bob gates is leaving. lee on panetta is coming in. the president did panetta no favors by asking him to cut some of the budget so panetta is going in and it will be interesting to see what happens because the military -- that is not a good thing with the military. there is an agreement that things have to be cut but he has to come up with a vision of how to shrink the size of the military but keep -- >> he is doing better that general cartwright looks like he won't be the next general. he was obama's favorite and the brass really didn't like the guy. the other thing is there is tension between him and patraeus about what exactly, how to close out afghanistan. i would say the relationship is pretty good, better than it was with bush because the military hated the fact that he was not doing the job in iraq. chris: there is always military hawkish and liberals are anti. i'm not sure that is the case. >> i think they want to make sure they succeed in averages and withdraw the way they want and that is the next thing. >> the difference bet

i think that bob gates will go down as one of our finest secretaries of defense in our history. it has been an honor to serve with him. i also want to say -- [applause] i also want to say a word about admiral mullen. on a day when we are announcing his successor as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and as he looks forward to well-deserved retirement later this year, admiral mullen, on behalf of all americans, we want to say thank you for your four decades of service to this great country. [applause] [applause] we want to thank deborah mullen for her extraordinary service, also the commanding general of our military district of washington, mr. patrick hallanan, director of the cemetery and to the chaplain, thank you for your extraordinary service. [applause] it is a great privilege to return here to our national sanctuary, this most hallowed ground, to commemorate memorial day with all of you. with americans who have come to pay their respects with members of our military and their families, with veterans to service -- whose service will never forget and always honor and with

bob g gates was the one cabinet secretary that barack obama could not fire or replace. he had tenure in that office because of where he was -- because of who he was and where he came from. he put pressure on barack obama i afghanistan. another area of -- the other thing is ryan crocker is back as ambassador. >> came ouof retirement. it is a pity he is in afghanistan. he ought to be in iraq, where he did a spectacular job.. >> we do not have time for this kind of silliness. we've got better stuff to do. got better stuff to do. we've got big problems to solve and i amonfident it can solve them, but we havave to focus on them >> i am taking great credit, and you hahave to ask the president why didn't he do this in my time ago? >> that is donald trump taking credit that the president of the uniteded states has released his long former birth certificate. he h has moved onto questioning the president's academic credentials and how we got into columbia and harvard law school. by the way he was president of "the harvard law review it." "the new york times" said that this was "a

>> first of all someone who will go down as one of the pinest secretary of defenses in our history, bob gates who is here. [ applause ] and besides him someone who served with valor on behalf of this country and is now someone who will be going down as one of the greatest secretaries of veteran's affairs. [ applause ] now, i have to say... >> the president speaking since he announced that osama bin laden was killed. >> we will complete our coverage in a moment on osama bin laden. we have more to come. >>> the doctor charged in the death of michael jackson returns to court. he will ask for a delay in the trial. murray is accused of giving jackson a lethal dose of propofol in 2009. heats pleaded not guilty. we could earn what happened in a crash killing hundreds on board n 2009, the air force flight crashed into the ocean, a ul 22 # were killed. >> robot has recovered the recorder t it was found 12,000 below. they hope it will shed light on what happened that day. >>> as we look to summer, gas prices are creeping up. a hot of places are seeing $4 a gallon. drives are paying 3.95 for a gal

[applause] and this is not in the script, but let me acknowledge that without the leadership of bob gates, like mullen, -- mike mullen, jim cartwright, today and yesterday would not happen. their leadership has an extraordinary. i could not be prouder of them and i am grateful they are part of our team. [applause] i especially want to welcome some of those who fought so bravely 60 years ago. our inspiring korean veterans. korean war veterans who have made the trip here, and i also want to acknowledge those who are welcoming two more american heroes into our ranks, members of the national medal of honor society. thank you so much. [applause] this past november, i paid a visit to south korea, a visit that coincided with the 60th anniversary of the start of the korean war as well as the number 11, a veteran state. and i was privileged to spend part of the day with our troops and with dozens of veterans of the korean war. members of a generation who in words of their moral in washington fought for a country they never knew, a people they never met. it was a generation that included private fi

