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President Obama Visits Ground Zero; The road to Osama bin Laden's Compound; Taliban Prisoners Escape via Tunnel

Aired May 05, 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 begin this hour with President Obama's trip to Ground Zero to honor the 2,976 victims of the 9/11 terror attacks. His visit comes four day after U.S. Navy SEALs killed the mastermind behind those attacks, Osama bin Laden.

Right now, President Obama is meeting with a select group of 9/11 victims' family members. And now to recap his day so far, his trip to New York began with a private lunch with firefighters of Engine Company 54. That unit lost 15 of its members in the collapse of the twin towers.

President Obama says America will never forget their ultimate sacrifice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I wanted to just come up here to thank you. This is a symbolic site of extraordinary sacrifice that was made on that terrible day almost 10 years ago.

Obviously, we can't bring back the friends that were lost, and I know that each and every one of you not only grieve for them, but have also in the last 10 years dealt with their family, their children, tried to give them comfort, tried to give them support.

Well, what happened on Sunday, because of the courage of our military and the outstanding work of our intelligence, sent a message around the world, but it also sent a message here back home that, when we say we will never forget, we mean what we say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: New York's fire chief called the president's visit a wonderful gesture.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF EDWARD KILDUFF, NEW YORK FIRE DEPT.: I think the president connected well with the firefighters. He gave a little congratulations and "thank you" to the firefighters for what the firefighters and first responders did on September 11th and what the firefighters and first responders continue to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KAYE: President Obama headed to Ground Zero after leaving the firehouse, where he laid a wreath in memory of the victims. And as you can see there, he then paused for a moment of silence.

The White House says his visit was, in part, to help give the city and the country some closure after those terrible events nearly 10 years ago.

In addition to the ceremonies in New York, Vice President Joe Biden laid a wreath in memory of 9/11 victims at the Pentagon just moments ago.

And before we go live to Ground Zero, I want to show you this video. Take a look.

It's a time lapse showing the progress at the site there. Fourteen time-lapse cameras have been running for 24 hours for the last eight years to capture this footage. It's for a new documentary called "Rebirth" that will be released in August for the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

Our senior White House correspondent Ed Henry is on the road with president, as always, and he joins me now from Ground Zero.

Ed, what did you make of the president's tone in New York today?

ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's very interesting, because this is a president who has been frustrate by the media suggesting that he doesn't emote enough, that he doesn't connect with people. Meanwhile, you heard that fire chief right there say that, after that lunch with the firefighters, that --

KAYE: All right. Well, we did have our Ed Henry there. We seem to have lost him. We'll try to get him back as soon as we can to give you more on the president's visit there and the tone.

And also, the president is meeting with families right now. So we may be able to get you a little more on what that meeting was like as well.

As we remember the 9/11 victims, Pakistan's military today acknowledged intelligence shortcomings in its failure to find Osama bin Laden, and it's planning to launch an investigation. But military leaders warned Sunday's raid that killed the terrorist leader has jeopardized cooperation with American forces.

As a result, Pakistan wants U.S. military personnel in the country drawn down to the minimum essential level. The country has come under fire from U.S. officials who question how bin Laden could have lived so close to a major Pakistani military base without the government knowing it.

All right. We do have Ed Henry back for us. He's at Ground Zero. He's been following the president today.

Ed, if you can pick up where you left off on the president's tone there today.

HENRY: Sure, absolutely. They're doing a lot of construction here, as you mentioned, and so the satellite's going to go in and out sometimes.

The bottom line is the president has been frustrated by people suggesting he doesn't emote enough. And Jay Carney, today, said the point of this visit is to try to help this city, help the country find some closure from 9/11, almost 10 years later, now that Osama bin Laden has been killed.

What does that really mean? Well, think about Reagan after the Challenger explosion, you think about Bill Clinton after the Oklahoma City bombing, you think about President Bush standing on the pile here with that bullhorn, an iconic moment right after 9/11.

This president, after the oil spill in the Gulf, for example, faced a lot of criticism for literally not feeling people's pain, making it look like he wasn't quite connecting. I thought it was significant that the fire chief -- you mentioned that firehouse here in New York City. The president had lunch, and the fire chief said, look, he really connected, took the jacket off, rolled up the sleeves, talked to us about how important first responders are not just on 9/11, but every day.

