alleged police misconduct closed long after it was too late for disciplinary auctions. one of the findings of the independent police auditor. also in the wake of what could be the most expensive hack job in history. what you can do to protect your online identity. we'll have some new tips for you. news at 6:00 starts right now. good evening. thanks for joining us. >> we want to remind you we'll be rejoining "nbc nightly news" tonight for a special half hour at 6:30. >> we begin tonight with the bay area's largest city and its police department. not one single officer in san jose was disciplined for racial profiling or excessive force last year. to some that's remarkably positive. to others it raises a red flag. is there any accountability within sjpd? let's bring in chris sanchez who

joins us now. amazing, the story, they brought in an independent contractor here to review this. what do you have? >> reporter: this is pretty normal for the city of san jose to have an independent police auditor, raj. though the relationship has been very contentious in the past, we seem to be seeing a new era in the relationship between the san jose police and its watchdog group. when an officer is accused of police misconduct, it is an investigation that is confidential by law. one person who does get to see that report is the independent police auditor. so her report is really our insight into how the department stays on the straight and narrow. when san jose police chief chris moore asked the independent police auditor to swear him in it was symbolic of a new era between the police and its watchdog group. >> we have a very positive, respectful relationship. do we disagree? yes. are we disagreeable? no. >> reporter: today the first test of that relationship. the independent auditor's report for 2010 and review of every

investigation of police misconduct. the independent auditor reviewed 183 internal affairs investigations. in 89% of those cases the independent auditor agreed with the department. she questions why none of the cases that involved bias policing, 30 in all, resulted in discipline and that not a single officer was disciplined for the alleged use of excessive force. >> i do not believe that there were 152 allegations and people made everything up. i don't believe that. >> reporter: the police chief says it may have to do with the way his department defines use of force. >> the number of cases where there's actually a use of force is really, really small. and then a very small percentage of those result in a complaint about the use of force. and of the vast majority of cases, it is the use of hands as force. so it's not unheard of to have zero sustained cases. >> reporter: still the chief commits that none of the 122 officers he must lay off will come from internal affairs.

which should also address the auditor's concern that often investigations close when it's too late to discipline the officer by law. punishment must come within 365 days. it may not be flattering, but it is transparent. >> not one of these entities ever said, please don't run these. don't put this information out. not one person did. not that that would stop me. but the point is, no one ever did. >> reporter: the police chief and the independent auditor both say that it is so important for the public to participate in this process even if that means filing a complaint against an officer. because the department can't fix any problems that it doesn't know about. if you want to read the independent auditor's report for yourself, find it online at the city's website. it is also available on the san jose police website as well. >> chris, thank you. some interesting information there. we also have this now. the palo alto and san jose police departments have been using faulty breathalyzer

machines. that word coming into our newsroom within the last few minutes. those faulty breathalyzer machines have been used in palo alto since november of last year, san jose since last april. the d.a. says it'll review each of the cases involving those machines. new at 6:00, california attorney general harris is standing firm with current governor jerry brown and former governor arnold schwarzenegger. this week she submitted a brief to the state supreme court arguing that state law does not give the backers of a ballot initiative to right to defend the measure in court. what's known as standing. that's exactly what supporters of prop 8 are trying to get. they've asked the ninth circuit court of appeals to allow them to step in. the appellate court punted the issue to the california supreme court. also new at 6:00, there will be no executions in california this year. state corrections officials have put off any attempt to resume executions. among the 713 condemned inmates on death row. that mortatorium will last unti

at least 2012. court documents filed by the california department of corrections and rehabilitation requested to delay review of new lethal injection procedures until january. that follows a decision last week by governor brown to scrap plans all together, to build a new death row facility. pg & e is beginning to process of testing its gas pipelines. utility workers will first test the massive 132 a pipeline in mountain view. the pressure test will help determine whether the pipeline is safe or if it needs to be replaced. the pipe is a mile long cross feeder line to the same pipeline that ruptured in san bruno. that rupture destroyed an entire neighborhood and killed eight people. the next question, who pays for the testing? for the first time since a deadly attack in 2007, the san francisco zoo will house a siberian tiger. she may be rare and exotic, but the zoo says the new tiger has a

