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Releasing Photos of Osama bin Laden; Inside bin Laden's Compound; Levee Blown up to Save City; Wave of Celebration After Learning of bin Laden's Death; Careful what you Tweet: Osama vs. Obama; Should U.S. Cease Funding to Pakistan?; Using Levels Instead of Grades; How the U.S. Got Bin Laden; Bin Laden's Death and the War
Aired May 03, 2011 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Studio 7, I am Drew Griffin, in for Suzanne today.
Let's get you up to speed on what's happening on Tuesday, May 3rd.
Pakistani television showing new video shot today inside bin Laden's compound north of Islamabad. U.S. intelligence officials plan to comb through what they're calling a haul of electronics that the commandos grabbed during the secret U.S. raid. It's said to include computer equipment, storage media like CDs and DVDs, that could reveal al Qaeda plots on the drawing board.
White House photos show the president and his national security team watching U.S. Navy SEALs go after bin Laden as it happened. The president has members of Congress over for dinner last night and told them the national unity that followed 9/11 had returned.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Tonight, it is my fervent hope that we can harness some of that unity and some of that pride to confront the many challenges that we still face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP (singing): -- the land that I love stand. Stand beside her --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: And celebrations continued through the night at Ground Zero. New York firefighters sang "God Bless America" to mark the death of Osama bin Laden. Other people had somber remembrances for the 2,700 people who died there on 9/11.
And the man who was mayor of New York on 9/11 says Osama bin Laden was diabolical and deserved to die. He told CNN's Piers Morgan al Qaeda's leader is finished, but the terror network is not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, FMR. NEW YORK MAYOR: Short term, there's more danger. Long term, there is a lot more safety. And who knows what short term means? But there are probably more risk -- there's more risk right now of their doing something than there was before he was captured, but that always would happen no matter when you captured him, if we captured him five years ago or five years from now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: To that end, British police are questioning five men today about a possible terror plot. Police stopped the men's car near a nuclear facility in northern England. The BBC is reporting men are Bangladeshi and were believed to be videotaping the area.
That nuclear facility is the largest in Europe. Most of Britain's plutonium is kept there.
Let's get to our developing news now, the possible release of death photos of Osama bin Laden. It's being debated at the White House right now.
Brianna Keilar has that -- Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Drew, we've learned that the Obama administration could be releasing photos of a dead Osama bin Laden as early as today. That is what a senior government official who was actually involved in these discussions is telling CNN's John King.
Now, another source, a government official familiar with intelligence matters, says that, yes, right now, it seems that in these deliberations, the people who are making these decisions, obviously top officials in the administration, are leaning toward releasing those photos. A final decision has not yet been made, that source says, but there is growing consensus, even though there is some hesitation on the part of some people in these discussions.
How would these be released? The first source, the government official who is actually involved in the discussions of whether or not to release these photos says it would come out through the CIA, and that there are a number of photos to choose from, a number of photos of Osama bin Laden dead, many of them extremely graphic.
Now, the official word from the White House is that no decision has been made at this point, and they will update us if anything is to change on that. But again, Drew, the bottom line here, one source saying the administration could be releasing these photos as soon as today.
GRIFFIN: Brianna, what's the hesitation? Do you know?
KEILAR: Yes. The hesitation, we've heard this from some White House officials, in particular John Brennan, the president's top counterterrorism chief, says they're kind of weighing what this would do. Some people, obviously, want to see the visual proof of Osama bin Laden dead, but he also says most people believe that Osama bin Laden really is dead. And then on the opposite side, they don't need a photo to see that, Drew. On the opposite side of things, officials are concerned that this could be used as a propaganda tool.
Obviously, it would be very sensitive to put out photos of Osama bin Laden. And not only that. Certainly, these photos are extremely gruesome, and that's something they're taking into account, how that would factor into this being a propaganda tool for al Qaeda.
GRIFFIN: All right, Brianna. We'll be back to you as soon and if they do release those, of course.
We want to bring in Carol Costello.
The compound where Osama bin Laden was killed is no cave. It's just down the road from the Pakistani military, which brings us to our "Talk Back" question for today.