That's the point of the president's visit, connect with people like that and show them that he, as president, almost 10 years later, has not forgotten about them.

KAYE: And right now, we mentioned that he is meeting with some of the families who were affected by 9/11, but not all of them were invited. We don't have a camera in there, but do you have any insight as to what the president wanted to say to them today?

HENRY: He wanted to make this very much a private situation. That's why our cameras are not in there. That's why when you played out that video of the president laying the wreath here, just behind me, he didn't say anything at all. There were no public comments, just those brief comments to the firefighters, brief comments to police officers.

He basically had the White House reach out to some of the various 9/11 family groups to pick a cross section, a broad cross section. We think there's about 60 family members of people who lost relatives here on 9/11 -- to just kind of talk to them directly.

We understand there were some tables there. He was going to go family to family, spend a few minutes with each one of them. He's been there now for at least a half hour or so. He allotted at least an hour total. So, it's an opportunity, again, for him to show that, as these families try to find closure after Osama bin Laden has been killed now, he wants to be very careful not to make this an exploited moment, not to bring politics into it.

I was walking the streets of New York City here, at Ground Zero, this morning, and there are people selling Obama buttons, Obama T-shirts that say "Obama got Osama." They've got to be real careful with an election coming up here pretty quickly that they're not capitalizing on it politically. So the president wanted to do that behind closed doors, away from the cameras -- Randi.

KAYE: Yes. So important that he does that.

All right. Ed Henry, thank you. Appreciate it.

HENRY: Great to see you.

KAYE: We will continue to watch the events in New York City and at the Pentagon with the vice president and the president. But we also want to tell you what's happening in terms of flooding throughout this country.

The mighty Mississippi is rising to historic levels, flooding communities from Minnesota, all the way down to Louisiana. To help fight the floods, the Army Corps of Engineers is blasting more holes in a Missouri levee this afternoon, now for a third time.

The corps began intentionally breaching a levee Monday night in order to ease pressure on the flood walls and communities along the Mississippi River and Ohio River Valley. The river levels have dropped, but the water is surging downstream. And water from the Mississippi River is still pouring across hundreds of square miles of farmland and creating massive flooding in several states.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REBECCA MARTIN, HOME FLOODED: I want to get the things above my closet, which is old pictures of the family and stuff. And that means a lot to me. It just breaks my heart. And I feel sorry for anybody that's in this situation, because I know how you feel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: In Japan, a big step forward for workers struggling to contain the radiation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. They went into the reactor number 1 building this morning for the first time since the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit the plant in March.

Workers are installing air ducts for a ventilation system that will filter the air to reduce radioactive contamination. Once the radiation in the air is low enough, workers will then be able to stay in the building for longer periods to install a cooling system that could be used to carry out a cold shutdown of the reactor.

A bit of a setback on the job front. The number of Americans filing for unemployment for the first time spiked last week with 474,000 initial claims. That's 43,000 more than the week before and it's the highest number we've seen actually in eight months.

Economists say the numbers are a surprise and say spring break may have something to do with the increase. Education workers in some states are able to file for unemployment when school is out of session. The government's more closely-watched monthly jobs report comes out tomorrow morning. Syrian state TV says troops are beginning to pull out of the southwestern town of Daraa, the heart of the country's uprising. But activists say there is little sign the military is backing down, with reports they are deploying soldiers to other cities.

This comes after violent clashes between troops and pro-reform protesters over the last month and a half. The human rights group Amnesty International says more than 500 people have been killed during the protests and thousands more have been illegally detained and possibly even tortured.

Next, we're looking at the road to bin Laden's compound, amazingly less than a mile from Pakistan's equivalent of West Point, where army officers are trained. CNN's Nic Robertson takes us on a journey from the military academy to bin Laden's hideout.

So don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Afghanistan and Pakistan, two countries that are both ground zero of America's war on terror, and both homes to humiliating blows to allied forces in recent weeks.

Last month, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, at least 475 Taliban prisoners escaped through a well-built tunnel running a thousand feet and furnished with lights and ventilation.

