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Initial White House Statements Questioned; Pakistan Disputes CIA Claims; Carter: Give Pakistan Benefit of Doubt; Fake Photos of bin Laden's Corpse Going Viral on Internet; Interview with Rep. Tom Rooney; George H.W. Bush Declines Invite to Ground Zero

Aired May 04, 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: Hi, I'm Carol Costello. And this morning we continue our coverage of the Osama bin Laden story. What could be the biggest development since his killing.

I'm in for Kyra Phillips, by the way.

Right now we're awaiting a White House decision on whether to release a post-mortem photo of the terrorist leader. While it could silence skeptics it could fuel anti-American anger around the world.

Former president George W. Bush says thanks but no thanks. He turns down a White House invitation to join President Obama at Ground Zero tomorrow. We'll tell you why.

And the White House once again changes its account of the military raid that killed bin Laden. The administration now says he was not armed when he was shot to death. We'll have more on that in a moment.

But we start with an invitation decline. President Obama reached out to former President George W. Bush invited him to a ceremony marking the death of Osama bin Laden. The ceremony will take place tomorrow at Ground Zero. The White House says it understands. But it is worth noting President Obama said he hoped bin Laden's death would unify the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has at times frayed. Yet today's achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Let's head to the White House now and Brianna Keilar.

Mr. Bush has kept a low profile. That is true. But he also struggled to capture bin Laden throughout his presidency.

So, Brianna, why won't President Bush attend?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Let me just read to you a statement that his spokesperson put out yesterday. It said he appreciated the invite but has chosen in his post-presidency to remain largely out of the spotlight, as you mentioned, Carol.

And he goes on to say he continues to celebrate with all Americans this important victory in the war on terror.

As you said it's not unusual. We've seen very little of the former president, unlike say other administration officials. Vice President Cheney, of course, comes to mind. He has, at times, been very publicly critical of the Obama administration. But it's also worth noting that President Bush is going to be at Ground Zero on 9/11.

But his spokesperson saying this is just him staying out of the spotlight. One thing you're certainly right about, Carol. President Bush puts among his great regrets during his presidency not being able to track down Osama bin Laden. And he spoke about that in his recent book that came out.

COSTELLO: And also, I just wondered, the White House says it totally understands this. Are you hearing any more about -- from the White House about President Bush's decision not to attend the event tomorrow?

KEILAR: No, at this point, they're not making an issue of it. They're saying they understand it, they just extended this invitation to him.

COSTELLO: And this whole -- this backstory going on right now, this whole argument about enhanced interrogation techniques that took place during the Bush administration. And Bush's people are fighting over whether that's the real reason that President Obama was able to capture and kill Osama bin Laden.

KEILAR: This is a debate that you're seeing on both sides, Carol. And what you'll see is those who supported enhanced interrogation techniques or torture, as critics would say. The Bush administration endorsed these enhanced interrogation techniques during the former president's tenure.

They are saying that it's sort of justified by finding Osama bin Laden, that it did contribute to it, and then on the other side, you have those who do not support enhanced interrogation techniques insisting that it didn't play a role -- either that it didn't play a role, that those enhanced interrogation techniques were not used to find the intelligence that led to Osama bin Laden, or -- and this is what we've heard from the White House -- that there are a number of, a variety of intelligence sources, of bits of information, that led to the capture of Osama bin Laden.

And you certainly cannot point to just that one -- that one sort of bit of information. A lot of controversy, of course. And we're seeing this debate being reignited by the -- by the killing of Osama bin Laden.

COSTELLO: Which makes the invitation thing that much more intriguing and interesting.

Brianna Keilar, live at the White House. Many thanks. The other thing that's floating around out there this morning is whether the White House should release those death photos of Osama bin Laden. And as the White House weighs the pros and cons of the photo release it also has three very different sets of photos to consider.

A senior U.S. official tells CNN that bin Laden is most recognizable in photos taken at a hangar in Afghanistan. But the images are very graphic. It may even be too gruesome for many newspapers and networks to show.

Another option are photos of the raid itself. They include the bodies of the other three men killed in the siege. And the official says another set of photos shows bin Laden's burial at sea. These images showed bin Laden before he was wrapped in a funeral shroud.