And, Carol Costello, I don't think we can call it a mansion anymore, now that we've looked at it, but it certainly is big and stands out.
COSTELLO: And it costs $1 million, supposedly. But I want you to imagine this scenario.
Imagine this -- notorious mass murderer Charles Manson and his gang moves into a $1 million suburban mansion for six years. And did I mention that house is just down the road from FBI headquarters? Yet, nobody in authority knows he's there?
That would be embarrassing, at best. Derelict, at worst. And that's exactly the kind of situation the Pakistani government finds itself in. How did Osama bin Laden, the world's most wanted fugitive, hide in plain sight near a Pakistani military academy?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUSAIN HAQQANI, PAKISTANI AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: What I find incredulous is the notion that somehow, just because there is a private support network in Pakistan, the state, the government, and the military of Pakistan should be blamed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: U.S. officials don't want to criticize Pakistan publicly, but say it's inconceivable bin Laden didn't have some support within Pakistan. The United States, mind you, has given Pakistan $18 billion in aid since 9/11, in large part to fight terrorism.
Senator Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat, told me he wants U.S. aid suspended until he is satisfied Pakistan was not harboring bin Laden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. FRANK LAUTENBERG (D), NEW JERSEY: We have to find out what it is that they're up to. Are they on our side all the time? And here's this building. All they needed was a neon sign to be identified.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said bin Laden never would have been caught if it hadn't been for Pakistan, they had helped us catch al Qaeda suspects whose tips led us to bin Laden. We're committed to this partnership, Clinton says.
So, the "Talk Back" question today: Should the U.S. freeze Pakistani aid?
Facebook.com/CarolCNN, and I'll read your comments later this hour.
GRIFFIN: They're already typing. I'm going to type myself.
COSTELLO: Please do, Drew.
GRIFFIN: Carol, thanks a lot.
COSTELLO: Sure.
GRIFFIN: There's other news happening, too.
The Army Corps of Engineers sets off an explosion at a Missouri levee with two more to come. The Corps wants to ease flood pressure on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and save the town of Cairo, Illinois. The operation will flood 100 homes and 200 square miles of farmland.
An oil industry analyst is predicting $4-a-gallon nationwide gas by the end of the week. That's not far-fetched considering it's already at $3.97, according to AAA. Last week's tornadoes across the South knocked several Gulf Coast refineries off line.
Space shuttle Endeavour's final blastoff isn't going to happen until a week from today, and that's the earliest it could take place. What needs to be done? NASA is going to replace an electrical switch box that powers nine critical shuttle systems.
To do that, crews will need to build scaffolding to test the new equipment and then tear it down. That all has to happen before the launch.
And here's a rundown of some other stories we're covering.
Terrorists' secrets taken from the compound where bin Laden was killed. The Army blows up a levee to save a town in Illinois, and now farmers in Missouri are at the mercy of that river.
The U.S. relationship with Pakistan, after finding bin Laden holding out near the capital. Plus, grades. What grades? Teachers in Denver take learning to new levels.
And the mission in Afghanistan now that bin Laden is dead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: We are learning more about the place where Osama bin Laden was shot and killed by U.S. commandos, the secluded compound surrounded by walls 10-to-18-feet high and topped with barbed wire. Senior administration officials think it was built five years ago, and built specifically for bin Laden.
CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson joins us live from that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Nic, I just want to get your thoughts standing there, looking at this compound.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Drew, the compound is just a little bit away behind me over the trees. But we were right there a little earlier, and it's very big. The walls are very high.
I stood right next to the wall and stretched my arm up. I'm six feet, and I guess my arm adds another, maybe, two feet. And I wasn't even halfway to the top of one of the walls.
But I think one thing that does also strike you when you look at it is the lack of damage. Whatever damage occurred during the firefight, from what we could see from our various vantage points all around the compound, was that there were very few bullet marks in the walls outside and no signs of sort of big, heavy, shell-like explosions, or large explosions on the wall, the sort of black burning that you might see where there's been a heavy force entry or sustained gun battle from the outside to the inside of the building.
