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Osama Bin Laden's CIA Neighbors; Plots Uncovered in Bin Laden Raid; Gas Prices Dropped; Rainfall 600 Percent More Than Normal; Al Qaeda Confirms Bin Laden Death; Clinton Gives Demands To Gadhafi; Japan P.M.: Shut Second Nuke Plant

Aired May 06, 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: We begin this hour with a bit of breaking news.

Al Qaeda has released a statement confirming the death of its founder Osama bin Laden. That is according to an intelligence group that monitors militant messages.

CNN has tracked down that statement. We're translating it right now. We're going to have more information on that and exactly what it means in just a couple of minutes.

It is 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. in the West. I'm Carol Costello, sitting in for Kyra Phillips.

We have several other developments in the Osama bin Laden story. Later this hour, President Obama leaves for Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. He is expected to meet privately with the Navy SEALs that carried out the raid.

The so-called treasure trove of intelligence seized from the bin Laden compound has uncovered a new terror threat. The nation's rail system is now on alert because of a possible plot to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

And "The New York Times" is reporting that the CIA spent months watching the bin Laden compound from a house nearby.

And let's begin with a closer look at the agents next door, not exactly next door but certainly nearby. Osama bin Laden's neighbors, CIA operatives living in Abbottabad. According to "New York Times" the CIA surveillance team photographed residents and visitors from a rented house near bin Laden's compound and it took great pains to avoid detection not only by suspected al Qaeda operatives but also Pakistani intelligence and local police.

The "New York Times" also reports bin Laden's CIA neighbors used a satellite and radar to search for possible escape tunnels. And the paper says the CIA surveillance team saw a tall man taking regular walks inside the compound but they were never able to confirm that man nicknamed, "The Pacer," was actually bin Laden.

Of course they eventually did.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in the city of Abbottabad.

So, Nick, there were U.S. agents living next door, so to speak. It makes you wonder how they managed to escape detection in the middle of a Pakistani neighborhood.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's pretty obvious we can guess that they must have been Pakistani or certainly looked very Pakistani indeed.

But yes, you're absolutely right. In order for the kind of observation that this "New York Times" article refers to have happened, they really would have had to have been one of about 10 or 15 houses that looks straight on to that compound. Remember that compound is pretty isolated, it's sort of on its own really in a bunch of cabbage fields.

So these 10 or 15 houses where they could have been in a fairly close community to be honest. And that we -- we were on the roofs of many of those houses yesterday looking down on ourselves in similar places. This is a fairly busy town. So it is possible, really, that if there were properly trained Pakistani assets or the CIA working out of here, being discreet, not suddenly rushing up and renting a room somewhere and then leaving, you know, a week before the raid.

That they could have escaped detection quite easily. That is entirely possible. But of course to me it is fascinating to learn the CIA were on the ground for a period of time before this initial raid -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, to believe they were there for a couple of months at least.

Nick, you also got a hold of another fascinating tidbit. One of bin Laden's gas bills. So show us. Tell us about it.

WALSH: Well, absolutely. Here it is. This is the last gas bill sent to the bin Laden compound there. Its due date is about in five days time. Interestingly, the details on this, "Dear Sir Mohammed Arshad" is being the bill payee. That is -- would presumed fake name given to men who are referred to as the Zawahiri brothers who appeared to have hired that compound or the half of the bin Laden family and others who were living.

More interestingly, too, it says the installation date for the meters in question was in April 2007. So that would suggest perhaps that utilities were put in place for whoever lived there from that date. Perhaps dating the arrival of the bin Laden family from round about then.

Another interesting piece of information we're hearing from a government official here, too, is that actually there were local property taxes owed on that property of about $700. About 60,000 Pakistani rupees. Not an enormous amount. And frankly, tax evasion in Pakistan is a pretty common place. So you could even argue, frankly, they would have stood out had they paid up -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Interesting, fascinating stuff, Nick Paton Walsh reporting live from Pakistan.

And take a look at this. It may be a new glimpse of the aftermath of the U.S. raid. This is amateur video that shows fires and a possible explosion claims to be inside the bin Laden compound the night of the raid.

CNN could not confirm the authenticity of these claims.