bob gates was interested. this is going to go down in history. one of the country's leading wearers himself. general jeffery colt. ladies and gentleman, general colt. flu >> thank you. i can only try to tell you today how proud of you this division and local community >> hello fort campbell. 101st division air staff, hello. that introduction was great because it was brief. thank you for the leadership you've shown here at one of the largest army bases in america. i make a lot of decisions. one of the earliest and best decisions i made was in choosing my vice president here. i want to thank general colt for welcoming me here today the 101st division band. all these troopers behind me. you look great. they kind of hesitated we have the green ba rays and special forces group. a few air force here. we thought we did. and of course, the leg dairy screaming eagles. and although they are not in the audience, i want to acknowledge the 160th regiment, the night stalkers for their accomplishment. [applause] some of you are starting to look familiar. last s

gates, who is here. [applause] sitting beside him, someone who served with incredible valor on behalf of this country, and is now somebody who i think will go down as one of the greatest secretaries of veterans affairs in our history, eric shinseki. [applause] i have to say that as commander in chief, i could not be prouder of our men and women in uniform. that is true now in today's wars. it has been true in all of our wars. that is why we are here today. long ago, a poet of the first world war wrote of the sacrifice of soldiers in more. "they shall not grow old as we that are left grow old. age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. we will remember them." today we are joined by two american families who, six decades ago, gave our nation one of their own. they did not grow old. these two soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice one and it just 19 -- when and they were just 19 and 21 years old. in the hearts of their families, they remain forever young -- loving the suns, protective brothers, hometown

gates and hillary plan and my intelligence teams and they all agreed. if new evidence found in the raid of osamas compound this coming to light. congressional sources say u.s. forces found 500 year rose the equivalent of about 745 u.s. dollars zone into osamas close. along with it, to phone numbers. >> as we confirmation from the material we will make appropriate decisions as to who might be added to the watch list. cresson >>pam: and obama plans to attend the ceremony around zero tomorrow and meet with families of the victims of 911 and first responders. we will air the ceremony live tomorrow at 10:25 a.m. >>catherine: a san ramon police officer has been arrested in connection with that activity inside the contra costa county drug enforcement team. police are talking about this and san ramon let's listen in. >> at the time of the rest there was no indication of involvement but it any other officer assigned to c-net. i became aware of the possibility of another officer been involved in criminal activity related to c-net on march 15th of this year. an im

gates who is here. [ applause ] and sitting beside him, someone who served with incredible valor on behalf of this country and is now somebody who i think will go down as one of the greatest secretaries of veterans affairs in our history, eric shineski. [ applause ] >> i have to say that, as commander in chief, i could not be prouder of our men and women in uniform. that is true now in today's wars. it has been true in all of our wars. and it is why we are here today. long ago, a poet of the first world war wrote of the sacrifice of young soldiers in war. they shall not grow old as we that are left grow old. age shall not weary them nor the years condemn. the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them. today, we are joined by two american families who six decades ago gave our nation one of their own. private first class henry servala and private first class eric. these two soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice when they were just 19 and 21 years old. >> we're look live at president obama at the white house conducting a medal of honor ceremony and of course, react

bob gates said something interesting. i've known bob a long time. he said it was one of the gutsyest decisions made and getsyest operations. here to introduce your commander in chief, a guy i'm proud to serve with, one of the country's leading warriors, 10th airborne division general jeffrey colt. ladies and gentlemen, the general. >> thank you, sir. i can only try to tell you today just how proud of you that this division and this local community are. but more importantly today, you're going to get to hear from the commander in chief just how appreciative he is of all your service and your sacrifices. please join me in this great privilege of welcoming the president of the united states, barack obama. [ applause ] [ cheers and applause ] >> hello, fort campbell. 101st airborne division air assault, hello. general colt, thank you for that great introduction. it was great because it was brief. more importantly, thank you for the extraordinary leadership that you've shown here at one of the largest army bases in america. and let me just say, i make a

gates who is here. [ applause ] and sitting beside him, someone who served with incredible valor on behalf of this country, and is now somebody who i think will go down as one of the greatest secretaries of veterans affairs in our history, eric shinseki. [ applause ] now, i have to say that as commander in chief, i could not be prouder of our men and women in uniform. that is true now in today's wars. it has been true in all of our wars. and it is why we are here today. long ago a poet of the first world war wrote of the sacrifice of young soldiers in war. they shall not grow old as we that are left grow old. age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn, that the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them. today we are joined by two american families who six decades ago gave our nation one of their own. private first class henry svehla and private first class anthony kaho'ohanohano. they did not grow old. these two soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice when they were just 19 and 21 years old. age did not weary them in the hearts of their families they remain f