But a lot of surprise as well from the neighbors who we talked to, surprised to find out who was actually living there. They guessed it was somebody rich, they had no idea it was bin Laden -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: Nic, you have traveled extensively in this region, done a lot of work in Pakistan, and certainly Afghanistan. From what you've seen of this compound, the building of it five years ago, and the proximity to a Pakistan military school, is it conceivable that no one there knew that there that was Osama bin Laden's hideout?
ROBERTSON: Well, the people in the compound were very secretive. That's what neighbors are telling us.
For example, when local children were playing football nearby had kicked them over the wall, the people in the compound just gave them money and told them to go and buy another ball rather than let them come in and search for their ball. It certainly struck people as unusual. They'd come to the conclusion that the people living in the compound were gold merchants. There said that there were people visiting there in an SUV, extensive vehicles for this part of the country. Late at night, people going into the compound and visiting on occasion.
But the distance to the military compound is perhaps further than I think that it may appear on the map. It certainly would be a good 10-to-15 minute walk away. So it's not so much under the nose of the military.
It was certainly under the nose of the farmers, whose cabbages literally go up to the wall of the compound. It's surprising that they weren't more questioning of what they were seeing in that compound.
But I think that's also speaks to the private nature, what people live around here. You won't go up to somebody's wife on the street, you tend to respect people's privacy. And that may have added to how bin Laden managed to stay below the radar.
But it does beg many questions about why the security services here weren't more on top of this. If not the military base aware, Pakistan's security services have not sort of picked up on some of the trip wires -- an expensive compound, late-night visits by people in expensive cars, no phone connection to the compound. These are all sorts of clues you would hope an intelligence agency would have been looking out for -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: Right. Nic, those are the questions I think that they are asking here in the states today, especially on Capitol Hill.
And just finally, and perhaps quickly, Nic, if I could, what is happening at the compound, or what was happening at the compound today? Was there any processing of a crime scene going on?
ROBERTSON: Remarkably, there was none. There were police officers, perhaps 20 to 30, positioned around the compound, a couple on each of the gates. The gates were all sealed with these pink -- bright pink sort of, I guess, law enforcement stickers that they stick on buildings that have been sealed.
But I was squinting through a hole in the compound wall by a gate. I couldn't see anyone inside. It seemed to me to be deserted. It's just been secured. And as far as I can tell, there's no forensic examination going on inside -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: Very interesting. Nic Robertson, look forward to your reporting in the coming days as you're there on the ground at Osama bin Laden's hangout.
President Obama plans to visit Ground Zero Thursday to meet with families of 9/11 victims. Since the news of Osama bin Laden's death, the World Trade Center site has been the scene of celebration and reflection at times.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick is there.
Deb, maybe you can bring us up to speed on what is happening today, the day after we saw those huge celebrations.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, the day after, the news is really beginning to sink in, all of the implications, all of the ramifications. What's going to happen now is a question that many, many people have.
You mentioned the president's visit here to Ground Zero on Thursday. Think about it -- the new symbolism.
Back on 9/11, you had President George W. Bush, here at Ground Zero, rallying all the workers, the firefighters who were in the midst of searching for their friends amidst that burning pile. Now, a very new image of President Obama meeting with the families of those who lost loved ones. This time, saying that the United States kept its promise.
So, a very different symbolism, a very different message that's going to be happening here in a couple of days. You can see the buildings behind me. They are being erected. They are being resurrected, to a certain extent. People walking by, they're stopping to read some of the headlines that folks have posted up against the wall.
The PATH train which is just behind me, heavier presence than usual. You've got the National Guard. They're armed, they're keeping watch.
Again, everybody on a little bit of a higher alert here because they're not sure what's going to happen. And certainly nobody wants to let their guard down, even though there are no reports of threat. But clearly, everyone anticipating that there could be some form of retaliation.
One man I spoke to just back from Afghanistan, he was in Special Forces. He said it's not over by a long shot. This certainly was a major blow, but it's not the finishing blow. Again, just a real sense that this is not the end, but it's really a beginning of sorts -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: Yes. Perhaps as Churchill once said, the beginning of the end.