The death of Osama bin Laden puts the spotlight now on al Qaeda's number two in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Pakistani officials tell the "Wall Street Journal" that the deputy leader's influence in the terrorist organization has marginalized bin Laden's power for sometime now.

The chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee says the 59- year-old al-Zawahiri could be next, though.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S SITUATION ROOM: Any closer to finding Ayman al-Zawahiri, the number two?

REP. MIKE ROGERS (R), MICHIGAN: We have lots of information on him. I do believe that -- I can't say it is imminent. But I do believe we're hot on the trail.

BLITZER: In Pakistan?

ROGERS: I do believe we're hot on the trail.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Al-Zawahiri cofounded al Qaeda with bin Laden 23 years ago in 1988 but who if that information is accurate, if anything is accurate at this point because details keep trickling out.

Just a few days after Osama bin Laden's death, we're now learning that he was not just a figure head. He was in contact with al Qaeda agents in the field. In fact the intelligence gathered at his compound shows that he was involved in a possible plot to strike U.S. trains later this year.

Homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is in Washington.

So, Jeanne, tell us more about the plans al Qaeda discussed.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Carol, let me say first that U.S. officials say there's no indication that any attack is imminent. This is something al Qaeda members talked about.

We know they talked about it in February of 2010, specifically about taking trains and derailing them by putting obstacles on tracks. They discussed doing this on bridges and over valleys, presumably to maximize the loss of death in this incident.

I'm told that the intelligence does not reference any specific systems, doesn't reference specific cities but it does talk about a possible time frame. They wanted this to coincide with the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, specifically the 10th anniversary that is coming up this September.

Now U.S. officials described this as aspirational, not operational. They say there is no indication in the intelligence they've seen that Osama bin Laden or any other top leaders of al Qaeda have signed off on this plot. It was something they were discussing.

Now I should say that after Osama bin Laden's death was reported on Sunday, many transit systems around the country upped security anyway, because they are well aware of the fact that trains have often been subject to attack by terrorists. And there was a fear that there might be some form of retaliation.

In addition to the information about rail, U.S. officials tell me that going through this material, it's become evident that al Qaeda still was focused on hitting big cities, specifically they mentioned New York, D.C., L.A., Chicago. They also mentioned doing it on significant dates like the September anniversary, July Fourth, Christmas and also the opening day of the U.N. General Assembly when there would be a lot of foreign leaders gathered together in New York -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jeanne Meserve reporting live from Washington.

It is going to cost you a fortune to fill up the tank today but gas prices are actually down this morning. We have not been able to say that for more than 40 days. $3.98 a gallon nationwide on average. You can barely see the drop, it's only a tenth of a cent but this could signal a bigger drop ahead. At least we hope so.

Ali Velshi is with us now.

Ali, remember, there was talk of $5 a gallon gas?

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

COSTELLO: Now we're hearing prices could be down to $3.50 by Memorial Day. So what's up with that?

VELSHI: That's a whole -- you know, nobody's speculation is ever right about this stuff. But the bottom line is we broke a trend after 44 days of increases. We finally stopped. And I'm glad we did because it wouldn't have made sense to keep going given what's happened to oil prices.

Carol, we lost about $9 in oil yesterday. We lost another $3 and change this morning. I mean oil prices have been plummeting along with other commodities, because the dollar is starting to strengthen, which is the argument that I have been making for a long time.

And that this has a whole lot less to do with demand and supply than it has to do with speculation and the fact that oil and commodities have been a better investment for big money than other places. So the truth is, oil started to come down when we heard news of Osama bin Laden's death. But ultimately, all of the stuff that drove it up on speculation is starting to leave the oil market.

Now, Carol, let's be clear. I don't think we're going to see plummeting gas prices. I'm not even sure they're going to drop all that much. And I think oil prices are still going to hover in this range that they have for such a long time.

The demand for oil is not being driven by America. It has not been driven by America for 10 years. It's growth in India, growth in China. America is 5 percent of the world's population. It consumes 25 percent of the world's oil. But we're actually not consuming more that we were a few years ago. We're consuming less.

COSTELLO: Yes, I just think it's interesting that everybody is saying, wow, gas prices are going to go down to $3.50 a gallon which is still expensive but we'll take it.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: I think that's really said. Let's talk about --

VELSHI: And you remember, Carol, last time -- you know, on that last ramp up to gas prices that we had in 2008, it was $3.50 a gallon that -- that was the level at which people started to decide to go out and buy more fuel efficient cars. So even at $3.50, $4, we're still -- we still should be watching our own consumption habits.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. What do you make of the unemployment rate going up?