For some of the public's skepticism, the White House can blame itself, you know, over whether Osama bin Laden is dead or not. Because there are people coming out and questioning that. Administration officials have repeatedly changed key details of the raid including crucial accounts of bin Laden's final actions before he was shot to death.

Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon.

And Barbara, I want to start with information about Osama bin Laden using one of his wives as a human shield. This is a White House counterterrorist adviser, John Brennan, on Monday.

Let's listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BRENNAN, WHITE HOUSE SR. ADVISER ON COUNTERTERRORISM: There was a female who was, in fact, in the line of fire that reportedly was used as a shield to shield bin Laden from the incoming fire.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But that information isn't quite right, is it, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Carol, the White House, the Pentagon, the Obama administration are saying they did have to change some of what they initially briefed to reporters.

They say that it was the fog of war, if you will, that the initial reports they got from the field were not as accurate. Once a little time went by, and they were able to debrief people even more. That they were trying to get -- the initial information to the American people as fast as they could.

On the question of this woman, what they are now saying now that they have more information, is that in fact the woman in the room with bin Laden, one of his wives, rushed against the U.S. teams. And that's when they shot her in the leg. She survived.

There was another woman downstairs earlier that had been killed in crossfire. That's their latest information on that point -- Carol. COSTELLO: And, Barbara, the next inconsistency is about whether Osama bin Laden was armed or not.

Here again is John Brennan on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRENNAN: The concern was that bin Laden would oppose any type of 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 OF VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And that's not quite how it went down either. Now, apparently, Osama bin Laden didn't lunge at the Navy SEAL. Exactly what happened --

(CROSSTALK)

STARR: I don't know that we know that exactly yet. You know, and it's worth noting that Mr. Brennan's remarks there never actually said bin Laden had a weapon in his hands. The issue here is they are now saying he -- you know, after Brennan's remarks, they've come out, they said, no, he was not armed.

But the point for the U.S. SEALs, for U.S. troops, is, did Osama bin Laden pose an imminent threat to them? Was he in fact lunging at them? Was he reaching for a weapon? Could he have been wearing a suicide vest? Was he gesturing to someone else in the room who might have a weapon? Was he possibly reaching for a detonator?

These are the things we do not know yet. But the question for the Navy SEALs is not whether he was holding a weapon or not, but did he pose an imminent threat and did they feel they had to take action?

That's the question on the table. And by all accounts, the Navy SEALs felt he did pose that threat to them. We don't know precisely how at this point.

COSTELLO: Well, hopefully more information will come out in the coming days from the White House and it will be the correct information.

Barbara Star, reporting live from the Pentagon.

Also this morning Pakistan is angrily rejecting claims that it dropped the ball on the hunt for bin Laden. Government officials there are reacting to this quote from CIA director Leon Panetta.

According to two sources inside a closed door meeting, Panetta told lawmakers, quote, "either they were involved or incompetent. Neither place is a good place to be."

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Abbottabad, the military town where bin Laden may have spent the last several years. So, Nick, how are Pakistanis responding to these charges that they dropped the ball?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think they admit themselves that they are embarrassed they didn't find him themselves in that location behind me, behind those trees. But what's really got to them is what Leon Panetta, director of the CIA, reportedly said in this closed door congressional session. If they weren't involved, they were incompetent.

One senior Pakistani intelligence agent I've spoken said, look, this really marks not just a deficit of trust but absolute mistrust between two sides, calling it very regrettable indeed. And frankly, and sounding furious really that the CIA would think that of them, saying, you know, they know better than anybody how hard we're working to fight terrorists and militancy here.

We share a lot of information with them but they selectively share things back with us. And I think really expounding on the kind of new level of discontent and mistrust that this incident has brought between a relationship which frankly for the last few months was already in very, very bad shape.

But this covert operation to get bin Laden of which the Pakistanis were not informed in advance I think has really potentially permanently damaged Washington-Islamabad's intelligence cooperation relationship -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And Nick, there's more than one U.S. lawmaker saying that maybe we should suspend funding to Pakistan. The United States sends $3 billion a year to Pakistan. If -- if that funding was suspended, how would that affect Pakistan, the situation on the ground?

WALSH: Well, let's put it in context here. I mean the annual average tax this year that Pakistan -- wanted was about $19 billion and they've received about $20 billion since 9/11 from the U.S. government. So yes, U.S. aid here is a huge deal.