down to earth name. that name is martha. she's 10 years old. here are some pictures of her here. and is expected to arrive at the zoo next month from a zoo in nebraska. the last siberian tiger at the san francisco zoo was fatally shot by police officers after attacking three people, killing one on christmas day 2007. a shareholders meeting in san francisco ended with the arrest of eight demonstrators. dozens of protesters gathered outside today's meeting to personally deliver a message to the company's ceo. the message, big banks are blocking financial reform. a small group of protesters did get inside the meeting. when they were asked to leave, police say they barricaded the door to the building. they were arrest ed cited with misdemeanor for trespassing and released. major revelations regarding the death of osama bin laden. one of the most controversial aspects through all of this, will the u.s. release a picture

of bin laden's corpse? tonight cia director leon panetta tells nbc news eventually a photograph will be released. panetta's comments come as the obama administration continues to debate that issue. they fear releasing a photo could further incite anti-u.s. sentiment in the muslim world. in other developments today, u.s. officials revealed that bibin laden was actually unarmed when he was shot by a navy s.e.a.l. during the raid on the compound. officials stress bin laden still was resisting capture. the white house also clarified that bin laden's wife was shot in the leg. she was not killed. today pakistan lashed out at the u.s. for being kept in the dark on the mission. but tonight panetta revealed just how secretive the raid really was. >> the only time the pakistanis found out about it, frankly, was after this mission had taken place. we had to blow the helicopter, as you know. that probably woke up a lot of

people, including the pakistanis. >> the s.e.a.l.s involved in the raid are now back at andrews air force base in maryland for debriefing. terrorism experts around the world and at stanford's hoover institution warn that al qaeda and other terror groups might retaliate against the united states. if that were to happen, is the bay area prepared? we bring in nbc's mary ann favro. in recent years, the red cross and other community service organizations have made a lot of progress. is it enough? >> reporter: well, they certainly have been instrumental. it's very difficult to prepare for the unexpected. but after talking to the community director here of preparedness, he tells me we are definitely much better prepared to respond to a potential terrorism attack than we were after 9/11. during 9/11, the response was overwhelming. many american red cross volunteers from the bay area worked at ground zero, providing relief to firefighters serving 16,000 meals a day.

>> and was working probably 16 to 20 hour days. >> reporter: now tom busk is the director of community preparedness for the american red cross silicon valley chapter. he says in the event of an attack similar to 9/11 the first response would be stronger and fa faster. >> pulling the trigger and lots and lots of resources. you can always turn them around. if you start edging into it you'll discover you're behind the game. >> reporter: several important changes were made after september 11st. >> we're seeing a lot more collaboration between different agency. law enforcement and fbi and some of the other agencies have gotten a lot closer to us. we understand how they work better now. they understand how we work better. >> reporter: he also says nationally first responders now use a standardized emergency management system, which defines who's in charge and enables agencies to talk on the same radio channels. a problem during major fires in california. this report from the nanetta transportation institute at san

jose state university outlines other lessons learned during 9/11. they include the need for a backup communication system and preparedness drills and suggest making copies of vital documents such as building plans and improving communication to the families of victims. tough lessons learned helping victims here that will benefit victims in the future. another lesson learned is the need to think outside of the box. here's a perfect example. after 9/11, some of the firefighters and police officers who were working at ground zero said they really needed to talk to someone who was an alcoholics anonymous counselor because they were under such tremendous stress. that's something relief workers hadn't even considered. but they made it happen at the respite centers. that's something they will do in the future. reporting live in san jose, mary ann favro, nbc bay area news. >> stay with us here at nbc bay area for continuing coverage of the bin laden story. coming up at 6:30 we're going to

rejoin brian williams. a special edition of "nightly news" with in depth coverage of the deadly mission and the dilemma now facing teachers and parents coming up at 6:30. a warning for one bay area county. the possible record spike for whooping cough. also ahead, look for the best summer travel destination? you won't have to go too far. the one bay area city topping the list and the off beat attractions that make the city so unique. another online data breach. another reason for us to protect ourselves. we've got some tips, coming up. plus, why an illinois man could be facing charges here in the bay area for using the internet for some payback. all right. good evening. we cranked up the heat a little bit today. we did have a few 80s here. especially in the south bay. we're talking about even warmer weather for tomorrow. we'll let you know if we'll have any 90s coming up in my complete