Deb Feyerick, thank you so much from New York.
You know, we focused so much on Osama bin Laden in the last 24 hours, we don't want to lose sight of the victims. September 11th was the worst terrorist attack on domestic soil. Al Qaeda hijackers commandeered U.S. flights, flew those planes into the World Trade Center's twin towers.
Two thousand seven hundred fifty-two people died at Ground Zero, from 2 years old to 85 years old. Three hundred forty-three New York City firefighters lost their lives that day. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has blown up a Mississippi River levee, flooding about 200 square miles of rich farmland, a move it says it had to take to bring down historic river levels and spare the city of Cairo, Illinois.
This is the area we're talking about, and here is what the blast sounded like last night. Pretty dramatic.
CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano is live in Cairo, Illinois.
And Rob, I guess the question is, did it work?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, from what we can see here, it seems to work for Cairo, but, you know, where the water goes from here, it goes to another spot, and not everybody is certainly happy about that, especially those who have the farmland there in Missouri. But from what we're told, it's the best option for what they had to do.
Want to show you a couple of things.
First of all, this is some sandbags that the National Guard set up yesterday because what this road does, typically -- well, not typically, but what it was doing yesterday -- was separating the Mississippi River from the Ohio River, which typically come together well south of this point at the very southern tip of town. And at one point yesterday they were almost touching down this road.
So you can see it kind of made its way back to closer to where they should be, but we're nowhere near that, near-record flood stage, Drew. We haven't seen the Ohio this high since 1937. So, desperate times certainly calls for desperate measures. This town has been evacuated.
You know, the pressure was so intense, that the water was actually bubbling up from underneath the ground here. We had what they call sand boils the Army Corps of Engineers had to combat against. So, a remarkable situation here that they acted on last night. And they still potentially have to do a couple more explosions a little bit down the flood way later on today.
GRIFFIN: And what's the overall picture, Rob? Is the flood moving south and moving out to sea eventually, or are we still on the rise?
MARCIANO: Well, there are some parts of -- even upstream that are still on the rise. We just had a bunch of rain, so places like Metropolis, there's evacuation orders in there. Across the river, in Livingston County, a potential failure of a levee there as well.
So this is not just unique to this particular town. And you're right, the water that is released here does go downstream.
And they potentially may do similar actions downstream toward the boot heel of Missouri. That decision has yet to be made. We'll see how successful this one ends up being.
GRIFFIN: All right. That town saved, but like you said, an explosion flooded other parts. We're going to talk to a farmer who was in those "other parts" that did get flooded.
Rob Marciano, thanks, live from Cairo, Illinois.
Well, is Pakistan truly a U.S. ally in the war on terrorism? And should millions of U.S. dollars continue to flow there -- actually billions? Those are questions after Osama bin Laden was found hiding in plain sight in Pakistan.
A live report from Capitol Hill.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Here's a rundown of some of the stories we're working on.
Trusting Pakistan. The U.S. relationship with a country where Osama bin Laden could hide out in plain sight.
Education like you've never seen it, replacing grades with levels. It's part of our "Don't Fail Me" series.
And bringing back the troops, what the death of bin Laden means for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
Well, Pakistan does have some explaining to do. American politicians, military officials and, well, the rest of us find it impossible to believe Osama bin Laden could hide in a $1 million home in a military town, for years, without help from somebody over there, a high-level Pakistani.
Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jill Dougherty looks at the U.S./Pakistani relationship.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials say, was living in a compound virtually under the nose of the Pakistani military.
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (I), CONNECTICUT: This is going to be a time of real pressure on the Afghans to basically prove to us that they didn't know that bin Laden was there.
DOUGHERTY: Pakistan's ambassador insists they didn't.
HAQQANI: If we had really known where bin Laden was, we would have gotten (ph) him.
DOUGHERTY: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who previously said she found it hard to believe no one in Pakistan's government knew where Osama bin Laden was, now says --
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound in which he was hiding.
