at the top, cia chief leon panetta to defense, general david petraeus the cia. what is the decision to put a four-star general who is expert in counterinsurgency eighth in charge of the cia mean, charles? >> the most important conference indices in afghanistan and pakistan, and he knows it. if you want somebody who is at the center of something important, he is where you should be. he is a great general and he will make an excellent cia director. >> colby? >> he is a leader, and that is what the cia needs, a leader and a good manager who understands how it works and institutions of government. >> nina? >> it seems to me he is the right person. sometimes you watched eveves unfold and you like what you see but there's not much you can do about it. we are watching the intelligence community and defense community sort of emerge as one, which means less oversight from anybody outside, but i don't know what you can do about it. >> mark? >> he means he will not be chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and he will not be supreme nato commander, and he will be reporting

and leon panetta is absolutely right. and, you know, he's been a very gutsy leader for the cia. and a very good leader for the cia. and i think that's helped pull this thing together as well. >> does pakistan have some real hard questions to answer? >> this is the question. how can the pakistanis not know that for six years, osama bin laden was living in this compound, eight times bigger than anything else in the area, within a mile of a major military academy. how can this happen? why would no one register curiosity about who was there unless somehow, some way, they were warned off. and said, this is, you know, out of limits, nobody touch it, whatever happens there happens there. and we need to find that out. >> and those are the questions you're going to be asking. >> i'm going to be asking that. we hope to have a joint classified hearing with armed services tomorrow morning and we'll ask some of those questions, you can be sure. >> senate intelligence chair, dianne feinstein, thank you for coming over. we appreciate it. see more, of course, of brian williams' exclusive interv

what was happening leon panetta was narrating what was happening from a video link at the c.i.a. headquarters. they won't talk about what was happening. that picture makes it look a lot more dramatic. but in any case it tells you something about that moment. the president is off to the side. and he's almost sort of with drawn compared with some of the other figures. the face on john brennan and dennis mcdunna. hillary looked tense. but she said she was suffering from a lerjis. -- allergies. >> there was a rush, the white house would say transparency to a certain degree efment how do you explain that? are they trying to hide information? or is it that people like us are trying to push them? >> about the only thing that did sort of go wrong with the way that they unfolded -- spilled out the story themselves and you're right, in the very first big briefing that the media got from john brennan was there was some inaccuracies. part of the problem they're trying to infold this story about how bin laden was a coward and hiding behind a woman but also shooting. it turns out those things

leon panetta made it clear to brian williams that there was a shoot to kill mission here. if he had come out, they said with his hands up, and said i surrender, i surrender, waving a white flag, maybe they would have taken him into custody. but that was really not going to happen. do you have a problem with that or should we all just say, you know, he's dead and the world's most wanted terrorist is no longer a threat to humanity? >> well, andrea, like all of america, and even many people in the world, i was really relieved when the president announced sunday night that bin laden was dead. and i recall when as a little girl during world war ii i heard that hitler was dead. and good riddance to him and the evil he unleashed. now i think we have to wait until everybody involved with that riveting, daring, bold action to get bin laden is thoroughly debriefed. we act like everything is instant. this was not a movie for tv. this was a real life drama with our men in harm's way going after the most wanted person in the world. and we need to debrief and then i think really set the

earlier tonight cia director leon panetta revealed the status of that decision to nbc news brian williams. >> there is a report as we have this conversation for the record, 10:36 a.m., that the president, the white house has decided and it may already be out to release a proof of death photo what light can you shed on this. >> the government obviously has been talking about how best to do this. but i don't think there was any question that ultimately a photograph would be presented to the public. >> leon panetta also provided details on the president's rules of engagement with bin laden. >> the president's order read capture or kill or both or just one of those? >> the authorities we have on bin laden are to kill him. and that was made clear. but it was also as part of their rules of engagement, if -- if he suddenly put up his hands and offered to be captured, then they would have the opportunity obviously to capture him. but that opportunity never developed. >> director panetta then discussed the risks the president considered before ordering the mission. >> how often did blackhawk down

leon panetta says a photo should be released. new details about the raid that operation anyplace tune star. they were 60-80% sure that bin laden was in there and navy seals were given a direct order, quote, to get the hell out. he was shot and killed after they say his wife lunged at him. he had 7 about $750 and two cellphones a sign he was prepared to flee the compound at a moment's notice. >> did you actually see osama bin laden get shot? >> no, not at all. we had some observation of the approach there, but we did not have direct flow of information as to the actual conduct of the operation itself as they were going through the compound. >> we are hearing cellphones, ten hard drives and a hundred phone drives were recorded recovered from the compound and could be initial readouts as early as today. president obama will visit ground zero in new york city tomorrow. he invited george w. bush but he declined saying he did not want to take any of the spotlight. >>> heightened security alert is in effect, bases around the world inclu