forecast. at

tens of thousands of people are getting letters in the mail this week telling them that their personal data, addresses, birthday, even credit card numbers are now compromised. as we tell you over and over again, identity theft is rampant but there are ways to protect yourself. tech reporter scott budman is here. you tell us this every six months. you have to tell people over and over again because there's always new stuff going on. >> it's true. there are new ways for them to get at our data, jessica. it's a story that never goes away. entertainment giant sony by itself admitting more than 100 pill million of its customers may have had personal data co compromi compromised. cyber thieves are getting craftier. the ways to fight back, though, stay the same. when the giant grinder fires up at orchard valley, customers

know they'll get what they want. good coffee. but when gamers or shoppers fire up their computers and smartphones, they've been getting more than what they've bargained for. they've been getting hacked. >> way more than i'd really like to. >> reporter: lisa blanchard runs an online business. she plans, shops, paying bills and tries to fight off identity thieves online. >> it's still scary. as you say, i've been getting the little notices saying we've been hacked. >> when something like this breach occurs, you think, oh, my god. >> reporter: that's mcafee's gary davis. his company tracks breaches like the ones that hit sony customer. he says to protect yourself, start with common sense. >> look for suspicious e-mails. look for, you know, regular mail that looks -- asking for personal information, discard it. be sure to always be looking at your latest credit card statement, make sure there's no charges that don't make sense there. >> reporter: because whether you

deal with small or large online companies, we're all at risk when identity thieves target all of our devices. often pretending to be our friends on social networks. >> a cyber criminal is a for-profit business. >> reporter: and it's your business to keep them away. >> i just don't respond to any of those e-mails that say send me your information. >> now, that is common sense. another tip, use one credit card for your online transactions. that way if you do get a letter from a company that's been hacked, you're just one phone call away from covering yourself financially. raj? >> thank you, scott. another story about identity. it's a romance, though, gone wrong. now, an illinois man is in hot water with the palo alto police. police say a 27-year-old man created a phony ad on craigslist to get revenge at a woman whom he blames for ending his relationship with an ex-girlfriend. the woman who's from palo alto told police the ad was placed with her pictures, her cell phone and her name. in the five to six hours the ad was up, she received numerous

messages, some graphic in nature. prosecutors could charge the man with two counts of false impersonation. san francisco may be better known for its fog than son. that doesn't seem to matter to one major u.s. publication. nbc shows us why san francisco is the star of this summer. >> reporter: the sight of bundled up visitors on san francisco's ocean beach can only mean summer's on the way. so ned broke out a sweater and knit cap to walk his dogs. >> our beaches are not your brazil beaches. but we can come out here and do everything else. >> reporter: san franciscans know summer will bring foggy days and heavy coats. >> sometimes it's so cold it feels like i'm in colorado. some days the t-shirt is ready to go. >> reporter: apparently sun and surf don't make a summer. u.s. news world and reports just

ranked san francisco the nation's top summer destination. >> san francisco is perfect in the summertime. it does provide the fog which is very romantic. frankly, people love the fog. >> reporter: of course, they love the golden gate bridge, cable cars and seafood. but the report says they also have a soft spot for the city's unique neighborhoods. >> and it's really a free experience to be able to walk around the castor, the haight, the mission. there's a lot of buzz. >> reporter: one of the must-see sights is at fisherman's wharf. >> there's always some great old school music. there's a lot of interactive machines here that you can use, and you're actually competing against mechanical machines. >> reporter: san francisco's charm isn't music to everyone. the report suggests visitors looking for a sun-filled beach vacation might want to try somewhere else.

