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Inside bin Laden's Compound; Killing Osama bin Laden; Identifying bin Laden; Treasure Trove of Intelligence Found; Killing Osama Bin Laden; Levee Blown Up to Save Midwest City; $4 Gas is Coming

Aired May 03, 2011 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Have a great day. Thanks so much.

The mission to kill Osama bin Laden, ten years in the making and now one day later, a new objective takes shape.

Good morning again. And welcome to our continuing coverage. I'm Carol Costello.

U.S. intelligence officers are combing through the computer equipment and data seized from the Pakistani compound where the al Qaeda founder was hiding. They are searching for leads on other al Qaeda leaders or possible attack plots.

A U.S. counterterrorism official said the haul was much larger than expected. Since the compound had no phone or Internet service, bin Laden relied more heavily on storage media such as CDs or DVDs.

A CNN source says it is not clear who will replace bin Laden because al Qaeda apparently had no clear succession plan in place.

Some new details on the raid itself. President Obama joined many of the mission's leaders to monitor the assault in real time. There was some live video and regular audio updates from the attack team.

But we want to begin this hour with this. We want to take a closer look inside the compound where bin Laden lived and died. We just got this video, we just obtained it a short time ago. You see, this is inside a kitchen. It shows the sort of eerie calm. There's absolutely no decorations on the wall.

You'll see the camera move down the hall into the doorway of one of the bedrooms. You saw that just a short time ago. There's blood on the floor right here. And then the camera will go outside. And you can see -- you will see, rather, a vegetable garden.

And by the way, in that kitchen, the pantries were stocked with food. The sink was full of what looked like eggs. We don't know why. We don't know -- this wreckage that you see, we think it may be from the Navy SEALs in the raid but we're not really sure.

I'm just going to let this play a little bit more for you. And of course this is inside those giant walls surrounding the compound. We understand there is a smaller building inside the compound. And it was supposedly a sunroom where people could go and get some sun, because this little building had lots of windows. And as you know, Osama bin Laden probably didn't go outside very much.

We also have CNN's Nick Paton Wash. He is outside the walled compound in the city of Abbottabad.

And Nick, tell us a little bit more about the town and a little bit more about the compound itself.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the compound is a fair distance behind me over those trees over there. And basically, most of the day, the police have sealed it off quite tightly keeping journalists well away, fairly paranoid and suspicious, frankly, of our attempts to film it.

More recently opening up, letting people near the gates, but so far I believe they're still inside really trying to hoover (ph) their way through what the Americans left behind after that 40-minute raid. Although the pictures you've just seen do say some quite severe chaos, frankly. Notice, though, a particular substantial cleanup was -- has really be in operation.

I understand those pictures were in fact filmed earlier on today. So still chaotic scenes inside -- Carol.

COSTELLO: We do have some pictures from GEO TV which is essentially Pakistani television. And we want to show our viewers some of that and maybe you can lend some perspective to what exactly we're seeing. So can we put up the pictures now from GEO TV? There it is.

We're looking at medicines found in one of the rooms inside the house. We're looking at a pair of slippers.

Can you explain further what this stuff means?

PATON: I think this is all going to provide U.S. intelligence officials with this treasure trove of information as to where Osama bin Laden may have been, who he may have spoken to, where he needed to get his medicines from. That's going to be very helpful, too, in terms of working out exactly his path through the last few years and who he had brought him into contact with.

All those little things helping them piece together where the rest of these -- the al Qaeda network may extend to. That's absolutely key. That's why I think the U.S. is so pleased with this treasure trove, they say. The information they've received from the building.

The Pakistanis now taking the second shift basically from going through -- combing through what's left behind me -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So -- is -- are Pakistani authorities inside the compound along with American authorities? I mean how does that work?

PATON: Yes, I mean the Americans came in here undetected, dropped out of a helicopter, had a firefight, (INAUDIBLE) everything they could, put it back on the helicopter and flew out again before Pakistani military forces could arrive here.

Remember they weren't aware the Americans were here. So far as they were concerned, this was an invasion from some sort of hostile force. So it's purely Pakistani police and military securing the compound now.

We're not exactly clear what they're doing but I'm pretty sure they'll be going through what the Americans left behind. Trying to work out exactly how long bin Laden was here, for example -- Carol.

COSTELLO: The initial number we got as far as the number of people who were inside the house with Osama bin Laden, 22. Can you tell us a little bit about what happened to the other folks inside? We know some of them were killed in the raid. But others are in custody, right?