VELSHI: There's nothing bad I have seen in this unemployment report that came out this morning. We don't need to worry about the unemployment rate. There are so many long-term unemployed in this country that the unemployment rate is actually much higher than the 9 percent that the government is reporting this morning, which is up from 8.8 percent.

The fact is the real number is in the 16 or 17 percent. Forget the number. Are we creating jobs? That's a real number. And yes, we are.

In April -- the jobs report just came out moments ago. In April, the United States created 244,000 new jobs. Net new jobs. That's new jobs minus jobs that were lost. That is significantly higher than anyone was expecting.

Again, it's still not high enough to get us back to lower unemployment rates. But it is a good jobs report. We've seen growth in a variety of different areas. It's not a blip and it's not one of those things where you can say well, there's an excuse for it. It was a solid jobs report, ignore the unemployment, concentrate on jobs created. All good news this morning.

COSTELLO: Something hard to do. But we'll see how Wall Street reacts in just about 20 minutes.

VELSHI: Yes.

COSTELLO: Ali Velshi, live from New York, thank you.

So much for celebrations. It seems some people aren't too thrilled Osama bin Laden was taken out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MOORE, FILMMAKER: Yes, what do we need a trial for, just get rid of him. Well, they -- the second you say that, you're saying that you hate being an American.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Strong stuff. And we've got his explanation coming up.

And from people who don't think bin Laden should have been killed to people who think he wasn't, the birth of deathers. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We want to return now to Osama bin Laden's unlikely neighbors. A CIA surveillance team that reportedly spent months watching the compound where Osama bin Laden lived and died.

Scott Shane is one of the "New York Times" reporters who uncovered this fascinating bit of information. He joins us now by phone from Baltimore.

Welcome, Scott.

SCOTT SHANE, NEW YORK TIMES REPORTER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: So how close was this house where these CIA operatives lived to the bin Laden compound?

SHANE: We don't know exactly where it was but I've been told that there was a line of sight to the compound. And of course, they had to move in to this place. Apparently, move in a lot of photographic equipment and other kinds of spy gear without attracting the attention not only of the people in the bin Laden compound but also Pakistani intelligence and police who, of course, didn't know that the CIA was on to this house.

COSTELLO: Fascinating. So, this spy equipment, this technology they moved in, can you describe it to us?

SHANE: Well, I think they used just about everything they could think of. They supposedly observed behind one-way, you know, sort of glass so no one could look in at them but they could look out. They used ordinary sort of telephoto lenses with cameras, taking pictures of anything that sort of moved in the area.

They also used infrared equipment, eavesdropping equipment to try to pick up any cell calls made in that area. There was apparently no land line or Internet, and also to try to pick up the sounds of the voices from inside the compound.

COSTELLO: And you say in the article that they did notice a tall man who would take daily walks and they sort of nicknamed him the "pacer." Can you tell us more about that?

SHANE: Well, I mean, it is -- it is sort of fascinating because Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, had said that even when they went ahead with this operation, they were only 60 percent to 80 percent sure that bin Laden lived in that house. A very tall guy, obviously. But I gather that the angle that they had to observe from didn't allow them to estimate the exact height of the people walking around.

So, they were aware that a man came out regularly for 20 minutes and sometimes as long as hour-long walks just around the compound, inside the wall, but they never were able to get -- you know, get a line on him to determine for certain that it was him.

COSTELLO: But he was taller than, you know, the average, I guess, Saudi, because that's where Osama bin Laden was from. So, they suspected that it might be Osama bin Laden.

At what point did they have enough information, do you think, that President Obama decided to go forward with the raid, itself?

SHANE: Well, I believe that was on the Friday before the Sunday night when it occurred. You know, I guess it was just an accumulation of hunches and little bits of intelligence that made them decide it was worth taking a shot.

COSTELLO: That's fascinating stuff. Thank you so much, Scott Shane from "The New York Times" for joining us and filling us in. Fascinating information. We appreciate it.

SHANE: Thank you.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.

