this is fox 5 news. resilience in the wake of tragedy, victims of alabama's deadly tornado outbreak hold prayer services today as they continue to try to recover from

the storm. pope john paul ii is one step closer to possibly becoming a saint. tomorrow ceremony as you can see through about 1.5 million people to rome, the faithful at home also celebrating. now we want to begin with breaking news. we learned moments ago president obama will address the nation. we understand that will fur at about 10:30. we'll bring -- occur at about 10:30. we'll bring that to you as soon as that happens. but the escalating crisis in libya tonight, it is believed the youngest son of moammar gadhafi and three of his grandchildren are dead. thanks for joining tonight at 10:00. i'm maureen umeh. >> i'm will thomas. his family members said some of them died when a nato airstrike targeted what was believed to be a command and control building. that's what nato is saying as well, but not everyone is buying it. >> in the streets of tripoli angry mobs have attacked western embassies and u.n. offices there.

>> the u.n. has pulled its international staff out of the capital city. the bombing happened last 90 when gadhafi was believed to be in the -- night when gadhafi was believed to be in the building. >> this was a direct operation against the leader of this country. this is not permitted by international law. it is not permitted by any moral code or principle. >> libyan authorities say the nato airstrike hit a house where gadhafi, his wife and other family members were socializing. gadhafi and his wife survived, but libyan officials say his 29- year-old son being the youngest son, and three and three grandchildren did not survive. a spokesperson for the transitional national council, that is the rebel group in benghazi, is saying it doesn't believe gadhafi's son was killed. they believe it's propaganda coming from gadhafi's regime. did nato overstep its mandate to protect libyan civilians in an effort to target gadhafi?

let's bring in damon wilson, executive vice president of the international security program at the atlantic council. mr. wilson, thanks for coming in tonight. >> my pleasure. >> your expertise is looking at u.s. relationships with our allies and our adversaries, russia and venezuela among others believing nato went too far in the airstrike. how do you see this? >> this depends in part how this plays out. nato has asserted it hit a military target. this was a known commanding control facility outside the neighbor of tripoli and three come forward to specify that all their targeting takes place on military targets that are involved in targeting civilians in libya. nato has a target of non- targeting individuals. so i think we're still learning details about the attack itself, but according to rules nato has laid out it didn't overstep its bounds. >> a targeted assassination of gadhafi would violate both international international and u.s. law as i understand it. is there a way to legally

circumvent that? >> i don't think there is an effort to do so. you could make the case. we are targeting terror high value targets all the time in the war on terror. this is didn't, however. this is the u.n. security council authorized operations that has certain legal restrictions on the operations itself. >> senator lindsey graham said on fox news sunday today gadhafi is a legitimate military target because he's the commanding control source. do you buy that? >> i think that part goes a little bit too far under the circumstance because part of what's happening is the alliance is trying to manage a diverse coalition trying to maintain international support and a broad range of countries contributing. they are in a bit of a bind when the nato secretary general and others say it's hard to imagine civilians being safe with gadhafi at helm. it does lead to certain conclusions. that's where the tension is within the alliance now. >> this attack happened in a civilian neighborhood. now again nato is saying it was fair game because this was a

military compound. is it fair game to target sites in civilian neighborhoods where civilians may be killed? >> well, this is the importance of the precision guided munitions the alliance is using. they were able to attack a target that was identified as a military site in a heavily dominated civilian area without causing damage to surrounding homes, surrounding civilians. so this is modern technology. it's risky. we run high risks in war, but we've developed the capabilities to be able to launch precision attacks and that's what this was. >> we appreciate your time and as i understand it from our producers, president obama may be addressing the situation regarding the tornadoes and not the libyan crisis. again, thanks for coming in. >> thank you. it's been six years since his passing. now pope john paul ii is one step closer to possibly becoming a saint. pope benedict xvi declared john paul ii blessed before a crowd of 1.5 million people in st.