nbc, bay area news. now, it's not often bikini weather at ocean beach. >> delor res park, tomorrow is going to be a good day to test out the new bathing trunks. maybe even the bikini. never know. san ramon, 85. gil roy, 81. those were our warm spots across the bay area. holding on to eat in the east bay. 72 in san jose. low to mid-70s throughout the peninsula. warmer tomorrow. a lot more widespread 80s. isolated low 90s. cooler changes coming into our mother's day weekend. high pressure is building in a lot stronger than it did over the weekend. that's really going to help to heat things up with 80s here throughout wednesday. and for thursday it's still going to stay warm. we'll see these winds out of the northwest also kind of enhancing the heat here across the bay area. the last time it was this warm

was about seven months ago, you guys. look at this. october 2nd we had 88 in livermore. overall the last time it was this warm was back on april 1st when we did have temperatures, you know, in the warm category in the low 80s. throughout wednesday, let's get a look. close to 90 degrees here in the south bay. 88 in evergreen. 87 in los gatos. the south bay will have the best chance to get those low 90s. if you happen to hit 90 send us a news tip and let me know about it. 88 in concord. 86 in napa. north bay mid to upper 80s. your seven-day forecast, cooling it off for all the moms with some low to mid-70s. just the kind of present they want. moms, all they want to do on mother's day is sit back and relax. going to be perfect for them. >> a massage, maybe, jess.

still ahead, could something found in the sierra be causing a mass distinction for frogs? a record number of whooping cases this year. back in two.

topping our health watch tonight, there are new concerns about whooping cough. a bacterial infection that can turn deadly. the worry is growing so large in one east bay county, free vaccination clinics are now available. so far at least 78 cases have been reported in contra costa county this year alone. that number puts the county on track to set a new record. last year 205 cases were reported overall. statewide there are 733 cases. the free clinics will be held on wednesday, tomorrow and again on thursday. a deadly fungus that affects frogs, toads, salamanders and newts is a major cause of amphibian population decline spreading around the world.

if california has a favorite amphibian it's the jumping frogs made famous by mark twain. they've been endangered for several years now partly because of that fungus now found in central and south america. a team of san francisco state university biologists say the fungus is probably a factor in the decline of 40% of all amphibian species worldwide. another 500 species are classified as critically endangered. the slumping giants. we were just talking abo hein t a big tppleht in the big apple tigkiht looonnl for some love against the mets. lauren scott joining us next. ng

good evening. joe lewis arena in detroit certainly has its mystique. the sharks soaking it in today while getting ready for tomorrow's game three. the mission is to keep the

octupi off the ice. destroit with just two goals thus far in the series. playing on the road and having success often means keeping the crowd quiet. there's one keyword about how a road game can be an advantage. that word of the day is -- >> distractions. the wives don't like to hear that word. but, you know, we don't have that here. it's just the guys, just the boys being boys. that's it. you just kind of get to talk about team bonding. what is that? guys just hanging out watching hockey. just relaxing and enjoying themselves. at the end of the day, it's about playing hockey and that's what we're here for. >> we've been playing well in the last two games. as soon as we got on the road, we just -- i wouldn't say we have a higher sense of urgency, but we definitely -- >> the giants getting good news before their game in new york tonight. pablo sandoval's wrist surgery was successful, but he won't be

back for at least a month. without him the giants starting a three-game series against the mets. the lead at shea stadium flip-flopping several times. two of the runs coming off a mike fontenot single. the game tied at 5. the solo shot from the giants. up by one. in the bottom frame the mets tied it up again. right now it is 6 all in the seventh. the a's opening a three-game set against the indians tonight at the coliseum. oakland is one game out of the division lead. cleveland has been a surprise this season. they've got the best record in the american league. meanwhile the a's going for their fifth win in six games tonight. >> we got a lot of ball games left. so there's a lot of time to, you know, make up ground. you know, hopefully take over first place in the al west. >> we definitely got a tough series coming up. indians are playing well right now and swinging it and pitching

good. another tough series. >> comprehensive coverage of every bay area team is on comcast sportsnet bay area. go deep with sportsnet central every night at 10:30 on comcast sportsnet, bay area. tonight you remember we've got "the voice" on tonight. after "the voice," though. >> being remembered for my talent and not a mistake i made when i was 19 years old. >> remember her? if she looks familiar, frenchie was an "american idol" eight seasons ago. we never actually saw her compete. tonight at 11:00 we talk about her return to tv. yes, we went there about those topless photos that got her pulled from "idol" all those years ago. our friend and colleague, brett cannon is with us. for more than ten years wakie i up at 3:00 in the morning. >> i'm on the other 7:00 now. 7:00 p.m. brand-new show coming up live. the california channel airing on comcast gijal 186 and 11-2 on the air. all the top stories of the day today. plus we get to go a little more in-depth. local interviews.