[applause] >> -- secretaries of defense in our history, secretary bob gates, who is here. [applause] >> and sitting beside him, someone who served with incredible valor on behalf of this country and is now somebody who i think will go down as one of the greatest secretaries of veterans affairs in our history, eric shenseki. [applause] >> now, i have to say that as commander in chief, i could not be prouder of our men and women in uniform. that is true now in today's wars. it has been true in all of our wars. and it is why we are here today. long ago, a poet of the first world war wrote of the sacrifice of young soldiers in war. they shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old. age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. that the going down of the sun in the morning, we -- at the going down of the sun and in the morning we shall remember them. today we are joined by two american families who six decades ago gave your nation one of their own. private first class henry svalia and private first class anthony cole hanlanalan. they did not grow old, these two soldiers

. >> bob gates was the one cabinet secretary that brought about could not fire or replace. he had ture in tha office because of who he was and why he came from. afghanistan. the other -- he put pressure on afghanistan. the other thing is ryan crocker -- >> came out of retirement. >> very important. >> it is a pity he is in afghanistan. he ought to be in iraq, were needed a spectacular job. >> the president tries to defuse the birth or controversy. >> we don't have time for this silliness. we have got better stuff to do, i've got better stuff to do. we have problems to solve, and i'm confident we can solve them, we have to focus on them. >> i am taking great credit you have to ask the president, why didn't he do this a long time ago? >> that is donald trott, taking credit for the fact that the president of united states has released his long form birth certificate. mr. trump has moved onto questioning the president's academic credentials, how he got into columbia and harvard law school. by the way, was president of the harvard law review. "the new york times" said on friday

. >> bob gates was the one cabinet secretary that brought about could not fire or replace. he had tenure in that office because of who he was and why he came from. afghanistan. the other -- he put pressure on afghanistan. the other thing is ryan crocker -- >> came out of retirement. >> very important. >> it is a pity he is in afghanistan. he ought to be in iraq, were needed a spectacular job. >> the president tries to defuse the birth or controversy. >> we don't have time for this silliness. we have got better stuff to do, i've got better stuff to do. we have problems to solve, and i'm confident we can solve them, we have to focus on them. >> i am taking great credit you have to ask the president, why didn't he do this a long time ago? >> that is donald trott, taking credit for the fact that the president of united states has released his long form birth certificate. mr. trump has moved onto questioning the president's academic credentials, how he got into columbia and harvard law school. by the way, he was president of the harvard law review. "the new york times" said on f

. >> the defense secretary bob gates identified $78 billion in cuts, which really isn't very much. but he wants to get rid of some of those big, expensive weapons systems that you running up get the congressional objections because they have jobs and all the various congressional districts which is how they've managed this industrial complex to go forwards. it's too painful for lawmakers to cut these programs. i'd like to believe that they're going to be meaningful cuts, but when i look at the republican side of the agenda, i see ron paul, but he's really a libertarian. and haley where haley barbour made comments but dropped out the race. >> you think should come back in? >> no. [everyone talking at once] >> haley should come back? a lot of people do. the way he is conducting himself with his ravaging mississippi river down there. >> well suited to that and i'm sure he will be advising other candidates. very savvy politician. but i don't think -- >> he's a savvy politics? >> not a likely presidential candidate. >> some members of the appropriations committee, jeff flake, come trave