when obama took office, and he told leon panetta to put priority on getting osama bin laden. that lagged in the last few years. it was not just the infrastructure, but the actual intelligence work being done day after day the last 2.5 years. >> how did they do it without a word leaking advance nina? >> very few people knew. that is one thihing. to your question about who to credit, a lot of people deserve credit. the bush administration deserves credit the clinton administration deserves credit. this is an infrastructure that grow over time. the president made some spectacular and got s -- and gugusty choices including to bring an extra helicopter and that turned out to be important. >> mark? >> no more professor-in-chief instead of commander in chief no more nuanced and cerebral. norman schwarzkopf said that it does not take courage to order men into battle, it takes courage to go into battle. but it was a bold decision on the part of the president to do so. a commander in chief decion. the presidential decision up the week was to not make available the photographs despite t

when obama took office, he told leon panetta at that a priority was to get osama bin laden. that flagged over the years. not just the infrastructure put in place, but the actual intelligence being done day after day for the past 215 years. >> how did they do it without word leaking in advance, nina? >> it very few people knew, and that is one thing. to your question about who to credit, a lot of people deserve credit. the bush administration deserves credit, the clinton administration deserves credit. this was an infrastructure that grow over time. the president made some spectacular and gutsy choices, including to bring an extra helicopter. that proved to be important. >> mark? >> no more repressor-in-chief instead of commander in chief, -- no more professor in chief instead of commander in chief, no more nuanced and cerebral. norman schwarzkopf said it does not take courage to order men into battle, it takes courage to go into battle. but it was a bold decision on the part of the president to do so, a commander in chief decision. i think the real presidential decision of t

leon panetta told brian williams information did come from enhanced interrogation. here it is. >> i think some of the detainees clearly were, you know, they used these enhanced interrogation techniques against the detainees. i'm also saying that, you know, the debate about whether we would have gotten the same information through other approaches, i think is always going to be an open question. >> so finer point, one final time, enhanced interrogation technique, which is a handy euphemism including water boarding? >> that's correct. >> now, there's integrity for you. the president's administration is not going to lie to the american people about techniques that were used. but, is it the moral high ground and are conservatives right about water boarding? matthew alexander, that's your first question tonight. thanks for joining us. are they correct about water boarding? >> no, they are not correct. what a lot of people are forgetting is what professional interrogators have been saying all along, when you use techniques like water boarding, you get the bare minimum abo

leon panetta at defense general david petraeus at cia. what is the decision to put a four-star geneneral who isn expert in counterinsurgency mean it for the cia, charle >> the most important counterinsurgency we are running right now is in afghanistan and pakistan, and he knows it. if you want somebody atat the center othe somewhere impoant, he is it. he is a great general and he will make an excellent cia director. >> colby? >> he is a leader, and that is what the cia needs, a lderr and a good manager who understands how it works and howow it relates to other institutions of government. >> na? >> he seems to be the right person. sometimes you watch events unfold and you don''t like what you see but therere is nhing you can do about it. we are watching the intelligence mmunity and the defense community emerge as one, and that means much less oversight from anybody outsiside but i don't know w what you can do o about it. >>? - -- mark? >> he will not be chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and one not the nato commander, and he will be a

director leon panetta heads to capitol hill to talk about it. it was recorded by cameras strapped to the helmets o by the navy seals. two blackhawks flew in under the radar carrying an elite team. one of the helicopters stalled. they switched to plan "b" bringing in a shi nook helicopter to replace it. bin laden was shot twice, once in the head and once in the

leon panetta says al qaeda will most certainly want to avenge his death. bob orr reports. >> reporter: the killing of osama bin laden was trumpeted on the fbi's list of most wanted terrorists with a single word on a red banner, "deceased." but the death of the al qaeda founder and spiritual leader does not end the terror threat. heavily armed police bolstered patrols at airports in los angeles to boston. train stations in new york and san francisco, and around the u.s. capitol in washington. >> sympathizers of bin laden and al qaeda in general will be looking to take action to avenge bin laden's death. >> while sources say there's no credible evidence pointing to an imminent terror attack, radical islamist websites are vowing revenge. and an interim message to the cia, director leon panetta issued his own stark warning. though bin laden is dead, al qaeda is not, he wrote. the terrorists will most certainly want to avenge him. the greatest threat may come from american-born cleric and his yemen-based network. they've tried twice to hit the u.s. first with t