More coverage of Osama bin Laden's death ahead. But, first, rainfall of 600 percent leaves behind epic flooding along the Mississippi River. A live report for you from waterlogged Memphis. That's next.

And imagine having a new accent after surgery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I want an accent like that. Well, just go see my dentist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: We'll have her amazing story, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: We are following all the new developments in the aftermath of the killing of Osama bin Laden. We'll get back to that in just a few minutes.

But, first, there are new mandatory orders today for people along the rain-swollen Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to get out. In Tunica, Mississippi, the Harrah Casino is now closed. It's the first time ever that that popular tourist attraction has shut its doors because of the flooding.

In eastern Arkansas, the high waters forced authorities to close a 20- mile stretch of westbound Interstate 40. Truckers had to find new routes through the small towns to make their deliveries. The head of the Mississippi River Commission says the rainfall is unprecedented.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. MICHAEL J. WALSH, PRESIDENT MISSISSIPPI RIVER COMMISSION: There's a report from the National Weather Service that this event, this rain event that we've had in the last two weeks, is 600 percent more than normal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Floodwaters from the Mississippi River are already swamping parts of Memphis. And, by this weekend, the river is expected to crest at 48 feet above flood stage, that's the highest in decades.

David Mattingly is in Memphis.

So, David, what are you seeing?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, just a little over a day ago, I would have been standing on dry land right here. This is a slow motion disaster -- the Mississippi River coming up one inch by an inch and an inch at a time.

It's giving officials here a lot of times to prepare and today, they will be going out identifying specific areas around the city where properties are probably going to be in danger of flooding. And they are going to be telling those property owners now is the time to start packing up and making plans to move. Don't wait until this river is sitting in your front yard.

Now, strangely enough, we are looking at a possibly a very close to a record here in Memphis. The last record was back in 1937. The river went four blocks into the city at that time. We're not going to see anything like that because of all the levees and floodwalls that they have in place.

The big concern is the rivers around Memphis that empty into Mississippi. This water is going to push water back up into those tributaries and it's going to flood properties back up in there. So, that's what they are watching very closely right now, places like the Wolf River, where they're going to have some homes, seeing some water coming in. But right now, everybody watching, they know they can't stop this, but they are preparing, getting the sandbags ready just in case they need them and just in case there's a problem with any of the levees -- Carol.

COSTELLO: David Mattingly, reporting live from Memphis, Tennessee -- thank you.

Al Qaeda has released a statement confirming the death of its founder, Osama bin Laden. That's according to an intelligence group that monitors militant messages. We'll have a live report out of Pakistan. That's just ahead.

Plus, the woman behind Osama bin Laden, the terrorist leader with five wives, find out more about them in two and a half minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We mentioned this at the top of our show, this breaking news. Al Qaeda has released a statement confirming the death of its founder, Osama bin Laden. That's according to an intelligence group that monitors militant messages.

Nobody knows more about al Qaeda than Nic Robertson. He joins me now from Abbottabad, Pakistan.

So, Nic, why would al Qaeda release such a statement?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they recognize that there is no point in saying that Osama bin Laden isn't dead. And this is a rally to arms for them. They are using the death of Osama bin Laden to call for continued fighting. They are saying that this was a historic day, his death. It's taken them five days now to come out with this statement.

But what they are saying is that they will continue their fight. They will continue plotting and planning attacks against the United States and what they call the United States agents, that they will attack them in their countries and outside their countries, that they will continue doing this without boredom, without tiredness, that they will continue this fight as Osama bin Laden had been fighting. They are calling him a martyr and all of this.

And they're also calling on the Pakistanis here to clean the shame of Pakistan, i.e., that he was killed inside Pakistan. They are saying that this was the work of traitors and they are calling on the Pakistanis to clean up their shame.

So, this is al Qaeda recognizing that their leader is dead and capitalizing on that now, calling him a martyr and calling their supporters to continue the fight, to vow to continue the fight, to focus it on the United States and also saying in this statement that the people of the United States in America will have no rest, no peace, until they say the people of Palestine have peace.

So, this has been part of al Qaeda's message in the past. And it seems this is Osama bin Laden death, according to them, is going to make no difference. They are going to keep up their fight, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, in light of this, was President Obama's decision not to release the death photo of Osama bin Laden a good idea?

