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Obama Administration: No Photos of Osama bin Laden to be Released; White House Press Briefing

Aired May 04, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: We'll keep an eye on that podium, and as soon as that White House briefing gets under way, we will bring it to you live, right here on CNN.

Meanwhile, it's time now for a CNN political update. CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser joins me now from Washington.

And Paul, new CNN polling shows that a majority of Americans may not agree with the president's decision announced just a short time ago not to release these bin Laden photos.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, let's take a look at these numbers. This is from our national poll. We did it Monday, the day after the announcement on bin Laden's death. And look at right there -- 56 percent say they would like to see the photographs. Only 39 percent say no, that the U.S. government should not be releasing a photograph of bin Laden's body.

And Randi, what's interesting as well, more men than women say they would have liked to have seen the release of a photograph -- Randi.

KAYE: And Paul, what do Americans think about the killing of bin Laden in general? Do you have any numbers on that one?

STEINHAUSER: Yes. Overall, most Americans think this is a major achievement. You can look right here. Two-thirds, 67 percent, say yes, this is a major achievement for the United States. But here is the flip side to this.

Take a look at the next number. Does bin Laden's death actually eliminate al Qaeda as a terrorist threat to the United States? And you can see right there, Americans do not feel that way. He may be gone. They still worry, they are still concerned about a threat from al Qaeda -- Randi.

KAYE: One day it certainly would be nice to see that number go down, wouldn't it?

All right. Paul Steinhauser in Washington for us.

Thank you, Paul.

We begin this hour with the latest development in the death of Osama bin Laden. The Obama administration tells CNN that the White House has decided not to release the death photos of bin Laden. An official says that decision was made by the president.

We expect to hear a whole lot more about it in the White House briefing, which is expected to start any moment. We are keeping a very close eye on that podium.

We want to hear how the president came to this decision, especially given that yesterday, just yesterday, the CIA director, Leon Panetta, had said that he expected those photos will be released. So, reaction to president's decision is certainly starting to come into CNN.

Moments ago we heard from Representative Steny Hoyer. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. STENY HOYER (D), MARYLAND: I share the president's view. In my opinion, there's no end served by releasing a picture of someone who has been killed. And I think there's absolute proof that Osama bin Laden was in fact the person that was taken into custody and was killed in the process in the firefight. But I don't think there is any necessary to release a picture.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: So, of course, we want to know what the White House has to say about that. Once again, we have a live picture ready to go for you. As soon as that briefing starts in the White House Briefing Room -- originally, it was supposed to start at 1:30. Then we were told between 1:30 and 2:00. So it should be getting under way any moment now.

We want to hear what they have to say, because certainly we know that, according to the White House, that bin Laden had been identified by facial recognition, by DNA, by one of his wives who was in the compound in Pakistan. And now this, the president's decision not to release the death photos of Osama bin Laden.

So we will find out exactly what is behind that and bring it to you as soon as that briefing gets under way.

We also have new details about the night the raid went down. In Pakistan, a senior intelligence source says one of bin Laden's daughters says she saw him being shot and killed by U.S. forces. The daughter was one of eight or nine children left behind in the compound in Abbottabad after the raid. Among two or three women being questioned is one who's believed to be bin Laden's wife.

As for those who died, Pakistani intel sources say that in addition to bin Laden, his son and three other men were killed. The White House had said that three men and one woman had been killed.

Bin Laden also had about $745 in cash and two telephone numbers sewn into his clothing when he was killed. In another development, the U.S. is demanding Pakistan explain what it knew and did not know about bin Laden's location.

CIA Director Leon Panetta minced no words in a closed briefing on Capitol Hill, telling lawmakers that either they -- meaning Pakistan -- were involved or incompetent. "Neither place is a good place to be."

A senior Pakistani intelligence official has reacted angrily to Panetta and other U.S. officials who have asserted that Pakistan's leaders must have known about bin Laden's whereabouts. He says, "What worse statement can come than that we heard from Panetta? I'm afraid this statement is totally regrettable."

For more on the Pakistani reaction to all of this, Nic Robertson joins us in Abbottabad, Pakistan, the site of bin Laden's compound.