DOUGHERTY: That contradiction lies at the heart of Washington's complex and often tense relationship with Pakistan, undermined by lack of trust.
JOHN BRENNAN, DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Although there are some difference of view with Pakistan, we believe that that partnership is critically important to breaking the back of al Qaeda.
DOUGHERTY: U.S. officials privacy tell CNN the U.S. would never have found bin Laden without help along the way from Pakistan. And yet, the White House did not inform Pakistan of the operation at the compound until it was over and the U.S. team had left the country's airspace.
Some experts are encouraged by the Pakistan government's reaction to the killing of bin Laden.
ANTHONY CORDESMAN, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: They didn't attack us for entering Pakistan. They didn't condemn us for being in Pakistan. Those are positive signs. They don't tell us, however, what's happening within the Pakistani military or ISI, or the people who, in the past, have supported the Taliban or tolerated al Qaeda.
DOUGHERTY: Others see red flags.
SETH JONES, RAND CORPORATION: There has been a strong suspicion for some time amongst some senior U.S. leaders that Pakistan has had some awareness of the movement of those individuals. If that turns out to be a correct hunch, that has very serious long-term implications on the relationship.
DOUGHERTY: Officials tell CNN the U.S. is going to be treating Pakistan gingerly over the next few days. Cooperation, they say, is mixed, at best, and going forward is going to be bumpy. But there's no way to fight terrorism in this critical country, they say, without this partnership.
Jill Dougherty, CNN, the State Department.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Well, former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says U.S. forces should not have gone into Pakistan, even to kill the most- wanted terrorist in the world. Musharraf spoke earlier on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, FORMER PAKISTANI PRESIDENT: American troops coming across the border and taking action in one of our town is, Abbottabad, is not acceptable to the people of Pakistan. It is a violation of our sovereignty. It would have been far better if Pakistani special services group had operated and conducted the mission.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: Well, since 9/11, the U.S. has given Pakistan $18 billion as an ally in the war on terror. And while Pakistan has, at times, gone to great lengths to capture and kill terrorists, questions are being raised on Capitol Hill over how and perhaps even why the one terrorist above all others has been living in luxury and living in the shadow of Pakistan's most prestigious military school.
Condition congressional correspondent Dana Bash joins us live from Capitol Hill, and she's been talking with senators.
And Dana, those senators can't direct intelligence operation but was they can direct the money.
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They can. And in terms of the -- just the anger and frustration at Pakistan, it definitely is growing. One senator even saying looking at everything but a neon sign on it, effectively saying "bin Laden lives here."
So there are a lot of questions that senators and members of the House say that they want answered. They're going to get that chance with briefings from Leon Panetta, the CIA director and others later this afternoon.
And I can tell you that Dianne Feinstein who is the Senate chairman of the Intelligence Committee, she just had a briefing with reporters. She said she is going to CIA director to her committee for a private consultation tomorrow morning to have a conversation about what exactly we think that the Pakistanis knew and didn't know. And she said in response to my question, that she actually would even be open to open hearings, because she knows, like you said, everybody wants to know what happened, what did Pakistan know, what didn't they know?
GRIFFIN: Would there be an ability to question anybody from Pakistan? I know that's not their role, but it would be nice to hear from them.
BASH: It would. You know, actually, it's funny that you said because Dianne Feinstein in the press conference, said, look we're in the United States, we're not there. We're not even in the region. So it is difficult that they just have to rely on the diplomatic relations with Pakistan to try to get information and relations with the intelligence community in Pakistan to try to get that information. It's not going to be easy. I think that's pretty clear, Drew.
GRIFFIN: All right, Dana. Hopefully we'll hear from you later today on what these senators are going to hear about this relationship.
And the issue of money's also today's Talk Back question.
Should the U.S. freeze funding to Pakistan?
Tell us your thoughts. Go to facebook.com/carolCNN and we'll read your responses later this hour. When Americans think of bin Laden's trail of terror, they're focuses on victims of September 11th. But the al Qaeda leader responsible for the deaths of many thousands worldwide.