peter's square. today's beatification was celebrated by catholics all around the world. the vatican said the late pontiff performed a miracle when he healed a french nun of her parkinson's disease. another miracle must be attributed to john paul after the beatification for him to be declared a state. pope john paul came to d.c. in 1979 and visited the shrine of the immaculate description in the northeast. he left behind some momentos and as fox 5's tisha thompson explains, those momentos now have a very important role to play. >> reporter: the bells seem to ring a little bit louder and visitors from as far as the philippines came here to the basilica to celebrate. >> i want to get to witness him become a saint. >> reporter: pope john paul

ii's journey to sainthood. >> i did see him maybe about 20 feet away. went on a pilgrimage to rome when i was in high school. >> pope john paul ii was likely seen in person by more people than any other person in human history. >> reporter: at a special beatification mass church leaders displayed their most precious momentos of the pope's visit here in 1979, a photograph of him praying in a side chapel, a chalise given by the pope as a gift now used for communion and a familiar white hat left behind 32 years ago and protected by glass because church leaders say it is now considered a religious relic. the only thing missing? cardinal donald wuerl, the archbishop of washington. he was in rome with the other cardinals for the beatification ceremony. >> a lot of us were awake this

morning at 4:00 to watch the church united in rome. >> reporter: andrew bupusco is three years away from becoming a priest. >> he exuded joy and happiness and strength. he's amazing. i hope i could be more like him. >> reporter: he says he looks forward to the day john paul can officially join ranks of the other saints here. at the basilica, tisha thompson, fox 5 news. >> in response to today's beatification cardinal wuerl had on this to say about pope john paul ii. he touched on everything we are concerned in life about today and brought his wisdom spirituality, pastoral sensitivity to the concerns all of us continue to face. this is a celebration not just of a holy man but of a teaching legacy that continues to touch you and me today. john paul ii was holy and a great teacher. the mother of a 5-year-old found in a basement with his

father's body is talking now about what that little boy went through. ajib adieu la and his son were found in the basement -- abdullah and his son were found in thement of an empty home. a -- the basement of an empty home. howard county police didn't find anything at first but they didn't go into a closet. today little majib was released in the hospital recovering after days without food or water sitting next to his father's body. the boy told his mother his father had a fight with his grandfather, walked with the boy through the woods and broke into the house to hide. >> and when his father made him lay down with him and they laid down and he said his father went to sleep and he died. just imagine that face to face in a small space with a dead body not only just a dead body, but his father, watched his father die. >> ajib has bruises but we're told physically he will be okay. investigators haven't ruled yet

how his father died. damage assessments and clean-up efforts continue in tornado ravaged areaof the deep south. today homeland security secretary janet napolitano toured hard hit neighborhoods in alabama and mississippi. hundreds are dead and a fema administrator says the biggest challenge is housing. secretary napolitano is pledging federal support and also offered already condolences. >> we need to build houses and put them on slabs and to me i seen a lot of things in my life, but it just wants me want to break down and cry. >> six disaster centers have opened in alabama and the feds are on ground in kentucky, tennessee, mississippi and georgia. in virginia the department of emergency management said told that 15 tornadoes touched down hitting washington and halifax counties the hardest. coming up here on the 10:00

the caps playing hosts tonight, the game headed into overtime about a half hour ago. we're going live to the verizon center in this hour. and next to donald trump he got a lot of attention at last night's white house correspondents dinner. political analysts from both sides way in as the 10:00 continues. president obama will address the nation within the hour. we will bring it to you live as that happen as. stay right here. busy news night -- happens. stay right here, busy news night on this sunday.