PATON: Yes, there is not a huge amount of clarity as to the full number of people. I've heard from one Pakistani intelligence official say there are eight to nine who are now in Pakistani custody after that particular raid. There's also been talk of two women, I think, who were there, one of whom was supposed to have been the wife of bin Laden, who was apparently injured during this -- during this firefight.

That's 11 accounted for. Now of course we have also heard from a Pakistani source there were four to five men within the compound including bin Laden himself. And so -- so it's not exactly clear who was there. But certainly there is this enormous number of -- comparatively enormous number of children who are now in Pakistani custody left behind by the American special forces -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And we don't know who the children belonged to. Is it possible they were -- some of them Osama bin Laden's children?

PATON: It's conceivable it may have been his grandchildren. I think that's probably the most likely solution. It's not entirely clear, to be honest -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Nick Paton Walsh, thanks for the perspective. We appreciate it.

U.S. officials say the raid on bin Laden's compound was a surgical strike with little room for mistakes.

Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon with a closer look at the special ops mission.

And Barbara, you have new details this morning. Tell us.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: First, we want to start off, Carol, by showing everyone a photograph. This was the U.S. helicopter that was left behind by the Americans, basically hanging on a fence wrecked. It suffered mechanical failure. But all the commandos were able to get on another helicopter and leave.

Forty-minute raid, surgical strike. All of it enormously successful that the Americans got in and got out very quickly without being detected. Satellite photographs show just how complex this site was. Quite large, quite significant compared to other compounds in the area.

And then, you know, we're going to put up and show you a schematic drawing of it. And you can begin to see what they had to move through, 18-foot security walls. They went clearing it room by room and eventually got to this second entered floor of this center building that you see there behind another seven-foot wall.

That's where they found Osama bin Laden. That's where he had been hiding out. And the firefight ensued. He was killed by a shot to the head and a shot to the chest, we are told. And it is not clear -- you know, as Nick was saying, there is so much lack of clarity at this point.

We don't actually know if he had a weapon in his hands, if he was firing, if he was reaching for a weapon. But U.S. officials are very adamant that he was resisting. And that's why the Navy SEALs took him down -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I know. We've even heard the rumor that he was using his youngest wife as a human shield but we can't even determine if that was true, right?

STARR: Yes. I mean somebody -- the troops that were in the room certainly know. And they are writing their field reports and all of that information now coming back to Washington.

So I think -- I think it's going to be a few days before there is complete clarity as to what went on in those final minutes. I am sure some people know whether they are going to release all these details publicly remains to be seen because of course these Navy SEALs have very specialized weapons, tactics, techniques of doing what they do. And they don't want to release a lot of information. They don't want to give away a lot of their trade secrets for the next time they have to do this.

COSTELLO: Understood. Barbara Starr, live at the Pentagon.

Before Osama bin Laden was buried at sea on Monday, U.S. officials used facial recognition software and DNA sampling to confirm that it was in fact bin Laden who they killed.

Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here to give us an idea of how that technology worked.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's really fascinating stuff. You know when they took -- when people talk about DNA sequencing, people think that takes a long time. It's very tedious. And that's true.

That's not what was done here, though. What they're talking about is DNA matching. For example, you and I, Carol, we share about 99 -- more than 99 percent of our DNA. That's in common. So when you match, you're actually looking for things that are different. So you're focusing on a very small area of the sequence and seeing if there's a match.

If you have DNA from the person, that's how you establish a match.

COSTELLO: So where did their DNA come from?

GUPTA: Well, you know, it's unclear. They haven't said for sure yet. We don't know if there was existing DNA from Osama bin Laden but they had collected somehow sometime in the past, or if it was from relatives, a child or a parent would be the best relatives because you're going to share a certain amount of DNA that's predictable. But siblings can work, even half siblings can work. And the more relatives you have, the higher degree of confidence you have in establishing that match.

COSTELLO: So this facial recognition technology that they had, so they took the death photo probably and then what did they do?

GUPTA: Well, this is fascinating stuff as well. There's a lot of existing pictures obviously of Osama bin Laden. That's the first thing you need. But you know when you look at somebody's face, Carol, you notice lots of different things. You know the width of their nose, for example, the distance from the top of their eyes or their forehead. The distance of their cheekbones, the height of that.

