steve handelsman reports. >> i want to, again, recognize the heros who carried out this incredibly dangerous mission. tonight, it is my fervent hope that we can harness some of that unity and some of that pride to confront testimony challenges that we still face. >> reporter: with osama bin laden buried at sea, the president called some of the navy commando team and heard their story. the president knew the s.e.a.l.s had rehearsed the raid, but he agonized. watching and listening in realtime at the white house. u.s. intelligence found bin laden last summer, trailing a courier to his hideout. but they were never sure. >> the president had to evaluate the strength of the information and then had what i believe is one of the most gutsiest calls of presidents in recent memory. >> his call? in send in the s.e.a.l.s, not just bomb the place. and risk never confirming bin laden dead. one chopper went down hard, but the radio message came soon after. gironimo, code for osama bin laden found dead. he was found on an upper noor and shot on the head. where bin laden hid, his plush compound near pakista

for more, we go to steve handelsman. >> reporter: aides say president obama expected tough talk from pakistan. their prime minister denying pakistan was in, quote, cahoots with al qaeda, saying don't blame us for the failure to find osama bin laden. >> cannot be held to account for fraud policies. >> reporter: he warned any future u.s. strike could meet pakistani counter force. no apparent offense taken. >> we remain confident that we will continue to cooperate with the pakistani government. >> reporter: and pakistan agreed to let u.s. agents interview osama bin laden's wives. meanwhile, as the public watches bin laden's home video seized by the s.e.a.l.s, experts say analysis of his hard drives is revealing al qaeda's secrets dot by dot, code names, phone numbers. >> you'll see the ability to take those mundane dots and the more explicit, the names of war, and connect them in a way that will ultimately unravel the situation. >> reporter: steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. >>> and not surprisingly, our new nbc news poll shows overwhelming support for the president's decision to

steve handelsman on the debate over the pictures. why not release them? >> first of all, everything is working out so well. what conspiracy theories? what rallies in any single place in the muslim world will people say we're sorry that osama bin laden is dead, or we're angry at america for killing osama bin laden. nothing like that. so what would you put them out to counter? who's saying you didn't kill him? and besides, this is the era of pho photoshop, what's a photo going to do? the d.a. is almost a perfect match, so whoever is going to buy that is almost perfect proof than you can get from a photo or video. >> so you don't think the world will feel a revenge for release of these pictures? >> we don't know what they're going to do. it's president obama's call tomorrow. they might release a picture, maybe something not so inflammatory of bin laden dead, maybe his body wrapped in a sha ro -- shroud and given what was a style burial. maybe they'll put that out, maybe not. why do anything, is the question. what do you have to gain by putting it out that yo

i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, new york. >> thank you, steve. >>> now, coming up at 5:30, brian williams anchors "nightly news." he'll have the latest from pakistan on what happened to the others hiding out in bin laden's compound. >>> just ahead, obesity rates for children are at an all-time high. why bottle feeding could be to blame. we'll tell you how much time on the bottle is too much. >>> and everyone knows it's hard enough funding a college education. coming up, why the dream of financial aid is one step closer for illegal immigrants. >>> and the potentially deadly disease linked to cold cuts. the age group that's most at risk, plus the guidelis that could keep them safe. >>> and good afternoon. i'm chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. our bay area sizzle, it's still going to be fizzling here over the next couple of days. right now mid to upper 80s in the east and south bay. nideto cootler with clouds building, and big weekend changes. i'll detail it all for you coming up. hey marcel, watch this! hey marcel, watch this! [ buzzer sounds ] [ cheers and applause ] ♪ hey marcel, watch

nbc bay area's capitol hill reporter steve handelsman has more. >> reporter: the big guys from big oil, exxonmobil, shell, chevron, conoco, and bp. in the senate over the high cost of gasoline. they said don't blame us, it's the high price of crude oil that's driving up pump prices. want cheaper gas, they said? cut taxes. >> we make about six cents a gallon in our gasoline business. if there's a big concern about gasoline prices, federal and state governments make 50 cents a gallon. >> reporter: democrats charged profit margins are up. >> when the world price goes up, the after-tax profits of your companies go up very significantly. >> raising our taxes will not reduce the price of gasoline. >> reporter: but to balance the budget democrats want big oil to pay more. they'd end tax subsidies. >> in light of massive deficits and you have massive profits -- >> reporter: the red ink is rising fast. the execs said higher taxes would hurt -- >> arbitrarily punishing five u.s. oil and gas companies by raising their taxes will generate far less government revenue than if we were allowed to comp