It affects the lives of ordinary Pakistanis on the ground, certainly those who get the civilian aid. But the real I think beneficiary, many people say, is actually the military. Just to put it in context here, I mean they get reimbursed by the U.S. government for their operations against extremists here.

So in fact this year they're scheduled to get about $1.6 billion, an awful lot of money. So I think the thing perhaps keeping maybe some Pakistani officials awake at night, or certainly making them wonder whether they should allow this -- major incursion to their sovereignty is going to be that money and also I think the long-term intelligence cooperation between them and the U.S. and the bad PR, frankly, of the accusations that they've been harboring bin Laden, and let's say, though, unproven as yet -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Nick Paton Walsh, reporting live from Pakistan. Thank you.

Former President Jimmy Carter says the U.S. should give Pakistan the benefit of the doubt. And here's why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT: You have to remember that Pakistan probably has at least 100 nuclear weapons. And I think that our alliance with Pakistan, despite some obvious difficulties, is extremely important.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: He also talked about how killing bin Laden affects the mission in Afghanistan.

Suzanne Malveaux will join us next to talk more about that.

Also still ahead, the diplomatic risk of releasing the photos of Osama bin Laden' body. The move could alienate the very group it aims to convince. A former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan will join us next to explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Former President Jimmy Carter just got back from North Korea.

And CNN's Suzanne Malveaux had planned to talk with him about that trip, but of course there was some bigger news to talk about. She asked him about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden and so much more.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And we did get talk about North Korea. We'll talk about that in the next hour. But one of the things that was really interesting, it was some pragmatic approach when it came to Pakistan. He said, look, this is a super power. This is a nuclear power.

We need to be tolerant of Pakistan. He says he does not believe the president of Pakistan, Zardari, had information about bin Laden's whereabouts. That perhaps it came from intelligence within the administration.

But, essentially, he said, you know, we have made some mistakes, U.S. drones hitting some civilians in Pakistan and Afghanistan. We have got to be more forgiving.

Here's what he said, Carol.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: What do you make of the fact that Osama bin Laden was found in Pakistan, in a city, in a $1 million home, not far from Islamabad? I mean, do we -- do we think that we can trust the Pakistani government, Zardari?

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I think when we're in doubt about Pakistan, we have to give them the benefit of the doubt.

MALVEAUX: Why?

CARTER: Because they are so crucial. You have to remember that Pakistan probably have at least 100 nuclear weapons. And I think that our alliance with Pakistan, despite some obvious difficulties, is extremely important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: It's surprising how strongly he's come out in support of Pakistan.

MALVEAUX: It was surprising, because you hear so many of the administration officials, Obama administration officials saying, look, you know, they're either incompetent or they're in cahoots in here. He actually says this is such a powerful ally, that this is important that we cooperate with them. And that we acknowledge that, yes, they have not been the best ally. They have made mistakes. But we've also made mistakes as well.

And he gave us a bigger, broader picture of where he thinks the so- called war on terror is with bin Laden now gone. And here's how he explained it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Osama bin Laden is dead.

CARTER: Yes.

MALVEAUX: What is the significance?

CARTER: I think it's quite significant. I wouldn't say that the threat of terrorism is eliminated, but I think it's substantially reduced.

MALVEAUX: Do you think that President Obama now having brought him to justice will serve another term?

CARTER: Well, it's too early to predict. I hope so. And I believe this has substantially enhanced his political standings, his reputation among people, particularly those that didn't think he was a strong, competent person that could carry out a mission successfully.

MALVEAUX: Is the war on terror over? Is it time to get out of Afghanistan?

CARTER: I would hope that this could expedite our exit from Afghanistan. But certainly, the war is not over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And, Carol, the way he explains, he says there are no -- there's not a significant number of terrorists that are inside of Afghanistan that the U.S. has known after quite some time, that it is really about overwhelming the Taliban. But he would like to see U.S. troops get out as quickly as possible. And I did ask him as well about his own failed mission in trying to rescue American hostages in Iran under his watch. And what does it feel like? What does he go had through as a president making that kind of tough decision? So, he talks about that as well.

COSTELLO: And what does it feel like when you fail at that mission and now to see a successful mission.