In 2005, London's subway system was bombed and the city's deadliest attack since World War II. Four bombs detonated during morning rush hour, one on a double-decker bus. Bin Laden's top lieutenant claimed responsibility. Fifty-two people died that day in London, more than 770 people wounded. The victims were as young as 21, the oldest was 60.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Late-night comedians are taking their parting shots at Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden's last word according to David Letterman, "I need a house full of Navy SEALs like I need a hole in the head."
Here's Conan O'Brien's punch line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "CONAN": According to the CIA, Osama bin Laden was living in a house that had no Internet access. Yes. Which explains why there were all of those bin Laden sightings at the Islamabad Kinkos.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: We saw an unprecedented wave of celebration after the country learned bin Laden was dead.
Jeanne Moos reports on the national euphoria.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Osama bin Laden is toast, and his demise was toasted with beers and cheers and some bubbly. At Ohio State, students jumped into a lake.
Riders sang the national anthem on the New York City subway.
The pledge was led from a pole.
Indivisible with liberty and wrestling for all where champ John Cena announced bin Laden's death ringside.
JOHN CENA, WRESTLER: I feel damn proud to be an American.
MOOS: It was the same exact date May 1st that Germany announced Hitler was dead back in 1945. But back then there were no bloody Taiwanese animations.
(on camera): The death of Osama bin Laden brought back to life, a certain unintentional faux pas . (voice-over): Saying Obama, when you mean Osama or vice versa --
NBC's Norah O'Donnell Tweeted "Obama shot and killed."
Ditto at a local station in Washington, D.C.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Obama is, in fact. dead. It was a U.S.-led strategic -- I'm sorry, Osama bin Laden.
MOOS: Rush Limbaugh almost did it.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Obama -- sorry, Osama is dead.
MOOS (on camera): Talk about poker face. Watch President Obama react to an Osama bin Laden joke.
(voice-over): This was Saturday night at the White House Correspondents Dinner after the president had already authorized the raid on bin Laden's compound.
SETH MEYERS, COMEDIAN: People think bin Laden is hiding in the Hindu Cush, but did you know that every day from 4:00 to 5:00 he hosts a show on CSPAN?
MOOS: Watch the president's broad smile. Raid? What raid?
And when the raid was announced guess whose show got interrupted?
The shots fired in Pakistan knocked Trump of the air and inspired cartoonist Gary McCoy to draw Trump saying, I want to see the death certificate. Ding dong, bin Laden dead.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Well, a different approach to teaching is going on at a Denver elementary school. Children are grouped by what they know, not how old they are.
Deb Feyerick took a field trip to see how it's working out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GL Going on right now at White House. A tribute to the best of the best of our nation's educators. President Obama honoring 2011's National Teachers of the Year, Michelle Shearer and state teachers of the year. That's happening right there in the Rose Garden, live.
Teachers at a Denver school are making their mark with a unique approach to education. It's modeled on the belief that children learn in their own way. So instead of grades, they're using levels.
Deb Feyerick has today's "Don't Fail Me."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEB FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just outside Denver, Colorado, something interesting is happening in at Hodgkins Elementary School.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're working on measuring using a string.
FEYERICK: Kids discovering a different way of learning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's an X-ray.
FEYERICK: Victor Perez and Dulse Garcia (ph) are both 11-years- old. Ask them what grade they're in, you won't get a traditional answer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Level 7.
FEYERICK: You are?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Six.
FEYERICK: What about reading?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Level 7.
FEYERICK: And you are?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seven.
FEYERICK: At Hodgkins, there are no grade levels. In fact, there are no grades period. Kids are based on what they know, not how old they are.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're talking about main ideas and facts from a nonfiction book.
FEYERICK: Jennifer Greg's (ph) literacy class made up of kids ages 8 to 10 with four different reading levels.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so individualized. We're filling in their gaps so that they can move on.
FEYERICK: Known as Standards Based Learning, modeled on the belief every child learns in their own way.
SARAH GOULD, PRINCIPAL, HODGKINS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Every student in every class is learning exactly the spot that they're supposed to.
FEYERICK: Principal Sarah Gould help put this system in place two years ago.