steve handelsman has the latest from washington. >> cheered by troops, president obama came to privately thank the navy seals and army chopper pilots that pulled the mission off. >> it was a chance for me to say on behalf of our mission and for people around the world, job well done. job well done. [cheers and applause] >> on the web today, al-qaeda finally admitted osama bin laden is dead. a crowd of supporters rallied in egypt against america. a similar gathering in nearby nearby today. in turkey today they burned the american flag. pakistanises protested the u.s. operation that killed bin laden. but us -- u.s. commanders sent back a message that they will continue operations here, launching a drone attack inside pakistan against suspected terrorists. sources revealed agents of the c.i.a. watched bin laden's pakistanis hideout from a building nearby. information by the seals revealed bin laden considered derailing a u.s. passenger train and pushed for strikes on significant dates like christmas or the 9/11 anniversary. specifically in los angeles, chicago, new york, or washington. the

live from the marshal naunationm steve handelsman. >> steve, what has the government of pakistan sndz did they really not know that bin laden there was? >> reporter: well, you have to ask who you mean by they when you say they when you're talking about them, jim. look, this is a country that's unstable. it's got an unstable government. they murreded presidential candidate benazir butto. it is her husband who now runs the government, but a lot of people here in washington believes who really runs pakistan is the military and the isi which is their equivalent of the cia, much more powerful than our cia and the isi virtually created the taliban, jim. so does anybody here in washington believe that nobody in authority in pakistan knew that 30 miles from their capital, just measure washington. that would be fredericksburg, virginia and frederick, maryland, a big, luxury mansion and inside of it is osama bin laden? of course people knew. what they're going try to do here now is figure out who knew and to try to separate them from the people who run pakistan's government, jim, because they s

we bring in steve handelsman with the latest on the race. >> reporter: he's a republican with name recognition, 93% of americans have heard of newt gingrich and he's got experience. but the former house speaker has baggage. two divorces, one reason he's putting his current wife calista front and center. but declaring his run for the white house on twitter does not make gingrich the front-runner, says karl rove. >> he could earn his way into the top tier, though, and that's what is going to be interesting about this contest. new jersey governor chris christie urged by many republicans to run said today in d.c., no way. >> no. >> i'm kidding. >> my god, i'm not running for president. >> reporter: mitt romney is seen by some as the front-runner. donald trump in new hampshire today did poll number one. till he challenged president obama's birth, trump has lost 69% of his support in one poll. tea party republicans will keep the 2012 focus on deep spending cuts. >> so we can preserve medicare in the long run. >> reporter: democrats want tax hikes and an end to big oil's $21 billion in tax breaks. >>

i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, new york. >>> in tennessee, residents in low-lying areas outside of memphis are being evacuated from their homes as the muddy waters of the mississippi continue to rise. near record flood waters have even begun to pull in downtown memphis on to the city's famous beale street with residents up and down the banks of the mighty river fears that the worst is yet to come. nbc's jay gray has the details. >> reporter: flood waters continue to rise almost as fast as the tension across six states in the south. >> this is a serious matter. there's going to be a lot of damage. >> reporter: in many areas, it already is. homes turned into desperate islands, residents struggling to save anything they can. make no mistake, this is an all-out fight against the water. and sometimes hand to hand combat. other battles waged with heavy equipment. but in neighborhoods like this one, the weapons don't really matter. mother nature is winning. >> i've never seen it this high, never. and it's still got another four or five foot to go. who says, it may go up another six, seven foot. >

for more on that, we go to nbc's steve handelsman. >> reporter: cia director leon panetta gave lawmakers the briefing and they gave him advice about the death photos. >> it was important for the united states to release the picture of his body to confirm that he is dead. >> reporter: panetta agreed. >> we got bin laden and i think we have to reveal to the rest of the world that we were able to get him. >> reporter: but it's not the cia director's call. it's president obama's he doesn't want to rush out what the white house calls grewsome shots. >> there are sensitivities here in terms of the appropriateness of releasing photographs of osama bin laden. >> reporter: more arguments against release. the dna match was reported perfect, better proof than a picture. and the streets in the muslim world are quiet. why incite trouble? in pakistan, the government insisted no authority knew this was bin laden's mansion and the white house signal no punishment. >> pakistan is a strong partner. >> reporter: and team obama is defensive about a key detail. bin laden was unarmed when he was shot. >> but

i'm steve handelsman in washington. now let's go to new york. michelle franzen's reporting. michelle? >> reporter: thanks, steve. certainly a lot of people here in the new york area have been streaming down here at ground zero. it's been a steady stream throughout the day. it's sort of quieting down now, but the mixture of tourists, of residents here and those commuting in and out of new york city certainly a different twist today. a new purpose, some coming to celebrate, others coming here to reflect and remember and reclaim some of what was lost. word spread quickly osama bin laden had not only been found, but killed. and just as quickly, crowds gathered near ground zero. the sacred site typically marked by somber remembrances each year suddenly became the focus of a june lant celebration. cheers, chants, and a patriotic show of emotion that unfurled throughout the city. the culmination of the near decade-long hunt for the man who inspired the 9/11 attacks. >> the emotion has a lot to do with the fact that for ten years we've been held emotionally hostage. >> reporter: for