ROBERTSON: It would seem to be, because the people who President Obama is most worried about, those that threaten the United States national security, are al Qaeda and they have now accepted bin Laden's death without the photograph. The photograph President Obama worried perhaps might draw more people to al Qaeda's cause. Of course, that's what exactly what al Qaeda is trying to do with Osama bin Laden's death.

So, without gruesome images, it does blunt their message. Their message is limited to that empty compound of which there are only a few pictures inside and a few photographs of blood-stained rooms and walls. So, it's very conceivable here that al Qaeda may have tried to use a graphic image of bin Laden in death to rally the cause.

And it's very clear that's what they are trying to do. It would seem that, (a), they have accepted that bin Laden is dead, so there's no need to prove that he was dead, and, (b), they are trying to use his death to rally the fight further, Carol.

COSTELLO: Nic Robertson, reporting live from Pakistan -- many thanks.

Other new developments in the death of Osama bin Laden. The CIA reportedly had a safe house in Pakistan wherefore months, a team of agents spied on the compound where bin Laden was killed. "The Washington Post" reports the CIA relied on Pakistani informants to help put together a pattern of life of the occupants.

And President Obama plans to thank the Navy SEALs involved in the bin Laden raid. The president travels to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, today, to meet with the SEAL's elite Team Six.

Some of the early details that we heard about in the bin Laden raid turned out to be flat-out wrong and that made some people suspicious. Michael Moore is one of them. The filmmaker has been tweeting out, blasting the Pentagon for, quote, "a history of putting out B.S." He also considers bin Laden's death an execution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MOORE, FILMMAKER: After World War II, we didn't go in and put a bullet to the head of all the top Nazis. We put them on trial. We took them to Nierenberg, and we put them on trial, and we said, no, this is important for the world to see these criminals. And it's important for history to have a record of what they did. We are at a point now where we don't, what do we need a trial for, just get rid of him.

The second you say that, you're saying that you hate being American. You hate what we stand for. You hate what our constitution stands for. We stand for something different than that, and we're better than them. We don't just operate in an uncivilized way the way they did on 9/11. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: You can see more of Piers Morgan's interview with Michael Moore. Piers Morgan at cnn.com/video. That's where you can find it.

When President Obama released his original birth certificate last week, he just won over a lot of birthers. A poll by "The Washington Post" just found the number of Americans who believe the president was born in Hawaii has exploded from 48 percent a year ago to 70 percent now, but even if the birther movement is dying off, conspiracy theories are not.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe this is all fake. He is alive. Wherever he is, he is alive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is propaganda. Osama has been killed 10 years ago in Afghanistan. It's just a propaganda to finish the war in Afghanistan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: IT is a fairy tale. If you believe this, then I got a bridge I want to sell you and I got some ocean front property in Arizona.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: See, from birthers to deathers. CNN political producer, Shannon Travis, has more on these deathers. So Shannon, we kind of know what these people believe or don't believe and how many are there?

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Well, it doesn't appear to be very widespread, Carol. I mean, you have -- this is certainly catching our attention, some of these people that they are saying that Osama Bin Laden is not dead, but it doesn't appear to be very widespread. Let's just lay out some of the schools of thought. There are some people who believe that Osama Bin Laden is actually dead, but just want to see the pictures, some of these things that Michael Moore in the sound bite that you just played.

Then, there are some people who believe that he is dead, but, Carol, they believe he was killed many years ago. Even one person says that he's been frozen on ice for the past eight, nine years. And there's another school of thought. More pervasive, people actually believing that he is still alive. There are actually some people that I've been in my reporting that believe that he's being interrogated by the U.S. currently.

None of these, we want to make clear to our viewers, none of these schools of thought have any shred of proof whatsoever, but they're just conspiracy theorists. And as you said, in one week, we've gone from the death of birthers to the birth of deathers.

COSTELLO: Such a strange world we live in. So, Al Qaeda came out today and acknowledged that Bin Laden is dead. Will that change any minds?

TRAVIS: For some, yes. Likely for others, who are hardened conspiracy theorists, no. I mean, I spoke with CNN contributor, John Avlon. He's the author of a book about conspiracy theorists and theories, and he says, look, there are some people who will always believe that Elvis is still alive, that man didn't walk on the moon, and in cases like this, that President Obama was not born in Hawaii in 1961 and that Osama Bin Laden is not dead.