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to put this birth certificate matter to rest. that's because it's about to get back to focusing on the issues that matter. issues like did we fake the moon landing. [ laughter ] >> what really happened in roswell? and where are biggy and tupoc? >> just some of the jazz

president obama took at donald trump while trying his hand, a little comedy last night at the white house's annual correspondents dinner. trump is reportedly thinking about a republican run for president in case you have not heard. the question is what will it mean for the party and 2012 elections? we're talking about that in tonight's we are doing joined by our political stat -- we are joined by our political strategists. good evening to both of you. jack, trump in the 2012 race, good or bad for the gop? >> i've never been a fan of the donald. i'll tell you he's showing up big time on the polls. the beauty of donald trump is that he appeals to the evangelical christian southern voter all the way to the philadelphia/chicago soccer mom. >> 62% according to a new fox poll, 62 he is pa of americans said they would not -- 62% of americans said they would not

be at all proud of donald trump as president. how do you reconcile that? >> it's a good point, but you have to take it step by step. first look at the republican primaries. right now the candidates including trump are moving right because they have to appeal to the republican base. trump will move to the right and lose the center. the beauty of trump, though, and this is what's starting to appeal to me is that he can succeed in winning the nomination, moving to the right. it's very easy for him to move left because he has a very middle of the road background. he's given a lot of money to democrats over the year. >> i want to bring you in now talking about the left democrats, are they loving this? is this good for them in the 2012 election? >> nothing could have been better for the democrats than the added event of donald trump. 63% of americans in a recent poll said they would never vote for donald trump. a majority of americans have said he'd make a terrible or a poor president and that includes 31% of republicans.

the guy hasn't had one intelligent thing to say about real problems facing this country. >> i disagree. >> let me finish. he's talked about going into libya, taking over the country and taking their oil, going into iraq and taking over the country and taking their oil. it's madness. >> he talked about weighty issues like gas and food prices. i know despite some of the things he's said that some have said it's made it sort of a sideshow. does that not lead any yeariness to perhaps him being a viable candidate? >> one of the -- credenece to him being a viable candidate? >> here's the thing with him. there's a growing sense among americans, i think of all kinds, democrat, republican, everybody, that. country is broke and needs fixed and who better to fix it than a businessman, than a person who made 3 or $4 billion? i think that's the appeal. if i remember donald trump's strategist, that's what i'd be

pushing. >> but as a businessman, we do know that he has had some problems within his own personal entire, bankruptcies and a new report came out saying he's not as wealthy as he's claimed to be. given all that, does he still hold the weight and should people really look at him as a viable candidate in this race? >> the fact that he's even in the race and doing so well shows the incredible weakness of the republican field. you've got romney, who is really endeared himself to republicans with passing obama care in massachusetts. you have plain still trying to find russia. you have huckabee whose economic ideas are so off the map they drive us into a great depression. you have gingrich who explains away his many extramarital affairs saying he loves the country so much and now you have trump on trade issues who says he wants to go after china who holds our debt and can push us into bankruptcy. >> here's the issue with trump. what obama is doing and you see him doing it very skillfully at the dinner last night, he's

building this up. the white house has cast their vote. they want to build him up. they want to make him the face of the republican party because they want to run against him it. occurred to me they're almost doing what the l.a. times did to ronald reagan in the '60s. they built up the wrong man. they thought they would give the republican party a bozo image. we'll build up this guy reagan, he can never win. >> gentlemen, we could talk about donald trump all night. he's definitely a colorful character and i've got to say i think he's probably winning in the fact all of us are talking about him and his possible candidacy. >> he's not running. let me tell you why. >> i've got less than 20 seconds. >> he'll never fill out the financial disclosure forms because he doesn't want to reveal the sordid details of his business life. he'll never run. >> thank you for your time. thank you both, gentlemen, for your insight, always a pleasure. i'm sure we'll see much more of you in thing weeks ahead.

not the greatest news for the final flight of the shuttle endeavour. nasa officials say they have no idea when they will launch. engineers and technicians are repairing the shuttle's power and fuel line heaters. those remember the reasons the shuttle didn't take -- were the reasons the shuttle didn't take off friday. mission managers say the first possible day is maybe a week from today but don't know if the repairs will be finished by then. at the verizon center, a wild night, fox 5's dave feldman is there. i understand the game just ended. >> reporter: regulation insufficient to settle the issue but not a great night for the home team, all the details and how the caps are going to get out of this pretty deep well when we come back in a live report from the verizon center.