In aggregate, when you start putting that all together, you can get a pretty reliable image that can be duplicated as far as facial recognition software goes. So you take the picture and you immediately sort of, you know, cross-reference it to existing photographs. And taking all those morphological measurements, they call them, into account, you can get a pretty high degree of likelihood of establishing a match.

COSTELLO: But can you ever say we're 100 percent sure that is Osama bin Laden?

GUPTA: Probably not, which I think is one of those strange things in science because it's not a perfect science. You know they may say there is a 1 in -- you know 25 billion chances that it's not. Of course the population of the earth is, you know, just a few billion. So it's very unlikely. But to say 100 percent, probably not. 99.9 percent perhaps.

COSTELLO: We'll take that. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, many thanks.

GUPTA: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Osama bin Laden wasn't the only prize in that compound. Yes, U.S. forces took him out. But they also took out years' worth of intelligence. Next, we'll talk about what kind of dirt the U.S. has on al Qaeda now and how valuable that dirt could be.

The orders have been given and all they could do was watch. We'll take you inside the White House situation room as the bin Laden raid went down. Also just ahead.

And Midwest floodwaters are rising and so is the concern. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has started blowing up levees in a desperate attempt to save a Midwest city.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It's been about 48 hours since Osama bin Laden went down. He is gone. But the stuff he left behind in that compound could be the proverbial gift that keeps on giving.

We're talking about computer hard drives, CD-ROMS, DVDs and documents that could be loaded with priceless intelligence and al Qaeda's plans and where its other leaders are.

CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen calls it a treasure trove of information. And now it is in U.S. hands. So let's talk about that with CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank.

Paul, welcome.

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Hey, Carol.

COSTELLO: So how valuable is this stuff, do you think?

CRUICKSHANK: Well, it could be very valuable, indeed. Any time you seize hard drives and documents like this. But al Qaeda is a much more decentralized organization now than it was in the 1990s in Taliban run Afghanistan. So it's unlikely these documents, this information will lead to the complete unraveling of al Qaeda's leadership.

However, someone like Ayman al-Zawahiri is believed to have been in relatively close contact with bin Laden in recent years, perhaps even nearby. And that's where I think this could put Zawahiri in some jeopardy of being captured, Carol.

COSTELLO: You would think, though, that he would be smart enough to move on, because, surely, he's heard about the death of Osama bin Laden.

CRUICKSHANK: You think he will be making arrangements to try and perhaps change location, wherever he is in Pakistan. Is he somewhere in the settled areas of Pakistan unlike bin Laden was, I think that's very possible. Or is he in the tribal areas of Pakistan, this rugged terrain between Afghanistan and Pakistan, where a lot of the al Qaeda encampments are still right now? That's not known.

And these documents may provide some very, very valuable answers. And not only just in the near term, but also, over the following years. There could be some really, really interesting information here, Carol.

COSTELLO: But because the Pakistani government has sort of been embarrassed about this whole U.S. mission and the killing of Osama bin Laden, well, that put more pressure on them to help the United States find Osama bin Laden's number two?

CRUICKSHANK: I think it puts more pressure on them. It puts more leverage on them. The United States has been quite careful not to call out Pakistan publicly about this embarrassment that bin Laden was on their soil. So, this does give the United States more leverage with Pakistan.

Pakistan clearly needs to act in a greater way than it has done before. It has not moved into North Waziristan, this tribal agency, which really is the epicenter of al Qaeda's plotting against the West and they're still plotting against the West. Just last week, German authorities thwarted a very serious al Qaeda plot against the country. They were starting to experiment with bombs, the cell in Germany.

So, al Qaeda is an organization that's still plotting against the West, also against the United States, even without bin Laden there. We are now in a period of perhaps more danger because there could be some sort of revenge attack.

But make no mistake: this is a huge blow to al Qaeda. And the medium near, it could start to make the organization really unravel.

COSTELLO: Paul Cruickshank, thanks very much for joining us this morning. We appreciate.

Gas prices rise for the 42nd straight day. And today's increase puts the national average just pennies away from that $4 mark, a $4 average. We'll go to the New York Stock Exchange to find out when we'll hit that dreaded milestone.

And blowing up a levee to try to save a city. We'll have the latest from Cairo, Illinois --next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now, to the flooding in the Midwest. The Army Corps of Engineers finally did it. They began to blow up the levees around Cairo, Illinois, last night in a desperate attempt to save the city.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

COSTELLO: Now, the plan is to divert floodwaters from the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers on to nearby farmland, and then in the state next door, in Missouri, 130,000 acres in Missouri will be flooded.