GOULD: For the first time, every child is getting exactly what they need, when they need it, and how they need it.
FEYERICK: No one moves to the next level without testing at the equivalent of a C or higher.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 100, you guys all got 100.
FEYERICK: Unlike traditional schools kids move up any time they're ready.
(on camera): How many have gone up a level this year? Wow.
(voice-over): The entire school district has been on an academic watch list because of below-average standardized test scores. Mother and school board president Vicky Marshall helped convince parents they needed to try this and make it work.
VICKY MARSHALL, SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT: Their biggest concerns were around how are you going to assign a grade point average.
FEYERICK: But changing course is not easy. Educators estimate it takes three to five years for standardized test scores to go up. So far, 300 schools nationwide have tried it, half couldn't stick with it.
Wendy Battino, who helps implement the model, says without strong leadership and community support it won't work.
WENDY BATTINO, REINVENTING SCHOOLS COALITION: This is really hard. Superintendent lasts, what, two, two and a half years on average? It's hard to lead systemic change when you have that much turnover.
FEYERICK: And though state test scores here haven't gone up, Principal Gould is still on board. Why? She says discipline problems dropped 76 percent since the change and students now are more motivated than ever.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Westminster, Colorado.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: You don't want to miss Soledad O'Brien's report "DON'T FAIL ME: EDUCATION IN AMERICA." The CNN documentary examines the crisis in the public education system and why America's financial future is at risk if our students can't excel in math and science. "DON'T FAIL ME: EDUCATION IN AMERICA" is going to premiere Sunday May 15th, 8:00 p.m., of course, only on CNN.
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GRIFFIN: U.S. officials describe the operation that killed Osama bin Laden as a surgical raid, a small commando team fighting its way through the compound as President Obama and his security team followed every anxious moment.
CNN Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence takes us through the operation step-by-step.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The three-story building built about six years ago. A bin Laden protege and his brother lived on the first floor of the main building and another house in the compound, but Bin Laden's family occupied the top two floors of the main billing.
Unlike other neighbors who took trash out, these people burned theirs inside the compound. And if two main gates weren't enough to discourage visitors, opaque windows shielded the inside, and there was an 18-foot outer wall topped with barbed wire. It stood out.
And a U.S. intelligence official says, given how bad al Qaeda's finances are, they would only spend this kind of money for one of the top two commanders. So in effect, bin Laden was the engineer of his own destruction.
The end began with four U.S. military helicopters and two dozen commandoes arriving overhead. When some of the Navy SEALs landed on the ground, the assault teams stormed the compound.
BRANDON WEBB, FORMER NAVY SEAL: They're going room to room, very methodical, you know, engaging targets and completing the mission. But it's a really intense, personal, you know, up close and personal type of operation.
LAWRENCE: But high above, multiple American planes and drones were in the air, ready to help the team, if needed.
CIA Director Leon Panetta was quarterbacking the mission in secure radio contact with the assault team commander. But back at the White House, the president's national security team was anxiously watching video from the site.
JOHN BRENNAN, DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The minutes passed like days, and the president was very concerned about the security of our personnel.
LAWRENCE: This ABC News video shows the aftermath inside the compound. One woman died in the firefight. The SEALs shot and killed the two brothers and bin Laden's son.
And with a shot to the chest and one to the head, the SEALs killed Osama bin Laden. They identified his body and took it with them as they left the compound.
BRENNAN: It was a tremendous sigh of relief that what we believed and who we believed was in the compound actually was in that compound and was found.
LAWRENCE: But there was one final decision. One of the U.S. helicopters was in trouble, and had to land. The team made the call to destroy it there on the ground, and hustle the women and children away before blowing up the aircraft.
(on camera): It took 40 minutes in and out of the compound, but some of that time was spent collecting papers and material, what one U.S. official calls a robust amount of intelligence that they hope to exploit and use to track down other members of al Qaeda.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, the Pentagon.
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GRIFFIN: The U.S. has given Pakistan $18 billion since 9/11, mainly to fight terrorism, which brings us to today's "Talk Back" question and Carol Costello.