Nic, what have you been hearing from the Pakistanis? Any reaction there, at this late hour, to the decision by the president not to release these photos yet?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it's going to cause some consternation here. I was talking to the head of the bar association here in this city, a city of half a million people. He said 400 to 500 lawyers have been demonstrating today against the attack on the compound here, and they don't believe -- the lawyers don't believe -- he said that bin Laden was living there.

And the one thing that he said would change his mind and change the minds of the lawyers, and of other people in this city, he said, would be photographic evidence. And this was several hours before we heard that President Obama is not going to release a photograph.

So, for the lawyers here, a trained and professional class of people, they want to see a photograph. But then, they need a photograph because they still don't believe that bin Laden was here. They believe that this is a fabrication of the United States to improve President Obama's poll ratings ahead of elections. They believe that this is a fabrication on the part of their own government, for their own political leaders self-aggrandizement, and to further their political positions as well.

So it's clear that the photograph is a very important issue to some people. It's quite obvious also that for some critics, it's not going to matter what you put out.

You could put out a photograph of bin Laden, and the critics would say, well, he's not really dead, this is a doctored photo of when he was alive, somebody has Photoshopped it, or whatever. So there is certainly a risk with putting anything out. There's some people who won't believe it at all. But at least the lawyers here say if they see a photograph, they will believe it, and they are an influential class of people in this city -- Randi.

KAYE: And Nic, how do you expect the Taliban to react to this? ROBERTSON: I think we're going to see from the Taliban -- they have been sort of relatively pragmatic on it so far. They've said don't jump to conclusions, wait until we get more information before you make your reactions.

It seems that they are at least perhaps more in tune with their sort of base supporters, if you will, and they are willing to accept and believe that potentially he has been killed. But like all of these groups, they are going to want to have proof.

And we have heard from some radicals who have said, again, that they don't believe that bin Laden is dead. They think that he is still alive, that he's still out there fighting, that he never would have been killed.

I think there is always going to be those skeptics, but I think some of the Taliban at least are prepared to accept that this has happened. But they are still analyzing the information they have available.

Anyone involved in this, whether it's the top leadership in Pakistan, whether it's the Taliban here, knows that there are political advantages and disadvantages to the way they play this particular situation. They cannot be wrong-footed they can not be caught out, but they will play it to their own advantage. They have constituencies, and they're going to play it to the best of their ability here -- Randi.

KAYE: All right. Nic Robertson, thank you for your insight, as always, there in Pakistan for us.

And I want to remind our viewers at home that we are still waiting for the White House briefing to get under way. Once again, we'll keep showing you that podium there until Jay Carney, the press secretary, decides to come out and let us know the very latest on this decision.

As you know, we've told you there was quite a bit of concern about whether or not to release these photos of bin Laden after death. There was some concern by the president that it may incite violence, certainly violence against our troops. Possibly, it might send the wrong message. Certainly didn't want to appear celebratory here in the United States.

So it will be interesting to see exactly what Press Secretary Jay Carney tells reporters when he does take that podium, and you will here it right here on CNN, because we will bring it to you live as soon as it gets under way.

Meanwhile, they are the elite of the elite, and they took down to world's most wanted man. Well, in two minutes, just who are these guys? We'll look at what it takes to be part of the Navy SEALs special team.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back.

You can see there the White House Briefing Room. We are expecting a briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney. You can see it's getting a little bit crowded there.

Folks are abuzz with the news that the president will not be releasing the photos of Osama bin Laden's body. And we have a little more new information to tell you what went into that decision as we continue to keep an eye on this podium.

Our White House correspondent Ed Henry telling us that a senior Democratic official close to the White House says flatly the president was never in favor of releasing these photos. Officials say the president felt releasing the pictures would be over the top given the fact that so few credible people have questioned the death, and the lonely conspiracy theorists would never be satisfied. This, again, coming to us from the White House through our Ed Henry.

This official apparently said the president has been getting private support in this position from both Secretary Gates and Secretary Clinton. And the official also saying that the president's inner circle was not thrilled with what this source described to our Ed Henry as CIA Director Leon Panetta's "I'm in charge" moment late yesterday.