a look at tonight, for example, what's happening with the state budget. also more in-depth with how the arab world is reacting to the death of osama bin laden. join us tonight coming up at 7:00. >> every night at 7:00? >> every night. monday through friday. >> looking forrd>>o > eiseecspl special edion of "nitly news" is up next. of osama bin laden and some of the other news of this day. as we said athe top of our first half hour here tonight, new details are emerging about this daring raid that brought down bin laden in pakistan. the story changing a bit as what they call the fog of war, or at least this raid, starts to clear. we want to go right to the pentagon and nbc news pentagon

correspondent jim miklaszewski. and jim, from your perspective, how did details change today? >> reporter: well, brian, in terms of the details, we heard from the white house that they were actually changing the story about some of the events that occurred inside that compound. particularly when it came to the shooting of osama bin laden. initially, the white house said he was armed. then they said he was unarmed. and today we learned that his wife actually charged a navy s.e.a.l., who then shot her in the leg before he shot osama bin laden twice. you know, but overall, this journey, the kind of intelligence gathering to get osama bin laden, took years. and there were a few lucky breaks along the way. for more than 15 years osama bin laden was america's most wanted. but in the end it was a lowly courier that brought down the world's most notorious terrorist. u.s. officials tell nbc news the

original tip came unwittingly from 9/11 mastermind khalid sheikh mohammed and abu farraj al libbi while both were in cia custody. under aggressive interrogations both denied that they knew bin laden's trusted courier, raising suspicions that courier was the closest link to the al qaeda leader. >> we got incredibly valuable data after we interrogated suspects. different question about whether the american people think those are appropriate. but the data i saw were hugely valuable. >> reporter: then last july came the first big break. cia operatives tracked down the courier on the streets of peshawar, pakistan and eventually tracked him to this massive compound 35 miles north of islamabad. from then on the compound was under heavy cia and satellite surveillance. and although bin laden himself was never spotted, intelligence officials became convinced he was there. >> putting this together was not an easy feat. it meant a sustained analysis over a substantial period of time.

>> reporter: last friday president obama considered the intelligence compelling enough to order the attack on sunday. half past midnight, three u.s. helicopters flying low under pakistani radar zeroed in on the compound. one helicopter was forced to land inside a courtyard, clipping a wall with its tail rotor. back at the white house the president and his national security team were riveted to a live video feed of the operation. as dozens of u.s. commandos set up a perimeter, two teams of assault forces, delta force and navy s.e.a.l.s, stormed the compound. as one commando entered a third-floor bedroom, he came face to face with osama bin laden, who was unarmed. but bin laden's wife charged straight at the american, who shot her in the leg. he then fired two rounds at bin laden, one in the face, one in the chest, and the al qaeda leader fell dead. the white house today struggled to explain why bin laden was shot when he was unarmed. >> there were many other people who were armed in the region --

i mean in the compound. there was a firefight. >> reporter: 40 minutes after they landed u.s. forces took off with the body of bin laden, destroying the disabled helicopter on the way out. the commandos also gathered a potential mother lode of intelligence. five computers, ten hard drives, and more than 100 disks and thumb drives. a special cia task force has already started searching the material for al qaeda secrets bin laden may have left behind. and while the white house is still struggling over whether to release photos of a deceased osama bin laden, the administration is expected to release photos and perhaps even a video of bin laden's burial at sea in an effort to prove that at least was a respectful ceremony. brian? >> all right. all of it apparently developing. jim miklaszewski from the pentagon again tonight. jim, thanks. now we want to return to the scene of this raid in pakistan. it's north of islamabad. nbc news correspondent stephanie gosk is there tonight. new information about the u.s.

surveillance of this compound before special forces finally moved in. stephanie, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. we keep on hearing surprise that bin laden was capable of hiding in plain sight. but was he really in plain sight? the compound was identified last august. once it was identified, it was put under 24-hour surveillance. in that time up until the actual raid itself bin laden was never actually seen. they acted on intelligence that fell short of that physical proof. that in effect bin laden had put himself in a kind of prison of his own making. so it's not entirely that surprising that when we talked to people in this community they said they were surprised that he was down the street. also, keep in mind there was a $25 million bounty on his head. that is a lot of money and a lot of incentive. and there's no indication that anyone that lives in this community actually provided any help in capturing him or identifying him.