I'm sorry -- I keep saying Missouri like a Midwesterner. It's Missouri. But I always say Missouri.

Anyway, the first phase of the project went off without a hitch as you saw. More explosions are planned for today. CNN's Rob Marciano joins us now.

So, Rob, is this going to work?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, so far, it's relieved a little bit of pressure, down there in Missouri, the Show Me State, they are saying, don't show me any more water. That's exactly what they got last night when they blew up those levees and released that water into the farmland.

But that farmland, for the record, is designed more or less to take these waters when we get a situation like this.

Here, Carol, we are at Route 51, which is one of main routes into town. This has been blocked off with the National Guard out here sandbagging for the past couple of days in the event that the Mississippi River came and breached this area, which it was doing earlier, where it comes -- there's a confluence there between the Ohio and Mississippi River.

And, boy, when you get those two rivers and you get all the rain that we've seen in the past couple of months, you got some problems, because all that water wants to flow down south and you got the Tennessee River flowing in here as well. So, there's been a lot of structure to manipulate this water. And they had to relieve some of the pressure.

It's not only relieving pressure here, Carol, which, by the way, the entire city has been evacuated. But up river in metropolis and down river as well, it's going to relieve about 20 percent of the amount of pressure that's been on these levees. This is a historic number.

1937 is the last time we have seen the river this high. So, desperate times calls for desperate measures.

The rain has let up at least for now -- a little bit more rain in the forecast over the next couple of days. But they may have to take some action down river as well, closer to the boot hill of Missouri, Carol, because there's more water heading that way. Back to you.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Rob. We appreciate it.

Checking on news across country now:

In Arkansas, rescue workers have found a group of missing Boy Scouts. The six boys and two scout leaders were camping in a remote area of a national forest. Until today, rain has kept search helicopters on the ground. Authorities were nervous because the scouts were camping near the site of a fatal camp flood in 2010 that killed 20 people. But the Boy Scouts are fine now.

A California company is recalling grape tomatoes sold in prepared salads because of possible salmonella contamination. The tomatoes were sold by six big retail chains in 13 western states. Some of the recall dates have already passed, but don't fully expire until May 9th.

It is a milestone we did not want to hit -- $4 a gallon gas. But the national average is getting dangerously close to that.

Alison Kosik is following the money from the New York Stock Exchange.

So, when do you think we'll hit that $4 mark on average?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, you know, we knew this was coming. Analysts say, get ready for gas to top $4 this week. Right now, the national average is sitting at $3.97 a gallon. And you know what? It's above $4 in 13 states, in the usual places that we always talk about -- Alaska, Hawaii, New York, and California. What you see there.

You know, we're also finding that many Midwestern states, Carol, they're also looking at $4 a gallon. And a couple of reasons for that -- some refineries in that area shut down for maintenance. And seven refineries were temporarily shut down because of last week's tornadoes.

But, overall, the usually culprit, oil prices. That's what's pushing up gas prices. Also, prices typically rise ahead of the unofficial start to the summer driving season, Memorial Day.

But let me give you some good news, Carol. One analyst is changing his tune saying that $5 a gallon gas is highly unlikely. How about that?

COSTELLO: I like the sound of that. The stock market doesn't seem to be suffering because of these high gas prices.

KOSIK: No, but we are looking at a lower open today once the market opens in about five minutes, Carol. We did have a strong April, though, for stocks. You can thank earnings for that.

But at this point, investors are getting a little worried whether or not these companies can sustain this kind of growth. We are seeing that today in a couple of earnings from Pfizer and Sears, they issued disappointing forecasts. In the pre-market, Pfizer shares are down 2 percent. Sears shares are down 7 percent. We'll check out the market when it opens in about five minutes, Carol.

COSTELLO: We'll do. Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange.

Pakistan was kept out of the loop when the Special Operations team swept in and took out Osama bin Laden. So, how is that playing in the relations between the two nations? We'll check into that in a live report.

As the Navy SEALs moved in, the Situation Room froze, watching the raid on Osama bin Laden live as it happened, from Washington. Details from the White House, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: CNN is getting a closer look at the compound in Pakistan where Osama bin Laden was found and killed. Take a look. CNN got this video in just a short time ago. It's just an (INAUDIBLE) after a running gun battle killed the al Qaeda founder and four others. Blood stains on the floor show where one of the victim's fell.

It's believed bin Laden could have spent four or five years in this compound with enough supplies so that he would never have to leave. Yes, the cupboards were full.