A lot of people are talking about that. You're going to talk about that in the 11:00 a.m. Eastern hour of NEWSROOM. And, of course, I'll join you then.

MALVEAUX: OK, great.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Thanks, Suzanne.

COSTELLO: At any time, the White House could announce its decision to release photos of Osama bin Laden's body. The aim: tamp down skepticism from both conspiracy theorists and militant groups trying to inflame passions in the Arab world.

The Taliban says, quote, "Obama has not got any strong evidence that can prove his claim over the killing of Sheikh Osama Bin Laden." And therein lies part of the dilemma.

While the release was being largely at convincing the Islamic world, it is also the very audience that could be the most offended by the graphic images.

Wendy Chamberlin is president of Middle East Institute and a former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan.

Thank you for joining us this morning.

WENDY CHAMBERLIN, PRESIDENT, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, what would be the worst scenario if these photos are released?

CHAMBERLIN: Well, I think you have to ask, why are they -- are the people who are asking to see the photos, what is their motive? I mean, I've seen intelligence for over 30 years when I was in the foreign services. I can believe it when my government tells me these are gruesome photos. And I can believe that Osama bin Laden is dead, as most -- vast majority of the Muslims throughout the world believe he's dead.

People who are asking now to see these photos, why? We have to assume they are provocateurs who want to use a gruesome photo to whip up the passions of a very small fringe group. So, I think the White House is very wise in holding back those photos. Agreeing to release them eventually, but it's not a secret here.

COSTELLO: Wendy, on that thought, it's not just Arab groups voicing doubts. I mean, here's the graphic of some of the concern from the son of a man killed in the 9/11 attacks. He says, "They should submit video. It would be somewhat gruesome but it's something we should be able to see."

He doesn't quite believe Osama bin Laden is dead because there is no proof that we can show the world we have to take the word of the government. So, it's not just those in the Arab world who are somewhat doubtful.

CHAMBERLIN: Well, there are birthers out there that carried that silly argument to its extreme. I believe my government. And I also believe my government will provide the truth when it is safe to do so.

But, right now, it's a little too early. And I think we have to be -- most of us, the vast majority -- are reasonable people in this issue.

COSTELLO: Well, if it's a little too early, when is the right time?

CHAMBERLIN: In -- we'll know it. We'll know it when people are not in the streets, when the extremists are not in the streets burning American flags when this plays out.

COSTELLO: Wendy Chamberlin, thank you for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.

We'll have more on the death of Osama bin Laden, coming up.

But, first, citizen soldiers to the rescue, including this one caught on tape. National Guardsman plucking a 93-year-old woman from the raging floodwaters of a rain-swollen river.

National Guardsmen in Arkansas are the toast of the town in Lafayette, Louisiana, after a boy scout troop is rescued from a flooded campground.

More pictures for you and more, next on CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We are going to continue on the Osama bin Laden killing. Coming up in a few minutes, we'll talk with a congressman who recently got back from Pakistan. In fact, he was just a few miles away from the compound where the raid went down.

But, right now, we want to tell you about two Missouri National Guardsmen who are being called heroes this morning for their daring rescue of a 93-year-old woman who became trapped in raging floodwaters of the Black River near Poplar Bluff. The woman apparently tried driving across a water-covered highway.

There you see the rescue. Congrats on the heroes of the day. That's amazing.

The flood threat is by no mean as diminished along the Mississippi and the Ohio Rivers today. Meteorologist Rob Marciano is live in Mississippi County, Missouri, not far from the controversy where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers intentionally blew up a levee -- flooding, what, 130,000 acres of farmland in Missouri, Rob?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, all this -- all this land or I guess water you see behind me, this was all dry a couple days ago. Now, it's flooded farm fields from that first explosion we showed yesterday, that was at night. And then, yesterday, during the day, also some dramatic pictures I want to show you of another explosion, of another levee down south of here.

You know, any time you see the earth blown up like this, with everything thrown above the tree tops, you think -- wow, this is a big deal. You better believe it. And they are going to do that again to kind of help drain this part of the area now.

I mean, the Army Corps of Engineers certainly knows what they're doing, it seems. But there's just so much water. They've never seen this sort of water in the past 80 or so years. And it's homes, not just farmland, a lot of homes are being affected.