. >> the defense secretary bob gates identified $78 billion in cuts, which really isn't very much. but he wants to get rid of some of those big, expensive weapons systems that you running up get the congressional objections because they have jobs and all the various congressional districts which is how they've managed this industrial complex to go forwards. it's too painful for lawmakers to cut these programs. i'd like to believe that they're going to be meaningful cuts, but when i look at the republican side of the agenda, i see ron paul, but he's really a libertarian. and haley where haley y barbour made comments but dropped out the race. >> you think should come back in? >> no. [everyone talking at once] >> haley should come back? a lot of people do. the way he is conducting himself with his ravaging mississippi river down there. >> well suited to that and i'm sure he will be advising other candidates. very savvy politician. but i don't think -- >> he's a savvy politics? >> not a likely presidential candidate. >> some members of the appropriations committee, jeff flake, come tra

gates is here. [applause] and sitting beside him, someone who served with incredible valor on behalf of this country and is not somebody who i think will go down as one of the greatest secretaries of veterans affairs in our history, eric shinseki. [applause] now i have to say that, as commander-in-chief, i could not be prouder of our men and women in uniform. that is true now. it has been true in all of our wars. and it is why we are here today. long ago a poet of the first world war rout of the sacrifice -- >> the president they're saying i cannot be prouder of the men and women in uniform saying this is a good day for americans, that the world is a safer place because of the death of osama bin laden reminding this country that there is nothing we cannot do, again invoking the spirit of unity that we heard him first sit -- speak about in the overnight hours in our special report. i want to bring in our chief white house correspondent. you have learned more about bling osama bin laden's body to rest

gates and secretary of state hillary clinton, that releasing the photos could do far more harm than good. inflaming passions in the muslim street. putting u.s. troops, government personnel and american citizens at risk. it is enough that the u.s. killed bin laden, the president said. >> the terrorists who started this war and who took so many innocent lives learned that america does not forget. america will ensure that justice is done. >> reporter: today, the president told "60 minutes," "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 incitement to additional violence. or as a propaganda tool. that's not who we are. we don't trot out this stuff as trophies." 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. >> r

gates but this isn't libya's spring it's syria and it's calling a road map it made to just one place for its african arab neighbor nato intervention. watches it three seem to sense that tantalizing western leaders these critics. the prospect of anger trailing the syrian government. in washington or just to push. the e.u. has put the freeze on assets over thirteen top government military and intelligence leaders topping the list is this man the syrian president's younger brother he's described as the principal overseer of violence against protesters but no sanctions are being applied to the man calling the shots president assad himself to some asset is a convenient ally for the west although that's what was being said about did dappy in recent years before the sanctions kicked in. member states including. perhaps it's still possible to do business with bashar who's a western educated. wife as well so we'll see perhaps he might be the force of opera moderation in the country the e.u. says could be if p. fails to stop the brutal crushing of opposition but he needn't worry the arab lawye

that was the president's decision this morning, having been strongly urged by secretary of defense bob gates and secretary of state hillary clinton that releasing the photos could do far more harm than good. inflaming paxes in the muslim street. putting u.s. troops, government personnel and american citizens at risk. it is enough that the u.s. killed bin laden, the president said. >> the terrorists who startled this war and who took so many innocent lives learned that america does not forget. america will ensure that justice is done. >> reporter: today, the president told "60 minutes," 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 incitement to additional violence. that's not who we are. we don't trot out this stuff astro if is. 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 skep schism. >> the bottom line is that, you know, we got bin laden and i think we have to reveal to the res

and standing secretary of defense bob gates who i thank for joining us today. i found these qualities and the leaders who will complete our team at the pentagon and whom i am proud to announce today. general martin dempsey as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. admiral james woodifeld as the vice chairman and to succeed general dempsey, general ray odierno. since taking office, i have been very grateful for the leadership of the current chairman, admiral mike ramallah, and the vice chair, general jim 'hoss' cartwright. they have served our nation with distinction for decades. today i will simply say that like president bush before me, i have deeply valued the professional status of mike mullen and his integrity. on his watch, our military forces have excelled across the spectrum of nations, from combat in iraq and afghanistan to relief efforts after the haiti earthquake. he has helped revitalize nato, reset our relations with russia, and steered our relationship with pakistan and china. i believe history will also record mike mullen as the chairman who said

i've known bob gates for a long time. he said it is one of the gutsiest decisions he had ever seen. this will go down in history what happened. here to introduce your commander in chief, a guy i am proud to serve with, he is one of the country's leading lawyers himself -- leading warriors himself. [applause] >> thank you, sir. i kelly tried to tell you today just how proud of you that this division in this local community are. more importantly today, you are going to get to hear from the commander-in-chief just tell appreciative he is of all your service and your sacrifices. please join me in this great privilege of welcoming the president of the united states, barack obama. [cheers and applause] ♪ >> hello, fort campbell! 101st airborne division air assault, hello! general colt, thank you for that great introduction -- it was great because it was brief. more importantly, thank you for the extraordinary leadership that you've shown here at one of the largest army bases in america. and let me just say, i make a lot of decisions -- one of the earliest and best decisions i made was c