There will always be those people, but what matters most probably is the dominant majority opinion, and the dominant majority opinion that we're seeing right now, Carol, is that most people believe that he is, in fact, dead, Osama Bin Laden.

COSTELLO: That makes me feel so much better about the world.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Shannon Travis, thank you so much for joining us.

TRAVIS: You're welcome.

The women behind Osama Bin Laden, the terrorist leader with five wives. Find out more about them after break.

And later, the dog was the SEALs bestfriend as they carried out the mission of a lifetime. We'll talk about how an elite canine, a dog, was a key part of a team that stormed Osama Bin Laden's compound.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: I'm sure you know this by now, Osama Bin Laden had five wives and more than 20 children. So, we were curious. We wanted to find out more about the women behind this terrorist. CNN's Zain Verjee has been looking into that. What have you found out, Zain?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Yes, five wives. Let's start with the first one, Najwa Ghanem. That's his cousin who had 11 kids with him and actually left Afghanistan days before 9/11. Then, he married the woman called Khadijah Sharif. This was a highly educated woman who was nine years older than him and had three kids with him.

She actually also lived in Sudan, Carol, and divorced him, apparently, because she just couldn't cope with the austere lifestyle in Sudan so moved to Saudi Arabia. So, I guess, it considered a much better place to be than the Sudan. Let's move on to the next wife. This was one Khairiah Sabar, who is very well-educated also. She has a doctorate in Islamic Sharia law and one child. There are suggestions that she may have been killed when Afghanistan was bombed.

There's also no information on the fourth wife, Carol, Siham Sabar, who is believed to have four kids with Osama Bin Laden and just disappeared during the bombing also in Afghanistan. Then, the fifth wife, Amal al-Sadah. She was married a year before 9/11. She was 18 years old, and he was 43 when they got married, and this was seen by many as a political alliance between Bin Laden and the Yemeni branch of al Qaeda. This was the one, too, Carol, that defended Osama Bin Laden in the compound.

She was shot in the leg when the SEALs went in there. Passport was found, too, and she had also -- is in custody with Pakistani authorities and is apparently telling them that she was in that hideout, in that compound, for five years and didn't leave -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I just can't even imagine that.

VERJEE: I know.

COSTELLO: Do you think he shared --

VERJEE: I know.

COSTELLO: I mean, it's unlikely the way Osama Bin Laden felt about women that he would share any important information with them, but I just got to wonder, Pakistani authorities are questioning his fifth wife. And then, what will happen to her? She'll just be sent back to her country of origin or will they charge her with something?

VERJEE: It's not clear. I mean, I don't know if they will charge her with something because they would need to charge her with a crime, and is it a crime to be Osama Bin Laden's Wife? She probably has been around him and has overheard or he may have told her information that's important to debrief her. What we did hear, though, from some reports, too, is that with his wives, when they were in Afghanistan, they were, you know, three of them kind of lived in harmony.

And according to one report, too, they would go on these family outings, and they would be in this family bus, and Bin Laden would follow behind in a car, and they would all kind of hang out together, and he would teach them how to fire guns as well.

So, I don't know if there was sensitive operational al Qaeda information shared with them, but that's one flavor of moments that he spent with them and how he spent it with them in Afghanistan.

COSTELLO: Some of these women were highly educated. I just wonder, did they have a choice whether or not to marry him? Were they all forced to marry him or did some of them want to?

VERJEE: Well, it seems as though, you know, on the one hand, there are political alliances with some of these wives also, because, you know, when you do that, you have different brands of al Qaeda in different country. So, marrying Bin Laden just brings up all the divisiveness to an end and it brings them closer. Some of them may have had a choice. They were educated women. It seems, though, that they were relationships of convenience to the leader and not something that necessarily would have been done by choice, but we don't know that.

I mean, maybe, they thought this guy is fantastic. You know, he's someone whose ideology we really believe in, and they feel great being associated with him. We may never know the answers to that, but you know, it definitely served him strategically and politically to have these wives.

COSTELLO: Zain Verjee, fascinating. Thank you so much. Live from London.

Checking our top stories now. The world community is keeping up the pressure on Libya's Moammar Gadhafi. At a high-level meeting in Rome, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton demanded Gadhafi stop attacking rebels, withdraw his forces from rebel-held cities, restore services there, and allow humanitarian aid in.