Yesterday, we took a boat tour with the Illinois DENR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. And they brought us on the area called Olive Branch, which was just inundated with water. And this scene certainly echoed across parts of the Mississippi and Ohio. Here's what one of the officers told me about how long this flooding is going to hang around.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCIANO: When do you think these people will be able to get back into their homes?

DAVE HYATT, ILLINOIS CONSERVATION POLICE: I think they are saying this crest might stay around for four or five days yet. So, it's going to be a while before this level goes down.

MARCIANO: Four or five days, you've already had, what, five or 10 days of this stuff.

HYATT: Yes. At least, yes, five to 10 days of this already.

MARCIANO: You are pretty much waterlogged, aren't you?

HYATT: Pretty much waterlogged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARCIANO: And that's the thing, Carol. You know, April 25th, since then, they've had two major rain events, anywhere from 10 to 20 inches of rainfall.

And now that they've released the pressure here, they are releasing more water upstream that's been held back the past few days. And that's why the crest is going to pretty much hold steady as opposed to fall rapidly. We'll be at this river level probably for several days and then the crest itself begins to head downstream in places further south to here, in Missouri, in Tennessee and Mississippi are going to get this in the next couple of weeks -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, so awful. Rob Marciano with us live today -- thank you so much.

About an hour from now, we are going to talk live with Missouri Governor Jay Nixon on the latest flood developments. He's pretty angry about that and about this controversial decision to affect people in his state by blowing up that levee to save a town in Illinois.

Checking on stories across country:

Happening in Alabama, a benefit for the thousands of storm victims impacted by last week's historic tornadoes. These are live images from CNN affiliate, WVTM in Birmingham, which is teaming up with the United Way of Central Alabama to organize today's fundraiser and relief effort.

In Lafayette, Louisiana, parents of a Boy Scout troop rescued from a flooded campground in Arkansas are glad to have their sons back at home this morning. A National Guard helicopter rescued the six scouts and two leaders presumed missing. Actually, they were missing in a national forest.

In the meantime, the FBI has joined the U.S. Coast Guard in the search for a 65-year-old woman reported missing from a cruise ship. She was on board the Celebrity Millennium as it sailed from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, to San Diego.

Coming up next, we'll go in-depth on the bin Laden killing. We'll talk with a congressman who recently got back from Pakistan. He met with that country's leaders and with U.S. troops. It was just 30 miles from the Osama bin Laden compound. We'll ask if the subject of bin Laden ever came up while he was in Pakistan.

Also ahead, as the U.S. weighs whether to release the photo of Osama bin Laden' body, a fake one pops up on the web and in newspapers. We'll show you the picture and tell you how it happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We continue our coverage of the death of Osama bin Laden. Here's what's new this morning. Right now, we are awaiting a White House decision on whether to release a gruesome photo of bin Laden's corpse. While it could silence skeptics, it could also fuel anti- American anger around the world.

Former President George W. Bush says, thanks but no thanks. He turns down a White House invitation to join President Obama at Ground Zero tomorrow. A spokesman says Bush appreciates the invite but he has chosen to remain out of the spotlight in his post-presidency.

And the White House once again changes its account of the military raid that killed bin Laden. The administration now says bin Laden was not armed when he was shot to death.

One of the big questions right now is how much did Pakistan know about Osama bin Laden's whereabouts? After all, he was living in that huge complex in a large city and he might have been living there for years. That's a far cry from some cave out in the middle of nowhere.

So let's go in depth on this story. Congressman Tom Rooney of Florida is on the House Intelligence and Armed Services Committees. He visited Pakistani and U.S. troops just two weeks ago.

Congressman, welcome.

REP. TOM ROONEY (R), FLORIDA: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: I understand you were about 30 miles from where bin Laden was killed. I mean, what's your reaction this morning?

We were in Islamabad. So, I mean, we were pretty close but at that point, meeting with the military and the government and some other elements, we had no indication whatsoever that he was there.

COSTELLO: Did you talk to those officials about Osama bin Laden and where he might be?

ROONEY: We did. In fact, pretty much everywhere we went with every group we met with, we asked about bin Laden, and, you know, the typical answer was we're still on the hunt for him and that we're following leads and that kind of generality.