i have discussed this with bob gates hillary clinton mind cold and steam and it all a great. >> in london had 5000 on him at the time he was killed. two phone numbers were sewn into his clothing which could be valuable clues along with the treasure trove of valuable information found at the compound. it was all taken in 30 minutes by the seals. serapeum and calls this pussyfooting. >> political? or the pictures are just too gruesome. >> i believe it is too gruesome. that's a phrase that has been repeated from the beginning. this may evoke a response. in a way i think it is an internal focus. history has also shown that photos of that kind of nature tend to create violence. there's been an immediate bond in the polls for obama. the polls of been half and half on his job approval rating. i want to hear from him about whether he thinks the impact going into the 2012 campaign. >> i am hesitant to put this in political terms because it was decidedly not a political decision. in fact, if it had been a political decision and might of been a lot more reluctant. he's the no. 1 threat to our nation

the secretary of defense any of us who were listening to bob gates on "60 minutes" understands he appreciates how critical this is to the success of afghanistan and ind iraq and yemen. i would argue by and large, native along at -- congress or the american people get it. the u.s. military has done a superb job of explaining to congress and the americanutio people what their constitution is to u.s. security but the state department has not done anequ adequate job in the realm of diplomacy which is essential for success. as we're here today the state department even assumes more responsibility in iraq and afghanistan and elsewhere. but we do not see resources commensurate with those responsibilities. micki bd our mix of your credit case for those.e i believe congress and the american people need more graphic examples. yemen is my case in point* and the book is my way to do so. thank you very much. [applause] >> any questions? >> i am from 86 thank you for your service. you do talk about lessons learned from my do have some in particular you would like to discuss with the audience now? >> i have

>> and bob gates that was the defense secretary for the last two years of the bush administration and has stayed on, he was going to leave and retire. in fact he stayed on longer than anybody thought. with him out they have to make changes. and there is an interesting thing going on here and that is there seems to be a blurring of the lines or melding of defense military policy and intelegence which oftentimes have been kind of separated. but you see the military increasingly, as a consumer of intelligence information, and you see intel people like the c.i.a. being involved in things like the predator drones and those lines are getting blurred. i don't think panetta was brought in because of intelligence because he was the white house chief of staff and the white house director and there is no bigger bureaucracy than the pentagon. and petraeus is a big consumer of intelligence. so much of what they do in operations comes from the intelligence they get. so it made sense. the real key to this is not that there is a big change, but you have a lot of people who own the policy already in a

and this is not in the script, but let me just acknowledge that without the leadership of bob gates, mike mullen, haas cartright, today and yesterday would not have happened. and their steadiness and leadership has been extraordinary. i could not be prouder of them and i am so grateful that they've been part of our team. [ applause ] i especially want to welcome some of those who fought so bravely 60 years ago, our inspiring korean veterans. korean war veterans who have made the trip here and i also want to acknowledge those who are welcoming two more american heros in their ranks, medals of honor society. thank you so much. this past november, i paid a visit to south korea, a advice at this time that coincided with the 60th anniversary of the start of the door reanwar as well as november 11th, veterans day. and i was privileged to spend part of the day with our troops and with dozens of veteranses of the korean war. members of a generation who in the words of their memorial here in washington fought for a country they never knew and a people they never met. it was a generation that

i discussed this with bob gates and hillary clinton and my intelligence teams and they all agree. question will be there are people in pakistan who say this is all a lie. obama, this is another american trip. bin laden is not dead. the president, we were monitoring worldwide reaction. there is no doubt usama bin laden is dead. there is no doubt among al qaeda members that he is dead. so we don't think that a photograph in and of itself will make any difference. there are going to be some folks who deny it. the fact of the matter is, you will not see bin laden walking on this earth again. that's the conclusion of the excerpt. i think it states rather thoroughly why the president made the decision that he did. with that i'll take your questions. >> based on those comments the president made, a very compelling case why not to release the note ohs. what was the internal debate and was he seriously considering releasing photos? >> obviously the photos didn't exist until bin laden was killed. so there is not a great deal of time between then and the decision. they are obviously argument