news 4's steve handelsman starts our coverage at the white house. >> reporter: president obama made the call to send in the s.e.a.l.s. now he's got to decide what if anything, to send out to proof bin laden is dead. should he release photos of the terrorist's corpse or videos of bin laden's burial at sea? team obama is cautious, concerned about inflaming the muslim world. >> the additional release of information or any type of photographic evidence is something that we have to take into account in terms of what the reaction might be to it. >> reporter: in 2006, when musab al zarqawi, al qaeda's leader in iraq was killed by u.s. forces, the bush administration released a photo the next day. with osama bin laden execute or killed in self-defense? yesterday, some u.s. officials said bin laden fought back as the s.e.a.l.s attacked. today they said he was unarmed but shot during a firefight and it was justified. >> he resisted. the u.s. personnel on the ground handled themselves with the utmost professionalism. >> reporter: another tough obama decision. what to do about pakistan and what loo

i'm steve handelsman, live from the hill. back to you. >> steve, thank you. >> the state department is providing some additional security at the pakistani embassy here in washington, now after a series of threatening phone calls. ambassador hussein akani says he has received several threatening e-mails and phone calls to the embassy in northwest d.c. during the past week. the calls reportedly came from people who were angry that osama bin laden had been hiding in pakistan. as steve noted, osama bin laden may have been planning to attack the u.s. on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. counterterrorism officials say information taken from bin laden's compound indicates that he considered attacks on trains in the u.s. those plans were only in the initial phases, we are told. the u.s. government sent an advisory to the rail industry. tonight we'll report on the impact of some metro riders during the evening commute of all of that. that report coming up on our next half hour. >>> d.c. police recovering an additional ten suspicious lett

steve handelsman is at the white house with more on all of this. >> reporter: good evening. let's start with the pictures. here at the white house, they admit they fear letting the world see bin laden's body could incite the kind of passions that have been muted since he died. president obama made the call to send in the s.e.a.l.s. now he's got to decide what if anything, to send out to prove bin laden's dead. should he release photos of the terrorist's corpse? or have video of bin laden's burial at sea? team obama is cautious, concerned about inflaming the muslim world. >> the additional release of information or any type of photographic evidence is something that we have to take into account in terms of what the reaction might be to it. >> in 2006 when musab al zarqawi, al qaeda's leader in iraq was killed by u.s. forces, the bush administration released a photo the next day. was osama bin laden executed or killed in self-defense? yesterday, some u.s. officials said bin laden fought back as the s.e.a.l.s attacked. today they said he was unarmed but shot during a firefight

i'm steve handelsman, news 4. >>> anwar al awlaki isn'ts the only possible successor. richard engel reports on another successor in a few minutes from now. the numbers spiked to 56% approval in a washington post/pugh research center poll. recently it was below 50% last month. >>> the death of bin laden has been a morale boost for the military and cause of celebration across the country, but some have questions whether it could lead to a surge of volunteers to the service. jane watrel is in arlington with that. jane? >> jim, since the economy went into a tailspin and joblessness rose, the u.s. military has had no trouble meeting its quotas, but many feel that the positive publicity surrounding the u.s. military's role in the death of osama bin laden could lead to a surge in volunteers. >> reporter: it was a history-making day for u.s. troops with osama bin laden's death coming at hand of navy s.e.a.l.s. >> if i was 40 years younger and could swim better i would be out there trying to join the navy s.e.a.l.s. >> reporter: recruiters are hoping that potential volunteers w

steve handelsman reports the president's decision is being met with unity even from his opponents. >> reporter: president obama made the decision. his press secretary quoted the president exactly. >> there is no doubt that we killed osama bin laden. it is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an encitement to additional violence or as a propaganda tool. that's not who we are. >> reporter: big-name republicans backed the decision. >> i don't see any point in the macabre picture. >> i think there's ample proof that this was osama bin laden. >> reporter: attorney general holder testified it was legal for s.e.a.l. team 6 to kill bin laden even though he was unarmed. >> if he had surrendered i think -- attempted to surrender, i think we should obviously accepted that, but there was no indication he wanted to do that and therefore his killing was appropriate. >> reporter: u.s. officials say they're already getting usable information from the computers and hard drives and five cell phones seized at bin laden's m