COSTELLO: And so Osama bin Laden is found, sort of hiding in plain sight. So when you hear that after returning to Pakistan and asking questions over and over, what goes through your mind?

ROONEY: Well, obviously, it gives one concern but at the same time I do understand why, if they did know, which they did, where he was and what they were planning on doing, any leak whatsoever which would reveal to the media, which would then get over to Pakistan and enable him to move would have been catastrophic. So I completely understand the secrecy. I respect it. I'm not taking, you know, being on the Intelligence Committee and on the Armed Services, I don't take offense to it.

It does look kind of, you know, how does he hide in plain sight like this, kind of a military town so close to Islamabad? And, you know, the answer is, you know, we're digging through those facts to see how much Pakistan knew. And, you know, I always say it is one of three options. Either they knew and weren't telling us and they were harboring him. They knew and they tipped us off, they were complicit and helped us in this action. Or, you know, they just were completely oblivious. And so --

COSTELLO: So, are you of the mind that we need answers before we continue to send aid to Pakistan?

ROONEY: I am. I think that that would be fair. Certainly, I would hate to see us helping them before we know he can actually how much they knew.

And also one other thing I want to get out there. You know, when you the military in Pakistan and the government not on the same page, you also have the ISI, which is their intelligence. There's elements of that that are on the same page. You can't look at it as we look at the United States. The military's kind of in charge there but they do have a government which is another leader. The ISI kind of works on its own. There's elements within the ISI that is sympathetic towards terrorist elements as we would consider them.

So before we sort of label Pakistan as one unit, we have to get all the facts because having Pakistan go south on us and become less than what they are now is not what we would want in our national interest. We use them for resources, logistics, assets, but they've helped us in the war in Afghanistan. And so we got to be very careful before we go down that road.

But if we do find out that they were harboring bin Laden, that's going to be a bad deal for Pakistan.

COSTELLO: And if we do find out that they were harboring Osama bin Laden, what should happen?

ROONEY: Well, that's up to the administration. You know, under the last administration, you remember President Bush would say those who harbor terrorists and certainly he is the worst one, you know, would be considered an act of war.

What we do with this is kind of dubious because it's very unclear whether or not the government of Pakistan and whatever that means was aware and what they were willing to do for bin Laden. I'm just not confused at this point that they did know. I'm not also convinced that elements within the ISI or some Pakistanis did, but, you know, those facts are no out yet.

COSTELLO: Well hopefully we'll get answers.

Congressman Tom Rooney, thanks so much for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.

ROONEY: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: A graphic image of Osama bin Laden bloody face has gone viral on the internet and it's popping up in newspapers around the world. The problem is, the picture is fake.

CNN's Zain Verjee joins us from London.

So, Zain, who made up this fake photo, do we know?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: No. It's just been making the rounds all around the world. It's on the internet, on major newspapers that people are reading.

Just take a look that this graphic image. It's just totally gone viral. If you look at it you can see how the mouth, the lower part of the picture, the mouth's a little bit wide open. The beard is gray. When you look at the top part of the picture, if you can see it on that shot, you can see there are wounds to the head. But, like you say, this is not real. Professional photographers have been looking at this carefully and they say, look, this is a pretty bad photo shopped job.

Essentially what's happened is, there's a combination of two pictures, Carol. There's one of a bloody corpse taken from somewhere and it's been super imposed on the real image of Osama bin Laden that you saw them side by side in the paper there. So they've just basically done that and that's what has been making the rounds.

The real picture, everybody is wondering whether the administration is going to release that and there's so much debate on whether that's a good or a bad idea.

COSTELLO: Well, that's true. But just to reiterate, the real picture of Osama bin Laden corpse has not been released as of yet.

Another thing that caught our eye. A whole bunch of Facebook users misquoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

VERJEE: Yes. Be careful what you Tweet, be careful what you read. Basically that's what happened. That also went totally viral, too, Carol.

It was a Martin Luther King Jr. quote that went like this.

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious, precious lives but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy."

And that not really a quote by Martin Luther King Jr. That was something that one person Tweeted, this famous magician Penn Jillette, and he never said it.

What he actually did say, the enemy, quote is like this: "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends."

So it's not really how that just went so viral and nobody picked up on it until after, you know, it went everywhere. Some people say maybe it was an accidental cut and paste thing from somewhere else or that the person just made it up. Either way, don't believe everything you Tweet.