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highlights. as i talked to you i said the game just ended! i was told by the producers, i'm like i guess they just evacuated the verizon center, zamboni out there behind you. >> reporter: you weren't wrong. the players were still in there and some fans were lingering and the ones who are still here and ones that left have a bad taste in their mouth if they're capital fans because the caps lose today and now they're down 2-0 in a best of seven series. it's not unchartered waters, but it's unfriendly waters. here's how it went down tonight. we'll pick this up in the 1st period. check that, 2nd period. caps peppering dwayne roloson. nick backstrom throws it at the net, brooks laich pokes it in, tied at one, laich's first playoff goal and you're thinking okay, we're pretty good. we got a 1-1 game. 3rd period, bad break for the craps. the pass slams off mike green's -- for the caps. the pass slams off mike green's

skate. 1:07 left in the 3rd caps need a miracle or they're going down 2 -0. new neuvirth is out, the caps have an extra man. ovechkin the equalizer, tied at two, going into sudden death overtime. in overtime the lightning strike, there's a cross at vincent lecavalier who gathers it and finishes it. tampa bay wins in sudden death overtime. caps trail 2-0 in the best of seven series and now they have to reflect before heading to tampa on tuesday. >> tonight was like a missed opportunity. we had it during the game. they got one and we didn't. so we got our work cut out for us. doing a lot of the right things. it's just been really timely and very opportunistic, especially tonight. >> reporter: so the caps trail 2-0 in the best of seven.

games 3 and 4 are tuesday and wednesday in tampa respectfully and hopefully that works out in a better scenario, but this is not uncarterred waters once again for the washington capitals -- unchartered waters once again for the washington capitals. they lost the first two games to the rangers in 1999 and came back to win the best of seven games. they'll have to climb out of this hole again. >> know a lot of folks hoping they will. coming up in our next segment on the 10 with gas prices so high right now aaa is seeing an increase in certain calls for help on the roads. find out why. and the star studded white house correspondents dinner last night, our in-studio guest is up next with a dish on what happened at some of the after parties. stay with us.

rgri o.

you're watching fox 5 news at 10:00. >> we're about a month away

from the memorial day weekend and typically that means this is the time of year gas prices really start to go up. the good news, gas prices are not rising as fast as they were a couple weeks ago, but the bad news, some believe they could still break the all time record when it comes to prices. matt ackland has more on the issue of these gas prices. >> we've all done it. the gas tank is getting close to empty and we try to make it a few more miles before we fill up. well, these days some drivers are trying to make it until the next payday and they are running out of gas. aaa says the number of out of gas calls has spiked recently. >> reporter: according to aaa roadside responses for out of gas vehicles have spiked between 30 and 40% in the d.c. metro area. >> they're running out. they're pushing the envelope. >> reporter: john townsend with aaa mid-atlantic says in some cases he's hearing about people who were driving until they stall on purpose. >> we have people who are saying people are running out of gas in order to get aaa to

bring them a gallon or two. that's foolishness. >> reporter: at costco off the beltway in prince george's county the lower gas prices is leading to a surge in customers. francisco marino says folks are signing up for memberships just to get a better deal on gas, but they are still not happy. >> they think that i'll change the prices, but, of course, i had nothing to do with that. >> reporter: marino feels the pain as well. he drives in from baltimore each day and he understands why customers are so upset. he fills up three times a week. >> most of the time we consider gas as just an after thought, but now when you have to pay 2 3, $400 a month to fuel your vehicle it, becomes a bill. >> reporter: so what's next? could gas prices at least be leveling off or is the pain at the pump about to get worse? >> it's almost like water torture, a drop here, a drop there. >> i'm a realist. so i don't think that they're going to come down any time soon. >> reporter: francisco who helps run that costco gas