Just a reminder here, you may recall that the CIA director, Leon Panetta, said yesterday that he thought the photos should be released, and he fully expected that they would be released. Meanwhile, we knew that Secretary Clinton, as well as Defense Secretary Robert Gates, were both in the president's ear telling him not to release those photos.

So that's why we're keeping a very close eye on this podium here in the White House Briefing Room to see how this exactly how this all went down. But that is just a little bit of insight into the president's decision-making process from our Ed Henry there, working his sources at the White House.

Well, we all want to know more about the Navy SEALs credited with killing Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. To understand who they are, let's break down for you how one becomes a SEAL.

First, you have to pass a pretty intense test before ever starting your training. Take a look.

To meet the minimum requirements to begin training in Coronado, California, you must swim 500 yards in 12 minutes and 30 seconds, do 42 pushups in two minutes, and then 50 sit-ups in another two minutes. Then do six pull-ups and run 1.5 miles in 11 minutes.

I'm tired just thinking about that. Do you think you could do all that?

Well, if you pass, then you start Basic Underwater Demolition School, or BUD/S, as they call it, which has been called the toughest training in the world. Months of sheer hell is how it's described. In total, SEALs train between 18 and 24 months, with the pinnacle of training coming during what is not surprisingly called "Hell Week," five days in which trainees are constantly cold, they're hungry, they're sleep-deprived, and yes, they are wet as well. It's designed to push a man, as you can imagine, past his breaking point, and recruits sleep a total -- get this -- of just four hours maximum over the entire five days.

Most recruits, not surprisingly, drop out long before this, because they just can't take the training which involves running 15 miles, topped with a two-mile open-water swim and other intense physical conditioning.

The Navy says a SEAL can fire more ammo in one training session than some troops do their entire careers. Now, historically, 75 percent of those who start this training never finish it, but the success rate, it turns out, is actually rising. That's in large part because the SEALs are targeting men more likely to succeed -- unconventional athletes, say, like, water polo players.

There are no women in the SEALs, in case you were wondering. And most SEALs are white, though according to "The Washington Post," the SEALs have stepped up efforts to increase the number of minorities in their ranks.

There are fewer than 2,600 SEALs in the world. And these guys, they're not really your action hero wannabes, according to a former SEAL. The guys who don't make it through training are the Rambo wannabes. Those are the guys that don't make it.

If you cannot work in a team format, but also function autonomously, you won't last for very long. He says getting on this team means you have established yourself as a mature and steady operator with a real world track record of high-stakes, sensitive missions.

So there you have it, a picture of the Navy SEALs.

We want to just bring your attention once again to the podium there at the White House Briefing Room in Washington, D.C. We're keeping an eye on it. We're waiting for that briefing to get under way.

Reporters are gathering there. Of course, we want to hear more about what went into the decision by the president, which we just told you a short time ago. He does not plan to release the photos of Osama bin Laden's not the photos that were taken at the compound, nor the photos of the burial at sea.

So, we will see exactly how that decision was made. We'll take a quick break, and as soon as that briefing starts we'll bring it to you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Of course, we want to take you back now to the White House Briefing Room. We're waiting for Jay Carney, the press secretary, to tell us exactly the details that went into the thinking of the president's decision not to release the photos.

Our Ed Henry has been gathering some interesting information from his sources. As we await this, I can tell you that a senior Democratic official telling our Ed Henry that the president was never in favor of releasing these photos of Osama bin Laden, saying that the president felt that releasing the pictures would be over the top given the fact that so few credible people have actually questioned the death, and the lonely conspiracy theorists would actually never be satisfied, was the official stance of the White House. Of course, we're hoping to get more on that when this briefing gets under way.

The official apparently said that the president has been getting private support in this position not only from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, but also from Defense Secretary Robert Gates. And here's what's interesting -- our Ed Henry was told -- the official from the White House saying that the president's inner circle was not thrilled with what this source described as CIA Director Leon Panetta's "I'm in charge here" moment late yesterday. We know that Panetta had said yesterday that he did expect the photos to be released.

So here we have Jay Carney approaching the podium, and I'm sure he will tell us exactly why the president has decided against that. So, finally, let's listen in to what he has to say.