COSTELLO: Sound advice.

Zain Verjee, live in London. Thanks so much.

Up more on the death of Osama bin Laden still head. But first, President Obama wants to roll back billions of dollars in tax breaks that the oil industry gets. But, will it affect the prices at the pump? We'll go to the New York Stock Exchange to find out, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: We're going to continue to follow up on the Osama bin Laden killing. Coming up in a few minutes, we'll talk with an op-ed writer who warns Democrats may have to get beyond bin Laden to hold onto the White House.

But right now let's talk gas prices as they approach $4 a gallon nationwide. A fight is brewing on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers are split on how to deal with high gas prices.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

COSTELLO: Just ahead, eliminating Osama. Huge for President Obama as he looks ahead to 2012. But our next guest says, forget bin Laden. The GOP has left the Democrats in the dust.

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COSTELLO: The take down of Osama bin Laden was a big victory for the Obama administration but it hasn't exactly sent President Obama's approval rating soaring. A poll by CNN, the CNN Opinion Research Corporation found the day after the bin Laden announcement, 52 percent approved of how the President is doing his job. That's a gain of only one percentage point.

It's now so surprising since the economy is still in the tank, gas prices are still high and if you read LZ Granderson's op-ed on CNN.com. He says Democrats need to move beyond Osama bin Laden and fight the real fight.

LZ welcome.

LZ GRANDERSON, CONTRIBUTOR, CNN.COM: Hey thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: As I read your piece you seemed angry.

GRANDERSON: Angry -- more concerned than anything else I think. I just saw so many people immediately start to equate bin Laden's death with an easier path to the White House. And I think that is a mistake if you're a Democrat, if you are an Obama supporter because the economy will be the issue in 2012, not bin Laden.

COSTELLO: Yes and by 2012 the time the election roles around will -- well, Osama bin Laden we'll still remember but if the economy is bad, we'll remember that much more.

You say in your op-ed piece the Democrats are reactionary while the Republicans play chess. What do you mean?

GRANDERSON: Well the conservatives and the Republicans have always done a really good job especially over the past decade of controlling the message, of dictating what we talk about nationally. And the Democrats are oftentimes left responding two things. I mean, if you think about John Kerry and swift-boaters; how the conservatives, how Bush in his campaign has control of the message from the very beginning and Kerry was left answering and denying things the entire time. If you've been looking at what Obama has been having to deal -- with constantly answering critics while the administration has been mostly unable to dictate what the message should be. Right now we had -- last week it was about the birthers and showing the birth certificate.

This week it's the deathers and they want to see the death certificate. So he's constantly going to be answering questions and it's time that they get a-hold of the message and start dictating what we talk about.

COSTELLO: Ok so -- so what should the Democrats do? And what does that say about Democrats that they can't seem to control the message?

GRANDERSON: Well, I think it says one, that they're much better playing from behind. So much of what Obama's message was during his campaign, was that you know, let's be honest, I'm not Bush. We didn't hear a lot about what he was. We heard a lot about what he wasn't.

Well, when you're an incumbent you're not going to be able to do that, you're going to have to talk about who you are and that means you need to be a lead and not just follow. So they need to change the strategy if they really want 2012 to be the year Obama gets re-elected.

Another way that you do is by -- oh, I'm sorry.

COSTELLO: No, go ahead.

GRANDERSON: Oh, I was going to say another way that you do that is by introducing policies just as Republicans have to make sure that your base show up in 2012. I know, there's a lot of anti-gay marriage laws that are being introduced in Minnesota as well as Pennsylvania and that's another strategy that Republicans have been very good at in terms of making sure their base shows up.

COSTELLO: Yes, working at the state level and kind of passing over the federal level with legislation.

LZ Granderson, thank you for joining us this morning.

And you can read LZ's latest piece, "Obama Got Osama won't Win in 2012" at CNN.com/opinion. And if you would like to join the conversation or leave a comment for him, that's CNN.com/opinion.

Taking a look at stories making news later today.

Next hour in New York, we should find out whether Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi could face a possible tribunal for war crimes as the U.N.'s International Criminal Court announces its findings and recommendations on whether or not to issue an arrest warrant.