cia director leon panetta saying that the bin laden photo will be released. are you getting any confirmation on that? >> reporter: he says he thinks it will be released and the final decision will come down to the white house. there doesn't appear to be consensus in the obama administration about the photo. there are different opinions about this on capitol hill. it isn't even falling along party lines. you have some people who say, we have these photos, we should release them, this is visual proof osama bin laden is dead. there are others who say there are people out there who the dna evidence isn't enough for and these photos aren't going to be enough for them. releasing them could be inflammatory, and put troops overseas in danger. we're hoping to learn a little more. white house press secretary jay carney at the briefing at 2:00. >> in terms of what the administration is actually doing to try and figure out what pakistan knew and didn't know about bin laden's location, what have you been able to find out? >> reporter: we don't know the answer to that spec

leon panetta, usually my favorite, saxby chambliss, no comment. carl levin, usually a favorite of mine. lindsey graham, yes, too, even though i disagreed with him. sarah palin, talking balloon head here, peter king, getting back on the strange side you can wants to release it going along with the president not releasing it. here are the guy, call these the grownups don't want to release it joan, we are in the grownup list, ready? >> finally. >> john mccain, mike roger, harry reid, robert gates, hillary clinton, steny hoyer and here is a real grownup, dianne feinstein it, john kerry and scott brown, who probably will get re-elected because he keeps doing normal things like this. supporting the president, boehner and rubio. gene, for the defense? >> well, i don't know what to say. you're having associated me with sarah palin. >> you did it. >> but let me make another serious point that i don't think ms. palin made, which is that those photos, like it or not, are an historic document. this is an historic moment. this is a man who not for better or wo

this is not the decision that should be made by leon panetta. and that's what folks here tell me. and that's why that decision hasn't been made. and in fact many senior aides here are arguing against ultimately ever releasing a photo. it's one of many questions facing the white house today. proof of death. one reason president obama chose the risky navy s.e.a.l.s operation rather than bombing the compound was to make sure there would be evidence the u.s. got osama bin laden. and now they have it. dna, photos, even videos. all of bin laden dead at the compound and on the aircraft carrier that was used for his burial at sea. but so far senior aides to the president do not see much need to release the photographic evidence. >> i'll be candid, that there are sensitivities here in terms of the appropriateness of releasing photographs of osama bin laden and in the aftermath of this firefight, and we're making an evaluation about the need to do that. >> reporter: it was a sentiment echoed by some on capitol hill today. >> i just don't see a need to do it. the dna has been dispositive. >>

cia director leon panetta on a video screen narrated the events. geronimo, geronimo was bin laden's code name. it meant enemy killed in action. a navy seal pulled the camera from his pockets. took a photo of the lifeless terrorist and uploaded it to analysts who fed it to a facial recognition program. it all took less than five minutes for the next 35 minutes, the team secured the body and loaded up bin laden's computers and hard drives. >> that was whit johnson reporting. 23 children and nine women were in the compound when bin laden was killed. they were turned over to pakistani authorities. >>> anny is up next with the forecast. how is it looking out there, anny? >> it is warm and bit humid but we do see the possibility of some severe spring storms coming this way. i'll let you know when after the break. my second diagnosis-- i was told to go home, retire, and enjoy the time i had left. to say it was a shock is just a complete understatement. i mean, i don't think there are words. she had put up a really good fight, but it was her time. you... d

and to an internal message to the cia, leon panetta issued a warning. bin laden is dead, al qaeda is not. the greatest threat may come from american-born cleric and his terror-based network al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. they've tried twice to hit the u.s. first with the veiled christmas day 2009 underwear bomb plot. and again last fall with explosives hidden in printers. and there's increased worry about lone wolves, individuals like nadal hassan in ft. hood who were moved by al qaeda's message to strike out in the name of bin laden and his terror networks. >> it may be a mortally wounded tiger that has life in it. it's dangerous. we cannot keep up the pressure. we cannot relent. >> the u.s. has not raised the terror threat level. but the military bases are on alert. the fbi has pressed all field offices to press for any and all evidence to look for new plots. >>> sony gets hacked again. plus, the desperate search for boy scouts stranded by raging flood waters in arkansas. this is "cbs morning news." ♪ ♪ -wee! -woo hoo. [ kids ] pop-tarts, plea