In Abbottabad, Pakistan, the world's most wanted terrorist was living in a million-dollar compound just half a mile from a military academy and in a town roaming with retired ex-military officers.

Governments in both countries have worked as allies in America's fight against terror, losing lives in military and police operations since 9/11. But there is a growing debate as to whether authorities really could have been that clueless to what was happening right under their noses, in plain sight.

Nic Robertson takes us on the one-mile trip from the military academy to Osama bin Laden's hideout.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is Pakistan's famous military academy. They have got a great big tank right outside of it, and it's famous because this is where all of Pakistan's army officers come to get trained. And it's literally about half a mile to a mile from where bin Laden was living.

We're going to go take a look at how far away it was and how to get there.

It's straight down this road. You'll see the road goes long and straight towards the mountains. Plenty of soldiers around here.

It's the equivalent, if you like, of West Point in the United States, or Sandhurst in Britain. It's absolutely famous throughout Pakistan.

And further up the road here we've got a problem, because where we were able to drive up the road yesterday, and then take the back streets to get across to bin Laden's compound, today the police -- the police are up there. They have got a checkpoint, and they won't let us go through. So we're going to have to park up in a minute and dive down, take a walk down some of these little back alleys.

But this is about -- we said about a kilometer, just over half a mile from that military academy, where it's quite an affluent area. There's another house here being built, quite posh looking, a cut above the average here.

They've also got protection along the railings here. And then just painting the walls.

This is an up-and-coming town. People here tell us that it's expanding quite rapidly. An ideal place for bin Laden to move into unnoticed.

If it wasn't for the police checkpoint, we wouldn't have to go across the river, but this does seem to be the only way we can get to bin Laden's compound. He made it look easy. I'm not sure that I will. Some of them are a bit wobbly.

We're about a mile from the military academy now. Over out in the farmlands, the fields, cabbages over here, cows grazing over here. It's a completely different feel to the center of the town. And this is perhaps how bin Laden was able to hide away, because there weren't so many people around.

More houses, though. This one is almost as tall as bin Laden's, but it doesn't have the wall. But this one over here is quite large. The wall's not as high, but it does have the barbed wire.

And again, the thing that made bin Laden's different, the wall was just higher, probably twice that height. And it also had the barbed wire at the top.

This is about as close as we're going to be able to get to bin Laden's compound. It's about 500 yards that way.

There's a police checkpoint here, an army checkpoint over there, a police checkpoint there. The police are coming down here. We're not going to be able to go any further forward.

How come he was able to live here and get away with it, and that intelligence services didn't pick up on him sooner, that's going to be a lingering question. And no indications we'll get an answer to it anytime soon.

Nic Robertson, CNN, close to Osama bin Laden's compound, Abbottabad, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Nick Paton Walsh now takes a close-up look at the Afghan prison where at least 475 Taliban escaped in a mass tunnel breakout.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: From outside, these Kandahar prison walls look unbreachable until you see inside. There, Americans and Afghans have unearthed just how sophisticated the Taliban were when they broke 475 militants out of here.

The narrow tunnel doesn't travel straight, but has support beams, a tube to feed in oxygen, light fittings, and the dirt was wheeled out on trolleys. It must have been a mammoth operation.

(on camera): Inside this tunnel you get an idea of really how cramped and difficult it must have been to move through, and really how long it would have taken for hundreds of people to crawl hundreds of feet out.

(voice-over): We go inside and enter where the Taliban were held, the political bloc, wondering exactly how did no one notice the months- long operation? We're told not to film any of the Americans, Afghans, or prisoners. The corridors, once full of insurgents. The cells, all empty.

The cell that led to freedom left, though, as it was. Life here had little luxuries and one big one, an escape route.

(on camera): Well, the concrete on the floor of this cell is two or three inches thick. And it would have literally impossible for somebody digging upwards to have broken through it, so investigators believe that people inside the cell must have finished off the tunnel.

(voice-over): Nobody wants to talk. Nobody here was on shift that night, they say.

(on camera): Was he here that night?

(voice-over): "If the general comes," he replies. "He'll punish me for letting you in here for a long time."

