>>>
team made a raid in pakistan where
bin laden
was hiding. a fire fight broke out and troops shot
bin laden
in the head. we're just getting in now a graphic of what this compound looked like, this layout. the walls, anywhere between 14 feet and 18 feet high. on the left-hand side of this, you can see where they burned the trash, so they would not send this out the way people typically do with their garbage and instead burning it so there was no remnants for any
intelligence officers
left to find. and
osama bin laden
, when he was captured there is the overhead shot of this compound, and after he was killed, rather, he was positively identified and then buried at sea, taken by the "
carl vinson
" and we're told gently lowered into the sea. moments ago the president spoke of what had been accomplished.
>>
today we're reminded that as a nation, there is nothing we can't do when we put our shoulders to the wheel, when we work together, when we remember the sense of unity that defines us as americans.
>>
nbc senior investigative producer bob windrum joins me here. what are you learning about how this operation unfolded, how technically advanced it needed to be?
>>
one of the things that we have learned is that there was a live feed of the operation that was routed through the helicopter and back to the
united states
. and that the president himself and the
director of national intelligence
,
james clapper
, watched it in the
situation room
at the
white house
and
leon panetta
, the direct aor of the
cia
, had overall command of the operation, watched it in his
conference room
. it was narrated by admiral mccraven and telling them where things were going. there was somehow a camera on one of the 12 to 15 troops that went in there. we also believe it was a joint military
cia operation
that it was the s.e.a.l.s with support from the
cia
. so we have a lot of people who are very happy and very proud to have been part of this. but this is what the
joint special operations command
does.
>>
it sounds as though this team went in, though, with no real intention to capture
osama bin laden
. is that your understanding? is that what you're hearing?
>>
the default position has always been to kill him. when the first -- when the first attempt to go after him, after 9/11 began it was bring his body home in a -- bring his head home in a box. this has always been the position. the
united states
has never wanted to capture him, never wanted the big trial. they wanted to kill him.
>>
there is a major reward on
osama bin laden
's head. is there any indication now who might receive that award? we have been told that the courier was instrumental in passing along information that led to this raid. are you hearing anything about the money?
>>
i'm not hearing anything. but there is a precedent when
khalid sheikh mohammed
was grabbed in
2003
, there was a u.s. -- or a pakistani who was working for the
cia
. and he was able to direct the
cia
to the home where
khalid sheikh mohammed
was staying. and i think at that point the reward on his head was $5 million. and he received it. and he was granted also asylum, i believe in the
united states
, though i'm not sure of that. so if, indeed, there was a pakistani who was helpful and is not part of
al qaeda
, then he might receive it.
u.s. government
employees, including the s.e.a.l.s, are not eligible for that.
>>
i know there are probably a lost americans who would disagree with that and would like to see the navy s.e.a.l.s getting part of that monetary reward, but we think that they did a great job and we're certainly really proud of them. and the
intelligence officers
that helped lead us there, bob, thank you so much, for laying this all out.
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