. >> cia director leon panetta talked about it on "nbc's nightly news." >> we picked up an awful lot of information there at the compound. if you combine that with the ability to continue questioning the family, this could give us a lot of valuable information regarding threats, regarding the location of other high-value targets. and regarding the kind of operations that we need to conduct against these terrorists. >> nbc's jim miklaszewski live for us from the pentagon with more. mik, what can you tell us? >> we've heard it described as motherlode, a treasure trove. safe to say there's tons of this stuff that these hundreds of analysts will be going through both at the cia and fbi. they're obviously going to be looking for identities of people, locations, telephone numbers, addresses, paper trails, bank accounts, follow the money. it's true in politics and in terrorism. if you follow the money, you can find out where the next terrorist strike may be. and, of course, they're going to look very carefully to determine, you know, for a long time we've heard about these so-called sleeper

director leon panetta. thank you so much for talking with us. >> thanks, katie. >> couric: and we posted the full interview with leon panetta on our web site at cbsnews.com meanwhile, the town in pakistan where bin laden was hiding out is a quiet one and, up until a few days ago, nobody there gave a second thought to the odd-looking compound with the giant walls. not the neighbors and supposedly, as we just heard, not even pakistani authorities. but today it was crawling with curiosity seekers and elizabeth palmer took it all in. >> reporter: in the full light of day, no longer a hideout but an empty cement house. this is the compound where osama bin laden lived and died is now infamous and everybody wants a look. inside, evidence of a violent battle, along with a passport believed to belong to one of bin laden's wives. now that the police are allowing access to the area around the house, half the neighborhood spilled out to marvel at the fact that they've been living next door to the world's most wanted ma

the cia chief leon panetta, learning what went down. he was questioned on two things that i took note of. one is that the u.s. congress appropriates billions of dollars to pakistan and he said essentially that pakistan now should not get that money without serious, serious questions. they were talking about the pakistan intelligence agency called isi. there are all kinds of questions about how isi could not have known that osama bin laden was hiding in abbottabad. the information that they got about the courier that he was waterboarded and as a desan knee under cia custody and that is how they got some of that information and, again, they have not released those photos of a deceased osama bin laden as of yet but the congress said that they should be releasing them. i want to take you to the scene of the raid. today we're getting more of a glimpse into the terrorist leaders compound where he was hiding for years but he could only hide for so long. national correspondent nic robertson is there for me live. we saw crowds at the compound ea

but that goes against the advice of his own cia director, leon panetta, who as recently as yesterday was suggesting the white house would release a picture to undermine any skepticism. >> the bottom line is that, you know, we got bin laden and i think we have to reveal to the rest of the world the fact that we were able to get him and kill him. >> reporter: today, a number of troops who served in afghanistan wrote me their reactions. "great decision." "doesn't matter, long as he is dead." but one mother of a soldier killed in afghanistan felt differently, writing, "if it wasn't for this man, my son would be alive. they allow victims to go to criminal's executions. why can't the victims of bin laden's evil acts see his dead body? if it wasn't for him, my son would be alive." lisa reina, whose husband joe was in the world trade center that horrible september morning, is also disappointed in the president's decision. >> we want to see him dead. he took away a part of all of our lives that we're never going to get back. and i think it's very important for the family members to see a pict

leon panetta says he thinks the photograph will be released eventually. adding in a cbs interview that the white house will have the final say. >> it could in fact be used to try to develop the revengeful nature of what al qaeda is all about. >> reporter: meanwhile we are learning more about the 30 minute wait on the pakistani compound. bin laden may have lived undetected for as long as six years. they bounce bin laden on the second floor unarmed. >> bin laden's wife rushed to u. s. assaulter and was shot in the leg but not killed. >> reporter: they practiced extensively on a replica of the compound and came to know every aspect of the exterior. the team is not immediately told that its target was osama bin laden. vice president joe biden praised the mission. >> there was no one else i believe other than the american group, the military lawyers who could do it -- warriors who could do it. >> reporter: reporting from ground zero, gasia back to you. >>> dianne feinstein are among those questioning about what pakistanis knew. bin laden compound is just 35 mi

. >> leon panetta said they're either incompetent or involved. i'm not so sure i buy that the neighbors simply didn't ask or weren't in on this. but weren't there are certain things about this mansion that just cried out for attention, the 18-foot walls, barr bashed doesn't this just cry out to find out who's behind it? an old rule of thumb, the taller the wall you build, the more curious people will be to find out what's behind it. doesn't that just kind of resonate with you? >> reporter: it's incredible to me. i was standing at the walls of the compound. the fields, the cabbages are planted about this far away from the walls. they're right next to the compound. the farmers working there were right next to this compound. how come they didn't know? how come they didn't ask more questions? it's hard for us to imagine. that's not the way we lead our lives. but this is the way people here are telling me they lead theirs. the large military base that's perhaps a mile way is almost sort of out of sight, out of mind. they couldn't see it, therefore, th

and so shortly after taking office, i directed leon panetta, the director of the cia, to make the killing or capture of bin laden the top priority of our war against al qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network. then, last august, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, i was briefed on a possible lead to bin laden. it was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. i met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin laden hiding within a compound deep inside of pakistan. and finally, last week, i determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get osama bin laden and bring him to justice. today, at my direction, the united states launched a targeted operation against that compound in abbottabad, pakistan. a small team of americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. no americans were harmed. they took care to avoid civilian casualties. aft