station told me tonight even people with expensive cars are feeling the pain. he can tell because those owners who usually fill up with premium gas are now breaking all the rules and putting the cheapest gas possible into their tank, maureen. >> times are hard. thank you for that. a big night for washington d.c. it was the annual with us on correspondents dinner, you know, the one where the president gets to try to be funny. joining me now is executive editor of washington life magazine michael clemens to talk about the really hot ticket and it's not really the dinner. it's these after parties, right? >> absolutely. >> thanks for joining us. talk about your own party. you rented out some big mansions. >> thanks for having me, appreciate it. washington life had an after, after party at the gray goose mansion. we wanted to do something a little more exclusive, private house. only about 150, 200 people because the after parties have grown really big. i mean you're talking about

scarlett johansson, sean penn, jane lynch who played c. sill les other fox's glee. you -- sylvester on fox's glee. you attracted some big names. i heard chelsea hammer was there. >> she was there and her new beau and the guys from funny or die were there. it was good. the celebrities are really on the circuit. >> i hear you have some buzz about the vanity fair bloomberg party. >> it was at the french ambassador's residence which is a beautiful home and seth meyers was there, of course, and a lot of the conversation from saturday night live sawn penn and scarlett johansson kind of step -- sean penn and scarlet johanson kind of stepped out last night. >> zach was the comedian some would argue kind of roasted donald trump. what is the buzz on his performance and the president who gave a speech as well? >> definitely d.c. is talking

about donald trump. we've been talking about donald trump for the last week. >> donald trump has been talking about donald trump. >> but seth meyers and the president really kind of got at him last night with the jokes. >> but thumbs up or down as far as the performances from what you're hearing? >> they were great. seth meyers was wonderful last night. he was funny. he was biting, but then he was also very gracious. it really looked like he was happy to be there and having a great time. he tweeted this morning and he was like d.c., thank you. that was the meyers family had a great time. >> i heard things got really late with some of the snl cast members, including seth. >> apparently it was around 3:00 or 3:30 and i think the french ambassador needed to go to bed and they were kind of escorted out, but they did serve breakfast. >> things got that late where people were actually being served breakfast? >> yes. >> this is really big business for our city. >> it started off as an evening and it has really grown into like a five-day almost festival.

they use the word nerd prom sometimes, but i think it is great for the city. it really helps put d.c. on the map. businesses, restaurants, hotels and you see all these kind of tweets and facebook updates, oh, my gosh, i just saw bradley cooper at a cafe in georgetown or something like that. >> a lot of beautiful women walking the red carpet last night. who stood out for you. >> mila kuna. >> from ruby swan? >> right. when she walked into a room every guy grabbed his cell phone and it was like picture, picture. >> thanks again for coming in. >> thank you. >> will always gets the fun interviews, doesn't he? more news. there is a new test to detect autism. coming up in a fox 5 health alert, how a questionnaire is helping doctors notice signs of the disease even earlier. >> a little rainfall today moving its way out, but what about tomorrow? your forecast is coming up.

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a health alert tonight about big and tall men.

researchers in norway say taller heavier machine are more likely to develop -- men are more likely to develop the condition that could cause a potentially deadly blood clot in the lungs than average size men. researchers say men who are tall and owe bees are five times more likely to -- obese are five times more likely to develop this blood clot. this is yet another reason dropping pounds can increase your health. experts have discovered a new way to detect autism earlier than ever before. >> fill out a questionnaire that could help doctors detect the signs. fox's ron flores has more. >> reporter: these could be the biggest questions for your child's life. >> the fact we can identify at risk babies at 12 months, it's a map in advance. >> reporter: neuroscientist karen pierce of the autism center of excellence with the help of other researchers has developed a simple questionnaire for parents to fill out, 24 questions that could detect signs of autism by a baby's 1st birthday.