seems to me that bob gates' beef here is not with the press even though we've been very voracious for details about just what went down in pakistan. but with his own administration colleagues, he says we had an agreement in the situation room not to say much about this and that fell apart. >> i want to talk about monday, may 2nd, during the white house briefing. because you brought it up, howard. that day that we heard from press second tar jay carney and john brennan, deputy national security advisor and he told us even more about this mission. listen to what he said, then we'll get more reaction. >> we were able to monitor the situation in realtime and were able to have regular updates and to ensure that we had realtime visibility in the progress of the operation. not going to go into details about what type of visuals we had or what kind of leads were there but we could track it on an ongoing basis. >> then of course, all the details eventually came out about s.e.a.l. team six and who -- at least what they were -- what their capabilities were, that they had these helicopters. all o

i think that bob gates will go down as one of our finest secretaries of defense in our history, and it has been an honor to serve with him. i also want to say -- [applause] i also want to say a word about admiral mullen. on a day when we are announcing his successor as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and as he looks forward to it will deserve retirement later this year -- a well-deserved retirement later this year. admiral mullen, on behalf of all americans, we want to thank you for your four decades of service to this great country. [applause] we want to thank deborah mullen as well for her extraordinary service, major general kyl course, the commanding general of our military district of washington, nancy horst, the superintendent of arlington national cemetery, as well as his lovely wife, doree and to the chaplain. thank you for your extraordinary rvice. [applause] it is a great privilege to return here to our national sanctuary, this most hallowed ground, to commemorate memorial day with all of you. americans have come to pay their respects. with members of our military and

[applause] this is not in the script but let me acknowledge that without the leadership of bob gates, mike mullen, hoss cartwright, today and yesterday would not have happened. their steadiness and leadership has been extraordinary. i could not be prouder of them and i am so grateful if they have been part of our team. [applause] host: that was president obama from about noon. on your screen now is the white house briefing room. jay carney is due to come out at 1:45 this afternoon eastern time. we will bring that to you live, the house cavils and at 2:00 p.m. this white house briefing will continue on c-span 3 uninterrupted. you can also watch it on line at c-span.org and also a 2:00 p.m., senator mcconnell on c-span 2 will be making a statement on the senate floor regarding the killing of osama bin laden. time for more of your phone calls now. raleigh, n.c., what do you think? caller: i have been watching with great dismay some of the pundits on this issue of the taking down of osama bin laden. i am amazed that with such venom and ideas they are espousing, why don't they simply moved

. >> reporter: bob gately's memories are preserved splend splendedly but silently. making them all at once perfect and imperfect. >> what i remember the most is the noise. and the chaos and the shoving. but primarily the noise. >> reporter: what is perfect about gately's memories is what they capture. >> and i had this right on secretariat. oh, what a moment that was. that was beautiful. >> reporter: when he first recorded secratariat thundering home in the belmont stakes, 25 years since the last horse to win a triple crown. a drought only exceeded by the sport's current 33-year gap. >> we went into the belmont knowing that we did have a special horse. but it wasn't, it wasn't overpowering. it became overpowering after the belmont. there was a sudden majetajestict of that race. a certain majesty about that race because of how he won it. >> reporter: every reel that passed through gately's camera focused on his love of horse racing. his strategically placed lens saw secratariat and seattle slew in '77 and a great win over aladar in 1978. >> it took me six races, seve

look at bob gates. look at mad ral mullen. look at this, look at president obama. look at that look on his face. this is the day they got bin laden. this is the situation room. that is probably as much as any of us need to know about what exactly the president of the united states was thinking while it happened. it is very good of the white house so from released this photo. i think it's just incredible. we have poetsed it at my blog right now if you want to check it out. >>> in august of 1996, osama bin laden declared war on the united states. literally issued something he called a declaration of war against the americans. by that point u.s. authorities concerned bill laden responsible for a hotel bomb in yem engine 1992 that was apparently targeting u.s. troops, but it killed two tourists instead. authorities in saudi arabia considered bin laden responsible by then for another bombing targeting a u.s. military training facility in saudi arabia. that bomb killed seven people. 1996 comes bin laden's declaration of war. two years later in 1998 he issues another anti