Suddenly, the guards decide we must leave.

We look for where the tunnel emerged. It is inside this house. The hole in the back of a front room now filled in.

(on camera): Well, once the prisoners had emerged from the tunnel into the compound here, they faced two choices how they could leave. One is a door in the corner over there. And that leads out onto a canal. Not very useful for the minibuses they apparently escaped on.

The most obvious choice would have been this, the front door of the house. And this leads right out on to the main road opposite the prison.

(voice-over): Yes, the house had less than 100 feet from the prison's main gate. But still, the Taliban had to be stealthy. This mast is from a heavily-armed American military base just down the road. And in the end, even the Americans also didn't notice the huge tunnel below until it had found light at its end, until it was too late.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kandahar.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Well, if your kids brought home a big "F" on their report cards, they'd be smart to brace for the consequences. That's the grade the government is more than likely giving your kids' schools. But before you call the principal, stay with us. We'll explain exactly what's going on in just two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Here's a disturbing and controversial report card on education in this country. The federal government says four out of the five primary and secondary schools in this country will soon be categorized as failing -- failing. That's according to standards set by the No Child Left Behind education law, one of the signature programs of the Bush administration.

Well, the Obama administration and many Republicans are pushing to replace No Child Left Behind.

Allan Chernoff traveled to Stamford, Connecticut, to show us exactly why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sun.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Sun.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Third graders learning Mandarin Chinese. It's their third language. They also take Spanish.

Stamford, Connecticut's Rogers International School is a member of the prestigious International Baccalaureate program. It receives more than four applicants for every seat in the entry year kindergarten class.

(on camera): Academic performance here at Rogers International is on the rise, with double-digit gains in math, reading and writing proficiency tests. But according to the way that the federal government reads those exams, this is a failing school.

JOSHUA STARR, SUPERINTENDENT, STAMFORD PUBLIC SCHOOLS: It's pretty ridiculous.

CHERNOFF (voice-over): Stamford schools' superintendent, Joshua Starr, says Rogers International epitomizes the distortions of No Child Left Behind. Why? Because some students, particularly children of immigrants, have not shown enough improvement in reading and writing. The No Child Left Behind law grades the school with an F. STARR: The standardized test is important but it shouldn't be annual. And it shouldn't be the sole measure of whether or not a school is serving its children.

CHERNOFF: No Child Left Behind calls on every public school to achieve 100 percent proficiency in math and English by 2014. An idealistic goal the Obama administration intends to ditch.

ARNE DUNCAN, EDUCATION SECRETARY: There's so much that's broken with the current law, far too punitive.

CHERNOFF: Education Secretary Arne Duncan wants to put less emphasis on standardized tests and measuring schools, though they would still measure teachers. That could spell trouble for teachers at Stamford's Stark Elementary School.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Count to 100.

CHERNOFF: They're working hard to raise performance on standardized tests.

WILLIAM JOHNSON, PRINCIPAL, STARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: I've had children come here 9 years old, they don't know any English, and they have received no formal education. But the expectation still is to bring them up to snuff.

CHERNOFF: An unrealistic one, say Stamford's educators.

STARR: There isn't a one size fits all, and that's what the federal government has tried to do with No Child Left Behind.

CHERNOFF: Allan Chernoff, CNN, Stamford, Connecticut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: We dig deeper into the crisis surrounding our education system and why America's future is at risk in the CNN documentary "don't fail me: Education in America." Watch Soledad O'Brien's report. That premiers Sunday night, May 15th, only right here on CNN.

Remember the kids in the classroom with President Bush at the moment he was told about the 9/11 attacks? Did they know at the time that they were witnessing history? We'll hear from them 10 years later. And wait until you hear what they have to say, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Massive flooding is expected to continue through the Midwest and to the South today. But is clearing weather going to help that situation?

Well, the man with the answer is Chad Myers. He's in the Severe Weather Center.

Hi, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Randi.

A little bit. You know, a lot of questions have been asked -- I'm getting phone calls here at the Weather Center just basically all day.

"I hear the water's going down." It just depends on where you are. Let's just look at this map for a second.

This is two weeks' worth of rainfall. I'm going to go all the way to Cincinnati, all the way back down into Oklahoma and Texas.