>> i predict here in doctor's offices which had never been done before. i gave them this tool and said use this at every 1 year checkup and detect cases of autism, language and developmental delay. >> reporter: according to her findings published thursday in the journal of pediatrics, the screening test is relatively accurate. >> it's called positive predictive value of 75%. that means if a baby fails that screening form, about approximately 75% of the time that baby does have a true delay. >> reporter: but pierce says more extensive testing would be needed to accurately diagnose conditions like autism. some of the questions on the test include does your child pick up objects and give them to you or does your child smile or laugh while looking at you? >> kind of ask questions about a child's social development, their language and their symbolic may. >> reporter: once it's scored the pediatrician decides -- play. >> reporter: once it's scored the pediatrician decides whether to refer the patient parents for further testing. about 25% of the kids have autism, while some 55% have

some other type of delay disorder. regardless it's designed to get kids diagnosed early, so treatment can begin at 1 year old instead of 3 or 4 years old. >> this gives scientists a new way for the first time to study the biology and get kids identified into treatment early. so it's kind of a win/win for everyone. we heard from feldy earlier live from the verizon center. up next lindsay murphy is in the studio with even more sounds from the caps locker room after game 2 tonight. your sports is up next. >> will sunshine return? our five-day forecast is coming up. just a reminder. we are standing by, president obama scheduled to address the nation any moment. we will wring it to you live as it -- bring it to you live as it happens. stay with us.

as promised, we are

delivering lindsay murphy for you. she is here in the studio. >> tell you about the capitals. you know what? the capitals are making a line change at the time this goal happened and the lightning defender saw it made a great pass and the rest is history. sorry to say it, the power play was a huge issue for the caps last postseason and once again it has been their achille's heel this postseason. they were 0-5 in game 1 versus the lightning. tonight 0-6. the capitals trying to even the series at one game apiece. 2nd period caps trail 1 -0. nicklas backstrom shot was stopped and brooks laich hacks away at the rebound and scores, his first goal of the playoffs, game tied 1-1. there's a six-on- five, jason arnott in front to alex ovechkin and ties the game at 2-2 to force overtime. in o.t. randy jones from his own zone passes up the left side to

teddy purcell in front of vinny lecavalier who scores the game winner. that's his second of the game. caps fall 3-2 in overtime. i'm told we're sending it back to you guys on the desk. i guess president obama is getting set to speak. >> all right. >> we have to stop early. >> okay. we're being told right now president obama has an announcement about osama bin laden bin. we're going to the east room right now where the president will be speaking very shortly, but we can report that this has to do with osama bin laden bin being reported that he is dead. that is the word we're hearing now from the white house where president obama is scheduled to speak in a few minutes in the east room talking about osama bin laden bin, the fact that apparently he is dead. we don't know details at this point. of course, we'll get more as soon as we're able to take that speech live hopefully in the next couple minutes. >> president obama and his national security team have asked the cia to really step up efforts to try to hunt down

osama bin laden bin because the fear is when we pull our troops out of afghanistan, that part of the region, the same will happen to what we saw in vietnam, that the? in 1975. >> exactly. that the government will collapse. the people will be worse off and long before americans first came. so again we do expect an announcement from president obama himself to talk about the death of osama bin laden bin. >> i believe -- >> and we actually still have our political analysts adam lickman and jack burke standing by in the newsroom. are you both still there right now? >> i'm here. >> we are here. >> alan lichtman and republican strategist jack burkeman. >> i'm sorry about that. we don't have the details yet, gentlemen, but either one of you jump in. what does this say at this particular juncture we're now hearing osama bin laden bin is dead. we're not sure how. >> if true, this is very important for the national security of this country and

the national security of the world. bin laden is very important for international terrorism, financially, inspirationally and strategically. his death, of course, does not end the terrorist threat, but it deals a major blow to the terrorist and it shows how serious the obama administration has been about pursuing bin laden and ending this threat to the peace of the world and obviously it has profound political effect as well. >> jack, you would agree with me, immediate withdrawal of our american troops there, really the pressure had to be stepped up on the cia to get this guy? >> no question. i agree with everything alan said. if this is the case and it's confirmed, i give all the credit in the world to the president and his team for doing this. my suspicion is part of the complication, why it has been so difficult to get him, is that neither president bush, nor president obama wanted to take him alive because if you take him alive and you take him into captivity, i mean this is