This is day two of the post-Osama bin Laden world. Here's a quick look at what's happening now:

U.S. intelligence officers are combing through the computer equipment and the data seized from the compound where bin Laden lived and died. They could hold priceless intelligence on al Qaeda's plans and where its other leaders are right now.

Remember the $25 million bounty on bin Laden? It is not clear how much or if any will get paid out.

And we know there are photographs of bin Laden's body with a gunshot wound to the head. But the U.S. government has not decided if it's going to make that picture public yet.

Pakistan's president is defending his country against suggestions that some of his government were aware of bin Laden's whereabouts. The raid without Pakistan's prior knowledge is throwing light on tensions between the two nations.

Let's head to London and our Zain Verjee.

And, Zain, you just spoke to former secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, about this. What did she say about U.S.-Pakistani relations?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hi, Carol.

I just spoke to her a short while ago. And essentially, she said the U.S. needs Pakistan and cooperates with Pakistan when it comes to counterterrorism. And that is really important.

But, Carol, she had some pretty sharp words for Pakistan today, saying that they need to explain how Osama bin Laden could have hidden in plain sight, she said, without key officials knowing about it. She said, "We need to know what happened," and that it raises some pretty serious internal questions within Pakistan. And she added, too, after I said, "Well, you know, this is just kind of embarrassing for Pakistan." She said that it's not a good thing for Pakistan or for us. The relations between the U.S. and Pakistan over the past few months, Carol, have been pretty tense. It has also come down to a question of trust.

One thing to keep in mind always when you're talking about U.S./Pakistan relations is the nuclear issue here. The U.S., and particularly Washington, just really has in its psyche the fear of one day, Islamic radicals in Pakistan taking over and getting control of that nuclear button. And Pakistan knows this. So they know that they can use that as leverage against the U.S.

COSTELLO: And the Pakistani government seems to be reaching out to the United States and the American people to sort of repair the damage. There was an op-ed in an American newspaper from the president of Pakistan saying, look, we're on your side. We helped you. Without us, you couldn't have landed those helicopters at that compound and broke in and killed Osama bin Laden.

VERJEE: Well they still have pretty tough questions to answer. The world's spotlight right now is on Pakistan and is asking them to explain themselves.

So President Asif Ali Zardari wrote this op-ed in the "Washington Post" saying this, "Some in the U.S. president have suggested that lacked vitality in its pursuit of terrorism or worse yet, that we were disingenuous and actually protected the terrorists we claimed to be pursing. Such baseless speculation may make exciting cable news, but it does not reflect fact" It goes on to say, "Pakistan has as much reason to despise al Qaeda as any nation. The war on terrorism is as much Pakistan's war as it is America's."

So really batting away criticism. But the fact of the matter is, is that there are many that believe that there are elements within the Pakistani military and military -- and intelligence apparatus that must have been aware that Osama bin Laden was there and has historically had ties to these groups.

So it's a very murky walk the U.S. have to navigate when it comes to Pakistani intelligence.

COSTELLO: Zain Verjee, live in London. Many thanks.

As those Navy SEALs breached the bin Laden compound and took down their man, a handful of people watched, they watched it all live. You can only imagine what it was like in the White House Situation Room Sunday.

Our White House correspondent Brianna Keilar is here with some of those details.

So you had all of these officials, including the President of the United States, watching the raid from Washington as it went down in Pakistan.

What was that like?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This was something that actually played out throughout the day, Carol.

Preparations began in the Situation Room Sunday morning. And then you had the principle players. We're talking about secretary of state, secretary of defense, the chairman of the joint chiefs. You see all of them in a photo, in some of the photos that we've been seeing with President Obama, with Vice President Biden, along with this photo right here that you are looking at right now. You see the president's top national security and counterterrorism officials, as well.

And so some of these principle players were in the Situation Room at the beginning of the day. President Obama joined them before the operation began. Then he left the Situation Room and came back for that operation beginning. But, I think one of the big questions that we don't have really clear answers to this, Carol, what exactly where they looking at?

Are we talking about video monitors? Are we talking about audio? We know that they were getting real time updates. But just in terms, exactly, what does that mean? There are still questions that don't have answers and may not, Carol'.

COSTELLO: And may not. But satellite imagery, I mean, we can do pretty amazing things technologically. They must have seen the -- you know, one of the helicopters malfunction as it landed near that compound and the Navy sort of had to dispose of it. When those inside of the Situation Room saw that or heard about that, they must have been going crazy because they didn't know what happened.