Japan's prime minister is asking the operator of a nuclear plant southwest of Tokyo to shut it down at least until earthquake and tsunami protections can be built. The prime minister says the plan could produce great damage to Japan similar to what's happening with the Fukushima plant.

And a new CNN Opinion Research Poll finds more than eight in 10 Americans feel the economy is in poor shape. Seventeen percent of the economy is somewhat good.

There is a bit of good news on the economy this morning. Really. Employers added nearly a quarter of a million jobs last month. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange to break it down for us, and Wall Street seems to be responding.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. They're very happy today, Carol. We're seeing a lot of positives in today's jobs report, especially with that headline number showing that the economy added 244,000 jobs in April. You know, it's the strongest jobs growth we've seen since last May. Now, keep in mind that pop that we got last year was mostly census driven by those temporary census jobs added, but you know, it's really been a rough ride as far as jobs being added to the economy. Those census jobs, by the way, were one-time gains that don't exist now.

So, the great thing about this 244,000 number is that it isn't clouded. It's more of a pure number. It makes it an even stronger number, especially with how Wall Street is reacting. Other positive signs to this report, when you look a little deeper, we're seeing solid job growth across a broad range of industries in professional services like accounting, legal, bookkeeping, also in manufacturing and leisure and hospitality, mostly at food services.

And education and health care and retail trades, those areas also saw big job additions. So, that positive tone, as I said, definitely playing out on Wall Street. it was kind of an up side surprise, because Wall Street was definitely in a down beat mood before this report came out. The Dow right now jumping 132 points, Carol.

COSTELLO: Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange, many thanks.

Coming up next, we're going to talk about the dog in the compound. The SEAL team took an elite pooch into Osama Bin Laden's compound in Pakistan. We'll ask an expert what that dog's role in the mission might have been.

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COSTELLO: Here is what will be making headlines later today.

The chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, returns to tornado stricken Alabama this afternoon to meet with storm victims.

Later, in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, President Obama meets with the military strike team involved in the Osama bin Laden mission.

And First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden host a Mother's Day tea for military wives; that happens at 3:00 Eastern in the East Room of the White House.

We'll have the very latest regarding the death of Osama bin Laden just ahead.

Also the increasingly irrelevant yellow pages fights one big city's ordinance to keep delivering the phone books, whether people want them or not.

And a female tennis star says sex before a match is fantastic. "The Big Play" is coming up it's in our sports segment. I know what you're thinking. We'll be back.

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COSTELLO: Al Qaeda has released a statement confirming the death of its founder, Osama bin Laden. That's according to an intelligence group that monitors military messages. We'll have a live report out of Pakistan about that in just a few minutes.

But first let's check stories cross country now.

Police in Houston are looking for the trio of gunmen wanted for the strong armed robbery of a Waffle House restaurant two weeks ago. No one was injured in the four-minute long heist, but the suspects cleaned out both the cash register and customers.

In Seattle on the same day city officials unveiled a new online registry for people who don't want the yellow pages phone book. Distributors filed for a temporary restraining order against it, signing the yellow pages are protected free speech.

And here's the newest attraction in East Tennessee Smoky Mountain: an eagle's nest that survived last week's deadly outbreak of tornados. In fact, one of the eaglets hatched just after the storm. Aren't they cute? The latest yesterday, they should fly the coup in just a couple of months.

We're following lots of developments in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with Mohammed Jamjoom live in Kabul, Afghanistan.

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Today we've been speaking to U.S. troops stationed here, talking to them about their reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden and what it means for the future of the war in Afghanistan. We'll have more at the top of the hour.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Brianna Keilar at the White House. President Obama meets with the Seals team that took down Osama bin Laden today and the White House releases some behind the scenes video of the President Sunday night after he was captured.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Jim Acosta in Washington where a former director of the CIA has an idea on how to finish off al Qaeda and every American can do it. Back to you Carol.

COSTELLO: Thanks to all of you.

And now, world famous but still anonymous, the Navy Seals team six back on U.S. soil. We'll visit their home and get a glimpse of normal life.

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COSTELLO: Time to pull out your fancy hat and your Mint Julep.