the united states. we gave trials to the nazis. frankly, we may have had to have given him a lawyer and may have had to have some kind of proceeding. that's america. that's who we are. so my suspicion is one of the reasons that this took so long is that nobody wanted to take him alive. >> is there any way to change the policy -- does this any way change america's policy in what's been happening in afghanistan? i know the troop withdrawal is still going to happen, but does this in any way change the policy as it has been in the previous months and years? >> alan is right on the money. thank god it's demoralizing to international terrorism all over the world. now it certainly doesn't end terrorism. i mean there could be islamic extremists who somehow will be rallied by this. maybe osama could emerge as a martyr. i doubt this will have any material effect on u.s. policy in afghanistan. i would be surprised -- frankly, i don't support -- my personal view and the republican party is divided on this, i don't support american

involvement in afghanistan. i think bush had a right idea, keep a small portion of the capital, but i do think president obama is very committed to the afghan policy and i don't look for it to change. >> alan, if i may remind our viewers, we are expecting to hear from president obama from the east room any moment. our last update from the white house was that it would happen at 10:50. so we're approaching that number right now. alan, let me jump to you. i know you started a spot but if you could follow up by talking about the fear that the taliban may have actually invited osama bin laden bin as a guest once we pulled out. >> oh, i think that's very possible. we've been in and out of offing several times now and every time we've pull -- afghanistan several times now and every time we've pulled out it's been an absolute disaster. you can't leave that part of the world alone and i think now obviously the idea of osama bin laden bin going back and setting up shop is over. i don't think this is going to fundamentally change president

obama's policy which is a phased and recent withdrawal. >> does this weaken the taliban in any way that a man who has been seen as their leader in so many ways is now dead? does it weaken their stance or power in any facet? >> it does. >> people matter. leaders matter. they make a difference in the world. there are big forces obviously behind international terrorism and al qaeda that transcend any given leader, but taking out osama bin laden bin makes a difference to the world. >> let me put it this way. i very much hope and pray that alan is right on this one. however, i think it could cut and i'm not a mideast experience but it could cut both ways. what we don't want here and i think this is the critical political international issue going forward, you don't want osama to emerge as a martyr because this guy could emerge as a kind of martyr for islamist extremists all over the world. you don't want that and that's

the issue we'll have to think about in the coming days. >> do you think perhaps, jack, he was more of a figurehead than actually someone working with al qaeda to try to do harm to western assets? >> yes. obviously he's sick. every news report we had is that this guy had been crippled financially and physically. the united states in the days after 9/11, in the three or four months after 9/11 the first thing they did was take away the financial capability of al qaeda. they shut down their bank accounts all over the world. that frankly was 90% of the war on terror because once you took away their financial capacity, they were shut down. from that point forward we've been really working on the last 10%. what george bush did in the three months following 9/11 was really the crucial step and now i think we're more in a management and policing stage. >> we're hearing that the president is set to speak and probably a little over a minute. so again we want to remind you we'll be taking his comments

live from the east room of the white house as soon as he steps in to talk about this latest of breaking news development, apparently osama bin laden bin is now dead. we don't have exact confirmation of it, but that's what we're hearing. >> as i understand it, i know we're both monitoring different sites, but fox news is reporting he is dead as well. so we are going with that. our producers are telling us we have the green light for that. alan, from a public relations standpoint, what does this do for the obama administration? >> when i heard they had taken saddam hussein during the bush years, i said bush is going to get reelected which i thought beforehand. i think this is obviously a great political plot who i thought was going to be reelected anyway. it's the foreign policy triumph he lacked and now has, but he's got to downplay this. he can't crow too much. let others crow and give him the credit, but i think it has profound political implications. it also blunts what we've been hearing over the years, a lot

