operation, and I look forward to in the days and probably years ahead more information coming out and learning more and more about it. We're trying to gather as much information as we can. Mike Baker, appreciate your expertise. Thanks for being with us.

Wolf, just fascinating to hear, kind of the nuts and bolts of how these operations work. Some day the definitive book will be written about this operation, but this was months and months in the making. And it's incredible that it was able to be pulled off like it was, Wolf.

BLIZTER: And in the end they went in; it was extremely risky. The president gave the go ahead, knowing that it could succeed or fail. It took guts on his part. He made the right call, obviously.

We're going to hear, by the way, from the Pakistani ambassador to the United States in our 6:00 p.m. Eastern hour in "THE SITUATION ROOM" in about two-and-a-half hours or so from now. At the top of - one-and-a-half hours, I should say, from now. At the top of the hour in "THE SITUATION ROOM," retired U.S. Army General Colin Powell, the former secretary of state. He was secretary of state on 9/11. He'll be joining me in "THE SITUATION ROOM" as well. We have good questions for both Ambassador Connie and Secretary Powell of them.

One lawmaker, by the way, says Pakistan has some serious explaining to do. So, what did the Pakistani leadership know about this raid, if anything? How many more terror attacks may be hiding in Pakistan right now? Dana Bash just spoke with members of Congress, has new information about what the U.S. Navy SEALs found inside the compound.

Stand by, Dana. I want to take a quick break. We'll get to you in just a moment, but I also want our viewers to listen how one family of a 9/11 victim is reacting to this news dramatic news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After they captured the killer, they killed him,I said, I have to come out here and celebrate. Tell them that they got him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: CNN's Dana Bash has been on Capitol Hill throughout these many, many hours. Dana, you've spoken with the House Intelligence committee chairman today about the death of Osama Bin Laden, how he sees al Qaeda's potential for striking back. What did you learn?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, members of Congress in both parties who are informed about this say that they are concerned about potential retaliation.

As for the House Intelligence chairman, Wolf, Mike Rogers, he says that he doesn't believe that there were specific plans in place to trigger an attack should Osama bin Laden die or be killed. But he also warned that from what he sees in the intelligence, very single day - that's a quote - "every single day" they are planning some event and now that bin Laden has been killed, it's no different.

BLITZER: What about Pakistan? I'm hearing, and I suppose you are as well, some real frustration up on Capitol Hill, not only Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives, what are they saying about Pakistan's role in all of this?

BASH: They are very upset. I mean, it's not even subtle at all. Members of Congress in both parties again, Wolf, making clear that they believe -- because as we've been reporting, because of the fact that this compound we now know, was so big, because it had been there for so many years and because of it's location, so close to centralized Pakistani military, that it was very hard to imagine that they didn't know. And that perhaps the Pakistani military and intelligence were protecting Bin Laden. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: I hope that he will follow through -- the president of Pakistan will follow through and ask some very tough questions of his own military and his intelligence. They've got a lot of explaining to do.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: This tells us, once again, that unfortunately Pakistan at times is playing a double game. And that's very troubling to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BASH: Now, Wolf, I can tell you that members of Congress in both parties are saying that they still have a lot of information that they need to gather but what Pakistan did or did not know. But there is something that members of Congress have, and that is a tool. And that is the power of the perks. So, one question kind of already floating around here is whether or not Congress could try to stop funding for Pakistan.

So far, we're hearing from both parties -- that is maybe premature to talk about because it's such a complex relationship, as you well know. There are parts of the Pakistani government that are helpful, parts that are not, and historically troubled and problematic. But as Joe Lieberman, the Homeland Security chairman, just told me coming over here, there is going to be talk about that but he said part of the issue is that you don't want to make Pakistan an enemy. Wolf?

BLITZER: Especially given the fact that it has an arsenal of nuclear bombs, that's something obviously always of concern.

Dana, thanks very much. Dana Bash is up on the Hill. I want to remind our viewers Husain Haqqani, the Pakistani ambassador to the United States in our 6:00 p.m. Eastern hour. He'll be joining me in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

Lots at stake here, Anderson. I don't think we can overemphasize what is going on.

COOPER: It's a remarkable day, remarkable turn of events. And it is still a developing story. I've talked to the former Pakistani president, Perez Musharraf, and asked him in fact whether he feels he should -- that he was wrong for years saying that Bin Laden was in Afghanistan, not in Pakistan. That interview will air tonight on 360. A special two-hour edition starting 10:00 live from Ground Zero.

Wolf, I'm going to let you go. Get ready for "THE SITUATION ROOM."

At the top of this hour, coming up, I'll speak live to a woman who lost her husband on September 11 right here at Ground Zero. He was in the North Tower. Find out her reaction to this dramatic development. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Welcome back. We continue reporting live from Ground Zero as we will again tonight at 10:00 on "AC 360" on a two-hour edition.

Everybody has a different reaction and everybody I think will remember where they were when they heard the news that Osama Bin Laden had been killed last night when the news grow.

Terry Strada joins me now. Her husband Tom died on 9/11. He was on the North Tower working for (inaudible). Thanks for being with us. Where were you when you heard the news? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last night I was in bed watching the news, watching television when it came across.

COOPER: And what went through your mind?

TERRY STRADA, HUSBAND DIED IN NORTH TOWER ON 9/11: A lot of mixed emotions. You know, it's been a very long time and feels very good that such an evil person is gone.

I was very proud of our troops for what they did. Thrilled that no more Americans were killed during this mission, but some mixed emotions.

It was hard to hear that he was gone and buried all at the same time. Kind of feel a little bitter that he got a proper Muslim burial when we were robbed of that.