finally, another thing that we keep hearing is something the white house continues to say, is that this town is a suburb of islamabad. we took the trip today. it takes more than three hours. it's almost 100 miles. it definitely is not a suburb. it is a kind of retreat for a lot of people that live in that city. but bin laden was not really on the doorstep of the capital of pakistan. brian? >> stephanie, i was going to say that one thing that's frustrated me about the coverage, having been to the region, is people say it was a walled compound as if it is unusual for houses there. and so often the way of marking property is either a simple stone wall or built-up walls. but many houses of the better houses are surrounded by walls. while these were particularly high and barbed wired. >> reporter: yeah, they were higher than most of the walls. but we're standing next to a few houses right now that are surrounded by walls right now. that kind of privacy is not unique, as you say, in this part of the world.

i think certainly the barbed wire, the fact that they burned their garbage instead of putting it out on the street, people here had their suspicions, but no one ever really -- at least the people we've spoken to here -- jumped to the conclusion that it must be osama bin laden. brian? >> all right. stephanie gosk, who again, has made her way to that compound in pakistan. stephanie, thanks for your reporting from there. we'll look for more of it. and we want to go back as well to our chief foreign correspondent, richard engel, who's learning tonight that bin laden's death is raising some hopes in the arab world for perhaps improved relations. and richard, this is an interesting bit of reporting. >> reporter: it certainly is. and hopeful, one would think. osama bin laden's presence, his figure has dominated the way so many americans think about the middle east for the past decade. the people in this region know that. they don't like it. and now they're happy he's gone.

osama bin laden died hated by most muslims he claimed he was defending with terrorism. >> i said to mr. obama, thank you. thank you so much. >> reporter: in cairo today there's hope the u.s. military will stop occupying muslim countries now that bin laden is dead. >> part of me was relieved. i don't know why i was relieved, but maybe i thought that that would soon lead to the end of the war in afghanistan and iraq, which would bring a little more -- you know, a little bit more stability to the region. >> reporter: even the muslim brotherhood, the world's biggest islamic fundamentalist group, welcomed bin laden's death. >> i think it can mean a new start for a good relation, built on dual respect, common values, common interests. >> reporter: it wasn't always like this. osama bin laden's goal, he often said, was to kill american citizens so that they'd pressure washington to change what bin laden called america's jewish and crusader policies. after the invasion of afghanistan and especially the unpopular war in iraq, bin

laden's message appealed to many in this region. but bin laden and al qaeda's followers turned their bombs on muslim civilians too because even they weren't hard-line enough for the saudi millionaire. most of the people al qaeda killed were muslims. today in benghazi many accused bin laden of hijacking islam. "he goes and blows up people. islam did not teach that," said this man. and the region seems to have moved beyond bin laden. democratic uprisings are changing the middle east far more than bin laden's suicide attacks. it seems now, brian, that the middle east is more hungry for democratic reform than osama bin laden's very perverted version of islam. >> all right, richard engel reporting tonight from libya. we should add, richard, the cia director today confirmed that as far as they know moammar gadhafi is in fact alive, survived that

attack on the compound that killed his son last weekend. there had been some question about that. again, richard engel reporting from libya tonight. bringing it now back to this country, the death of bin laden has brought a lot of memories back from 9/11. and perhaps you remember the story in the news from back then about middletown, new jersey, the local train station in the new york suburb, the parking lot was filled with the cars of commuters who went to work in the city that day but never came home. those of us who grew up there remember the world trade towers going up on the horizon, and they became kind of our north star. that is, until they came down. nbc's rehema ellis went there today to gauge reaction to this news. >> reporter: middletown, new jersey is the kind of place people move to to escape trouble. but on september 11th this town of 66,000, an hour from ground zero, was hit hard.