That pink area, everything that's pink, is 10 inches of rain or more. You get to the purple, and you're 15. And there are a couple of spots in white that's 20 inches of rain.

Now, you have to add that to the snowmelt that's been coming down from all of these other areas. The snow's been melting, it's getting into the rivers. That's a typical springtime flood, even without the rain.

Well, with this rainfall, we have just seen flood warnings all the way from the Midwest and the Ohio River, all the way down to essentially the Gulf of Mexico, and that's going to continue, Even I-40, closed westbound.

This is what it looked like last year, rivers all in their banks, nice and green, things greening up. Here's what it looks like this year. This is just a couple of days ago -- waters out of the banks, rivers out of their banks, and the spillway there near Cairo that they blew up, that thing has spilled the water where they wanted it to, right back down toward New Madrid. And that's how it's going to be for the next couple of, I would say, weeks.

We're not going to see the end of this flooding for weeks on end, because now that bubble or that high water mark is still there, just south of St. Louis. It has to move all the way down into the Gulf of Mexico before this flooding is over.

It takes a good, sweet old time, three to five miles per hour. It's going to take a long time to get all the way down the river and the flood will continue in (INAUDIBLE). In Mississippi, will crest at 64 feet. The old record, 58 feet. This is six feet above the old record. This is amazing flooding, historic flooding.

But what has happened now, now that we've taken the Mississippi River and are holding it between these levees, the water goes up higher. Back in 1937, levees weren't there. It spread out for miles and miles into the countryside, into the farmlands. So, we're still protecting these cities. We just have to hope that the levees hole. That's the big thing. If a levee breaks, then it's completely different ball game.

KAYE: Yes, it certainly is. All right, Chad, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

KAYE: Well, it is one of those moments from September 11 that seems frozen in time. President George W. Bush speaking to a grade school class Florida when he is told of the attack. This week, CNN's Martin Savidge went back to visit with some students who were in the classroom that day and talked to them about then and now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This is a story about a story that begins at a school in Florida and ends in a compound in Pakistan. About 10 years ago, a group of mostly seven-year-old students gathered in this elementary story in Sarasota to read a story to the president of the United States, George W. Bush.

(voice-over): The event was famously interrupted, as now high school junior Lenard Rivers remembers.

LENARD RIVERS, STUDENT: Someone came in, and then all of a sudden we just had to stop reading to him. Then he told us he had to leave.

SAVIDGE: Mariah Williams, now on the high school track team, was also there.

MARIAH WILLIAMS: It was like a bunch of confusion and people scared and stuff.

SAVIDGE: It was the moment the president was told the news of 9/11. Ever since, these students have had a unique connection to the life and death of Osama bin Laden. For Chantal Guererro, that front seat to history had a profound effect.

(SINGING)

CHANTAL GUERRERO, SARASOTA MILITARY ACADEMY: It helped me realize and be a little bit more serious and learn how to deal with certain things more firsthand at a younger age.

SAVIDGE: Her mother noticed the change almost immediately. a daughter growing up faster than most.

ANGELINE GUERRERO, MOTHER: She's an achiever. And I really think it has to do because of the impact on those kids that they were there. I think they just see the world differently.

SAVIDGE: Today, Chantal is an honor student at Sarasota Military Academy and a regular visitor to ground zero. For all three students, the news of Saturday night came as another complete surprise.

WILLIAMS: I was just really shocked because I didn't expect them to catch him at all because it's already been 10 years. Who would think they would catch him after 10 years?

SAVIDGE: Rivers says both events have taught him something about life.

RIVERS: Anything can happen at any moment. And things can change real quick.

SAVIDGE: Guerrero says the end of Bin Laden does nothing to change her connection to that terrible day.

GUERRERO: It's still really meaningful because I was there that day and I did see -- I was kind of there for a part of history, so obviously I'm always going to remember it.

SAVIDGE (on camera): The students say the death of bin Laden doesn't really end the story, more like closes a chapter. Instead, they say the story will continue to be written through the rest of their lives.

