s.e.a.l.s would rather die than be captured. at the end of the day it was a leap of faith. reporter: friday, april 29, just after 8:20 a.m., the mission begins. the president gives the go. the president, after a long night s sleep, basically came in and immediately told the staff, you ve got the green light. let s go. reporter: as president obama departs for the tornado-ravaged south, the u.s. military s best-kept secret is under way. the troops were ready and in place. the equipment was ready to go. the plan had been practiced again and again and again. reporter: america s most wanted man may finally be in reach. osama bin laden. the architect of 9/11 had eluded the world s most powerful nation for more than a decade. the trail was quite cold. reporter: former cia director michael hayden recalls the early misfires. most of what he had looked more like elvis sightings than intelligence. reporter: the trail caught fire last august when u.s. intelligence
s.e.a.l.s would rather die than be captured. at the end of the day it was a leap of faith. vi . reporter: friday, april 29, just after 8:20 a.m., the mission begins. the president gives the go. the president, after a long night s sleep, basically came in and immediately told the staff, you ve got the green light. let s go. reporter: as president obama departs for the tornado-ravaged south, the u.s. military s best-kept secret is under way. the troops were ready and in place. the equipment was ready to go. the plan had been practiced again and again and again. reporter: america s most wanted man may finally be in reach. osama bin laden. the architect of 9/11 had eluded the world s most powerful nation for more than a decade. the trail was quite cold. reporter: former cy director michael hayden recalls the early misfires. most of what he had looked more likele elvis sightings than intelligence. reporter: the trail caught fire last august when u.s. intell
s.e.a.l.s would rather die than be captured. at the end of the day it was a leap of faith. reporter: friday, april 29, just after 8:20 a.m., the mission begins. the president gives the go. the president, after a long night s sleep, basically came in and immediately told the staff, you ve got the green light. let s go. reporter: as president obama departs for the tornado-ravaged south, the u.s. military s best-kept secret is under way. the troops were ready and in place. the equipment was ready to go. the plan had been practiced again and again and again. reporter: america s most wanted man may finally be in reach. osama bin laden. the architect of 9/11 had eluded the world s most powerful nation for more than a decade. the trail was quite cold. reporter: former cia director michael hayden recalls the early misfires. most of what he had looked more like elvis sightings than intelligence. reporter: the trail caught fire last august when u.s. intelligence
not moving back that camp so this will come out in the rinse. an elvis sighting in arkansas. not the singer elvis. an elvis impersonator and fan named elvis presley. we ve not shown you that person in the video. he announces he s running for governor. he will take on incumbent governor and four others who are running. there is the governor. those are things we thought you should know. because elvis sightings are so elusive that s why we don t have the video. that wraps up this hour. i m tamron hall. see you back here tomorrow. we have great show coming up. mitch mcconnell looked a little bit like elvis there. you know there are people that blog that will say it s a conspiracy. no conspiracy. trust me. all right. coming up, the latest on a major terror crackdown. american citizens charged with helping terrorists overseas. plus, i ll be asking a provocative question, which i
knew bin laden was in the construction business. and this was well constructed. reporter: more clues begin to emerge from behind the 18-foot-high walls. what they began to notice is the occupant burned their trash. they couldn t determine that there was any internet access or telephone in this compound. it was a lack of things they did that was really interesting. you know, for a family that misfires. most of what he had looked more like elvis sightings than intelligence. reporter: the trail caught fire last august when u.s. intelligence zeroed in on this compound. an unusual compound. unusual in its security, in its size and location. reporter: its location, just over a mile from pakistan s premier military academy, north of islamabad. the compound was discovered after tracking down bin laden s trusted courier. one of my sources said to me, you know, one of the reasons it was so interesting to us is we knew bin laden was in the construction business. and this was well