COOPER: Would you have wanted him to be captured alive or not?

STRADA: Yes, I think I would have.

COOPER: Really?

STRADA: Yes. I think seeing it would have helped me and our children -- not that we don't believe it, but there's just a satisfaction of seeing it. We haven't seen anything to really verify that it happened. We know it did but there's something about seeing it.

COOPER: Right. It's almost like seeing Saddam Hussein, it actually gives you an idea -- it actually seems more real if you see their body or some evidence of it.

STRADA: Yes. There was a lot of satisfaction watching him come out of that hole and seeing what he looked like. And I think the children need to see that to get the kind of closure that they talk about, you know, that we never had.

COOPER: I always hear that word. I lost a brother and I lost my dad, not on 9/11, years ago, but -- closure. To me, there's no such thing. If you lost somebody, time helps, but it never closes.

STRADA: Right. It's an open wound forever and, you know, it's an overused word.

COOPER: Yes, to me it's like a TV word.

STRADA: Exactly. I mean, there was some satisfaction in knowing that he heard the helicopters coming and he knew we were coming closer. And I have a lot of satisfaction knowing that the last thing he saw was a U.S. military with a gun in his face.

COOPER: What -- this is actually the first time you have been down here at Ground Zero.

STRADA: Yes, it is. COOPER: How is that for you?

STRADA: It was very emotional to come here. I've avoided it. We've lived here for six years. We were here in '93 when the Twin Towers were attacked. So I haven't wanted to come back, but it's difficult.

COOPER: Well, I appreciate you being here with us on this day and thanks very much for talking to me.

STRADA: You're welcome. Thank you for having me.

COOPER: I wish your family the best.

STRADA: OK, thank you.

COOPER: All right, Terry Strada. Again, so many people have different reactions.

Coming up next, we'll talk to more people. We'll also look at which al Qaeda terrorists were take Bin Laden's place. Al Qaeda is not going away and now there's a lot of different al Qaeda affiliated groups. We'll talk about that.

And what about the other high value targets still being sought by the United States? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: And we continue to be live from Ground Zero. Let's bring CNN's terrorism analyst, Paul Cruickshank.

You know, obviously, this is a major development in the history of al Qaeda and in the history of the war against al Qaeda and extremism, but the battle goes on. I mean, you have now al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. How -- how powerful are they?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, they are quite powerful now in terms of the most operational group in terms of plotting attacks against United States.

Counterterrorism officials here believe they are the most dangerous group anywhere now when it comes to attacks here and they've twice plotted to attack the American homeland in the last 16 months.

COOPER: And behind them is really this American cleric who has been behind many of the recent attacks that we've seen even attacks here in the United States.

CRUICKSHANK: And it's become more and more operational, Anwar al-Awlaki, the American cleric become more operational. He's an inspirational figure attracting western recruits to Yemen and persuading people to launch attacks against the United States.

And he also understands American vulnerability that you don't have to have 9/11 style of attacks to hurt the United States. Smaller attacks can play an impact as well because the psychological effect that they can have.

COOPER: And that's obviously a concern with the political situation in Yemen where you have this president who has been allied with the United States in trying to attack this cleric and try to fight frankly insurgencies on two ends of the country.

He's now going to be leaving the country most likely or stepping down at some point. Real parts remain about what that means for the - the growth of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

CRUICKSHANK: Absolutely. There's no focus on al Qaeda right now. It may give the group an opportunity to expand and the worst case scenario, if there's some sort of civil war scenario, not impossible, given the recent history of Yemen as al Qaeda could really take advantage of that.

COOPER: (Inaudible) who's the number two man under Bin Laden in the original al Qaeda, is he likely to assume the command of al Qaeda central?

CRUICKSHANK: He's not somebody with Bin Ladens charisma. He's a divisive and polarizing figure. Lots of figures within al Qaeda don't like him very much. Bin Laden was the great unifier for al Qaeda and (Sawahiri) just isn't sort of individual, Anderson.

COOPER: Paul Cruickshank, appreciate it. Thanks very much.

A lot more ahead from Ground Zero. Three different presidents hunted Bin Laden, Clinton, Bush and Obama. Up next, we're going to show a timeline of how each tried to find him and how the search unfolded over the years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: The search for Osama Bin Laden has been long and difficult. The raid that killed Osama Bin Laden was said to be swift and precise, but the worldwide hunt for the 9/11 mastermind has been anything but that.

Here's now a look back at the more than decade-long search for Osama Bin Laden.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Today we've had a national tragedy. Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country.

I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.

Whether we bring our enemies to justice or justice to our enemies, justice will be done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn over Osama Bin Laden, his top lieutenants, root out the al Qaeda network within Afghanistan, destroy the bases and let us have access to see that those bases have been destroyed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any action taken will be against the terrorists network of Bin Laden. As for the Taliban, they can surrender the terrorists or face the consequences.

BUSH: There's no need to negotiate. If they want to us to stop our military operations, they just got to meet my conditions and when I said no negotiations, I meant no negotiations.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And if we have Osama Bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them out. Then I think that we have to act and we will take them back. We will kill Bin Laden. We will crush al Qaeda. That has to be our biggest national security priority.

LARRY KING: Are we ever, ever going to find Bin Laden?

BUSH: Yes, of course, absolutely.

KING: You're confident based on --

BUSH: Because we've got a lot of people looking for him. A lot of assets out there and he can't run forever.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: 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 in our nation's effort to defeat al Qaeda.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: A look back at the search for Bin Laden. I'll be back here at Ground Zero at 10:00 p.m. East Coast time for two-hour edition of "360." Our coverage though continues right now with Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Wolf.