In Sarasota, I'm Martin Savidge. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And when we come back, a body found and possible new clues in a mysterious 2009 plane crash in the Atlantic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: I'm Randi Kaye, it's about half past the hour. Here's a look at some stories you may have missed.

Flooding in the Midwest is now being described as epic and monumental. All along the Mississippi River from as far north as Minnesota and south to Louisiana, waterlogged residents hope fog some sort of reprieve. Eleven counties in Mississippi have been declared federal disaster areas. About 20 miles westbound Interstate 40 in Arkansas have been closed due to the flooding. Meteorologists don't expect floods to fully relent before early June.

Workers entered a reactor building in Japan's damaged nuclear plant today for the first time since the earthquake and tsunami damaged the facility back in March. They went in to install air ducts for a ventilation system in the number one reactor building to help filter radioactive contamination out of the air. Once the radioactive emissions are reduced, workers will be allowed to stay in the building to install a cooling system that Tokyo Electric plans to use for a cold shutdown of this reactor.

Search teams have retrieved a body from the wreckage of an Air France plane that crashed into the Atlantic in 2009. The remains, still attached to the seat, were recovered from a depth of about 12,000 feet and will be sent to a lab for DNA analysis. The discovery comes only days after the flight recorders were recovered. Officials are still working to retrieve information from them. All 228 people aboard the Airbus A-330 were killed when the plane, which was headed to Paris from Rio de Janeiro, crashed on June 1, 2009. The cause, still a mystery.

For the second year in a row, Wal-Mart tops the list of the Fortune 500 biggest companies. Despite a sagging economy and a pending sex discrimination suit. The retailer's earnings were up 14 percent last year.

While Wal-Mart came in at number one, it wasn't the biggest earner. That honor goes to the number two company, Exxon Mobil, thanks to soaring global oil prices. The company posted an impressive $35 billion in profits.

The newly married royal couple will be paying a visit to the United States in July. This will be part of William and Catherine's first official tour together and will be Catherine's first visit to the States in any capacity. The British royals' official itinerary has not been released, but the couple is expected to take in a few sights, such as the Golden Gate bridge.

Just days after the death of Osama bin Laden, President Obama and the nation pay tribute to the victims of the 9/11 attacks. Sights and sounds right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: President Obama at ground zero, a moment of silence, and the laying of a wreath. Just some of the images that were captured a short time ago in a ceremony that honored those who died on 9/11, coming just days after the killing of Osama bin Laden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: What happened on Sunday, because of the courage of our military and the outstanding work of our intelligence, sent a message around the world but also sent a message here back home that when we say we will never forget, we mean what we say.

And our commitment to making sure that justice was done is something that transcended politics, transcended party. It didn't matter which administration was in, it didn't matter who was in charge, we were going to make sure that the perpetrators of that horrible act, that they received justice.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Evil sometimes takes steps forward. But it just somehow doesn't prevail. It's maybe an article of faith, but it was proven by the events of this week and proven by being here today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: They can fly under the radar and are nearly silent. Did Navy SEALs use never-before-seen stealth helicopters in the raid that killed bin Laden? The clues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: A major reason for the success of the Navy SEALs raid that killed Osama bin Laden was the element of surprise. And apparently silence. Numerous experts say that was due to the use of top-secret stealth helicopters. Helicopters, as you know are very loud, like the U.S. military's black hawk seen in this video. But the choppers used in the raid may have been modified black hawks that were able to silently sneak up on their target.

Witnesses living close to the compound say they didn't hear the choppers until they were directly above them. The SEALs destroyed one of the choppers after it grazed one of the walls of the compound and forced to make a hard landing. The parts that remained, seen here, have triggered a pretty loud buzz about the possibility of a stealth helicopter program. One expert gives his take on what the parts may indicate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARETH JENNINGS, JANE'S AVIATION: Other kind of design aspects in this particular shot here are kind attributable to stealth qualities, include the five-bladed tail rotor here. On a conventional black hawk, you have four blades. The addition of the extra rotor blades on the tail rotor hub reduces the acoustic signature of the helicopter, thereby making it harder to hear, giving the SEALs that extra few minutes to get over the compound before anyone on the ground quite knows what's going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE; Now, here's another picture that shows apparent modifications of a black hawk tail boom and rear rotors designed to reduce noise. A former special operations aviator told "The Army Times" that the generally sharp angles and flat surfaces are more common to stealth jets. "Jane's Defense Weekly" says the destroyed chopper had a five-bladed tail rotor, vertical tail plane and a cowling that covered the tail rotor hub, all designed to make the chopper fly as silently as possible and evade the radar.