. >> such a serious commitment that chairman ryan's team says bob gates has said your spending cut proposals are not viable. have you heard him weigh in on this? >> the president and chief of staff, vice president had many conversations with the secretary of defense. i won't discuss those here. we are on the same team and understand that defense has to be part of the overall effort to get our budget under control. >> let me get some questions from the audience. as father of a child with special needs by family has benefited from social programs. when does our debt reached a level where good intentions today become crushing burdens on the next generation? >> that is a great question. the spirit of that question is touching in a sense. this is a person with a child with special needs and yet they are suggesting they are willing to be part of the shared sacrifice. but i have to say there are right ways and wrong ways to do things and from a policy perspective, i see this in everybody in this room, there is enormous discussion about the revenue side and the medicare side but from a policy perspe

i think bob gates has handled it very, very well. i think the issue was an issue of military -- important the military of ever of making certain that we had a military that still functioned well and once the pentagon was satisfied with that, i see no reason not to do it. >> perhaps the biggest strategic decision president obama took in his first two years was the decision to do the surge in afghanistan. close to doubling, tripling the number of troops in total. it is a large commitment to a kind of very comprehensive counterinsurgency campaign that is -- very expensive, can go on for years. is it the right move? >> well, we indeed in the last year or so of the bush administration went through fairly thorough review of afghanistan. it is fair to say -- i want people to understand in 2005/2006 things were not going so badly in afghanistan. they seemed to be going in the right direction. it really was the development of the safe haven in pakistan. that made the situation in afghanistan look very different by 2008. and so we did start to

and i've discussed this with bob gates and hillary clinton and my intelligence teams, and they all agree. >> kroft: there are people in pakistan, for example, who say, "look, this is all a lie, this is another american trick. osama's not dead." >> obama: there's no doubt that bin laden is dead. certainly, there's no doubt among al qaeda members that he is dead. and so, we don't think that a photograph in and of itself is going to make any difference. there are going to be some folks who deny it. the fact of the matter is, you will not see bin laden walking on this earth again. >> kroft: was it your decision to bury him at sea? >> obama: it was... it was a joint decision. we thought it was important to think through, ahead of time, how we would dis... dispose of the body if he were killed in the compound. and i think that what we tried to do was, consulting with experts in islamic law and ritual, to find something that was appropriate, that was respectful of the body. frankly, we took more care on this than, obviously, bin laden took when he killed 3,000 people. he didn't have much regard

i think bob gates has handled it very, very well. i think the issue was an issue of military -- for the military, making certain we had a military that still functioned well, and once the pentagon was satisfied with that, i see no reason not to do it. >> perhaps the biggest strategic decision president obama took in his first two years was the decision to do the surge in afghanistan. close to doubling, tripling the number of troops in total. it is a large commitment to a kind of very comprehensive counterinsurgency campaign that is very expensive, could go on for years. is it the right move? >> well, we indeed in the last year or so of the bush administration went through a fairly thorough review of afghanistan. it is fair to say -- i want people to understand in 2005/2006 things were not going so badly in afghanistan. they seemed to be going in the right drx, in fact. it really was the development of the safe haven in pakistan. that made the situation in afghanistan look very different by 2008. and so we did start to increase troop

the president could always say, this is bush's holdover defense secretary in bob gates. now he will be gone. this is the president's team completely. now, fran, thanks for coming in tonight. when we come back, we'll reflect on this somber day, memorial day at arlington national cemetery. what do you got? restrained driver... sir, can you hear me? just hold the bag. we need a portable x-ray, please! [ nurse ] i'm a nurse. i believe in the power of science and medicine. but i'm also human. and i believe in stacking the deck. ♪ ♪ membership rewards points from american express. they're a social currency with endless possibilities. [ male announcer ] the inspiration for its shape was an archer drawing his bow. ♪ could that have also inspired its 556 horsepower supercharged engine? ♪ the all-new cadillac cts-v coupe. we don't just make luxury cars, we make cadillacs. can become romantic just like that. a spark might come from -- a touch, a glance -- it can come along anywhere, anytime. and when it does, men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their abil