Later today at 3:00 Eastern on the White House South Lawn, President Obama hosts a Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride.

And the following hour, Britain's Prince Charles will visit with President Obama; that will happen around 4:30 Eastern. Katherine Jackson says she thinks about her son, Michael Jackson, every day, and she vows to attend the trial of the doctor charged in his death. Katherine Jackson, in her own words, next.

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COSTELLO: Checking stories cross country now.

Engineers are set to breach another levee on the Mississippi River. The breaches are designed to ease spring flooding in towns along the river but officials say water could still rise to record levels in certain areas.

Yellow Nissan vans will soon be rolling through streets of New York City. The Nissan MV 200 is the winner of the city's "Taxi of Tomorrow" competition. The new taxis feature extra leg room and GPS. They hit the streets in 2013.

The mother of Michael Jackson turns 81 years old today, and Katherine Jackson tells CNN she will attend the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray. He's the cardiologist charged with negligence in the death of her son.

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KATHERINE JACKSON, MOTHER OF MICHAEL JACKSON: Worst come to worst, I'll step out, you know, because I heard that they are going to show some autopsy shots and I don't want to see that, so I'll leave and, you know, stay out in the hall or somewhere until it's over, and then I'll come back in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Murray's trial is set to begin in September.

We're following a lot of developments in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Carol, did the fog of war hit Osama bin Laden's compound? We'll talk about that in just a few minutes.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jill Dougherty at the State Department. The already tense relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan gets even worse. I'll have that at the top of the hour.

VERJEE: I'm Zain Verjee in London and I'll tell you what newspapers around the world are saying about that tense relationship between the United States and Pakistan.

COSTELLO: Thanks to all of you.

Also, Osama bin Laden helped set a career path for Americans, inspiring them to serve their country. In the next hour -- I know it's a strange thing, isn't it -- in the next hour, we'll talk with a young man who was in the seventh grade when the teacher turned on the TV in his class and the whole class watched the World Trade Center towers come down. Just a few days that seventh grade will graduate from military college. I'll ask him about his future in the post-bin Laden World.

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COSTELLO: We witnessed baseball history last night. Jeff Fischel from HLN Sports is here. And Jeff, talk about a turnaround for a team that well, it stunk this year.

JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS: The Twins have been really bad. And you know, so is pitcher Francisco Liriano. I just read an article yesterday, "What's wrong with Francisco Liriano?" That was the headline of the article. The manager was talking about demoting him to the bull pen. But last night, the Twins' pitcher threw a no-hitter to beat the Chicago White Sox.

This is the final out, getting Adam Dunn. Line out to shortstop, of course, when you throw a no-hitter, you're going to get mobbed. Teammates rush out to congratulate him. He puts the no in Liriano. The first no-hitter of the season. They should end the talk, I guess, of sending him off to the bull pen. I guess he's worked things out.

NBA Playoffs, Boston Celtics trying to even their series with Miami. Tied at 80. Uh-oh, a little physical. But look who's there to take care of business when things get tough. Lebron James, the miss; recovers the miss and puts it down, part of 14-0 Miami run. Lebron had 35; the Heat win 102-91. They lead the series 2-0. Game three in Boston Saturday.

Let's go back to baseball for a fantastic play. Astros' Jason Bourgeois is the bouncer. Second base with (INAUDIBLE), makes Bourgeois feel like the proletariat. He comes in, bare hands, the ball makes it behind the back, between the legs. Throw to first, that's fancy and effective.

The 137th Kentucky Derby on Saturday. 23-year-old Rosie Napravnik is aiming to become the first female jockey to win it. Napravnik is the 6th woman in history to go but she'll be riding "Pants on Fire". They teamed up to win the Louisiana Derby -- don't you love the name?

COSTELLO: I know.

FISCHEL: They're always great, aren't they?

COSTELLO: Yes, supposedly there is --

FISCHEL: They won the Louisiana Derby in March. The trainer says they're a great team. They hooked up right away and got along great and the horse has blossomed ever since she came on board.

COSTELLO: Awesome. So you go -- is the horse a male?

FISCHEL: She is expected to actually do well. No woman has ever even come in the top 10, but she's expected to actually be able to do that on Saturday.

COSTELLO: OK. We'll see.

Thanks, Jeff.

FISCHEL: All right. OK.