Now, by contrast, the general used military black hawk has a four bladed tail rotor and a vertical tail section that tapers towards the top.

Analysts say a big concern for the Defense Department right now, the possibility that these parts could end up in China's hands. China and Pakistan have close ties, and the Chinese are believed to be developing their own stealth aircraft.

Well, we are keeping an eye on all of the details surrounding the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. But here at home, this is the scene in Alabama right now. Left behind by the worst outbreak of tornadoes in U.S. history. We'll talk to Alabama's governor next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: This just in to the CNN NEWSROOM. We have new details on the days leading up to the raid at bin Laden's compound. Barbara Starr standing by at the Pentagon. Barbara, what have you found out?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randi, we've talked about this almost every day since Sunday, the night of assault, haven't we? New details coming out. Really what has transpired here, as the SEALs have been debriefed by the CIA and by the Defense Department, more and more details coming to light with more specificity from the SEAL team about what they encountered.

Let me start, first, before we get into it with one fascinating detail. It turns out there were reports of repeated sightings of a tall man walking around the compound outside, described as prison yard walks. Nobody could confirm it was bin Laden, but a very tall man walking around repeatedly outside in the weeks and months before the assault. Another piece of information that led them to believe this was the compound.

I want to leave this drawing up for a minute. We want to tell you that we now understand how the assault unfolded. In the bottom section -- think of it as the southeast quadrant of this compound. You see that yellow building. That's a guest house. They went there first, the SEALs, and the first man they killed was a Kuwaiti courier to Osama bin Laden. This man did get some rounds off against the SEALs, but that is the last time any of the insurgents or al Qaeda inside the compound were able to fire. This was the only firefight in that guest house.

They killed the Kuwaiti courier, and then they moved to the north side of the compound where you see that three-story building. They enter on the ground floor, they quickly killed the brother of the courier. They started moving up the stairs. On the stairs, they encountered the brother of -- -- pardon me, the son of Osama bin Laden rushing at them. That staircase had a number of barricades on it, we're told. They killed bin Laden's son on the staircase.

And then they moved up to the third floor. A SEAL team burst into the room, that's where they found Osama bin Laden. He was quickly killed with two shots, the first to the chest, the second to his forehead above his left eye.

There was indeed a woman in the room. She rushed the SEAL team. They shot and wounded here, but it is our very firm understanding now, as a result of all of these updated reports, bin Laden was killed very, very quickly. But nobody else other than that initial courier on the ground floor was able to get a shot against the Navy SEAL team. Randi?

KAYE: Barbara, these are fascinating new details. I have a few questions for you. And I know this information is pretty tough to get, so just bear with me just in case --

STARR: You got it.

KAYE: We know that the White House is telling that is Osama bin Laden was not armed. You mentioned that this was really the only firefight was in that guest house, as they started to come in. Does that mean that the courier's brother and also bin Laden's son would not have been armed? Do we know that?

STARR: Well, thank you for asking, because you raise a really important point. What we are told is there were a number of arms, weapons, AK-47s, other weapons around the compound. The man in the beginning, the courier, he's able to get a shot off but as they move through the area, what basically happens is the SEALs kill those other two men, the courier's brother and Osama bin Laden's son, before they can fire.

When they get upstairs, we know that there were weapons in the room where Osama bin Laden was. He did not have a weapon in his hands at the time, but he was moving and they believe he was moving towards the weapons, that at least the perception.

At the end of the day it really doesn't -- you know -- it really doesn't matter so much. The Navy SEALs perceived bin Laden's threat, and they take him down, Randi.

KAYE: All right. Barbara Starr, fascinating new information. Thank you for bringing it to us. Appreciate it.

STARR: Sure.