KEILAR: This was a hugely tense moment we are told. And overall, the entire operation, one of the most anxiety-filled periods in the lives of perhaps all of the people in this room. That is coming from John Brennan, the president's counterterrorism chief.

He said minutes passed like days. You can only imagine the atmosphere in there. He said people were holding their breath. Speaking about President Obama specifically, he said he was particularly concerned about the safety of the SEALs there on the ground.

And so also it makes you wonder what about the moment where they realized they had Osama bin Laden? Was there an aha moment? How did the president respond? John Brennan said there wasn't actually an aha moment. He said there was a growing confidence that at first there was the visual identification, more confidence. Then the height was correct on Osama bin Laden, more confidence. And then when the preliminary DNA came in, that was certainly when people had a sense that they'd gotten the right guy and they could breathe a sigh of relief.

COSTELLO: I don't mean to make light of it but it just so reminds me of the series "24." It just does. It's just surreal.

KEILAR: It is very surreal and it makes you wonder almost if it did play out like something that you would see on TV. I don't think we're going to get all of those details unfortunately, but certainly in the popular imagination, it does play out like that.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. Brianna Keilar, live from the White House. Thank you.

Beyond all the back-slapping, we're hearing politicians praising their side for the bin Laden takedown. So, is this going to get ugly, partisan? John Avlon will weigh in next.

And a baseball fan says the game changed from one of the most boring he'd ever seen to one he will never forget. Not because of what happened on the field but what happened half a world away. We'll talk to the guy who helped spread the world about bin Laden's death at a baseball stadium. That's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We saw some really touching displays of unity across the country after Sunday night's big announcement. But now, wouldn't you know it. Politics is starting to color the takedown of Osama bin Laden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: We also have to remember that it was President Bush who brought Khalid Sheikh Mohammed into the open at Guantanamo, who told the American people that he was bringing him there. And so many of these efforts that we made early on evolved during the Bush administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Some might say that's absolutely true. John Avlon's a CNN contributor. He's also senior political columnist for "Newsweek" and "The Daily Beast." And I just want to -- I mean, it is true that George W. Bush does deserve some credit because he certainly stayed after Osama bin Laden. And President Obama deserves much of the credit.

But, I guess the question I want to ask you this morning, should this really devolve into politics as usually?

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: No. This is a time for patriotism, not the partisanship. It's a moment so much bigger than politics that you'd hate to see it being brought down to that level.

Of course, we're heading into a presidential campaign. The silly season is going to reassert itself. But I do think that this memory the country is feel about that warm unity we had after 9/11, I hope it really will affect the discourse because we've been seeing the side show dominate the debate for a long time, Carol, and this is a reminder that there are serious challenges we face here as a nation and these are times people. And the president rose to that level.

COSTELLO: You talk about the side show, and dare I mention it, Rush Limbaugh came out with a line saying, thank God for President Obama, but he meant it very sarcastically. If you take a look at his web site, he actually meant congratulations, Mr. President for continuing the Bush anti-terror policy. So you can see that these talk show hosts and talking heads on the various cable networks and probably some -- including ours right here at CNN -- you're going to hear that a lot.

There's no way to stop it, is there?

AVLON: Well, I think there is, just because the American people's appetite for it is running out. I think there is a recognition that this is about something much bigger. And this is a moment of presidential leadership, the president's decision to not bomb but go in with a strike force and I think will resonate throughout history The president will be able to say he was able to kill bin Laden and wind down the Iraq war.

But these are American victories, and sure, there's absolutely continuity from the Bush policies in many aspects of President Obama's foreign policy, which is one of the reasons that foreign policy has actually been one of the areas that President Obama's done best at in terms of approval. Much better than say, the economy or health care.

But we do need to raise the debate. We need to elevate the debate and I think there's the opportunity to do that if responsible voices prevail and we just don't degenerate into the usually, you know, carnival barker sniping that's hijacked the debate too often, because --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: You're so naive, John Avlon.

(CROSSTALK)

AVLON: No, I'm not. I'm optimistic. There's not many point in being anything else, Carol.

COSTELLO: You're right.

AVLON: In all seriousness, it's such a great moment for America. We should savor it and we should try translate it into elevating the debate. The only way we're going to solve the big problems we face is if we try to figure out ways to define the common ground and build on it and I think this is a reset opportunity for the American people and for Washington, to remember that we will reward those folks who try to think a little bit bigger, try to actually solve problems rather than just degenerate into hyper-partisan bickering.