i'm steve -- >> and that was steve handelsman reporting. now, as al qaeda confirms the death of its leader without any photographic evidence, the terrorist group has plans to retaliate against the u.s. new postings on militant websites tell of an uprising and an upcoming release of an audio message recorded by osama bin laden just a week before his death at the hands of u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s on monday. al qaeda's remaining leadership is also calling on muslims to take action against u.s. forces. >> protest against this -- and then the american assault. >> also tonight pakistanis are being urged to reject what many there are calling the american invasion of their sovereignty. >>> the former president of pakistan, pervez musharraf, is criticizing his own country for failing to find osama bin laden. >> my belief is that it is a big slip-up. indeed, it is extremely regrettable. indeed, we have to find who slipped up. and we must take action against those who did not deliver. >> he's been vocal for several days now. the compound where bin laden wa

i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. >>> that's one of the most notable photos of the year so far, the image of the white house situation room taken on may 1st as the president's team followed the progress of the raid on osama bin laden's compound. the photo was republished by news organizations around the world, but a newspaperder tzitung removed images of hillary clinton and a female staffer and says it never publishes women's photos because of modesty. >>> stay with nbc bay area news for our continuing coverage of the death of osama bin laden. we also have extensive coverage on our website over at nbcbayarea.com. >>> now on nbc bay area follow-up, the san ramon police officer arrested last week in connection to a alleged law enforcement drug scheme, an alleged dirty pi chris butler is out on bail tonight despite investigators fears that he may be in danger. in court documents obtained by nbc bay area, the prosecutor says lombardi has made illegal threats to several people and that he may be a danger to the public. the prosecutor also claims lombardi illegally kept money sei

i'm steve handelsman reporting from washington. now back to you. >> steve, thank you. >>> when the navy s.e.a.l.s first learned their first target, there was a thunderous cheer, but it was carried out with tremendous precision and accuracy. she has more on a mission that will go down in american history. jackie? >> jim, officially they don't even exist. but if the job is possible, these are the guys to do it. >> this isn't just chasing anybody, this is the man, the symbolic figure. >> richard founded s.e.a.l. team 6 in 1980 and it wasn't surprising they would be the ones to take down the elusive osama bin laden. they trained for conditions that mirrored the actual target as closely as possible. nbc news has learned the team practiced since april in a full-size model of bin laden's compound set up at a u.s. military base. >> you virtually don't need hand and voice signals. they dance like bears, they know each other's moves, they eat, sleep and drink together. it is a team effort. and it's a team job, and that's what i say -- that's

i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. >>> the pakistani government yesterday criticized the raid as a, quote, unauthorized unilateral action and warned the u.s. against launching similar operations in the future. >>> the pakistani town where baub and his family were discovered has found itself at the center of a controversy that threatens to cripple the long-time alliance between two countries. nbc's that seam ahmed reports. >> reporter: an upper middle class tourist destination surrounded by three mountains, pakistanis come here to escape the heat during the summer months. people here say they had no idea that saudi arabia had come here, too. it's a house set in an area still under development surrounded by empty plots and half-built houses. there's no indication that behind these high concrete walls was one of the world's most notorious fugitives, living right in the heart of a garrison townhome to pakistan's retired as well as active army generals. >> i don't believe that osama bin laden can live here. it's all a restricted area by army. >> reporter: soldiers on the streets in

. >> reporter: i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. >>> as the reality takes hold across the country, americans are asking how the nation's most wanted man was able to hide in plain sight inside a nation that claims to be our ally. nbc news correspondent andrea mitchell reports. >> reporter: in this sleepy military town only 30 miles from islamabad, bin laden's compound was a mcmansion with 18 foot walls topped by barbed wire dwarfing the neighbors, many of them retired military. there are other red flags. the luxury home, eight times the size of nearby houses, had no internet access or phone service. the bin ladens even burned their trash. in these cia satellite pictures, neighbors are almost next door. and less than a mile away, pakistan's military academy, the equivalent of our west point. >> it is a little incredible, and my personal view is that they certainly probably were aware of it. >> reporter: u.s. intelligence concluded it could only have been built for bin laden. so how could pakistan's army not notice? >> could be a case of eyes wide shut, which they were aware of it an

steve handelsman has the latest from the national mall. >> reporter: it's page one worldwide, america kills osama bin laden. this paper at the pentagon where 184 died on 9/11. >> just a good day to be a united states marine and american citizen. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: the commander in chief echoed that today. >> as a nation, there's nothing we can't do. >> reporter: president obama gave the go order. u.s. intelligence had learned of this mansion in pakistan near the capital, islamabad. video finally revealed the tall, slim, gray-haired terrorist was there. navy s.e.a.l.s heel node. one chopper landing hard was damaged. bin laden was shot in the fire fight say the s.e.a.l.s as the white house followed the action in real time. >> the minutes passed like days and the president was very concerned about the security of our personnel. >> reporter: no s.e.a.l.s were hurt. they blew up their bad chopper and left with the body. aboard a u.s. war ship, dna samples, photos, a positive i.d., the navy says the al qaeda founder got a proper muslim burial at sea and president obama addressed the natio