[applause] and this is not in the script, but let me acknowledge that without the leadership of bob gates, mike mullen, and hoss cartwright, yesterday and today would not happen. i could not be more proud than i am so grateful that they've been a part of our team. [applause] i especially want to welcome some of those who fought so bravely 60 years ago. our inspiring career in veterans. korean war veterans who have made the trip. and i also want to acknowledge those who are welcoming to more american heroes into the ranks, members of the medal of honor society. thank you so much for your presence today. past november, i paid a visit to the south korea -- a visit that coincided with the 60th anniversary of the start of the korean war, as well as november 11, a veteran state. i was privileged to spend the day with our troops and with dozens of the veterans of the middle east -- of the korean war -- members of a generation who fought for a country they never knew and people they never met. it was a generation that included private first class anthony kaho'ohanohano. he learned early that we h

look at bob gates. look at mad ral mullen. look at this, look at president obama. look at that look on his face. this is the day they got bin laden. this is the situation room. that is probably as much as any of us need to know about what exactly the president of the united states was thinking while it happened. it is very good of the white house so from released this photo. i think it's just incredible. we have poetsed it at my blog right now if you want to check it out. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. >>> in august of 1996, osama bin laden declared war on the united states. literally issued something he called a declaration of war against the ame

is it, as bob gates said, potentially going to divide al qaeda from the taliban and help us to succeed our goal, to achieve our goals there? >> i think, you know, what everybody's trying to figure out is exactly what it means before the relationship between the taliban and al qaeda because a lot of people say they already had a schism between the two, and this would just take it one step further. and for regular folks on the ground, there is a real concern that this is going to basically hasten and make even faster the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. and they wonder what that means in terms of life on the ground because there are a lot of people including a lot of women who had used the space to try to build schools, build businesses, all of that stuff, and they wonder whether that is going to end when the international community leaves. >> well, stand by for just a second, gayle, because i want to ask wes about the troop numbers. let's go to the p, wes. how many troops right now, and what would you project when the president talks about withdrawals if they really are going to be sub

gates as the defense secretary. we're told that the president was involved in five national security council meetings five national security meetings in march and april that were kept quiet as they worked very carefully behind the scenes. they are right. they didn't want it in the u.s. media or share it with pakistani officials and we've gotten the compound outside of islamabad, pakistan, a million dollar home. u.s. officials are now saying that even though it was a mansion, it had no internet service, no telephone service and undoubtedly to try and escape and there were 12 to 18-foot walls with barbed wire on the top. clearly he was trying to stay safe and secure and the u.s. team cot in, penetrated it, and killed osama bin laden. >> amazing story. let me show our viewers these live pick you ares that we're getting from time square. all of a sudden people are gathering in time square which is totally appropriate. that's on the right. on the left you can see where people are gathering at ground zero. no one could ha

the secretary of defense, any of us who were listening to bob gates last night on "60 minutes" understands that he appreciates how critical this will be to success in afghanistan, in iraq, in yemen. but i would argue that by and large neither the congress nor the american people did it. the u.s. military has done a superb job of explaining to congress and the american people what their contribution is to u.s. security. the safety department by and large has not done an adequate job in the realm of diplomacy or in the leadership role which is essential for success. as we're here today, the state department is assuming any more responsibilities, in iraq, in afghanistan and elsewhere but we do not see resources commensurate with those responsibilities. the qdr makes a request for those resources but i believe that congress and the american people need much more graphic examples of our value-added. yemen, in my case in point, and this book is my attempt to do so. thank you very much. [applause] >> any questions, please? go ahead, yes, ma'am, please. hang on just one second. can i have your nam

defense secretary bob gates has given three different comments recently warning that the military could be hollowed out by unwise defense spending cuts. host: that is the headline from may 25 front page of the washington times. he is reaching back to the 1970's. guest: during the 1970's and again in the 1990's under first the carter administration and then the clinton administration, steep cuts were made in defense spending, and the military began moving in the direction of being a hollow force. your military is not ready for war. that has been the high point of our military, that we are ready for any battle. he is warning that we could face a hollowed out military if we do not have these defense cuts properly. host: he and others have said that our debt is our biggest national security threat. how do you square those two things? guest: and that gets into the bigger issue of how we fix the economy. the zero economies is a problem. the argument being made that defense can be part of the solution to that problem but it should not be the only solution. there are real fears within the obama