KAYE: We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: 178 tornadoes have been confirmed in last week's tornado outbreak in the South. The twisters were over a span of three days. That's the largest recorded tornado outbreak in U.S. history. The government estimates that number could be closer to 305 tornadoes in all when all of the field surveys are actually finished. The storms killed at least 327 people. The state of Alabama was particularly hard hit. Most of the deaths, at least 249, were in Alabama.

Joining me by phone is Alabama governor Robert Bentley. Governor, thank you so much for taking time to talk with us. Last I spoke with you was really just in the hours after these tornadoes had broken out. How close are you now to getting accurate numbers on fatalities and also the property damage in your state?

GOV. ROBERT BENTLEY (R), ALABAMA (on the phone): Well, it's still very difficult to have an exact count, not only of those who are deceased but also the property damage. The property damage amount will be -- it take longer for us to assess that. But it's being assessed at the present time.

As far as the number deceased, we're holding those numbers right now. We still have some missing. And we're waiting on -- we're assessing that right now.

KAYE: And how is the search and rescue going in your hometown of Tuscaloosa?

BENTLEY: Well, actually, you know, I have not been back since the -- I visited with the president there. Everyone over the state has done a fantastic job. The first responders -- the state has done a very good, well-organized job. And we've had unprecedented cooperation from the federal government and FEMA. And so, I appreciate everyone's help.

KAYE: Well, Governor, we're certainly glad you're get what you need. It certainly sounds like that. Thank you for your time. Appreciate it.

And joining me now by phone to talk about the massive flooding in Missouri, Governor Jay Nixon. Kentucky governor Steve Beshear, as well. And the director of the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, David Maxwell. We are covering this flooding from all angles.

Governor Nixon, let's start with you. Officials in your state went to court to stop the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from carrying out their intentional breach. What is your concern?

GOV. JAY NIXON (D), MISSOURI (on the phone): Well, that was unsuccessful. But since it's been breached and quite frankly, we're within about eight minutes of another explosion in the southern part of it to make sure the water gets out of the area, 130,000 ache acres they've flooded, we've had significant damage in the area. I was off the phone Colonel Hagglard, our task force Mississippi leader down there. We're still seeing water rising and rising rapidly down in Caruthersville. We're working to protect the city.

KAYE: And Governor Beshear, I want to ask you, what do you think about this breaching?

GOV. STEVE BESHEAR (D), KENTUCKY (on the phone): Well, it was a very difficult decision I know for the Corps of Engineers. But I think it came down to people versus property in their minds and controlling things, even on down the Mississippi, because I think they're still worried about Memphis and a lot of other places down through there.

It did lower the water levels to some degree coming down both the Ohio and western Kentucky and the Mississippi, which you know is taking some pressure off of some of the levees that we're very worried about in Smithland and Hickman, Kentucky.

KAYE: And David Maxwell, I'd like to get to you now. What is the current situation on Interstate 40? I understand it had been closed for miles.

DAVID MAXWELL, DIRECTOR, ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT (on the phone): Interstate 40 westbound is still closed. We've never closed Interstate 40 eastbound. It's possible we will have to close it.

KAYE: Is it still flooding?

MAXWELL: Yes.

KAYE: How bad is it?

MAXWELL: We're -- the projections are maybe as much as seven foot above level that hit in '08, which was a pretty good flood for us and actually probably two-and-a-half feet higher than the record flood.

KAYE: Governor Nixon, just very quickly, 30 seconds what is your biggest concern right now?

NIXON: Well, the water is still rising in the southern part of the state. At the same time, we have hundreds of thousands of acres of land that won't be usable for many, many months. It's an economic, dramatic economic devastation. KAYE: And Governor Beshear, same for you. We have about 20 seconds. Your greatest concern?

BESHEAR: Well, this isn't over yet, obviously, even though the rives are seem to be approaching their crest, it's going to be several day before this water goes down. We've got a lot of property damage. We've got 3,800 folks who have had to evacuate their homes. It's going to be a long cleanup process.

KAYE; I'm sure. The governor of Missouri, the governor of Kentucky and David Maxwell as well with the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management. Thank you so much for all of your time today. We certainly wish you the best of luck in getting through these very difficult conditions.

CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Brooke Baldwin.