COSTELLO: John Avlon, many thanks. We appreciate it.

You can get more from John Avlon at CNN.com/opinion.

AVLON: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: He's a frequent contributor and his latest piece is called "Savor this Moment in the Name of 3,000."

In the meantime, we'll talk bin Laden politics and Pakistan in the next hour with New Jersey Senator and Democrat Frank Lautenberg. That interview in about 40 minutes.

And taking a look at stories making the news later today, President Obama recognizes Maryland high school chemistry teacher Michelle Shearer as this year's Teacher of the Year. That event being held in the White House Rose Garden at 11:25 Eastern.

Britain's Prince Charles making a three-day visit to the states, his first since 2007. He's at the British ambassador's residence for a Wounded Warriors event at 6:15 Eastern.

And from the state capital in Montgomery, Alabama, Governor Robert Bentley talks about the tornado destruction and the state's response. That speech coming at a joint session of the legislature. It will be televised at 7:15 in Alabama, 6:15 Eastern.

In sports, the Atlanta Hawks' Josh Smith complains his team doesn't get any love in the NBA playoffs. Everybody talks about the Heat, the Celtics, the Lakers and now the Hawks have to start a second-round series against the east top team, the Chicago Bulls and their star guard Derrick Rose. As you saw there, Derrick Rose makes the spin move for the basket and goes on to score, oh, count them, 24 points.

But the Hawks' Joe Johnson outscored the league's expected MVP. Johnson finished with 34 points. The Hawks are on the NBA's radar now. They beat the Bulls in Chicago, 103-95.

Kobe Bryant slubs (ph) a fourth quarter play but still has time to redeem himself on the game's last shot. Plus, the winning goal is scored in the Bruins/Flyers game but the teams keep playing. More sports in 20 minutes.

A blogger at the Phillies game Sunday night checked his CNN.com app and learned that Osama bin Laden had been killed. But when he tried to alert other fans, they thought he was flat out nuts. We'll talk to him next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Where were you when you heard that Osama bin Laden had been killed? 45,713 people were at Citizens Bank Park Sunday for the Philadelphia Phillies-New York Mets game. Not all were still around when the news spread about bin Laden's killing. But many who were, launched into chants of "USA, USA".

Jerry Brennan was at that game, he's a writer for Chicot.com. And he actually helped get the word out. Jerry, welcome.

JERRY BRENNAN, CHICOT.COM: How are you doing?

COSTELLO: So you had a -- you had a CNN app on your iPhone. Is that the device you took to the game?

BRENNAN: I use actually, I have EVO but what happened was we were at the game and at first the game was boring. I mean, the Phillies only scored one run, not a lot of action. And so I checked Facebook and I saw that the President had a big announcement at 10:30.

And then my friend next to me got a text message and someone else alerted him that the President had a big announcement. So at first we were actually pretty scared because we didn't know what was going to happen. We just have a buddy that signed up for the National Guard and you know two days later, the President is making a big announcement.

And we were kind of -- we were actually kind of nervous. So I went to my CNN.com app on my phone and I kept checking it and waiting for the announcement. And I -- I guess it was around 10:40 that we saw that Osama bin Laden was killed.

And so I yelled out to the section around me, you know, "Bin Laden, he is dead. We killed him." And in about --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Which is -- which is dangerous to do at a Phillies' game, because people probably looked at you and thought you were drunk?

BRENNAN: Well, that's exactly what happened. A guy actually was like, "All right, buddy, have another beer." And I didn't have one beer. I'm like you know, it is real -- we killed him, we got him. And probably about five, to ten minutes later, the sections 204-206 in right field started chanting USA, USA. At that point, a lot of the stadium still wasn't sure what was going on. And I actually noticed the Phillies second baseman, Pete Orr, he was looking back from the field. And from my opinion he's a little confuse of what's going on.

And then the left field bleachers started chanting USA and then people started checking their phones and you watched people getting text messages and stuff around me. And the Phillies made a pitching change. And before you knew it, when they came -- when Antonio Vastano (ph) came to the mound the whole crowd by then was chanting USA, USA, USA.

COSTELLO: Wow. So Jerry, when -- when the whole crowd stood up and started chanting USA, USA. I mean, what did that feel like?