Jeff Fischel, from HLN sports is here and tomorrow the horses run.

JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS ANCHOR: There they go, away they go, actually. Ok, the favorite is dialed in, but odds makers are giving some of the horses almost no shot, right? Like, Twinspired, a 30 to 1 long shot, just don't tell that to the owners, 14 of them share the horse and share the dream.

One of them Giddy Shriver (ph) has never had a horse in the derby before. Giddy is definitely not one of those horse racing millionaires. Every time she saves a little money, she puts it aside and buys a piece of a horse. For Twinspired, she owns exactly one percent, but she says that's all you need if your horse wins.

COSTELLO: That's right.

FISCHEL: So keep an eye out for Giddy and Twinspired tomorrow at the big race.

Hey, pop culture collision in NHL playoff games, Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman, she had a greeting from the Greenman, from Vancouver. These guys made it to Music City to see their beloved Canucks taking on the Nashville Predators.

Ryan Kesler making sweet music, again, for Vancouver. Splits two defensemen and scores a game winner. He also got the game winner in the last game. Canucks now lead the game series, 3-1, and can close it out tomorrow night.

Baseball, glove me two times. DBacks and Rockies, this is the third inning, the Rockies Carlos Gonzalez, he robs Steven Drew. Drew, of course, gets another chance. This tends to happen in baseball. Coming up again in the eighth inning, trying to make more magic, Drew drives it down the left field line and there again is Carlos Gonzalez. And CarGo steals another one, another great catch. The DBacks will get the last laugh winning in extra innings.

Here is a major league catch by a minor league fan. Watch the dad at the Chattanooga lookout game. The ball in one hand.

COSTELLO: And a kid in the other?

FISCHEL: Daughter in the other, Bare handed, no less.

Another fan that's so impressed by (INAUDIBLE)

COSTELLO: You know, if that kid would've got beat by that ball, he would have been in trouble with that mom.

FISCHEL: That's exactly it. They guys would come and give them a fist bump. The women say, what are you doing with your daughter? This is the difference between men and women.

Not every catch goes so well. Check this one out. Jeff Francoeur tries to toss the ball into the crowd to a fan. He's trying to be nice. This is the end of the inning. And it didn't go so well, one fan got in the way of a woman. That's not nice.

COSTELLO: That's a bad catch. He should be embarrassed.

FISCHEL: You're supposed to catch and takes the woman out in the face. He's like, I didn't mean to. Sorry.

Ok. Finally, how do you know -- you know athletes from certain sports, they will talk about abstaining from sex before the big game. Apparently pro tennis players, not among them. Francesca Schiavone of Italy. She spoke with Metro Web Site Briton, quote, "For a woman, sex before a match is not only allowed, it is fantastic. It raises your hormone levels and brings advantages to all of your points."

COSTELLO: Do you do it just before the match or is the night before ok?

FISCHEL: Well, you know, she's an expert because she won the French open last year. So clearly, clearly she was having a great two weeks in Paris last year. Actually, the French open is coming up again in couple weeks. If that's what it takes to be great, I'm willing to be great.

COSTELLO: Exactly.

I interviewed Jason Hayward of the Atlanta Braves yesterday --

FISCHEL: Oh, yes?

For a story that's going to air later on in the week. He was a lovely young man. 21 years old and incredibly talented and so humble.

FISCHEL: And I tell you, he is perhaps the greatest young baseball player in the game. If you're looking around saying which guy is going to be the next hall of famer who's already playing, he's 21 year old. This will all be great. COSTELLO: We went out to right field which is his position.

I said when you're out here, do you feel like you're the king of right field?

His response was, absolutely not, I'm not the king of anything. There are lots of people coming up who might be better. I have to work hard every day.

FISCHEL: Yes.

COSTELLO: I was so shocked by that answer.

FISCHEL: I know. I guess that's how you get to the majors so fast. He was already great last year when he was age 20, which is amazing.

COSTELLO: Yes.

FISCHEL: Short list the guys that are actually that young.

COSTELLO: First Major League at-bat, a home run.

FISCHEL: That's right. First swing. There you go.

I'm excited to do this story, so hopefully you will look at the story and you will say, "Carol, you did a great job."

FISCHEL: all right. I'm looking for it.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Jeff.

FISCHEL: Ok.