of criticism about the barack obama national security apparatus. >> because this took so long, granted it wasn't anyone's fault, but because it took so long does it in any way blunt the effects of what finally happened yesterday or today, whenever this , did in fact, happened? >> i think it's early to speculate. alan is speculating a bit on what the politics of this would be. it's a little early. keep in mind if you're barack obama you really don't want 2012 to become all about national security issues because national security is really republican terrain. you want to run on the core obama issues which are the anxiety of the middle class, all those things, home, optimism, national security -- hope, optimism. national security is a particularly tough issue for obama. it cuts both ways and it's early to know because while

this is certainly a queue for balm -- a coup for obama, if you're a democrat, you don't want to focus on national security. >> can i make a point? my point was not that obama should run on national security, but that this blunts the republican attack on national security when we had seen building over the years. let me add one additional point. i agree with jack about osama bin laden bin perhaps becoming a martyr, but we should be very careful about this. we can't control and manipulate the islamic streak. we've got to be very cautious about overreacting on that and trying to prevent him from becoming a martyr. we've kind of got to let events take their course in the arab world and let arab spokespersons respond. >> you or jack a take this one, but what did -- jack take this one, but what did this say for the country where osama bin laden bin was found? i'm hearing he was found in

pakistan. what are the international implications? did they not do a good enough job hunting help down? >> i think both president bush and president obama had fears of taking him alive and i think that was a concern to all of the paramilitary units that were looking for him. both presidents we know had a lot of people out there looking, but the problem was if you take him alive, what do you do? americans just don't take people. again, we would have given trials. we did give trials to the nazis. that's who we are. we would be dealing with tay quandary and neither president wanted that. so -- that quandary and neither president wanted that. so they had to approach this with kid gloves. the other thing is i think is very important building on alan's point about osama emerging as the martyr, with the arab revoltings, it's in america's interest that -- revolts, it's in america's interest that these revolts are

not islamic revols. one of the dangers of this occurring now with him -- revolts. one of the dangers of this occurring now with him emerging as a martyr these things could be seen as genuinely islamic uprisings. that's what we don't want. that's very dangerous for the united states. that's something the administration will have to be sensitive to. >> with pakistan we've always had to be very careful. we knew that pakistan was probably harboring various terrorists and there were elements within pakistan sympathetic to that, but after all, that is a sovereign independent nation and we have to understand that. it is not simply within the purview of the united states to go wily anily and violate pakistani -- willie nilly and violate pack a sustain sovereignty. i think if we held osama bin laden bin accountable in the public bar which of very

acceptable. >> alan, is it your fear if he was killed by u.s. forces there could be a resurgence of terrorism against the united states? >> i think in the short run there is absolutely that possibility, that there are going to be those who want to avenge the death of osama bin laden bin, who want to turn him into a martyr and who want to portray the united states as wanton murderers and killers. you're going to hear that across the world from our enemies, particularly coming on top of the allegations that we targeted gadhafi and killed his son and some grandchildren. >> i'd like to look forward now once we do hear from the president, then we'll have more details, but looking ahead who is next? what does this mean for our mission in the middle east? >> i don't think it fundamentally changes our mission in the middle east.

i think at its noblest our mission in the middle east is the same as around the world, to work in cooperation with our allies to try to achieve stability, democracy and human rights and yes, rights for women, which is one of the huge issues that i think has held back the middle east for decades, doesn't change. >> one of the problems, not to get too far off track, but i really think it's becoming apparent. the united states really but for a kind of skeletal force in the capital i think needs to get out of afghanistan because what you're seeing there, one of the big problems there and this is an issue apart from the osama bin laden bin and al qaeda, it's almost impossible to build the kind of nationalism there. you can do it in iraq and i think we are successfully doing it in iraq because you had a very educated and literate people. there was a history and a sense of what it means to be on iraqi. in afghanistan there's no sense of the afghan nation. you can't create the imagined community of a nation. it's just almost impossib