BRENNAN: I mean it -- it -- to be honest with you, it felt -- it felt like a sense of relief. And I felt -- I felt thankful to the military for it, because a lot of times, you hear like how they, you know, the war is going on and people might not know about it or might not care about it.

And I just felt good for everybody who -- who fights in the military, because I mean, it's a 1-1 -- it's a 1-1 game, and it's a Phillies/Mets rivalry. And at that point nobody cared about that, it was all about the military. And I just -- I felt great for them that they were getting the recognition that they deserved.

COSTELLO: Jerry, thanks for coming on. Jerry Brennan thanks for sharing your story. I appreciate it.

BRENNAN: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Here's another sign about the power of social media to repel the bin Laden story. Twitter says that users were sending off 5,106 tweets per second as the story broke. That makes the volume of tweets the second highest in history. The record set was in January when Japan brought in the New Year.

Rivers in the Midwest are bursting at the seams; that 800-mile stretch of the Mississippi River is flooding and is expected to crest later in the week. We'll tell you what people are doing to prepare for what could be record flooding. That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking stories making news cross-country. People in parts of the Midwest are bracing for possible record flooding. Officials say the situation has become critical; the worst in about 85 years. 800 miles of the Mississippi River are flooding; it's expected to crest in many areas later this week.

In Alabama, people are struggling to recover from last week's devastating tornadoes. More than 400,000 people still without power; 36 Alabama counties have been declared federal disaster areas.

We're following a lot of developments in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM, let's check in first with Jeanne Meserve in Washington. JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Carol a threat of retribution for the death of Osama bin Laden has surfaced. Meanwhile, law enforcement and intelligence is frantically analyzing information looking for possible threats, including a wealth of information gathered from that house where those -- where Osama bin Laden was found. I'll have that story at the top of the hour.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Brian Todd in Washington. With Osama bin Laden gone, there are still several dangerous al Qaeda operatives whose could step to the fore and take his place. We'll tell you who they are next hour.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hi, I'm Zain Verjee in London. I'll tell you what some newspapers around the world are saying about the future of U.S./Pakistan relations.

COSTELLO: Thanks to all of you.

And can you remember a time when people were -- were -- when so many people were so happy? Euphoric is more like it, to hear about someone's violent death? Is that ok in Osama bin Laden's case? We're going to take a closer look at that issue in the next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The Lakers are going for a third straight NBA title. Jeff Fischel from HLN's Sports is here. And they're not making it very easy on themselves, are they?

JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS ANCHOR: No, you think they would want to take it easy early on, save up energy. They lost the first game in the first round of the playoff series; last night game one of the second round against the Dallas Mavericks. They had a 16-point lead but they found themselves down one, with under ten seconds left. But Pau Gasol trying to get the ball to Kobe Bryant turns it over.

The Mavericks get it, make a free throw to go up two, now the last chance for the Lakers. This is where Kobe is money. No. The three and the win doesn't go. Dallas wins 96-94 and takes game one.

The Sacramento Kings won't be moving down south to challenge the Lakers for southern California supremacy, at least not yet. Team owners say they'll stick around one more year to give the Mayor one last chance to come up with a plan for a new arena. The Mayor is former NBA star, Kevin Johnson. If he can't make it happen, the Kings will likely move to Orange County, giving the L.A. area three teams: the Lakers, Clippers and then the Kings.

To the NHL, Philadelphia's Danny Briere, point blank, the last shot to win it, no. Right in front, open net. He misses. The puck goes right under the stick. So the Flyers and Bruins go to overtime in their second round series.

14 minutes in, David Krejci takes the pass. He shoots, and scores, or does he? Some Bruins raise their arms celebrating, but play goes on. Ok, then they stop things. The play is reviewed. The camera above the goal doesn't lie. That is a goal. Bruins score 3-2. They go up 2-0 in their series.

Well, it is Kentucky Derby week in Louisville, and that means more than mint juleps like the annual great bed race. Teams push their drivers on beds on wheels competing not just for best times but for the best outfits and beds. Sure it's nice to win Carol but it's also nice to lose really badly. There's a -- this year they were paying particular attention to whoever got the worst time. And there was also, what was it a cone-eater award.

COSTELLO: I was going to ask you.

(CROSSTALK)

FISCHEL: That was for the team that knocked over the most cones.

COSTELLO: I was going to ask, were they doing that on purpose?

FISCHEL: They didn't need to try, they were knocking them all down.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Jeff. We needed that bit of brightness. I appreciate it.

FISCHEL: All right, Carol. Absolutely.