37 middletown residents died in the world trade towers, including mary lou byrd's nephew, brendan, who was visiting one tower, and her oldest sister rosanne, who was working in the other. >> she would have been 52 on april 27th. >> reporter: with the news of osama bin laden's death, she says, there was a range of emotions. >> i was in disbelief. it was a little shocking, and it just brought everything back. >> reporter: in middletown even the train station can be a reminder of those who were lost that day. dozens of commuters' cars whose drivers would never return. when i was here in 2001, this local church suffered an almost unimaginable tragedy. st. mary's church alone lost 26 parishioners in one day. that's more people than the whole town lost in world war ii and vietnam combined. today this garden and memorial is another reminder of middletown's pain. at a local diner nearly everyone

has some connection to those who died on 9/11. including victor amato, who welcomed the news of bin laden's death. >> i was thrilled. it was the best news i've heard this years. >> reporter: but mary lou byrd says the pain of losing brendan and rosanne will never go away. >> we have our entire lives to continue without them with us. and that won't change with bin laden's death. >> reporter: reflections from one family and one town, still coping with loss, one day at a time. rehema ellis, nbc news, middletown, new jersey. and in the light of this raid overseas, in the light of the news we've been covering, we'll be back in just a moment with a look inside u.s. special forces from someone who's been there. ec

there is a lot of attention being focused right now, for good reason, on u.s. special forces, especially the u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s. they took the lead in this attack. and when they're not working, they're famous for undergoing the toughest training anywhere on earth. we've asked someone special to join us here tonight. his name is eric greitens. academically, he went to duke and oxford. he has a master's and a ph.d. he was a rhodes scholar and a truman scholar. we should probably add he's a former navy s.e.a.l. as well. in his spare time. so we want to thank lieutenant commander greitens for joining us. we should also tell you he's the author of "the heart and the fist: the education of a humanitarian, the making of a navy s.e.a.l." thank you for coming by. >> it's my pleasure. >> is it true the dropout rate, and in the s.e.a.l.s they call it wringing out because you've

got to go to a courtyard in front of all your friends and ring a bell to say i can't make it through this training, about 80% of those ring out and drop out of the program? >> that's right. it's about 80%, brian, who ring out. in my class we started with over 220 people in our original class and by the time we graduated we were down to 21 originals. >> i've watched and read so much about s.e.a.l. training. people who stay at the hotel del coronado in california can sit on the veranda and look out at the beach and watch some aspects of the training. i don't mean to bring back bad memories. but part of it is getting wet and sandy. and whenever you're threatened with being comfortable for a few minutes -- >> that's right. >> -- your instructor says go get wet again. >> go get wet and sandy. exactly. >> and that's just part of the punishment. what does that form in young men? >> the whole intention of the training, brian, is to form warriors. men who have both the heart and the fist.

in the last few days we've seen that fist of courage, of physical strength, of tactical proficiency, but it's also true that you're trying to build men with a great heart for public service, who have a real warrior's heart. keep in mind the men who were involved in that operation the other day have spent the last 9 1/2 years at great personal sacrifice, their families have sacrificed. but they've maintained in this because they have the warrior's heart that says there's a higher purpose that i need to serve. >> now, all of you as a group tend to be better educated than the rest of the services as a whole. you tend to be older. more people close to 30 than 20. what does that all do for what they call unit cohesion, the team? >> it's all about building a solid team and then using all of the individual strengths of those team members in order to execute missions. so you want people who are intelligent, who can be creative, who can adapt on the site of an attack in order to achieve success. >> so you roll up on this courtyard, a target like this. the s.e.a.l.s have practiced over and over. you come in on blackhawk

helicopters into the courtyard. you've got to go in blasting. everybody's -- everybody's involved. you know you may suffer losses. you know you may lose an aircraft, as they did. but all the training comes to fruition. >> all of that training comes to fruition. it's years that are spent training so that in the moment you know how to react. these are great teams that have planned together so that no matter what the contingency is they know how to react to achieve the mission. >> now, people might be hearing about s.e.a.l. team 6. i happen to have the great honor of flying into baghdad with them at the start of the war. what is s.e.a.l. team 6 as opposed to all the other teams, and why are we hearing about them? >> you know, there are certain units that we probably don't talk about just because they have different kinds of designators. but what i can tell you is the unit that did this attack are the most elite groups of commandos in the united states military. i personally consider them heroes. i think that they are at the absolute pinnacle of what it means to be an american public servant. >> i know the rest. or you'd have to kill me. lieutenant commander, thank you very much for coming into our

studio tonight. >> you're welcome, brian. >> we'll take a break. when we come back, a father's story related to this same topic. hey marcel, watch this! hey marcel, watch this! [ buzzer sounds ] [ cheers and applause ] ♪ hey marcel, watch this! yeah, marcel! -marcel! -heyey marcel! are you listening to me? marcel! [ male announcer ] only at&t u-verse lets you follow your favorite channels on one screen. just $29 a month for the first six months -- dvr included. in the network there are no hard choices.