. >> i think it's part of the president's driving force to pick leon panetta. secretary gates ban the budget cut considerations, he was also deeply reluctant to have it go as fast as the president wanted. leon panetta, having the experience with capitol hill that he's going to have to contend with to make these budget cuts in defense, was really quite a smart pick on his part. but this is not going to be easy. and you know, the other interesting thing we haven't talked about, john, is who president obama did not pick for some of these top posts. he did not pick david petraeus to be chairman. david petraeus was recommending to the president, slower drawdowns in afghanistan than the president wanted. he finds himself at cia. he also didn't pick admiral jim stabbritas. he's the guy who pulled together this european coalition, including the french and the british, but he also got passed over. so i think the president is looking to, in marty dempsey, and ray odierno, people with tried and true combat experience, but sort of the quiet generals who have got experience

. >> reporter: cia director leon panetta says he believes the images will eventually be made public but the white house hasn't yet reached a final decision. >> it's fair to say that it's a grisly photograph. it could be inflammatory. >> reporter: the full story of the mission is still coming to light. tuesday officials revealed bin laden was not armed as previously stated and navy seals killed him only after he resisted. the seals confiscated a treasure-trove of computers, files and hard drives at the bin laden compound. the cia is now analyzing the material for any clues on potential terror plots. this is a look inside the million-dollar complex bin laden once called home. the u.s. officials are vowing to get to the bottom of whether pakistan knew he was hiding out here. >> there are questions here that i think do need to be answered, hopefully by the pakistanis themselves. >> reporter: pakistan insists it had no idea of bin laden's whereabouts. yet the compound sits a half mile away from a sprawling military academy in a town with more than 100,000 retired and active army officers. so

you saw that interview that the cia director leon panetta had with brian williams on "nightly news" last night in response to the question of the photograph. he says there is no question it will be ultimately be presented to the public. we have to reveal it to the rest of the world. the question is really when and what is to be gained by releasing it, said to be very gruesome, as you know. bin laden was shot in the region of the left eye, blood and brain tissue said to be visible there. you don't want to present that image to the public and unnecessarily inflame the muslim and arab world and what is to be gained really? are people going to believe it if they publish a photograph? there is already a taliban commander saying bin laden has been dead for a year and a half, nothing really happened that night or that day in pakistan. so all of these are being measured. all of these considerations what is to be gained, what is to be lost. >> the president is heading to the former site of the world trade center tomorrow to ground zero. he has invited former president george w. bush who declined.

leon panetta told the associated press he thinks if photograph will be released. but some worry the images could provoke more anti-american sentiment. >> i do not see a need to do it. people may still doubt that. therefore there may be cause. i do not know. >> others believe it would convince doubters that bin laden is dead. >> there is no doubt we got him. the pictures will not scare people off. they are not offensive. >> president obama will travel to ground zero tomorrow to meet with families of 9/11 victims. former president bush declined an invitation to attend. reporting live from washington, i am kate amara, wbal-tv 11 news. >> what other details chains in the official account of events? >> the white house misidentified which of bin laden's sons was killed. in officials said that bin laden's wife died when she was being used as a human shield. it was the wife of a bin laden aid that was killed and they say she was killed in the crossfire. >> kate amara, thank you. >> those photos taken before the sea burial are described as gruesome. there is no word on whe

cynnÉ director leon panetta says pakistan was either an -- cia director leon panetta says pakistan was either involved or in catawba then --incompetent. >> how can bid they didn't want undetected living next door to pakistan's equivalent of west point? >> it is easy to say elements within the government were in cahoots with the al qaeda. this is a false hypothesis. >> pakistanis charged the u.s. violated their sovereignty by conducting the raid using a special helicopter designed to evade pakistani radar. >>> one week later reality sets in across the tornado ravaged southeast. many families are losing hope of finding their loved ones who disappeared when the twisters tore through their towns. more than 300 people died, hundreds more are missing thousands remain in shelters in alabama. one man who lost his home is thankful for what he still has. >> i got a duty clothing, drinking water. >> from illinois to missouri to kentucky and arkansas, forecasters fear flooding along the mississippi river could break records that were set in the 1920's. in tennessee, volunteers are building a makes