COSTELLO: So many questions about what Pakistan knew about Osama bin Laden's whereabouts, so some are asking this question.
Our "Talk Back" question today: Should the U.S. freeze Pakistan funding?
This from Rocky, "No. Pakistan has assisted to achieve the ultimate goal of bin Laden's demise. Remember, you keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Pakistan has lost so many citizens due to bin Laden, as well."
This from Nathaniel, "Yes, we should freeze the monetary support to Pakistan immediately. We [USA] have been played for fools too long in this matter."
This from Cherylene, "They pretend to help us just to get the aid...They knew he was there. When you listen to them try to explain it, it sounds almost like my kids did when they were caught doing something wrong."
This from James, "No, but we must insist on transparency. No more here's the dough, do what you want. Like a troubled marriage, we can't live with them, but can't live without them."
Keep the conversation going, Facebook.com/CarolCNN, and I'll be back in about 15 minutes with more.
GRIFFIN: Carol, thanks. Good stuff.
Well, any way you slice it, it's a big win for President Obama. We're going to get another president's perspective on the death of bin Laden and what it means for the Arab world. Suzanne Malveaux is sitting down with former President Jimmy Carter later this afternoon. She'll air her interview tomorrow right here 11:00 a.m. Eastern in the CNN NEWSROOM.
With bin Laden gone, what happens next for the war in Afghanistan? Our Carl Azuz is here to take a look at the cutting the head of the snake, what that means for U.S. troops.
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GRIFFIN: It was a big homecoming on a big news day.
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GRIFFIN: That's more than 100 soldiers with the 101st Airborne returning from Afghanistan yesterday. Their plane touched down at Ft. Campbell in Kentucky shortly after 8:00 a.m., just hours after the world learned Osama bin Laden was dead.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was awesome. I mean, just -- my heart, you know, USA, we got a little closure. Let's bring troops home, let's get everybody back together. All families, everything.
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GRIFFIN: Well, that speaks to our next story. If Osama bin Laden was essentially the reason why the U.S. got involved in Afghanistan in the first place, then what does his death mean for the troops that are still there? And will this have any effect on the proposed drawdown in July?
We're going beyond the headlines with CNN's Carl Azuz.
How many are still there?
CARL AZUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Still a very significant force, Drew. We're looking at 100,000 U.S. troops currently in Afghanistan. Some of those troops have been transferred over from Iraq. When U.S. pulled combat troops out of Iraq, many of them went to Afghanistan. And how long they'll be there is very difficult to tell.
We can tell you that support for the war in Afghanistan among American people, as far as the polls go, has decreased recently. Part of that, due to the fact that 2010, nine years into the war in Afghanistan, was the deadliest year for U.S. troops yet.
How did we get here? This is how it happened. The United States had asked Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan, to get -- turn over, I should say, Osama bin Laden during -- right before the United States' led war began. That was 2001. The Taliban refused to do that.
So 2002 to 2005, after the Taliban had been kicked out, NATO steps in, takes control of the mission in Afghanistan, but the Taliban regroups. We see this sort of insurgency with the Taliban, kind of like we saw with the insurgency in Iraq, Drew.
Then, instability persisted in the nation. President Obama sent a surge of around 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. The mission for U.S. troops there and President Obama's goal for getting American troops home is to train Afghan security forces to handle their country's own security, to protect their own security.
So that's what we're looking at, and that's why there are 100,000 U.S. troops still there, Drew.
GRIFFIN: And we do have a timeline. What about that timetable, and when do officials think that the troops are going to come home?
AZUZ: The administration has talked about -- the Obama administration has talked about 2014. President Obama wants to start pulling U.S. troops out of Afghanistan in 2014.
However, retiring Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said the United States is not bringing all of its troops home this summer. In fact, he and Vice President Biden have talked about 2014 as the possible date when troops will be pulled out of Afghanistan. In fact, they said it could go even longer than 2014, Drew.
GRIFFIN: Wow. All right, Carl Azuz, thanks a lot.
AZUZ: Thank you.