never in my lifetime did i think i could walk 60 miles in 3 days. 60 miles compared to what a cancer patient goes through is a walk in the park. from the moment i registered, people started immediately supporting me. i walk with my sister. our relationship has gone to a whole new level because of training together. you meet the most wonderful, inspiring people. when you accomplish those 60 miles, it's truly life-changing. (man) register today for the... because everyone deserves a lifetime.

we have a story related to all the news we've been covering related to our last segment. an american father who's been watching all of this and taking great pride in the mission to find and kill bin laden. a secret mission his own son might have been part of had he not lost his life six years ago in service to this nation in afghanistan. his son was a navy s.e.a.l. and tonight we hear from his dad in his own words. >> my name is daniel j. murphy. i am the father of navy s.e.a.l. lieutenant michael p. murphy. he was a navy s.e.a.l. who was

killed in afghanistan in june 28th, 2005, and as a result of those actions was subsequently awarded the medal of honor. michael was like all of the other navy s.e.a.l.s that you've ever met. they are extremely unassuming. they're quiet, humble, incredibly brave men who do some of the most dangerous missions in the world. there's only 2,000 of them. they are extremely tight, extremely closed-mouthed, extremely small community that watches over each other. when i had heard about the capture and killing of osama bin laden by a special operations team, they had not reported yet who was involved. i knew myself that it was the navy s.e.a.l.s. just by the operation that took place, how it went down. it was no doubt in my mind that those were navy s.e.a.l.s, those were michael's teammates. michael would be extremely proud of what his brothers did.

and they understand why they're doing what they do, to protect america and to prevent another attack like occurred at the pentagon or on the twin towers. and they're going to do their darnedest to make sure that it doesn't happen again. >> daniel j. murphy in his own words tonight. when we come back here this evening, some difficult lessons for kids after this bin laden mission.

finally tonight, all the images of americans celebrating the death of osama bin laden can be difficult for kids to process when they see them on tv. the kids too young to have known what 9/11 really was or who this man was who's now dead. from roxbury, mass tonight the story from nbc's peter

alexander. >> that's really wrong. >> reporter: most of us know exactly where we were during the september 11th attacks, but not crystal pujols at orchard garden school near boston. she was just a preschooler. >> where were you on 9/11? >> i really don't remember, actually. >> how old were you? >> i was 5. >> reporter: here in the shadow of logan airport, where both planes took off that crashed into the twin towers, nick gesuwaldi is teaching his civics classes about that tragic day and the death of osama bin laden, a man that most of his students had never heard of. >> for some reason or another they just hadn't been taught that over the years. so it was a huge surprise. >> reporter: in southern california eighth-grade teacher jill bergmer's students are coming to understand the recent news too. >> there are so many people who were killed and injured that had like nothing to do with it. >> reporter: when current events are themselves history-making and dictate what's taught in history classes, the lesson plan can be challenging. for students there's a complicated mixture of joy and

fear. >> there may be retaliation. it's not over. and you need to be aware of what can happen next. >> reporter: among their questions, is killing someone ever okay? >> i think it's good that he's gone and he's out. but i feel sort of guilty for celebrating his death. >> reporter: and in ora dell, new jersey, a community impacted by those attacks 10th-grader kevin samuel is cautiously expressing some relief. >> justice has been served. finally the killer of thousands has been caught. >> reporter: as these students search for meaning in this week's events -- >> you still haven't convinced me to be on your side. >> reporter: -- perhaps the most important lesson is that not every question has a simple answer. peter alexander, nbc news, roxbury, massachusetts. and that is our extended special one-hour broadcast for this tuesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night.

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